Lenovo - Lenovo ThinkPad
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Lenovo United States

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Lenovo Thinkpad support Atlanta GA.

Lenovo Customer Service Durham North Carolina

Have been using Thinkpads since the 700T. I have always had excellent business support and excellent relations with customer service. When it came time upgrade my T22 and T43 models I naturally drifted to the Thinkpad line of laptops that have served me so well.

So much for loyalty. It would seem that Lenovo has bought the Thinkpad line in name only. The famed service for business that IBM understood to be its core competency is no more.

I purchased a T61 with every option. Right out of the box the laptop failed. Right at the first phone call Lenovo support failed.

At issue.

Apparently Beta testing models to work with software is very high on the list of chores for Lenovo.

1) Integrated Camera does not work on Windows Vista. Turns out the camera was never connected so it wouldn't work with any software anyway.

2) Docking station incapable of working with windows vista - external keyboard and external monitor. If I plug my laptop into the docking station and use an external monitor, the Bluetooth shuts off so my keyboard won't work. If I turn off the external device the keyboard works.

3) Lenovo keyboard "designed to work with theT61" as the ad says. Does not in fact work with the T61 and Vista. The additional buttons for "productivity" were never tested to work with Vista. As such not working no increase in productivity.

4) Lenovo "Business" software does not work with Vista. Password security software continually asks for permission to store password even after one clicks "never".

5) Lenovo undocking software does not work. If I pull the machine off it tells me to use the F9 option first in a friendly warning. If I use the F9 option first it tells me I have nothing to disconnect. Once I disconnect it tells me what a bad person I am.

Technical support is ready waiting.

Well not exactly.

1) Very limited hours with a skeleton crew on weekends.

2) First thing out of their mouths was that I needed to pay additional for support.

3) Was told on 3 separate occasions a manager would call me back within 2 business days. Mind you when IBM ran the show I got a call back.

4) Was told by level 2 support that everything should work out of the box. When they realized it would not they told me I would have to pay for support.

Customer Service is here to meet your needs no matter what.

Here is the customer service response to all of the issues.

1) We don't cover issues with software. You need to pay per incident. When I asked if paying would fix the Vista issues they said no. I asked why they would tell me to pay more if the pay service could not help. They hung up.

2) You have the choice of returning it or keeping it as is. If you return it they will not refund software purchased additionally. Nor will they exchange the machine using your existing hard drive. So basically the 5 or so hours you spent setting things up was a waste of time. However, " Customer service is here to meet your needs no matter what". It is nice to see Lenovo go the extra mile for their business clients.

Lenovo, has gutted the customer service people came to love IBM for in the past. They refuse to repair or to exchange machines without a total swap out.

I am not going to return this machine and start from scratch. I should be able to expect a working machine - or a company that will get me a working machine from a premium brand with premium costs - this is like dealing with Packard Bell.

I will be forwarding this to anyone in my company who may be considering a Lenovo and posting this complaint everywhere I can until Lenovo fixes these problems. I doubt they will care, but I will make certain others don't fall into the trap of a rusty company hiding behind a bought out famous name.

Marc Archambeau

Company: Lenovo - Lenovo ThinkPad
Country: USA

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