OT: A small rant on computer company/need some advice on next step

[saabracer23]

So I don't make it a habit to bash companies as I know they all have their bad days, but this is just nuts and don't know what to do.

So my wife and I went to the local Best Buy and purchased matching laptops so I can do all of my driver modeling and measuring on my own computer instead of sharing. We looked around and with the help of an employee we ended up with Lenovo yoga 2 in 1 laptops. They offered an insurance for an extra $250 or so that would cover accidental damages and I declined, its all a scam right?!? My first mistake. So I take the computer in the car one day while my wife drove so I could get some work done. We got to where we were going and put the laptop behind the driver seat while we went in and my wife asked if I'd drive back. My wife is 5'7" and I'm 6'3" so I backed the seat right over that poor laptop. Three big scratches and dents and a cracked screen.

I call Lenovo and send them the computer and get quoted $300ish for the repair. I wanted to make sure it repaired the scratched back and dents and the said it did. They emailed me an invoice and it shows the screen and the scratched and dents itemized on the invoice. Now, it took a lot of frustrating phone calls to get to this point. No one communicates with each other and no one seems to know where to transfer my call. I'd go through it all but want to keep this as short as I can.

Anyways it takes a full month for the repair and I just wanted my computer back. I get it back and I'm stoked until I pull it out. First thing I see is that the scratches and dents are still there. I'm pissed! I call and go through the whole phone thing and get a guy who turns out to be quite nice and even though English isn't his first language is quite articulate and impersonates an American accent quite well. He gets me a manager and he says that they will get me a shipping box immediately and to send it right back. He then says this, which boggles me, "so Mr. Horton, I see that you already paid for the repair so this time it's free of charge." Ummmm, no it's not, I paid for it.

I hang up and just look at it. I started to think maybe I should just live with the damage. I really don't want to be without for another month. I've really been wanting to measure some drivers so I can start modeling. I turn it one and wouldn't you know it, where the three scratch/dents are on the back panel are pushing on the LCD. So I have three spots on the screen where it's discolored!!! No now it's not cosmetic only. I'll be watching a movie and have people with green or purple faces.

Did they even turn it on??? I really just want to drop Lenovo go with someone that has a half decent customer service and repair department. I just hope we don't have any more problems in the future.

Thoughts? What would you do?

Dan

[craigk]

Take your wife's computer.

[Mike E]

next time you get someone like that, that might be in india, just kindly ask to be transfered to either next level support or someone in the usa. i would have them make it right though if they charged you to fix it, if they dont, dispute the charges.

[bungelow_ed]

Take a look at Dell if you are considering another laptop. After 21 yrs in technical positions with Intel I've worked with most all the OEMs. Dell still does a good bit of manufacturing in the US and has consistentl better than average customer support.

[Æ]

So I don't make it a habit to bash companies as I know they all have their bad days, but this is just nuts and don't know what to do.

So my wife and I went to the local Best Buy and purchased matching laptops so I can do all of my driver modeling and measuring on my own computer instead of sharing. We looked around and with the help of an employee we ended up with Lenovo yoga 2 in 1 laptops. They offered an insurance for an extra $250 or so that would cover accidental damages and I declined, its all a scam right?!? My first mistake. So I take the computer in the car one day while my wife drove so I could get some work done. We got to where we were going and put the laptop behind the driver seat while we went in and my wife asked if I'd drive back. My wife is 5'7" and I'm 6'3" so I backed the seat right over that poor laptop. Three big scratches and dents and a cracked screen.

I call Lenovo and send them the computer and get quoted $300ish for the repair. I wanted to make sure it repaired the scratched back and dents and the said it did. They emailed me an invoice and it shows the screen and the scratched and dents itemized on the invoice. Now, it took a lot of frustrating phone calls to get to this point. No one communicates with each other and no one seems to know where to transfer my call. I'd go through it all but want to keep this as short as I can.

Anyways it takes a full month for the repair and I just wanted my computer back. I get it back and I'm stoked until I pull it out. First thing I see is that the scratches and dents are still there. I'm pissed! I call and go through the whole phone thing and get a guy who turns out to be quite nice and even though English isn't his first language is quite articulate and impersonates an American accent quite well. He gets me a manager and he says that they will get me a shipping box immediately and to send it right back. He then says this, which boggles me, "so Mr. Horton, I see that you already paid for the repair so this time it's free of charge." Ummmm, no it's not, I paid for it.

I hang up and just look at it. I started to think maybe I should just live with the damage. I really don't want to be without for another month. I've really been wanting to measure some drivers so I can start modeling. I turn it one and wouldn't you know it, where the three scratch/dents are on the back panel are pushing on the LCD. So I have three spots on the screen where it's discolored!!! No now it's not cosmetic only. I'll be watching a movie and have people with green or purple faces.

Did they even turn it on??? I really just want to drop Lenovo go with someone that has a half decent customer service and repair department. I just hope we don't have any more problems in the future.

Thoughts? What would you do?

Dan

I bought a Lenovo Yoga and am disappointed with it. A relative of mine also bought a Lenovo laptop and it failed. I'll never buy another Lenovo again.

