How can I file a compaint against dreadful experience at Lenovo Outlet?

I had very frustrating experiences with Lenovo customer service when I tried to buy from its outlet. Does anyone know how to file an effective complaint?

First attempt:

The machine is listed. I put it in the shopping cart and every time it failed. After trying it a doze times and failing to pay, I called the sales department, and I was told the machine is out of stock -- although it has been listed there for a few days.

My credit card is blocked as a result. They say I tried many times. How did I err if your system list a product which you can't sell?
Called them and was told by a supervisor at the credit card department that my card is good to go.

Second attempt:

Selected another one and paid. Then received an email telling me the order has been cancelled. Why? I called again then they say they need to verify my billing address and shipping address. Hasn't your supervisor guaranteed that my credit card was good? With a three-way call with the bank, my address was verified (they are the original address I provided, why do they need to do it again?) Once again, I was told by the supervisor that my card is good to go.

Third attempt:

Found a good machine which suits all my needs, paid. When the time for shipping has passed, I called again and was told the order is delayed for 2 more weeks, but the machine was DEFINITELY being processed and would be shipped. Called 3 more times to make sure and was told the same thing: yes, it will be shipped.

Then one week later the order status showed the order has been cancelled.

Called again and was told that it is 'out of stock'. It took Lenovo 3 weeks to verify the product was out of stock. Why you are telling me contradictory things, Lenovo? You wasted me so much time.

With this experience, I really don't think much of Lenovo's customer service. This moment they are tell me one thing (even with a reassurance from the supervisor), then next moment they change the story and tell you completely different situations.

I guess their information flow is so fragmented and cumbersome that they can't provide accurate information.

How can I file an effective complaint to Lenovo and tell them they can't just waste a client's time like this.

 

If you live in the US or Canada, you could file a complain with the BBB ( United States and Canada BBB Consumer and Business Reviews, Reports, Ratings, Complaints and Accredited Business Listings) and see if Lenovo will try to help you out.

There's also complaining about your experience on forums such as NBR, as you're doing now. I wouldn't try Lenovo's official forums though since they'll likely just delete your negative posts, but NBR won't do such a thing to negative reviews/experiences.

 

What model were you trying to order?

 

if it is really a good deal, it will be gone in a few minutes, even after you put it in a cart.

 

That's not true. As long as a message is civil and adheres to the forum rules, we wouldn't delete it. Lenovo's forum moderators are not Lenovo employees, and while we're certainly fans, we complain quite publicly as much as the next person when we don't like something. I can point to my own posts re the ThinkPad keyboard changes as examples.

It always puzzles me when we're accused of deleting negative messages since all anyone has to do to see that's incorrect is to read through thread after thread of bitter complaints about assorted problems. All we ask is for forum members to maintain some decorum.

 

I only heard about this second-hand (since I don't personally have an account there and rarely visit). I stand corrected if I'm wrong about deleting such posts.

 

That often stems from the fact that angry people vent and their posts end up being taken down because of how they are written rather than the content. Then the rumours about posts being taken down because they say bad things about a company spread whether true or not and it's hard to stop them. I have seen posts on NBR that had good points, but were also full of stuff that needed editing. If possible, removing the offending parts is preferable, but sometimes it's just too much work compared to deleting the posts which is a shame because some of those had good points.

I can't speak for the Lenovo forums, haven't been there for long, but if that should give you an idea of the mod's perspective. Different forums have different rules also, some forums have less strict rules than NBR or they are just plain different. For example, on the arstechnica forums, swearing isn't frowned upon as much as here, but the use of the term M$ for Microsoft is greatly frowned upon and will get you warnings from the mods, public warning I might add.

The best advice I can give, is be polite, articulate and also don't be afraid to tell them that this kind of experience will make you jump ship to Dell or HP (that ought to get their attention).

 

Jane and the other moderators do a fine job on the Thinkpad forum. Actually, I would probably delete a lot more posts than they do. That's why nobody would ever ask me to do something like that.

 

How does this work? If two people put the same machine into the shopping cart, the person who pays first will get the machine? I assume when a product is inside a cart, other people can't add the product.

How fast does one need to pay to guarantee a purchase?

 

with my experience is right away.

I know for sure there are "snipers" that moniters those deals very frequently and those machines are not staying there for more than few minutes. I saw 4XX T530 and 6XX W530 gone with in seconds...

 

Had a similar experience last night, trying to buy a refurb M92p desktop PC for a friend on the Lenovo Outlet site. Now this was being done "overnight" (i.e. after 9PM EST, when the sales phone number is closed).

My attempt to purchase the machine I wanted went all the way through until pushing the final ORDER button, and then that last page kept getting bounced. Looking for something missing or in error (which I assume would be highlighted by the red "asterisk"), the only field that had such an indication was my name!!

I tried multiple times, even using different credit cards, and each time the order just would not go through.

Then I tried to re-search, thinking perhaps the item had just disappeared out from under me (i.e. purchased by somebody else at the same time), hoping to find another machine that was similar that I could buy instead. And sure enough the original machine no longer showed up in the search list, so I thought my analysis was correct.

I found a different machine that "was acceptable" (though not what I really wanted originally) and went through the whole purchase process again. And darn if the same ORDER button failure on that last page didn't happen again! So now there were two separate machines that I simply could not make the purchase complete on. And of course the "sales assistance" phone number was closed, and the Online Chat people have no access to anything that might be useful to resolve my problem.

