Warranty validity without the S/N sticker

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qviri · #1 Post by **qviri** » Sun May 13, 2007 9:21 am

Hello,

I have my new Thinkpad with a warranty that ends on May 27 (this Sunday). I'm considering extending it for a year or two. I've called IBM/Lenovo and they said everything was alright with it and I could extend it if I wanted.

I have just one question. The laptop seems to be missing its type/serial number sticker from the bottom: picture. One can still read the S/N from the BIOS or from Windows through PC Doctor. Is lack of the sticker going to be an issue if I have to send the machine in for service? I don't want to buy extra warranty then be told they cannot respect it due to lack of the sticker.

Thanks.

qviri · #2 Post by **qviri** » Mon May 21, 2007 1:29 pm

Original post changed.

Website · #3 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Mon May 21, 2007 1:31 pm

This is a very good question, and I would love to know the answer as well...

#4 Post by **ryengineer** » Mon May 21, 2007 1:33 pm

I am not sure but I think if you buy the warranty you can request them later to have this thing fixed.

#5 Post by **carbon_unit** » Mon May 21, 2007 4:15 pm

From what I understand the information in the BIOS is the final word, not the sticker. The sticker is for quick reference only. We should hear from Lenovo to be sure on this one.

#6 Post by **gator** » Mon May 21, 2007 5:16 pm

I am very interested to know the answer as well.

On a slightly related topic, I recently read a post in the T4x forum in which it was mentioned that IBM said warranty was void becuase the serial numbers (reported by BIOS and the sticker) did not match:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=42424

If that were the case, I'd think that the warrnty might be void if the serial # is missing in the bottom case too, unless maybe you show proof of ownership via a bill or something.

furrycute · #7 Post by **furrycute** » Mon May 21, 2007 6:41 pm

What happened to that sticker?

#8 Post by **carbon_unit** » Mon May 21, 2007 6:53 pm

Gator, the way I read it was the post said the warranty was invalid because the serial number in the bios indicated the warranty had expired and that superceeded whatever the sticker said. IMHO

Melvyn · #9 Post by **Melvyn** » Mon May 21, 2007 11:36 pm

I must speak here.

I bough my ThinkPad in ebay and sent to a mailbox in Miami. Then bring it here (Dominican Republic) by the cargo company.

I had some problems and wrote to customer service who told me "go to GBM, they can attend your warranty." GBM is the local compay which market IBM stuff.

In GBM they didn't asked me for invoice, serial numbers, nothing. When machine got connected and accessed warranty and support page it shows warranty until august 2008. They did not needed more. With that info they checked the machine. And I'm talking in Dominican Republic, a country where warranty doesn't mean anything. Other makes (Acer, HP, and more) will ask to send you the machine back to USA.

The guy who checked told me he checked it "only for protocol" because "as long as I see that machine I know it's almost new, covered in the 3 years warranty. I only need serial number to fill the records".

So, be happy to have your ThinkPad. You don't need sticker, the bios have all info.

#10 Post by **ryengineer** » Tue May 22, 2007 12:00 am

Wow, such a pleasant experience of another satisfied customer of IBM/lenovo. These people really know how to make customers happy.

cchsiao · #11 Post by **cchsiao** » Tue May 22, 2007 2:24 am

I bought my Thinkpad from ebay as well. The time I got it, I am kind of afraid that it was a "fake" machine since there is no label on it. That means, it comes with a purely black color, even without the IBM logo.

But when I go to Lenovo's webpage to check the part lists, it says the following:

28L3133 24P6326 LABEL:LABELS NO
29R7077 NOTAFRU COA LABEL, WINDOWS XP-PROFESSIONAL EDITI NO
41V9529 0000000 FCC LABEL:LABELS NO
41W6310 0000000 LABEL (VISTA CAPABLE):LABELS NO
93P8917 0000000 LABEL:LABELS, SHIPPING NO

Base on these info from Lenovo's webpage, I am much more relax because it means that my machine can still be a genuine machine.

My point is that, since Lenovo ships out machines without any labels, it's almost impossible to violate the warranty just without the serial number sticker on the machine. So... you can certainly buy extended warranty. Nothing need to worry about.

snife · #12 Post by **snife** » Tue May 22, 2007 7:22 am

Something really odd with some of these - despite what the parts listing says, a machine simply cannot ship without some labels on it - they are required for most countries to state what compliances the machine has and I have yet to see a situation where a machine shipped without the MTM label and the MAC labels for the network connections so I suspect these were pulled off. I don't think you get fake ThinkPads but I know there are a lot of stolen ones which are sold on eBay with the labels removed and the details changed in the BIOS (if the crook knows what they are doing that is).

Lenovo will take the numbers in the BIOS as the final word on the MTM/Serial but what if your system board goes wrong or something else that would prevent you getting into the BIOS - it might be difficult to prove that the machine is what you claim it is and therefore may cause warranty difficulties, it may be possible for them to confirm your system details by tracking the system board serial number but there are no guarantees with this method, particularly if the board has ever been changed.

qviri · #13 Post by **qviri** » Tue May 22, 2007 9:09 pm

furrycute wrote:What happened to that sticker?

I'd tell you if I knew...

Thanks for the posts, everyone. Very insightful. It seems that I should be okay with the hardware data. Maybe IBM can send me a replacement sticker like ryengineer suggested, in case the motherboard ever goes.

I checked the "parts shipped" listing (based on the serial number the machine is reporting), and it says
32P4414 NOTAFRU COA LABEL, WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL EDITI NO
which would explain the lack of the COA at least - at first I thought it had been simply pulled off and reused. (I don't intend to run XP anyway.) It says nothing about the other labels, but I do have the FCC sticker, at least.

However, it also says
91P7353 NOTAFRU PLANAR, 1.6GHZ W/SEC CHIP:CUSTOM FUNCTIO YES
I am positively sure that the current machine has a 1.4 GHz CPU and motherboard. I was also under the impression that the chip on which model/serial number information is stored is located on the motherboard. The machine definitely reports itself as a 2672-C2U, which according to the Lenovo "original description" is, to quote, "P M 1.4GHz". This has me mightily confused, as the motherboard is reporting to be two different things at once. Unless the serial number info is not stored on the motherboard? Or IBM/Lenovo's serial number system allows for a 1.6 GHz serial number to co-exist with a 1.4 GHz product number? That seems like a rather major overlook. (I just tried to enter the product number for my X21 with the X31's serial number and at least that didn't work.)

Dimitri_P · #14 Post by **Dimitri_P** » Tue May 22, 2007 10:17 pm

1. Not important, they'll pull ut from BIOS

2. If machine is dead, they will pull it from other tags on motherboard [I assume they have database, what ethernet MAC belongs to what system, when it was assembled]

3. If all the tags are removed - THEN you have a problem

Warranty validity without the S/N sticker

Warranty validity without the S/N sticker

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