English-Only? Lenovo forces English-Only on Customer?s. No response from Lenovo?s Chinese CEO.

Below is a letter I mailed to the President of Lenovo who has, thus far, failed to respond to my request. Considering my loyalty to Lenovo all of these years, I am appalled at the service I have received in my search for a multilingual computer from an international company. Lenovo forces defective, English-only products on its American consumers, and, ironically enough, Lenovo’s President’s first language is not English. Of all who might be sympathetic to my plight I would think Mr. Yuanqing would be most understanding. Unfortunately, this is not the case; I ask both Lenovo employees and customers alike whether a company who can neither provide answers or results is worth working for or buying from.


URGENT
February 6, 2014
Yang Yuanqing
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Lenovo Company
1009 Think Place
Morrisville, NC 27560

Re: Is Lenovo an English-only company?

Dear Mr. Yuanqing:

(1) I have been a loyal and faithful user of IBM ThinkPads and Lenovos from 1998 on. I am a Cultural Anthropologist with active research projects in Israel and Egypt. I often travel to Europe to give lectures and attend conferences. I find Lenovos durable and reliable in remote areas. Twice, I was typing field notes as I rode my camel on the cliffs falling to the Aqaba Gulf, Egypt, in areas inaccessible to any car transport. My camel became frightened, shook, and my Lenovo flew from my lap high on the saddle to the rocks. It incurred no damage.

(2) On December 18, 2013, I called your Order Department to order a Lenovo laptop. After informing the sales representative that I needed a computer with a Windows 7 Operating System that will work in English, Hebrew and Arabic, I was put in touch with Mr. AS. I also stated that the computer must have an international warranty and that the model be serviceable in Israel. The Israel service center has unmatched quality. He was introduced to me as the multi-lingual expert of the Sales Team. I emailed Mr. S my computer needs. Mr. S suggested that I purchase a ThinkPad T440s Ultrabook Laptop. He promised me that the computer would have working capabilities in several languages. Enclosed please find as Exhibit 1 my order confirmation.

(3) Although Windows 8 Operating System was available on December 18, 2013, I insisted on having a Windows 7 Operating System. Windows 8 Operating System has numerous consumer grievances, and Lenovo-Israel cautioned me against using it. I also needed an XP mode since my files from my Lenovo X301 #2776 are in Windows XP. Further, Hewlett Packard, for example, has stopped marketing Windows 8 in Western Europe. Windows 8 is a defective product.

(4) When I ordered the laptop I was under strenuous deadlines regarding my forthcoming book’s production. It was and still is a miracle that my Lenovo X301 #2776 functions. It has only two gigabits hard-drive space available, is very slow, and therefore prone to crashes.

(5) The ThinkPad T440s arrived on January 6, 2014, and on January 10, 2014, I took it to the owner and chief technician of Mac Berkeley Computer Shop, rated number one in the Bay Area consumer reports. Similar to previous installations, I instructed him to first get the operating system to work in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, before proceeding in anything else. Only then does it make sense to install other programs in Hebrew, Arabic or English or to migrate my English-Arabic-Hebrew data from my Lenovo X301.

(6) Mr. WL called me immediately thereafter. He said that the ThinkPad T440s has an English-only operating system. To have other language capabilities, he said, I would need to purchase an upgrade from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 7 Ultimate, costing an additional $250. All of my previous ThinkPads were not monolingual. For $25 additional dollars, the technician would buy and install the Hebrew and Arabic language packs without needing to replace the whole operating system.

(7) So, I called Lenovo customer service and technical support to suffer through a gauntlet of rude service people and technicians. They all said that if one buys a Lenovo laptop in the U.S., it is an English-only machine because Americans speak, read and write in English only. I was diligent, and finally reached Mr. EG, a sales supervisor. He was touched to hear my Lenovo-Camel story. He asked whether I would be willing to provide Lenovo with a photo of me and my camel and the story. Gladly, I agreed.

