Lenovo Customer Service

[Shelby Griggs]

I ordered a new A60 from the Lenovo web site in early July, after about 2 months the order got changed by Lenovo to an A61 without input from me, faster processor BUT basically the same PC. Apparently the long delay was because Lenovo quit making the A60.

My PC shows up and all is good, except the fingerprint reader keyboard was replaced with just a regular keyboard AND they billed my AMEX card more than the original order price since they sent a different (faster) PC.

I called Lenovo prior t o receiving the PC because the online web status showed a higher price and I was assured that I wouldn't have to pay the higher price, bla, bla. Fortunately that person had made some notes in the file AND told me that the final price would be adjusted to even lower than the original system price by about $100, for what reason I have never determined, it is very hard to understand about 90% of the various folks I have spoken to during the "ordeal". In any event I called back a couple of more times always with the promise that the original person would handle the situation, and once after getting passed around 3 times I got put on hold, the whole call was over an hour and then at closing time they just terminated the call, VERY FRUSTRATING. After that I e-mailed Lenovo and got a "read receipt" that someone from Lenovo Canada had read the e-mail.

I decided to try again to contact someone and once again explained it all over again. This person told me I had to have OK'd the A61 and in fact would not believe me when I told them I had a copy of the original order as placed on line with AN IDENTICAL order number to the machine that finally shipped with a different configuration, it couldn't be they said, the new configuration would have a NEW ORDER number. I finally convinced this person to let me FAX in a copy of the original order to them personally!

I was still within the 21 day return period at this point (barely) AND the only way to get the keyboard swapped out was to return the whole system, I finally told them I couldn't take the system out of my business for two weeks just for a keyboard issue.

Shortly after I faxed the copy of the original order in, I get a phone call admitting they screwed the keyboard up and would I take a $100 "confession" credit instead? FINALLY we are starting to get somewhere. I was told however that it would be unlikely that I would get any additional credit for the price difference between what I agreed to pay for and what they billed me. I got a faster machine, yada, yada, etc. I don't care if it is GOLD plated, I have a PO here at my company for the original price, ugh!

In any event, yesterday I get an e-mail with no further explanation showing the full price reduction as agreed on verbally by the first customer rep I spoke with AND the $100 for the keyboard, a total of $285 less than what they wanted to originally bill me for the A61 without my fingerprint reader keyboard.

At long last I am satisfied with the resolution, BUT it is an experience I wouldn't wish on anyone. Good equipment, BUT the language barrier makes dealing with customer service almost impossible. These didn't sound like Chinese speaking people either, if I had to guess they were in India, and I am quite sure the last rep in a long chain was from there or a neighboring county by the name he gave me. I am in NO way racists OR biased against any people, BUT LENOVO needs to wise up on the customer support issue so that those of us in North America can actually talk to someone who speaks fluently in the ENGLISH language. I honestly believe a lot of the problem could of been fixed much faster if we could have communicated better.

Just thought I would share my recent Lenovo buying experience. In the end they made it right, BUT it was painful. When I ordered my ThinkPad T43 in late 2005, the process was painless, of course there wasn't any order issues and the laptop shipped before the estimated ship date which was nice.

SHG

MOD EDIT: Moved to proper forum.

[Harryc]

Actually your experience sounds like it was successful, although bothersome to you personally. You got a good deal in the end, Lenovo fessed up, it's a win-win. By the way, if you called Lenovo maintenance you talked to IBM support in Atlanta Georgia. I agree some of those Atlanta guys speak another language ... LOL

[Shelby Griggs]

Yes, my experience did have a positive outcome, BUT NOT without a lot of persistence from my end. The moral is when you are correct just keep up the pressure until you get results.

SHG

[Harryc]

The moral is when you are correct just keep up the pressure until you get results.

Absolutely, that's one of the top (5) morals in life isn't it? . Good luck Shelby.

[BillMorrow]

FWIW, poor customer service is not limited to lenovo..

bellsouth/AT&T for instance can not seem to get THIS server unblacklisted by their email system..
they work on it and declare success and it works..
for just long enough to get 150~ month old system emails and then BAM! it reverts..

several times..

AT&T's neat little trick, since they MUST close a trouble ticket within 48 hours is to declare victory and close the trouble ticket..
then i call back and they open a new trouble ticket..

SO, you are not alone and neither is lenovo..

terminating telephone calls seems to be a standard tactic..