[bwaslo]

Even better, look at the refurbished Dell laptops -- a lot of bigger companies just rent computers and get them replaced with newer models on a schedule rather than when the old ones fail. For driver modeling and measuring you don't need fast graphics, touchpad, and related fancy stuff. You can get a very serviceable speaker work laptop for quite little money (less than you paid for that repair).

[biscuitbarrell]

Get it repaired. Don't send the message that they can call this sort of thing "service". Hold their feet to the fire on this one, and be sure you get the repair you PAID for. It sucks to have to be without it, for sure, but they are counting on wearing you down. Don't budge.

[Millstonemike]

Take a look at Dell if you are considering another laptop. After 21 yrs in technical positions with Intel I've worked with most all the OEMs. Dell still does a good bit of manufacturing in the US and has consistentl better than average customer support.

+1, all my Dell's (20 years) have lasted until they were no longer useful, no repairs. My current PC is 8-year old and no problems (I am looking to replace it with only Dell).

[wogg]

I have a Lenovo for work, and bought a Flex 15 for my wife. Both have been plenty solid. That's not to say there couldn't be some quality problems.

Get it repaired. Don't send the message that they can call this sort of thing "service". Hold their feet to the fire on this one, and be sure you get the repair you PAID for. It sucks to have to be without it, for sure, but they are counting on wearing you down. Don't budge.

I agree with this, I work in the third party repair industry. We never did Lenovo, but had problems doing some other laptop repairs. Send that sucker back and make some noise, if you can get escalated to some management or quality folks, they'll probably actually improve what they're doing for everyone. ...or perhaps they'll lose the business for everyone. Sucks going without a machine for a little while though, so I get the hesitation.

[mike s]

I've been wary of Lenovo since the superfish malware/spyware issue.

[Millstonemike]

Well, it sounds like Lenova has a huge defensive position - total frustration to a front assault. May I suggest hitting them in their flank (it's what Patten would do).

Military Strategy: Open a dispute with your credit card company. They'll immediately issue a credit to the original charge (95% of the law rule). The credit will be tied to the disputed charge. The original charge's dollar value won't add to your payment due or add interest to your account. When the dispute is finalized (weeks), the tag will be lifted and the refund will become final.

Combat Tactics: Call Lenova and tell them you want a refund. Don't send the laptop back. Keep notes of your calls to Lenova (dates, times, names , summary of call, etc.). And keep all the invoices, shipping labels/receipts, the box they're shipping to you, etc. If Lenova challenges the dispute, the cc company will add a lot of weight to your case and put pressure on Lenova.

Spoils of War: Fix your laptop and use it too - with no pain. Take it to a local PC repair and get a quote. It sounds like you need to replace panels and/or parts. The shop will need to order them. You can use the laptop until they get the parts. And once they do get them, they should be able to do a 1-day turnaround on the repair. It should be cheaper, maybe way cheaper.


And don't listen to Craig and takes your wife's hardware Use any money you save on the repair to take her out. You never know. Maybe she'll offer to share her "software"

[Gordy]

Even better, look at the refurbished Dell laptops -- a lot of bigger companies just rent computers and get them replaced with newer models on a schedule rather than when the old ones fail. For driver modeling and measuring you don't need fast graphics, touchpad, and related fancy stuff. You can get a very serviceable speaker work laptop for quite little money (less than you paid for that repair).

Those refurbs come from several places. Some from canceled orders, DOA boxes, over orders and try-and-buy items. They also come in a host of conditions which I believe is noted in the description of the system online. They are a pretty good buy and used to be all I would purchase. I am partial to the Latitude and optiplex models but did own an XPS13 at one point. That was one heck of a notebook.

[Brian Steele]

I bought a Lenovo Yoga and am disappointed with it. A relative of mine also bought a Lenovo laptop and it failed. I'll never buy another Lenovo again.

My last laptop purchased was a Lenovo (a Flex 4), for SWMBO. She's very happy with it, and it hasn't failed yet. I've used it once or twice and it seems like a pretty good deal for the price we paid for it.

OTOH my current laptop is a Dell XPS12 that cost almost four times as much and the keyboard bezel and the back of the screen are showing heavy signs of wear. Based on my experience with that unit, I will never buy a laptop that advertises a "carbon-fiber" body. And as for desktop PCs, after a lot of the internal plastic pieces in my last Dell dry-rotted and broke apart on their own, I've decided to just build my own, and I'm very happy with the results .

[Audion]

Outsourcing to other nations to "save money" was never a good idea for the most part. We get what we pay for.

Shawn

[saabracer23]

I'm going to send it back and give it one more shot. I took it to several repair shops around here and they all said that it needed to be sent to Lenovo. Not sure why none of them can do the repair.

To be honest we both love the machines. Super quiet, stays very cool, long battery life, crazy fast, SSD. I may look at dell if they can't get it right this next time. I can't raise a dispute with the credit card companies because I paid cash (don't use credit cards, only one for emergencies).

We'll see how it goes.

Dan