First support encounter - less than worthless

[rebop]

I hope Lenovo reads here.

Two week old T60. Been installing all of my apps and configurations. Got around to the Sonic suite preinstalled on the T60 and closing the apps, such as Record Now caused three errors. A write error, read error and one other odd one. Googled, found out I am not alone.

Went to Lenovo downloads and found an update that addresses just this problem detailing it is a conflict with Windows Media Player 11. Downloaded the update.

Update said the old apps needed to be unisntalled. I let it. Ran the new apps and they would not run with "Unknown Error".

So, uninstalled all Sonic apps. Back to Lenovo and downloaded the original 2.04 versions. Installed. Same "Unknown Error". Called support.

Got connected to Atlanta. Could not understand even the name of the tech. Explained everything as I listed above and he said restore the system. I said not an option. I have been installing and configuring 268 apps and utilties on my new machine and would not go through that or even some of that again. And others must have the same problem I do, as Googling will show.

He would not suggest anything else. Said Lenovo does not offer advanced software support. I said this came preinstalled on my machine.

I asked to escalate. He said why in a rude voice. I said becuase I believe you do not understand the problem and your only suggestion is not acceptable.

He said sure.

Then he hung up on me.

Truly unbelievebale.

I like the Sonic Suite. Now have Nero installed. Wasted maybe 3 hours and support is not there when I needed it. Rude, unintelligable and ill informed.

So, be aware the Windows Media Player Update causes problems with the Sonic (MediaCenter) Suite and support wil not be there for you.

~Bob

[khtse]

It seems to me that whenever this type of support people being asked about a problem that they haven't seen before, they tell people to restore a system.

To them this is an easy solution. Everyone knows as long as it is not a hardware error, a complete restore brings the system back to life. They never care how much time you have to sit in front of you laptop to download all the patches and install all the apps each time after a restore. What if the problem comes again after you restored your system and installed those apps again? They probably would ask you to do another restore.

So what do we expect? What do we hope to get from them? Probably answer like "I have never seens this problem before, please leave me with the details and I will discuss it with my team and get back to you in a few days" or "This is a known problem and we are working on a fix, please expect to be able to download a patch to fix it next week".

Get real. This will not happen unless, well, after you paid $5000 for the Thinkpad reserve edition.

[ryengineer]

Bob, I am truly sorry for your experience. I wish that support guy was more cooperative. By no means I am trying to add fuel to the fire but the support guy was right about this info:

Said Lenovo does not offer advanced software support. I said this came preinstalled on my machine.

In lenovo's own words:

Lenovo does not warrant uninterrupted or error-free operation of a Product
or Service or that Lenovo will correct all defects.
Unless Lenovo specifies otherwise and to the maximum extent permissible
under applicable law, it provides third party Products and Services WITHOUT
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. However, non-Lenovo manufacturers, suppliers, or
publishers may provide their own warranties to you.
Any technical or other support provided for a Product or Service under
warranty, such as assistance with "how-to" questions and those regarding set-up
and installation, is provided WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.

I hope you find some work-around/advice for the original problem you mentioned on this forum or somewhere else.

[rebop]

Well, cooperative may not be the right word. Had this been explained on the call, it owuld have been another matter.

On the other hand, this surprises me. I would think there would be some effort over and above restore the system on software provided with the system.

I was also bit by the update to PCDoctor removing all my add and removes. There was no effort and a limp apology offered by Lenovo for that one which took me 11 hours to fix. If their site and their software install an upgrade, regardless of the wording I feel they are repsonsible.

Maybe I am naive.

~Bob

[Kyocera]

The best thing to do in that circumstance is:

A. Wait till you cool down
B. Call back, if the same guy or girl answers, hang up
C. Call back until you get someone you can understand and go from there.
D. Be nice, it's hard i know I deal with tech support people from all aspects of this industry, from the ones who immediately start spouting their certs to really really nice guys or gals.
E. Be nice, because it gets you no where to say things like "unacceptable" just hang up and refer to "A" above.

F. Did I mention be nice

Good Luck.


And FYI over the years, "reinstall to factory settings" is about number three on thier list of stuff they read from. I learned that the first time I dealt with a new machine I bought, troubleshooting is a standard set of procedures, industry wide and all the software vendors I deal with don't support any third party software problems so step lightly when you mention it.

Believe me I have turned around full blown shouting matches with tech support/ network admins/ IT guys/gals, by just trying to get them to focus on the issue rather than "one up" them or try to impress them, let them impress you, if they can't........ find another person in thier food chain.