Lenovo: "I wish I didn't have to help you..."

Have you been following my earlier blog posts about my horrible experiences with Lenovo? Well, for 2 years, I was trying to get them to replace a faulty laptop that they couldn't fix, over and over. That's the short version. The story ended yesterday.

It started when someone from some sort of customer care department called me. His attitude told me he was not there to help me, even though he claimed that was his job. He told me the reason why my laptop didn't get fixed when it was at the depot last month was because nothing was wrong with it. Everything tested to be totally fine. I told him that the tech team were high because they didn't fix my problems. He told me he was very insulted that I would say such a thing about his co-workers, and he was taking it personally. Really? This is now YOUR emotional issue? I've been fighting Lenovo for 2 years, I'm frustrated, but YOU'RE insulted that I might think the tech team that's had this laptop twice might NOT be the best at their jobs? OK, Tyrone in the North Carolina office, I am so sorry I hurt your tender feelings about your co-workers.

The message? I'm crazy, and I have nothing better to do than to create a two-year hobby of trying to get Lenovo to fix a good machine. I called back and asked for somebody else who might actually care about my situation. I got Janice, a "Customer Complaint Advocate." She immediately sounded unhappy to talk to me, but was saying that helping me was her job. So I can only imagine that my account is flagged as some sort of whiny troublemaker that people should get off the phone. Otherwise, you'd think a Customer Complaint Advocate is there to listen to me and help.

She basically said what Tyrone said, and her attitude was palpable. So basically, the computer works fine, and according to her, the techs did me a FAVOUR by updating the system software. I should evidently be grateful to the techs for what they did. According to her, everything works fine, and if there is anything wrong with my computer, it's my fault. It's something I installed, and Lenovo doesn't support customer-installed software. She didn't care about my 2 years of problems with the machine or how Lenovo staff are treating me.

So somehow, the software I use simultaneously on my old Dell Laptop, new HP laptop, and this Lenovo laptop is bad and causes blue screens, so it's my fault. But somehow, the only blue screens I get are on the Lenovo laptop. But it's all my fault and problem, and Lenovo can't fix it when it's my fault.

While I'm talking to her, the computer is blue screening. I boot it up, I put in the password, and about 10 min later, it blue screens and reboots. All on its own. She tells me that I must have some bad peripheral plugged in. Nope, I tell her all my peripherals are plugged into my new HP laptop, which replaced this Lenovo. She says I must have something in the USB, maybe an external hard drive. No, I can do this. I can see that I have not plugged anything into the Lenovo other than the power cord. Am I using the computer? No, I just turn it on, put in my password, and let it sit there.

I ask her what does Lenovo do if I go to outside computer shops like Geek Squad, have them diagnose the computer, and THEY find heaps of things wrong with it. Will they then believe me that it's faulty? Will they ever replace it? She tells me they don't care what anybody else says about the machine. It won't matter what Geek Squad finds wrong with it. Lenovo techs found it to be completely working, and they go by that. She told me Lenovo will NEVER replace my computer because it works fine, but she doesn't understand why I'm getting blue screens, so she'll have me send it in AGAIN. OK, but I know they won't do anything, especially while they have to keep up the "nothing's wrong with it, and if something is, it's your fault and not under warranty" thing.

Janice and I end up joking about spam email, and I asked which candidate we can vote for to end spam email. She said, "That would be Al Gore." I jokingly said, "I'm starting to miss that guy." She replies, "Well, now that you said that, I wish I didn't have to help you."

Really. You so don't like the idea that I might say something nice about a guy who happens to be a Democrat that you wish you didn't have to help me. My reply to her was, "Get on the pile of Lenovo people who aren't helping me!"

She emailed me a mailing label for sending the computer back in for more service if I wanted it looked at again. By then, everybody I knew was telling me to just stop with Lenovo. Stop wasting my time. This computer will never be what I wanted or paid for. Lenovo will never stand behind their own warranty. I'll never have enough faith in this to put important data on it. And once you're dealing with people who start out disliking you and wish they didn't have to help you because you might not have the same politics, you're not going to win. But my husband has come up with a good idea on how to use the Lenovo. I tell Janice I won't send it back until I do more testing to make sure the problems are still happening.

My husband is working on turning the Lenovo into a "hackintosh." That's what should be a Windows computer running a Macintosh OS. He has really wanted a Mac, and now is his big chance. I'm selling this one cheap. :)

And that's the end. The Lenovo story ends with a whimper as Lenovo wins. You win, Lenovo. You got my $2500, and you should be proud of how you beat me down. Only took you two years. I'm sure it has taken others much less time to give up on you. I recently saw a new book that claims that one unhappy customer tells 3000 people. When I think about how things ripple out, I can believe that. So remember that by making one person unhappy... by not replacing my computer, which probably costs you internally about $700, 3000 people may know my story. Some of them may choose to not buy from you because of it. I hope your financial savings will be worth it. I'm a marketing person, and I'd say it wasn't.

I also hope that someone in Lenovo tracks down Janice (I have her last name, but don't want to type it here) for saying what she said. I hope that call was recorded. I can't imagine my staff saying something like that to a client. I hope 3000 people read what Janice said to me, and buy someon else's laptop.

Thanks!

Posted at 07:10 AM in That's Bad Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)