t61p: warranty extension problem

[crg7]

Hello:

This is for my friend's laptop.
Appreciate any help/suggestions/comments/experiences.

Best

The warranty on his t61p was expiring Jan 3, 2011. Here is the timeline.

Dec 18, 2010: Purchased 45K6025 from Cost Central: extends warranty from 3 years to 5 years.
Dec 21, 2010: Provides info on laptop (t61p, 6459-CTO, serial) in response to email from Cost Central.
Jan 3, 2011: warranty expires.
Jan 6, 2011: Receives email from Cost Central:

"The warranty you are attempting to order is unfortunately the incorrect version for your hardware. Being that you’ve already had 3 years of coverage, there are only 1 and 2 year agreements available. Please let me know if you would like this order canceled or replaced with an option below.
41C9280 $211.22 2YR Depot
41C9281 $267.88 2YR Onsite"

and when he protested,

"Even at the date in December we were unable to process a 5 year warranty. Due to the 3 years already in place on the order the only option we had was for an additional 1 or 2 years. This information was given to us by Lenovo, I do apologize it took so long for them to get back to us. The options below are the only ones they are able to process for your serial #. If you have any other questions let me know. I would be glad to assist."

and after a further protest

"Ok here is the deal. Even if we would have gotten the order on 12/15 we would not be able to help. This already has an extended warranty on the unit. It says so in the graphic below. You can not add another extended warranty on top; it has to be a POST warranty, no exceptions. When the customer ordered the computer, if they had the option of a 5 yr they should have chosen it. After 30 days of the original purchase, they can not change the warranty."

[billp117]

As stated...you have no options Cost Central...the warranty has ended.

Have you tried calling Lenovo? My guess is they will tell you the same thing.

[RealBlackStuff]

Lessons to be learned: don't wait till the last moment AND always try Lenovo as well, to find out what is available!

[ducky2802]

I dont quite get the problem (assuming the buyer can get fully reimbursed for the 45K6025, as it was not delivered and therefore should not be charged).

Buyer wanted a warranty extension and got offered a 2 year warranty extension for the machine for a price.

If the buyer wanted a 5 year warranty extension in addition to the original warranty, I dont think those exist. Even from lenovo direct, a 5 year warranty extension means 5 total years.

[billp117]

I think the warranty was already extended once...not sure if you can add a second Lenovo warranty extention.

[underclocker]

I can only think of three scenarios for this situation.

1) Your machine type by default carries a one year warranty, although at time of purchase, it was upgraded to three years. Therefore, for no good reason that I can imagine (other than corporate policy), it is ineligible to be upgraded again. This is quite possible, as Lenovo only permits one in-warranty upgrade.

2) Your machine type by default carries a three year warranty, you are permitted to purchase an extension, but you were sold the incorrect part number for an extension for your machine type. This scenario is quite possible as warranty options and part numbers are amazingly complex.

3) Your machine type by default carries a three year warranty, you bought the correct part number, but the registration was poorly executed. For instance, it wasn't completed before the existing warranty expired and/or some of the information was incomplete or inaccurate. This is quite possible, too, and could be very hard to go back and fix.

I have seen all three issues with employer/friends/clients machines.

[crg7]

Thanks for the replies. A 5-year warranty extension doesn't add 5 years to the warranty period---extends the total warranty to 5 years.

I believe the machine (CTO) came with a 1-year default warranty and was extended to 3-years at the time of purchase.

Most helpful would be the experience of someone in a similar situation.

[underclocker]

I believe the machine (CTO) came with a 1-year default warranty and was extended to 3-years at the time of purchase.

In this scenario, Lenovo has no path to get you to a 5 year warranty other than having you purchase a post warranty support agreement either before or after the extended three year warranty expires. That would permit you to get to four or five years, as you choose.

It makes no sense (to me, anyway) why you can't get to five years even one year at a time, but Lenovo has no mechanism to permit that. With each machine you get one shot to upgrade the warranty while you are still under the original warranty, that shot was taken with the one to three year upgrade.

It would appear that your only options are to plead to Lenovo for an exception OR accept a refund for the warranty that you purchased, then buy the more expensive post warranty support plan. Or, I suppose you can do nothing and buy parts as you need them from a forum member or eBay!

Let us know how it turns out.

Furthermore, if this turns out to be fact, it exposes one nuance of purchasing a ThinkPad. It may be a better choice to buy a model with a longer base warranty so that it can be upgraded at a lower cost at a later time. When buying a used ThinkPad, this can be an important factor, as well.

[crg7]

Did someone on this forum buy a Thinkpad with 1-year base warranty, extended to 2 or 3 years at the time of purchase, and then extended it further?

[sktn77a]

I believe you can only extend the warranty once. Also, I don't think Lenovo offers 5 years (total) coverage on new machines any longer (4 years appears to be the longest) although you may be able to extend the warranty of earlier machines that are still under the original warranty.

[billp117]

My T61 has 42 days of warranty remaining. I tried to update it but the warranty site via Thinkvantage Toolbox said that the ThinkPad came with one year of warranty and had been extended for another three years...and not eligible for any additional warranty. They also suggested to go back to the original seller and see if there were any addition options.

Does that answers your question?

[dr_st]

I can only think of three scenarios for this situation....

Unfortunately, underclocker's scenarios are right on the mark. Not only are the different warranty options and upgrade path needlessly complicated due to some obscure, illogical and stupid corporate policies, but the warranty sales people are also amazingly incompetent when it comes to executing the upgrades or even understanding the policies of their own company. I have my own sad story of unsuccessfully attempting to extend warranty, which can be dug from the archives of this forum, to back up these conclusions.

[crg7]

Looks like an extended warranty cannot be further extended. See discussion here
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T61-and-pri ... d-p/349917