Warranty issues with 'accesories' bought via eBay

[teepee]

Hi

Has anyone bought an accessory for a Thinkpad new off eBay and then been able to get warranty support for it please?

I bought a docking station this way but support is refusing to consider any warranty on it. The issue is that they claim to consider it 'second-hand' as they say I did not buy it from a re-seller.

The agent I spoke with was actually rather clueless. First off he thought I bought the dock directly from eBay , not knowing that it isn't a shop! Second, when I asked for the URL of a page that clearly states that eBay purchases, or any non re-seller purchase, is excluded, all he could say is that he doesn't use the web , and so doesn't know. Third, he decided immediately from the eBay and PainPal receipt emails I sent that the seller is not authorised, even though I'm sure there is no way he could possible have read the emails and then checked the seller's eBay ID all in 3 seconds.....

I pointed out that when I bought the dock I registered it, so clearly it wasn't registered already (ie wasn't second hand) when I bought it, and clearly this record is in someone's system somewhere, but he wasn't having any of it.

Just want to know if there is a quick route to solve this before I go to consumer protection, and escalate the complaint at IBM.

'ppreciate any advice

[RealBlackStuff]

Those things only cost about $10-20 on eBay. I wouldn't waste any time on trying to get warranty for such a cheapo item.

[teepee]

many thanks for the quick reply realblackstuff.

the cost is of no real consequence and really doesn't bother me. what bothers, and annoys me, is the ibm approach to a warranty and the quality of customer service people they hire. if the replacement cost to me was US$1, 1€ or £1 that wouldn't change.

[RealBlackStuff]

The people to approach nowadays are Lenovo. They bought the whole PC/Laptop branch from IBM a few years ago.
Post this on http://forum.lenovo.com in the Options & Accessories Forum and get to hear it straight from the horse's mouth.
The Lenovo-people there are very friendly, helpful and informative.
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