Depot "repair" = Depot fraud, Depot theft

[vanishingpoint]

I recently sent my Thinkpad, warranteed-A31p, to the Depot because of random horizontal lines appearing on the display. This problem had occurred in the past, and had been fixed by replacing the 128mb ATI Fire GL video card, under warrantee. This time however, IBM Support in Atlanta Georgia (you've heard the recording, right?) insisted that the problem was with the UXGA LCD panel, not the video card. The LCD would have to be replaced for $895., and it would NOT be covered under warrantee.

Why no warrantee repair? Because, they said, the "damage" to the LCD was the result of "pressure" from picking the laptop up with one hand, compressing the back of the LCD panel, through the lid of the laptop.

Well, the A31p has a rigid plastic housing, unlike the semi-flexible, Txx Thinkpads. The LCD is pristine, with no pressure spots or stuck pixels. I told the representative that the problem was with the video card, and not the LCD. The rep. was new and let slip the script for video card damage: "if the motherboard or video card is damaged, it is due to compression, throught the lid and LCD, due to picking up the laptop with one hand."

Okay, I had had enough. I asked that the laptop be returned to me, unrepaired.

Guess what? When I got the "unrepaired" laptop back, it worked perfectly; the display problem was fixed! I suspected that the video card had been replaced, but when I called IBM, they denied repairing or repalcing anything.

And so it went until this week when Windows XP Pro started to crash and show the blue screen, then restart, over, and over, and over. Now, the computer won't even start Windows.

I put the HD in a different Thinkpad and checked the system logs. The problem had started as a conflict between the 64mb ATI Mobility Radeon video card and the installed driver. It had escalated from there, resulting in the eventual, unrecoverable crash. This situation is well-documented at:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318023/en-us

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-50883

But wait, my A31p had a 128mb ATI Fire GL card, not a 64mb ATI Mobility Radeon card!!! Well, I believe that the Depot replaced my defective Fire GL card with the Radeon card, and then denied it (THEFT). They had probably fixed the computer before trying to extort the $895 for the "damaged" LCD (FRAUD). When I balked, the Depot returned the "unrepaired" laptop to me, but the left the new (wrong) video card installed.

How do I know that the Radeon card had not been in the computer since its manufacture? Because the first time the Depot replaced the video card, they made the same mistake; they installed a Radeon instead of a Fire GL. I sent the laptop back to them, and they put the correct, Fire GL, card back in.

I can document the above though service ticket numbers, serial numbers, and system log files. I am NOT interested in any concession, discount, or civil award. I would like to see these criminals prosecuted. I plan to file criminal complaints in the applicable jurisdictions.

[smugiri]

Go straight to the desk where the buck stops.

[vkim]

Sorry about your problem.
Don't get me wrong, but doesn't A31p come with Fire GL 7800 64 MB?
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... -58281#vid

I am asking because if there is 128mb version of it, I may want to get one (mine is 64mb).

Thanks,
Val

[vanishingpoint]

You are right, Val. The Fire GL 7800 has 64mb. The last time the Depot installed the wrong card, it was one with 32mb, this time, 64mb. I was doubling the RAM, mistakenly. My machine type is 2653-R9U, near the end of the A31p run.

[Bgradid]

Do you have records of the laptops serial number?

[BillMorrow]

Probably an extreme reaction but not an entirely undeserved reaction to what those fellows at the repair depot often claim..

i have, for a long time, since the sale by ibm of the repair facility, felt that they "find" problems which enable them to bill you more than what they would get from IBM for a standard repair..

call me paranoid, but this is one reason i used to always, when i was still selling new thinkpads, strongly suggest an onsite warranty upgrade..

its harder to accuse a customer, when looking him in the eye, of customer abuse when faced with a perfect example of a thinkpad..

however, a criminal charge would not do the damage you would hope for.. its hard to think that a judge would do more than dismiss it as excusable error..

if redress is what you want, i class action suit seeking payment for EACH SUCH INSTANCE of this..
i'm sure that you can find others similarly situated by asking here and the mail list as well as the thinkpad newsgroup..

so my advice is forget the criminal stuff and go for a few million..

its fraud and i would think, easily discoverable fraud and you can hang them with a subpoens duces tecum (for records) and their own records..

[beeblebrox]

I recently sent my Thinkpad, warranteed-A31p, to the Depot because of random horizontal lines appearing on the display. This problem had occurred in the past, and had been fixed by replacing the 128mb ATI Fire GL video card, under warrantee. This time however, IBM Support in Atlanta Georgia (you've heard the recording, right?) insisted that the problem was with the UXGA LCD panel, not the video card. The LCD would have to be replaced for $895., and it would NOT be covered under warrantee.

Why no warrantee repair? Because, they said, the "damage" to the LCD was the result of "pressure" from picking the laptop up with one hand, compressing the back of the LCD panel, through the lid of the laptop.

Well, the A31p has a rigid plastic housing, unlike the semi-flexible, Txx Thinkpads. The LCD is pristine, with no pressure spots or stuck pixels. I told the representative that the problem was with the video card, and not the LCD. The rep. was new and let slip the script for video card damage: "if the motherboard or video card is damaged, it is due to compression, throught the lid and LCD, due to picking up the laptop with one hand."

Okay, I had had enough. I asked that the laptop be returned to me, unrepaired.

Guess what? When I got the "unrepaired" laptop back, it worked perfectly; the display problem was fixed! I suspected that the video card had been replaced, but when I called IBM, they denied repairing or repalcing anything.

And so it went until this week when Windows XP Pro started to crash and show the blue screen, then restart, over, and over, and over. Now, the computer won't even start Windows.

I put the HD in a different Thinkpad and checked the system logs. The problem had started as a conflict between the 64mb ATI Mobility Radeon video card and the installed driver. It had escalated from there, resulting in the eventual, unrecoverable crash. This situation is well-documented at:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318023/en-us

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-50883

But wait, my A31p had a 128mb ATI Fire GL card, not a 64mb ATI Mobility Radeon card!!! Well, I believe that the Depot replaced my defective Fire GL card with the Radeon card, and then denied it (THEFT). They had probably fixed the computer before trying to extort the $895 for the "damaged" LCD (FRAUD). When I balked, the Depot returned the "unrepaired" laptop to me, but the left the new (wrong) video card installed.

How do I know that the Radeon card had not been in the computer since its manufacture? Because the first time the Depot replaced the video card, they made the same mistake; they installed a Radeon instead of a Fire GL. I sent the laptop back to them, and they put the correct, Fire GL, card back in.

I can document the above though service ticket numbers, serial numbers, and system log files. I am NOT interested in any concession, discount, or civil award. I would like to see these criminals prosecuted. I plan to file criminal complaints in the applicable jurisdictions.

You might consider these things first:
1.) The GPU is soldered to the motherboard and can not be replaced. you have to replace the whole expensive motherboard (which would be new from the shelf).
2.) The ATI is recognized according to the ATI driver you use (a FireGL is recognized as a regular Radeon if you use e.g. Omega drivers instead the ATI drivers)
3.) Your ATI GPU seems to have a hardware defect (different lines due to memory error) and also lost some memory banks. This is a common problem on the A31 line, as I saw on other forums.
4.) Your LCD is defective which shows the different horizontal or vertical lines. Happened to me several times. Changed the display, and it was ok then.
On eBay Germany is a brand new 15" IPS on sale for EUR 120 at the moment, what you might consider.