Lenovo outlet nonsense

I just want to share my story of this past week, and my dealings with the lenovo outlet. If anyone is going to order from them, I would advise caution. I have read plenty of stories like mine, so just know what you are getting yourself into.

Sept 17: placed an order on the outlet website for a 3000 series.

Sept 18: realized that I forgot to put my apt number on the order and called to change it. Was told to call back monday since no record of my order existed yet.

Sept 21: Called again and was told the same thing. No record exists and call back tuesday.

Sept 22: lather rinse repeat

Sept 23:
Call #1: Called in and was told that my order was never actually received. Was transferred to the sales team to straighten it out. Sales team told me that my order never went through and it was rebooked by an agent (without notification or my permission). Sales team transferred me to a manager to straighten out this mess. Manager hangs up on me.

Call #2: I ask to be connected with a supervisor right away. Supervison asks manager what is going on with my order. I am informed that my order was rebooked again today (again without my permission), and is in the process of credit card verification. Shipping address is updated. I receive my order number.

At no time was I informed that my order didn't go through. And every support staff member that I talked to until today was unable to find any record of my order. How the guy who helped me today found it god only knows.

I was sent no emails telling me that I had a quote instead or an order, nor was there any instructions given to me as to how to fix that.

I wasted over an hour of cell phone minutes on these people which was entirely unnecessary.

Now I am not saying that every order will end up like this. Nor am I saying that this is the worst experience I have ever had with support staff, if you read my thread on my alienware m15x you will see real stupidity.

I just wanted to share my story with you and warn everyone thinking about the outlet that this kind of thing happens. If we don't share these stories then companies will get away with treating people far worse then they treated me.

 

These are the reasons that I hesitate to deal with the Lenovo Outlet. Along with the fact that their specs that are posted are horribly inaccurate. The prices are good but not sure if I want to deal with the hassle. I guess we are forced to if we want a good price.

 

Some people have reported of amazing success with the Lenovo outlet, often receiving higher spec'd laptops, and good customer service.

 

I wish Lenovo took a hard look at its outlet performance because it hurts its brands for consumers such as us.

 

Thats true, I read those reports as well, but whether the specs were better or worse, I wish they were accurate most of all.

 

Trick is actually asking the sales rep to help you out, and let them go through the laptops and find one for you. That way if they make a mistake, it's on their shoulders.

 

It isn't on their in entirety shoulders. You have to buy it online so you agree to whatever specs are present. Sales reps can try and figure it out with you but half the time they just just pulling up info about product line to see if that config is even possible. Sometimes they list resolutions that aren't even supported on models.

It takes a little bit of gambling still.

 

I've never even heard about people getting worse specs.

Oh, and here is some more good news, they decided not to allow my credit card to go through since the shipping address isn't on the account, even though i gave them the proper billing address. This is the first i have heard of a company doing this, seems unnecessary.

time for them to get more angry phone calls (yes it's a joke)

 

Are you talking about not having your shipping address match the billing address? Or having that shipping address being noted on your credit card's file with your bank?

That is VERY normal and is a common anti-fraud practice. However, that is not to say that lenovo billing and shipping can't be a headache.

 

This is new recently or they have recently started to enforce it more, not sure which one. Andrew, one of the mods here, had a similar problem and he couldn't get a Thinkpad in time for his sister. Apparently from what I read, Lenovo was hit with a lot of fraud this year.

 

All they have to do is verify my identity, which they have multiple times. After that they have no liability when it comes to fraud, and I should be able to ship the machine anywhere I want. No other company does this, at least none that I have dealt with.

I don't really have a problem with them asking me to add this info to my credit card, the issue is time. I've needed that machine already, and I expected it to at least be shipped by now. At this rate, the order won't even be processed until next week.

Edit to Jaredy: I've ordered plenty of things with this card already, and at no time was i asked to add my address to the card. It is just another hurdle that I have to jump over and I don't have time for that.

 

want to hear some more nonsense...

The outlet charged me for the machine today, without my consent. As of right now they shouldn't have charged my card based on their own policies, they need to make sure it is me after all. I was told by the rep that I had to call back after I changed the info on my card to get the order through, or cancel it. But instead they went ahead and charged me the 325.

what the hell is going on with these people.