[Thinkpad] TP-41 : Poor repair service from IBM?

Hi Everyone

My boss recently made the jump from Macintosh to PC and bought a ThinkPad T41. He was very happy with his new laptop until it broke last month.

His T41 suffered a complete power failure on Friday 30th July 2004. It was only a few months old and bought in the UK with an IBM warranty. He called IBM support directly and after a few diagnostics was told to deliver the laptop to a courier's depot the following Monday. He's had little spontaneous feedback (a couple of indecipherable messages left on his home) so today he called for a progress report. IBM said they were unable to trace the part (new systemboard & modem) that had (allegedly) been dispatched to repair his laptop. At this point he registered a verbally complaint. So 3 1/2 weeks after calling IBM, a new part has been ordered but lost in the IBM system and he has no date for the return of his computer.

I'm onto my second ThinkPad and my boss bought his largely on the basis of my good experience with them. I've never had to use IBM for a repair but I got the impression they offered a pretty good warranty. This was one reason why I have paid the comparably higher price for a ThinkPad.

Is this story typical of IBM's repair service or just a isolated bad incident? How do IBM compare to their competitors in terms of speed & efficiency of under-warrant repairs? I'm interested in the experience of both UK users and those abroad, especially in the USA where service standards generally seem to be high.

Best wishes

Simon Watson

Edinburgh, UK
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Received on Wed Aug 18 08:56:21 2004