Ok, first this morning when the sales number opened I phoned them, and asked if they could search both machines part numbers to see if they were still available or not. Turns out if you put the part number in the "search" box on their web site you always get NO HIT. Apparently Lenovo never anticipated people would use "search" that way (which is of course the MOST LIKELY thing people will be searching on, but the genius web site engineers never thought of that I guess). So I hoped the phone person COULD actually search on the part number.

Well, they have to go through a "back door system" to do that, but he was able to search for me. And his search showed "not in stock". Hmmm. Very very disappointing.

Well, what about the second machine? Yes, that one was in stock. I didn't really want it, but I guess if I had to go with it I could.

Anyway, just to double-check for myself I did my own "shopping criteria" search again, just as I'd done last night. Well sure enough, that first machine (which he'd said was out-of-stock) once again still showed up as "1 in stock"! He couldn't explain that, other than to BS me about "well, maybe your browser cache or something". Obvious nonsense.

I then decided to see if I could actually make the purchase this time (really doing nothing different than I'd tried last night when it failed repeatedly). And this time, the ORDER button took much longer... AND IT FINALLY COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY!!! Yes, apparently I had now completed the purchase this morning that I could not complete last night... for a machine that the Lenovo phone person said was "not in stock" according to his search. And yet, I had just now bought it!!

Sure enough, email confirmation, proper order number (which he confirmed had already entered their system), and it sure looks like I was finally successful in getting my first choice machine this morning.

So, could he explain my problem last night? No. Could he explain why his search showed "not in stock" but the general "shopping criteria" method showed it "in stock"? No. Could he explain why a "search" for the machine part number was incapable of presenting the item with that part number? No.

Did he actually help me? Well, not really. My guess its that my problems last night might have coincided with some "web site update" process, or an inventory update, or something, and that online sales were simply "locked out" during the very time when I was trying to make a purchase. But this morning everything was back operating normally again. Could be.

Nevertheless, unless I receive an email in a day or two telling me the item I just bought is actually NOT IN STOCK and they're canceling my order, it would appear that persistence paid off for me. I'm hoping to actually receive that desktop machine... despite the obstacles implanted in the Lenovo Outlet site and its back-office purchasing/search systems.

 

Yes, Lenovo's outlet is a crock of crap. Contradictory excuses are all they can give. My guess is that someone is benefiting from this and professional vendors may have a direct connection with some 'insiders'.

I will not surprised that if you find out later that the order has been cancelled. When you want to try again, focus on the "NEW" items as they may actually be in stock. Please keep me posted of the result.

Is there anything else we can do to deal with this frustration?

How can these professional resellers be so fast? Do they have some code or automatic process to do the job?

I wonder how many time can a 'person' be allowed to buy from the outlet?

If these people resell in large quantities, are they required to pay taxes?

Is there anyway to outdo these 'snipers'? Do they have inside connections with the sales? Do they cancel people's orders to that to beat 'competition'?

 

You should learn the magic of the edit button...

Using an autofill for your information is the easiest way to beat the snipers. Such as Chrome's method. Three clicks, and it should be ordered. That's most likely what they're doing to get them super fast. Or holding someone up on the phone all day.

 

The outlets are like the discount table at John's Bargain Store. Crap is tossed on the table like red meat to hungry bargain hunters and they all grab for the item but only one can come up with it. I've missed tons of stuff and snagged others.

 

From the perspective of a Canadian: be glad you get access to the outlets in the first place.

I would still complain if I were in the OP's situation though.

 

Ah, a Kanukakao.

Myself I'm from Kicicukagagowao which is just S of Milawakawago on big lake M in the heartland.

Given that you're a mod, I hope that the above 2 lines do not set you off. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

With regard to the OP of this thread, and also to his unhappiness with the Lenovo Outlet, I say get a life.

The only complaint that I have with doing on-line orders with Lenovo (either a regular order or an order with their Outlet for a "good deal" on a refurb) is that Lenovo has a very bad habit of tying up one's credit card for a week or more if the order doesn't work out.

That is my one complaint with on-line orders with Lenovo for a laptop computer from them.

IMHO it is a minor complaint, and now that I know that about them, the odds are good that I can avoid that small pitfall with any future order(s) that I may do with them.

 

Looking good so far...

Order status now shows "released to manufacturing" (perhaps for double-check, formatting the hard drive and installing OS/recovery partition images, etc.).

Shows "estimated ship date" of 7/12 and "estimated delivery date" of 7/19.

Would appear I have actually succeeded in this purchase!

 

It takes persistence to get a bargain these days.:thumbsup: What did you buy.

 

Bought an M92p tower desktop (Win7 Pro x64) for a friend to replace an old WinXP machine.

CPU i5-3470 3.2Ghz 6MB cache with HD2500 graphics, 4GB PC3-12800, 500GB 7200rpm SATA2 hard drive, DVD recordable. Integrated graphics, but I will install a 1GB ASUS ATI HD6450 which is an entry level fanless PCIe card that does not require additional PCIe power, carries its own 1GB DDR3 memory, and will be perfectly adequate.

New price for the M92p tower was $1024, on sale "scratch and dent" for $563 with free shipping.

Also found a new Dell Ultrasharp 23" U2313HM monitor (1920x1080 IPS) for $209 at Newegg to replace her old ACER 20" X203H monitor (1600x900).