normail waiting time for repair under warranty???

So here's my rant:

On January 26th 2007 I got my new Amilo Si 1848. A couple of days later I noticed that it wasn't always starting up at the first press of the on/off button and that it was losing the time/date settings.
I called the helpdesk on February 5th 2007 and they said that it's most likely a hardware problem and I should go to their servicepartner. Which I did.
On February 12th 2007 I brought in my laptop and in the following days the tracking system gave me this information (in danish, that's where I am):

12. februar 2007 Modtaget
14. februar 2007 Under reparation
14. februar 2007 Venter på del

Basically meaning that from February 14th on they are waiting for spare parts. After about 2 weeks of inactivity (around March 5th) I called the servicepartner and they told me that it's the mainboard that is broken and that they ordered a new one. They say all they can do is check with the supplier occasionally and wait for it to arrive.
In the end I also tried calling Fujitsu Siemens helpdesk again but they say they know nothing about repairs and that it's the servicepartners problem.

Originally I was told that repairs in general take 3-8 working days, when i brought it in at the servicepartner they said 2 maximum 3 weeks. Now already more time has past and there is still no change in the status of my repair, so I don't have much hope that this will be solved soon.

Am I being unreasonable here in expecting that it should not take a company more than 3 weeks to find a new mainboard for a brand new model laptop, that is being produced in Germany btw? Where the hell are they getting the parts to put the new ones together? I assume they are fabricating them since it's one of their newest models.

I should have just cancelled my order when the shop couldn't deliver on time because according to them the courier company lost the package. I'm already wondering if they didn't just push me off with a notebook they knew to be defective because I threathened to cancel if I didn't get it on time . Would have saved me a lot of trouble.

Right now I just feel like I could be waiting forever to get a working notebook. I could understand that servicecenters are busy and that it takes some time to make a repair but that they cannot get a part within 3 weeks amazes me.

If anyone has any ideas about where to ask for further information or where to complain about these things, please let me know. Fujitsu Siemens webpage only lists phone numbers for the helpdesk but as I mentioned before they insist that they know nothing.

I'll post an update when I know more.

 

I have also sent my notebook in for repair, and alot of components were replaced. I live in the UK, and the service centre here collected the notebook, and also sent it back. I had to wait in total for 2 weeks, including one weekend, on which I don't think the service centre is open. So, it was more like 10 days. I only inquired about the status once, and I assumed that as soon as they would be finished, they would send it out. That was exactly what they did.

I would keep on the phone to the service centre, and make sure that they know you need the notebook quickly. Be persistent. I don't think that the reseller had sent you a defective unit. So long it was sealed, they couldn't ave known anything was wrong with it. i hop you can get your notebook back as soon as possible.

 

sometimes if the part is backordered, there is very little you can do. =/

i wouldn't be surprised that they send it in for repairs at some sort of authorized repair center that also does repairs for other companies. so they probably order parts as they are needed instead of keeping an inventory of parts.

i understand your pain. my old clevo notebook went in for repairs 3 times. 2 of the times, it was out for over a month.

 

It was 2 weeks before I got mine back

 

I shipped it two day, they returned it by overnight delivery. Got it back 10 days from the day I shipped it. They replaced the mobo to fix a botched BIOS update.

Gripes: Some missing screws and an improperly seated keyboard bezel.

 

update:

on thursday the service center people were starting to feel sorry for me and gave me the name of the person who is in charge of getting spare parts from the german warehouse at fujitsu. I contacted him and he "escalated" the matter and told me he would let me know when he knew more (usually within a day).

Now, monday I called back myself and apparently they are not able to get a spare mainboard within the next couple of weeks. Their solution is to exchange the whole notebook. The usual way they deal with this is to credit the original store and deliver another one.