(8) Mr. G informed me that should Mr. WL upgrade the computer from a Windows 7 Pro to a Windows 7 Ultimate (with me paying the $250), my warranty would be void. He agreed it is odd that an international company such as Lenovo forces monolingualism on its U.S. consumers. He advised me to return the ThinkPad T440s. He promised that Lenovo would build me the same kind of laptop, but install it with Windows 7 Ultimate. He then disappeared and did not return phone calls or emails.

(9) I returned the ThinkPad T440s Lenovo on January 15, 2014. I was certain that Mr. G would act on his promise and that I would receive a T440s with Windows 7 Ultimate. I provided Mr. G via email with a scan of the UPS package drop-off receipt. I alerted him yet again to my X301 dire situation and to Mr. S’s false information – both causing my serious work deadlines. Mr. G said that Lenovo would not provide me with a new ThinkPad T440s with Windows 7 Ultimate even after I provide proof that I have returned the computer. Mr. G was adamant that Lenovo would only be able to place an order to build the appropriate multi-lingual capacity computer after my return of order #4243394538 is processed. I find this a baffling business practice given the history of my order. Only on January 26, 2014, did the credit show up in my account.

(10) On January 16, 2014, I received a phone call from J E, who presented herself as Mr. G’s superior. Ms. E stated that the multilingual computer Lenovo will be able to build must have a Windows 8 Ultimate. She said that Lenovo stopped offering Windows 7 as of late December 2013. She apologized for Mr. G’s disinformation. We corresponded on this issue and I asked her if there would be an option to downgrade the Windows 8 Ultimate, to Windows 7 Ultimate – a common practice given the many dysfunctions of Windows 8. She said that downgrade to Windows 7 Operating System will result in an English-only operating system.

(11) Ms. JE seems to never answer her phone. Like Mr. G, Ms. E failed to provide me with any explanation as to why an international company such as Lenovo that functions in so many countries and with many languages, forces an English-only policy upon its U.S. consumers. Anywhere else in the world, a Lenovo consumer receives the local language in addition to English. In Switzerland for example, Lenovo computers come with a default German, French, Italian and English.

(12) In the meanwhile, I have been in touch with the Lenovo-Israel CEO office. I was informed that I should not have returned the computer. Rather, I should have hopped on a plane and gotten the language issue fixed in Israel for no extra charge. But I was not in a position to retrieve it back, buy an expensive last minute ticket and fly transatlantic. I was and still am overburdened with on-campus work. Lenovo-Israel suggested that I call Hasidic Jewish computer stores in New York City, and ask them how they solve the problem. I was referred to B&H Photography and Video, and to J&R Computer World, as experts in Hebrew-English Lenovos. I learned the following: their laptops come with Windows 7. They upgrade it to Windows 7 Ultimate. To circumvent the voided warranty issue, they sell their customers extended warranties through private insurance companies. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any ThinkPad T440s models in stock with the configuration I had ordered from you on December 18, 2013. Lenovo-Israel further stated that, given Israel’s stringent customs and abundant shipping corruption on electronics, it would be unsafe to purchase a Hebrew-Arabic-English computer through them and have it shipped to me in the U.S.

(13) In summary, I need a ThinkPad 440s configured as the one originally purchased on December 18, 2013 with Hebrew, English and Arabic languages. I refuse to use Windows 8. It is a defective product. I fail to understand why upgrading the operation from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 7 Ultimate to facilitate a non-English only computer system – nullifies the warranty. I request that you ship me the ThinkPad 440s I originally ordered, with Hebrew, English, and Arabic options. This matter is now of ultimate urgency. Please respond to me at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,



Professor Smadar Lavie
University of California, Berkeley




Cc: David Roman
Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer

Gerry P. Smith
Executive Vice President, Americas and Enterprise

 

Your opening statement and following story counter each other. You state that Lenovo is forcing you to English only which is false, Lenovo offered you a solution of Windows 8 Ultimate. You made the decision to not accept this solution. You also have been provided a solution of having Windows 7 Ultimate loaded and utilizing a third party warranty. While Windows 8 is not an improvement over Windows 7 you cannot call it defective, this is just another false statement.

