Advice need on BAD repair job

Hi,
I would really appreciate your advice on an issue I have had recently.

I brought my lenovo to a local service centre to get faulty hindges replaced.

The company was a authorised lenovo repair centre so they could repair it under warrenty.

1/ I got the laptop back the lid clips on the bottom of the lcd were not clipped.

2/ Some clips were not clips in properly above the battery on the main body.

3/ The technican broke the front bezel and after examining I can see they super glued the right handside of the bezel to the lid so to hide their mistake.

Is this acceptable procedure from a Lenovo authorized repair centre?

Have they invalided my warrenty?

If I send this off to Lenovo directly will they replace the lid and bezel the technian super glued?

I know Lenovo is the only person who can answer this question but any advice on how to handle it?

Thanks
Simon

 

I just posted similar issue about my LCD bezel clips that were not properly fitted after my laptop got serviced.

But either way, you should definitely contact Lenovo about it and let them know everything that youre not satisfied with!

Some members here might be able to help you with more detailed directions as to whom to contact and where to seek more help

 

Yes, authorized repair centers often offer sub-par repairs but if you complain to Lenovo, then an competent IBM technician will contact you to fix it onsite at a place of your convenience.

 

After some bad experiences using a third party repair depot for my former macbook, I'd never use that service again. I hope that's a valuable lesson learned to the OP, it's always best to go through the manufacturer directly whenever possible, even if it means a longer lead time.

 

You can escalate the repair and file a complaint against the authorized repair centre, you would have to take pictures of the damages and misrepairs, then put them in a word document with proper explanation.

 

A update,
I live in Ireland and I brought the laptop to a company who advertise as a authorized repair centre and a authorized reseller.

Lenovo tech support based in the UK explained to me there was only one authorized repair centre in Dublin. This was the tone of all my conversation. 3 support agents (indian), a supervisor (scottish) and a warranty validation department (scottish).

In the end went back to the company and they replaced the front bezel and lid under my supervision.
To my horror the technician began to pull the front bezel off the T61p. (To remove the front bezel on a T61p you must remove the lid first). This is probably why the front bezel was broken and the laptop was not put back together correctly.

As the lid was glued to the magnisium rollcage he took a screwdriver to the lid and now I have a shiny new lid and bezel.

The warranty validation department could not authorize a repair of this kind as it was not under warranty.

The company in question said they would claim all the parts on the warranty.

I just cant believe Lenovo, my warranty covers carry in repair and when I raise this issue they say why didn't you call us, this is your fault you brought it to a non authorized repair centre.

In the end the moral of the story, when dealing with Lenovo warranty repairs, ring them first before giving it in for repairs.

 

Are onsite IBM technicians more competent than the ones at authorized repair centers?

Common sense would tell me they would be the same.

 

to be brutally honest, it *is* your fault.

if you owned a Ford under warranty, the logical first choice would be to take it to a Ford service center, wouldn't it?!

yes, there are third party options who can claim to be authorized to do Ford work, but your best bet is always the manufacturer's own service centers. and if you are going to go with the 3rd party option, always verify with the manufacturer that they are still authorized as that authorized status can change.

why would you think a laptop might be any different?

lesson learned.

 

the reason why the onsite servicing is the safer option is that you can get to see them do the work in front of you. if they're disassembing the laptop incorrectly, you can say 'Whoa!' and stop them.

that's common sense at work for ya.

 

I got the impression that the warranty was being done through lenovo even though the laptop was taken to the repair center. I didnt have any indication before the OP said that lenovo said this because it was taken to a unauthorized repair shop that it was the fault of the owner for taking it in.

 

I'm all ears, how is it his fault?

An authorized service center should have all the necessary documentation needed to properly disassemble, repair, test and reassemble the manufactures laptops. What he dealt with was a hack and slash shop that doesn't give a flip about how to properly service ANY laptop. What needs to be done is file a complaint with the mfg so they can give the work to another shop that actually wants to do a good job.

Rule of thumb if you have an ounce of mechanical ability do it yourself. I can find online documentation for all of my laptops and I prefer to do it myself.

 

because that 'hack and slash shop' that did the repair work was NOT authorized to handle lenovo repair warranty work and he took the shop's claim that they were authorized at face value instead of contacting lenovo UK to confirm if that were true.

the fact that they indeed butchered his laptop pretty much probably shows why that shop wasn't authorized.

it could even be argued that any duly authorized Lenovo repair center may not always be authorized to do warranty work. each manufacturer may have separate policies about warranty repair as opposed to customer paid repairs. for example, they may parcel out authorized warranty repair status to those whom they can contract a cheaper rate of service/labor since they pay for that repair cost out of their own pocket.

the bottom line is never make make assumptions about who can handle the warranty repair, best that you contact the manufacturer to find out.

 

This company in question would be a well established PC reseller and repair centre. In the repair shop there equipment was all lenovo and the box which had my new parts in had a account number.
In some shape or form this company is a repair centre.

If they were not how can they replace new parts and not charge the customer any money?

I have had a bad experience with sending my laptop off to Acer , where bad diagnostic was made and was sent back to me not repaired.
The acer laptop had to be picked up a second time sent to a different repair centre and problem solved.

My point of view was, I know the company I'm dealing with, high managment told me they were a authorized repair centre, there website advertises it.

The company in my town has a good reputation and the man under the CEO says they are authorized to repair the laptop then why would you doubt it.

In the future I will deal with Lenovo directly, as a previous poster said "Never assume anything".

 

a good reputation can be generalized - they could be good with HP & Acer repairs, perhaps not as good with Lenovo, eg. their techs may have little experience with working on Lenovos. [btw, i'd love to know how your researched that that particular repair place does good work.] maybe you were extremely unlucky and got a bad tech and the rest of their techs aren't incompetent.

all the other information you provided is moot really and it really doesn't matter in the sense that Lenovo isn't going to step in to fix your problem; you did not verify with Lenovo as to how the warranty repair should be handled and because of that, Lenovo UK says that they are absolved of responsbility to fix it for free.

your recourse now is to sue the repair company and either have them repair the laptop correctly or reimburse you for what it will cost to get the laptop fixed by Lenovo. you could also try to escalate your issue with Lenovo management and thru the lenovo forum. maybe they'll make an exception in your case.

 

Thanks for your reply filmbuff.
In general the company is well know around the town, has service contracts with schools and busness's.

From what I saw, I would not use there services again.

Fortunately they have fixed my laptop under warrenty for free and hopefully they don't come calling me for money in a few weeks

Great discussion guys thanks for all the advice.