Re: [Thinkpad] Re: Customer care is not just a warranty (was T40...)

They actually do help you with stuff like that, and even send out recovery
CD's
That's why you pay more for IBM.
Brand X has been known to tell people, "we ONLY support the OS that came
with the machine".
----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Wilcox" <swilcox@indy.rr.com>
To: "Deanna Berman" <dberman@4dv.net>; <thinkpad@stderr.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 11:56 AM
Subject: [Thinkpad] Re: Customer care is not just a warranty (was T40...)

> No, you said that Ibm should Help you install any supported software.
Think
> about what you are suggesting. You are saying that IBM should Help the
> (this) customer install Win2k on a machine that they sold with WinXP and
as
> an oem are bound to warrant and service for free. What happens if next
> month he(she) changes their mind and wants to install Win98, and the next
> month NT. I believe that your post below outlines the extent of the Help
> available in these situations.
> Even at that, I too believe that Ibm should have made the customer aware
of
> the limited support available instead of saying Not Our Problem. In fact,
> this whole senario could have been resolved by a breif explaination of the
> limited help (as you stated below) Ibm offers on their site instead of
> allowing the customer's frustration to blow things way out of proportion.
> Sometimes the resolutions to monumental problems are the most simple and
> obvious ones.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Deanna Berman" <dberman@4dv.net>
> To: "Scott Wilcox" <swilcox@indy.rr.com>; <thinkpad@stderr.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 2:08 AM
> Subject: Customer care is not just a warranty (was T40...)
>
>
> > No mixup on my part. I did not assert the existence of any warranty
> rights; nor use the term "warranty" at all.
> >
> > Of course IBM has every right not to help someone with Win95 or Red
Hat --
> but those are not listed as supported operating systems,
> > so I would not expect IBM to assist me with them. (I do note, though,
that
> in addition that for the "supported" operating systems,
> > IBM does have a page of tips for installing Red Hat on a T40, with
> disclaimers I consider perfectly appropriate.) However, I don't
> > read "supported" as meaning merely "compatible with" or "meets the
minimum
> requirements to run". Used by a manufacturer with a
> > history as formidable as IBM's, "support" is a word of art -- and IBM
> knows damn well when, where and how to put it in writing.
> >
> > Your bet that "that's another model number" proves my point. My
criticism
> of IBM was based on what it said on a page expressly
> > tailored to a single model --237392U. In fact, if you go to 2373-92U
> support, you can choose installation instructions for Windows
> > 98 and 2000, notwithstanding the fact that this model comes with XP. If
> you take a close look at these detailed installation
> > instructions, they are very obviously written for people who are
> installing operating systems *other* than that which was preloaded
> > on their machines. They include preparation steps for the particular OS
to
> be installed, meticulous listings of files that will be
> > needed in addition to the new OS itself, as well as where to get them
and
> suggestions for alternate sources. And they assume the
> > source of the OS files to be installed is a Microsoft CD, not an IBM
> recovery disk or a preloaded hard drive.
> >
> > The sheer volume and detail the IBM online support site devotes to
> alternate operating systems bolsters my belief that it intends to
> > assist its customers with a wide range of situations and issues that are
> not circumscribed by the term "warranty". My opinion about
> > any failure to do that is based not on any express limited warranty
> language or any implied warranties under state commercial codes
> > or federal Magnuson-Moss Act, but on common law concepts -- and common
> sense expectations -- that even if no written law ever
> > required that IBM provide certain types of assistance to its customers,
> once it has undertaken to do so on the scale we see (and
> > appreciate) every day, those customers should be able to rely on IBM to
> follow through on its mission responsibly and effectively.
> >
> > In the particular case that triggered this thread, IBM and CDW probably
> both rightly disclaimed any warranty liability, as there
> > doesn't seem to be any evidence of any defective product. But even if
IBM
> is understandably reluctant to pay its telephone support
> > personnel to work through every question personally, why doesn't it
teach
> them to say, "You know, that doesn't sound like a
> > defective product, so it's not a warranty issue. I can't tell over the
> phone what's causing your problem, but why don't you visit
> > our website, enter your model number and follow the links to the
extensive
> instructions for installing Windows 2000 on an XP-preload
> > system. There might be some detail you missed." Instead, many a
frustrated
> customer hangs up the phone with "NOT IBM'S PROBLEM!"
> > ringing in his ears.
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Scott Wilcox" <swilcox@indy.rr.com>
> > To: "Deanna Berman" <dberman@4dv.net>; <thinkpad@stderr.org>;
> <scott@turnstyle.com>
> > Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 20:30 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Thinkpad] I've never tried to sell a used laptop, here's a
> T40...
> >
> >
> > > I think you are mixing the terminology here. Yes, IBM has every right
> to
> > > say "We don't have to help you if you installed a different operating
> > > system." for this model which could be Win95 or Red Hat. They don't
> have to
> > > "help" or warrant anything beyond what the machine was sold with.
Now,
> will
> > > the machine "support" the OS's you refer to??? Yes, it should. But
not
> > > with IBM warranted support. I haven't looked but I'd bet that's
another
> > > model number.
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
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Received on Wed Mar 17 23:12:55 2004