Do ThinkPads have international warranties?

If I were to buy a ThinkPad with onsite service in the States and have it break down while on a business trip to France or China or something, would Lenovo send a tech to my hotel? Or would I have to wait until I returned to the States to get service?

 

Most do. Check the machine type:

Lenovo Support - International Warranty Services (US)

 

There is no guarantee that on-site service will be available in any other country apart from possibly Canada. Local rules are a *huge* variable in this equation.

 

Could you elaborate more on what you mean by local rules? Are you talking about how different countries have different laws which may get in the way of onsite service, or do you mean that each of Lenovo's national subsidiaries behaves and operates as an independent company, and they don't acknowledge each other?

 

Nothing to do with the law.

If you buy an on-site warranty in the U.S. there is no guarantee that you'll receive the same level of service in Portugal or China.

The only country where such service is guaranteed is the country of original purchase.

All countries that are specified in IWS for the given model number will honour the warranty, though.

Take a look at this:

The length of warranty service is based upon the originating country of purchase, however, the method of service provided [for example, depot, customer carry-in repair (CCR) , IBM on-site repair (IOR, etc.] in the servicing country may be different from the method provided in the country in which the machine was purchased. Service procedures may vary by country, and some service and/or parts may not be available in all countries


as well as:


Note: Service procedures may vary by country, and some service and/or parts may not be available in all countries. Some countries may have fees and restrictions that apply at the time of service. IWS eligibility is based on the four-digit machine type; however, certain countries may not have the capability of servicing all models of a particular machine type.
In cases where the country may not have the ability to service a particular model, service may be provided on a "best effort" basis and some fees or restrictions may apply. An alternative would be to attempt to obtain service under IWS in a neighboring country listed for the machine in question.

All of the above was quoted from here:

International Warranty Service Terms And Conditions (English)

 

To summarize the of the wot is

Check your model number. If it is listed.
warranty is covered in the country you wanna go too.
Then if it is a critical issue call the number.
No onsite means you have to go to their service centre to get it repaired