 

I am a bit confused as to what your original problem with the operating system was.

My understanding of language packs is that they are an OS display change option from Vista and forward. The language fonts and encoding support are included by default, regardless of which language of Windows you install (At least for Professional and upwards). To change how you'd run Hebrew or Arabic programs, you'd simply have to switch the locale for non-Unicode programs, or launch the program through a program Microsoft provides called Applocale.

This is in contrast to XP and before, where you'd need to install the language packs to get the fonts and encodings.

Or, to put it another way, you can order an off the shelf Thinkpad off Lenovo US's website and choose Windows 7 Professional to be able to launch Hebrew and Arabic programs (though you'd have to call it in to get international warranty, I think).

 

In Windows 7, I'm pretty sure Ultimate is required to install the language packs needed to get the OS itself to run in multiple languages. It might have been nice if Lenovo had informed Ms. Lavie of this requirement, but I'm not sure this is even that well-known of an issue and I am not surprised that the sales team did not mention it. I'm also not sure Lenovo even offers Win7Ultimate any longer, the US website certainly doesn't currently offer it on the T440s.

The parts about being "forced" and Windows 8 being "defective" I don't really understand though. Lenovo did not force her to buy their computer. Windows 8 is not defective. It sounds like we could shorten this by saying "Lenovo sales sold me the wrong Win7 version for my needs, they don't offer the version I need, now I need to upgrade the machine myself." The upgrade from Win7Pro to Win7Ultimate is at least a workable solution given their aversion to Win8.

 

Well constructed manifesto, but it really seems to be......

 

To have the OS itself switch language, you need Ultimate or Enterprise, but I fail to see why it was necessary for OP to be able to do this.

1. She is coming from an XP computer. The ability to switch OS language with a single installation was introduced in Vista, when MS migrated the underlying code to Unicode and layered the display language on top. So she did not have the ability to switch the OS language on her X301.

2. She is coming from an XP computer. XP can't display non-Roman characters without a language pack, which was used to install the necessary fonts and encodings. Vista and beyond can display most non-Roman characters by default, because the necessary fonts and encodings are installed by default. The language packs for Vista/7 Ultimate refer to a different thing, specifically the language of the OS itself.

3. She thinks it doesn't make sense to migrate her files and programs until the language packs are installed. Vista and beyond can run those programs and display the files just fine if the correct locale is set in the Region settings.

It seems to me that she has not been communicating her actual requirement clearly enough.

 

It would seem to me this is a Microsoft rather than a ThinkPad issue. I don't think upgrading the software would void the warranty, but Lenovo would only support the original OS installed on the machine and you'd still have a hardware warranty. You'd like get one year of support from Microsoft on the software if you bought a legit upgrade.

 

Changing the operating system does not void the warranty.

That and Yang Yuanqing I'm pretty sure resides in China, he's not CEO of Think, but of Lenovo group.

 

i don't see how this is a Lenovo specific fault? This is more of an issue with Windows. Also, the lingua franca of USA is English, which is why English is offered in USA. Maybe you should also write a letter to the USA president, complaining about the fact that American speaks English too.

 

Were Windows 8 a good OS, it would not have been avoided altogether by computer dealers and users. Some laptop manufacturers went as far as issuing official statements about their avoidance of Windows 8 due to its many problems . I wonder, given the many complaints, why does Lenovo force Windows 8 upon its customers. Likewise, why does Lenovo remove the warranty over hardware if the end user upgrades the OS. this was stated to my by Lenovo US, Lenovo Israel, and various Lenovo dealerships in the US. In addition, why are Lenovo customers in the US forced into English only, while Lenovo customers all over the world have multi language options? English only has been determined by the American courts and American publics to be a racist policy. Does the Lenovo CEO, who chooses to remain silent and not have his secretary or spokesperson answer a factual letter from a loyal customer, use his Lenovo laptop only in English? I think his native language and work language is Chinese, no? Why am I forced to pay out of pocket to upgrade an English only computer, and lose the warranty over its hardware just to exercise my right to live and work in several languages? Isn't the US about immigration and multi culturalism?