Problem: I especially bought my computer outside of Denmark to not have a danish keyboard (lots of weird extra letters and I'm not danish so I don't use them). I asked several shops and they all told me that if I wanted a non-danish keyboard it would cost me 2000-3000 DKK (= 350 - 530 US dollar) to get it changed so then I decided it would be cheaper and less hassle to get it from abroad since FS anyway has international warranty.
So obviously I don't want my brand new notebook replaced with one with a (for me) useless keyboard and I also don't want to have to take a holiday especially to exchange this computer.

Now they are trying to find a way to come to a solution that will work for both of us.

Waiting for news again.

I'll update as I know more.

(Still finding it kind of strange that there are no parts available for months for a recent product.)

 

update 2: 5 weeks and still no computer

Wednesday, March 14th, my dear Fujitsu Denmark employee contacted me again with the news that Fujitsu Belgium informed him that my specific type of notebook (Amilo Si 1848 T7200, 2Gb RAM, 120 HDD, ATI X1300) does not exist anymore!! So they cannot give me a new one. Now they have to find out what "new" type would be suitable replacement and if it would uberhaupt be possible to get one sent to Denmark.
Alternatively they could also give the belgian shop where I bought the computer the money back. And then I would have to agree something with them. So in this case I would be in Denmark without a computer and would have to try to, or get my money back from the shop to purchase a computer with a keyboard I don't want here, or fly back to Belgium at least once to purchase a new computer there. Obviously this would cost me a lot and it would take several weeks before I would have a computer again.

So I told Mr. Fujitsu to try harder to find out if they can replace it in Denmark.

Afterwards I did a tiny little bit of research and found that "my" computer is still on the belgian Fujitsu website and that several shops are offering this specific type (although some don't have it in stock but expect a shipment on April 6th). Kind of strange that they are selling a type of computer that according to Fujitsu Belgium does not exist .
(And I don't even dare to think what they are going to tell to the people who buy these computers now when in a few weeks something breaks down: Oh sorry, but we don't have spare parts, that type doesn't exist anymore).


Today I called back for an update but no news. Fujitsu Belgium still doesn't know what would be the replacement.
He just told me to contact my local shop and try to convince them to somehow fix this whole situation. He was even so kind to emphasize that I'm not Fujitsu's customer but that I am only the customer of the local shop. Kind of weird since it's Fujitsu that gives the warranty and not the shop .
He also said that it's under a "Global Limited Warranty" so that they are even doing me a huge favour by looking into this. Problem is: there's no information anywhere as to what that "limited" actually means .

In my opinion since they sold me a defective product and then left me hanging for 4 weeks before even giving any kind of information, they could try a bit harder.
It looks like you can forget about the global warranty if they can't find a spare part. They just want to get rid of you as soon as possible by offering the money back (but in the country where you bought the computer, so not where you happen to be when you have the failure).

So for now I will hope Monday will bring better news. But I will spend a bit of my weekend writing a nice letter to Fujitsu headquarters stating their fault and that I expect some form of compensation.
And if I have time left also to Testaankoop, Stiftung Warentest, etc.
If I have no happy news on Monday, the letters go out the door.

It might not make much difference but at least I'll have some satisfaction then

This is going to be no doubt the most expensive computer I have (n)ever owned.

 

ok, another update:

So after many more phonecalls to Fujitsu Denmark, Fujitsu Belgium and the original shop where the notebook was purchased the final answer from Fujitsu Siemens is...... we'll refund the original purchase price.

So now I guess I'll have to see how long the paper pushing will take and hope that I get my money back soon.

Warning to all considering to buy this computer (especially in Belgium): Fujitsu Siemens still insists that they no longer sell this particular model and that there is no replacement for it. Even though it's still mentioned in the line up on their website ( http://www.fujitsu-siemens.be/nl/home/products/notebooks/amilo_si_1848.html).
So I suspect support might be less than optimal for those owning or planning to buy this notebook.

So now I'll go and start looking for a new machine (sigh). Third time computer shopping in less than a year, not my idea of fun.