Hardware service issues and depot service

Hi guys! I wanted to get some opinions on my current situation with support and my T61p. I also posted this over at the Thinkpads.com forums in the hopes of getting as much input as possible.

A little background would probably be in order, so here goes.

Bought a T61p last October, received it and have been having a great time using it since them, up till now. The machine was functionally fine (ie, no lockups or temp issues) but had some bad hinges on it that would make a "cracking" noise when the lid was moved from a stationary position, and also had a noticeable amount of play before tightening up when attempting to readjust the angle.

To make a long story short, I had the hinges replaced (on-site warranty) twice for this issue and each replacement did not make it any better. I figured I would just live with it for a little while as the machine itself was still functional, but after a couple of months it finally got to me. Had them replaced a third time just recently (last Wednesday in fact) and while the hinge issue was finally solved, in changing out the parts the tech somehow damaged the notebook to the point where it will not post. Trying to turn it on results in the normal power LED's lighting up initially, however the backlight does not come on and there is no signal on the LCD. Within about 5 seconds the entire system cuts power on it's own and will not even respoind to another attempt unless the power source is removed and reinserted. In removing the LCD bezel he also snapped off several tabs on the LCD rollcage itself.
I ended up calling support again that same day to have them send a replacement rollcage to me so I could be able to install it myself (I'm a PC tech that works on ThinkPads all the time, so...) as I now had zero confidence in the tech that was sent out.

Part arrives in a couple days, and before I set to work on the replacement process I wanted to make sure the system was functional before I even touched it. This is when, much to my dismay I found out the current condition of the system. Both the tech and I had to leave in a hurry when he did the replacement, so neither of us had time to do a system check that day and I was busy up till when I had planned to swap the LCD rollcage. Because of the system not even turning on at this point I figured it was probably safer for me not to replace the rollcage, so back into the box it went.


So, fastforward to today when I called hardware support yet again to see what could be done about the situation. I gave them the case number I had been given on Friday when I initially called to report the non-functional condition of the system and, after a bit of figuring out who to talk to, was told that they could send a tech out to replace the mobo (which is what I'd figured was one of two possibly bad components). At this point I asked if there was any possibility of having the system replaced as I was *not* feeling all that confident about that same tech coming and possibly messing up other components while trying to swap the motherboard. There was also the fact that any time spent in subsequent repairs if something went wrong again would end up costing me and Lenovo more time and money. Eventually I found out that I would have to speak to a supervisor about it and was told to expect a call from someone within the hour.

After a few minutes he calls and asks what he can help me with. I explain the situation, and after looking at the service log he then tells me, that because of the most recent parts dispatch (the LCD rollcage that I was going to install myself) the only option is to send the notebook to depot because they needed to verify that the tech was the one who caused the damage and not me. I reiterated the fact that I had *not* installed the replacement part after the system failed to post and that the tech was the only one who could have caused the damage, however he still maintained that the only option was depot service.

Knowing about what some people have gone through on here dealing with return-to-depot cases, I *very* reluctantly let him set up a dispatch as he didn't leave me any other options at this point.

What I'm wondering is, should I be all that worried about sending the machine in? What do you guys think? Was I asking too much for a replacement system? At this point all I want is a working system that's returned in either the same or better condition than it was before leaving my hands and done in a timely manner, and at this point I'm not exactly happy about the whole mess. Any opinons?


Sorry about the veritable "book" that this post turned into and if you've made it this far, congratulations!