 

The habitual language pack I have used in my previous Lenovos no longer works with the Lenovo I bought in December 2013. I was told by my technician, and by the NYC technicians well versed in Hebrew-English Lenovos, that no Hebrew and Arabic programs will be able to be launched using Lenovo 7 pro. Likewise, Lenovo Israel told me that if I buy my Lenovo in the US, and therefore, it doesn't have Hebrew-English-Arabic to begin with, but rather, has the Windows 7 Ultimate to facilitate these languages, the warranty, be it US-based or international, will be nullified. When several sources state the same, they must be correct.

 

Sorry, but as I've written above, all sources I inquired informed me that changing the operating system does void the Lenovo warranty over both software AND hardware. I don't care where Mr. Yuanqing resides. He is a president of an international company, and thus must serve customers in multiple language systems, or at least ask his PR person or secretary to answer his mail from end users.

 

Pretty sure that the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company and his close staff have better things to do than answer one angry customer.

You quite simply have to accept that your computing needs are extraordinary. To satisfy your needs for a piddling $1000-1500 sale, it might well cost Lenovo an enormous amount of money in additional software validation and technical support, and frankly I think it is unfair that the cost for your highly specific needs are passed onto everybody else. Thus, your additional requirements are far better met by getting better tech support, and you spending additional money, for your unique needs.

 

I have never heard of this. I've sent to Lenovo ThinkPads with a custom Linux operating system and they have repair said laptops in question. So to say changing the operating system voids the hardware warranty is bullcrap.

 

^^^^^^^

This.

One is not even required to include the hard drive on a ThinkPad that is being sent out to be repaired...so altering an OS voids absolutely nothing.

BTW, mazkiratikiya, what are you trying to accomplish by posting the same rant both here and on TPF? With ZERO prior credibility on either of these forums?

It's not that anyone here or over there is blindly in love with Lenovo...it's just that most of us recognize a load of BS when we see it...

 

i can understand the fact that you need the OS to operate in several languages, and that you are not a computer wiz, therefore rely on the advices of Lenovo support and many others to help you with setting up the OS for your language need.

But what you are arguing over and over again, is that Lenovo USA is at fault for providing English only OS, and somehow because the CEO of Lenovo is Chinese would somehow make this different. You do understand that your specific needs are very unique, and it would be technically and logistically challenging to meet your need 100% without having to spend significant time setting it up.

My advice to find a competent computer support staff, and get the right OS/languages installed on your laptop. If you have a specific need, don't be stingy when it comes to spending money on your technical support.

Also, given your position at Berkeley, i would not waste too much time ranting about the same stuff over and over again.

 

As many others have stated, we all have personal experience updating our operating systems and then sending our laptops to Lenovo for harware repair - this has never been an issue. I have personally done this only a few months ago with a Lenovo IdeaPad.

Moreover, if you read the details of the US warranty document, it says Lenovo will not warranty any additional software you add, but it makes no mention that adding/changing software would void the hardware warranty. I think it is very likely that you have been given bad advice here.

 

One irony here is that even the lowest version of Windows 8 should support all the languages she needs for free. I just tested this by installing es-mx and rebooting, and voila, the OS was running in Spanish...it was really slick. I saw Arabic and Hebrew listed in the available language options but did not test them.

 

you could just install virtualbox/vmware by running windows 7 ultimate (guest) on windows 7 pro or windows 8 (host) lappie.

please send my regard to your camel :hi2: