Has Lenovo support hit a new low

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spearsniper

133 posts

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#277086 25-Sep-2020 07:54

Just thought I'd ask if I'm being unreasonable in my expectations of support (under warranty), for a fault on my Lenovo X1 Carbon laptop.

The laptop went in for a warranty repair for the external video output from HDMI or usb-c not working. Absolutely no issue with the repair - that part works fine.
Ever since that, it's had a issue whereby it just turns off randomly. Sometimes it does it every day, other times it might last a week without doing it.

It went back for repair for this fault, and they re-imaged the laptop, but this did not fix the fault.

I subsequently raised another support ticket, and they took it back for repair again. This time they started up the laptop 10 times, determined it did not overheat, and deemed nothing was wrong, and sent it back.

Not surprisingly, it still had the same fault.

They asked me to boot it into BIOS and check if it power reset, and after a day, it did in fact power reset itself. I updated the ticket with this detail, thinking they would take it back, and actually fix it this time.

But here's the kicker. They want me to video the laptop power resetting itself before they will accept it back for repair. Is this a reasonable request?

The laptop is nearing the end of it's 3 year warranty, and I get the feeling Lenovo is just doing whatever they can to run the warranty clock to zero, so they do not need to fix it.

Dynamic

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#2573919 25-Sep-2020 08:07

You have started a dialogue with them, and as long as you continue that (without pauses of sayyyyy more than a week) then even if the 3 years runs out you will be fine contractually (in my opinion).

Do you have the capability of videoing this behaviour without standing there for 24 hours with your phone in your hand? If not, then just advise that you cannot reasonably do this. They can have it sitting on their test bench for a few days and watch it themselves.

Push back politely but firmly.

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timmmay

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#2573929 25-Sep-2020 08:16

Nope, that's not reasonable. At this point you should be asking for a replacement with new. Read through consumer guarantees I suspect there's a clause in there for that.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

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#2573931 25-Sep-2020 08:19

Lenovo service is awful.

A few years back, I had a crashing thinkpad - it would freeze then reboot. I sent this machine in 3 times... each time, would be away for between 1-2 months. My machine was running out of warranty, and they still hadn't fixed the problem that existed from since I had bought it new.

Eventually, they took the machine back and refunded me.

Another time, I sent my x1 to lenovo repairs to have my trackpoint fixed -- but after 3 weeks in repair, i got it back and they had replaced the 'trackpad', not the trackpoint. And, also the external speaker no longer worked. . . then they said they would send someone to my house the next day, but they didn't turn up and I called support and they said sorry we should have called you but we are waiting for parts, again........ why would they have told me they are sending someone to my place if they didn't even have parts?

In my whole life, lenovo have been the worst for customer support with respect to repairs.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

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#2573935 25-Sep-2020 08:25

timmmay:

Nope, that's not reasonable. At this point you should be asking for a replacement with new. Read through consumer guarantees I suspect there's a clause in there for that.

Lenovo have a mostly ghost office in wellington -- seems that their only employee is an answer machine - CGA claims against them are difficult because they cannot be contacted .

Even if you won the dispute hearing (they won't turn up), how do you enforce your win when they don't have a presence or assets here?

When you call them, you're always talking to foreigners who assure that you are being looked after then fail to do much at all. Call them again and speak to a different foreigner who also assures that they 'have your back'. And so on.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

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#2573938 25-Sep-2020 08:28

spearsniper:

Ever since that, it's had a issue whereby it just turns off randomly. Sometimes it does it every day, other times it might last a week without doing it.

Which generation x1 carbon do you have? I had this exact same issue with my x1 carbon from a few years back, random freeze/reboots. After nearly a year of trying to fix this they gave me a refund. They even replaced the system board (they never have parts, you have to wait months).

spearsniper

133 posts

Master Geek

#2573944 25-Sep-2020 08:35

surfisup1000:

Which generation x1 carbon do you have? I had this exact same issue with my x1 carbon from a few years back, random freeze/reboots. After nearly a year of trying to fix this they gave me a refund. They even replaced the system board (they never have parts, you have to wait months).

This is a Gen 5 X1 carbon.

xpd

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#2573955 25-Sep-2020 08:53

Not been a fan of their support for many years.... brand new desktop, PSU failed, had next day business support - 3 months later they finally had someone turn up to fix it.

Spoke with one of their contractors over here, and they said that they were always having to wait for parts and it was frustrating as hell - they'd be sent jobs to do with no parts and have to call the customer to tell them they'd have to wait.

And this was almost 10 years. So nothing has changed.

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surfisup1000

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#2573957 25-Sep-2020 08:53

spearsniper:

surfisup1000:

Which generation x1 carbon do you have? I had this exact same issue with my x1 carbon from a few years back, random freeze/reboots. After nearly a year of trying to fix this they gave me a refund. They even replaced the system board (they never have parts, you have to wait months).

This is a Gen 5 X1 carbon.

That is the same one I had issues with random reboots -- sometimes 1 week between reboots, sometimes 3 times in a day -- they gave me a refund and I bought a gen 6 carbon -- has been the best laptop I ever owned, with 0 issues (apart from the occasional wandering cursor but that is trackpoint technology).

But their support? Just pray I never have to use it again!

Dynamic

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#2573962 25-Sep-2020 08:59

Are these consumer-grade devices or commercial-grade? I only know of the Carbon as a commercial-level machine.

If had to tell one of my business clients that their expensive laptop was going to be out of action for more than a week, they would rip me a new one, and rightly so. You pay a premium price for a commercial laptop and should expect premium service as a result.

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1101

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#2574074 25-Sep-2020 10:16

xpd:

Spoke with one of their contractors over here, and they said that they were always having to wait for parts and it was frustrating as hell - they'd be sent jobs to do with no parts and have to call the customer to tell them they'd have to wait.

Ah, the horrors of being a contracted warranty service agent . been there , seen it.

lack of parts
supplied parts that dont work (5x faulty replacement mb's in a row for the same job)
having to store many stripped down devices for many months because no parts to fix/finish the job
The manufacturers support would tell the customers that its the service agent thats causing the repair delays (a lie , parts werent available)
Having a small pallet of parts arrive , without warning, without any documentation , and the pallets packaging was broken wide open . So no way of knowing whats missing
getting paid below market rates for the work
completely over the top paperwork requirements
being required to fix a known design fault (for all on NZ) , being given enough parts to fix 3 units (for all of NZ)
being told NOT to discuss anything with the customer, all discussions/correspondence to go through the manufacturers help desk (obviously thats not workable )

:-)