I blogged a few days ago about the sad fact that my beloved three-year-old child, a.k.a. 2687, a black IBM (Lenovo) laptop, had to be repaired. The LCD had gone dark. I tried to get it fixed locally, but none of the vendors recommended by IBM could move fast enough. Nor were any independent outfits like Geek Squad up to the task. So I took the last resort: sending it back to IBM. I was reluctant to do this for a variety of reasons, but it seemed the best alternative.
Although the IBM techs I’d talked to on the phone were knowledgeable, pleasant, and fast (I never even got put on hold), and even though I was assured I wouldn’t pay a penny for the work (the machine is still under warranty), I was pessimistic. The biggest downside was living that long without my laptop.
On Wednesday morning, IBM sent me a sturdy shipping box with a return DHL label. On Wednesday early evening, I packed up my baby and sent her to a company called Solectron in Memphis. I left town on Thursday (to Madison, Wisc. — my first visit; great town), and got home by late Friday morning. There she was waiting for me, my smart little machine, all fixed up by someone halfway across the country, at a cost to me of $0.00, the entire transaction taking about 36 hours.
I wish IBM made more things so I could buy them and know that if something went wrong, the repair process would always be this good.
This is the best customer service I’ve ever encountered in my life.
Maybe IBM should be running a few other three-letter outfits. Let’s start with the DMV, CIA, TSA, and move on from there.
and 
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I think at this point, Lenovo is operating independently from IBM, aside from borrowing the IBM badge.
/Visited the IBM campus in RTP, NC, last fall.
I think at this point, Lenovo is operating independently from IBM, aside from borrowing the IBM badge.
/Visited the IBM campus in RTP, NC, last fall.
Why is the co-author of Freakonomics buying overpriced insurance/warranty for a computer?!
Tim Hartford wrote, “There is plenty of overpriced insurance around, always bundled with some other product. A popular cell phone retailer will insure your $90 phone for $1.70 a week—nearly $90 a year. The fair price of the insurance is probably closer to $9 a year than $90. Economists are rarely tub-thumping consumer-rights activists. We tend to believe that people are smart enough to fend for themselves. But the commercial success of this kind of insurance is perplexing. The pricing is grotesquely inflated … ”
http://www.slate.com/id/2141427
Why is the co-author of Freakonomics buying overpriced insurance/warranty for a computer?!
Tim Hartford wrote, “There is plenty of overpriced insurance around, always bundled with some other product. A popular cell phone retailer will insure your $90 phone for $1.70 a week-nearly $90 a year. The fair price of the insurance is probably closer to $9 a year than $90. Economists are rarely tub-thumping consumer-rights activists. We tend to believe that people are smart enough to fend for themselves. But the commercial success of this kind of insurance is perplexing. The pricing is grotesquely inflated … ”
http://www.slate.com/id/2141427
I had the opposite experience one year ago. I sent my laptop into IBM; they sent it back, unfixed (though the two problems were immediately obvious to anyone who tried to turn on the computer or use the mouse). I called to complain, they sent another box, I sent it back. They sent it back, still unfixed. I called to complain again, and the person on the line told me that the problem might be with the hard drive, and they didn’t have authority to replace that (though I had, in fact, signed a form explicitly authorizing them to do so). Finally I took it to an authorized service provider who fixed both the hard drive and the mouse problems. After similar problems with IBM service a few months ago, I’ve pretty much sworn off the company.
I had the opposite experience one year ago. I sent my laptop into IBM; they sent it back, unfixed (though the two problems were immediately obvious to anyone who tried to turn on the computer or use the mouse). I called to complain, they sent another box, I sent it back. They sent it back, still unfixed. I called to complain again, and the person on the line told me that the problem might be with the hard drive, and they didn’t have authority to replace that (though I had, in fact, signed a form explicitly authorizing them to do so). Finally I took it to an authorized service provider who fixed both the hard drive and the mouse problems. After similar problems with IBM service a few months ago, I’ve pretty much sworn off the company.
I was always hoping IBM would take over my universities IT department…
I was always hoping IBM would take over my universities IT department…