Refund

I wonder, Can I return a Thinkpad for a full refund ( no restocking fee) if it was defected or had a problem like creaking palmrest ?

 

I don't think a creaking palmrest counts as a material defect....
At any rate, expect to be hit with a 15% restocking fee. I'm assuming you have used the computer?

 

Yup I used it, this is my third day. Ok so I have to send it for a repair. Thanks.

 

Well, going by my recent experience, while a creaking palm rest is certainly not a material defect, it is considered to be a design defect and something that Lenovo considers addressing on a case-to-case basis. Don't know about the refund part though. When they replaced my machine (I had the creaking palmrest on the right hand side), the replacement was devoid of all creaks etc. They also claim that it was tested for, among other things, precisely this as that was what my original complaint was. I have no reason to disbelieve them, though I could be naive for doing so.

 

Your case was in the US?>

 

Nopes, my case was in India.

 

unless you can present a convincing case, why they should refund you the full price, then you won't be able to return it. They will probably offer to fix it for you or do an exchange if you are lucky, but the former case is more likely.

 

And, just to add to that, even in my case, where they eventually replaced the machine, it was a painful process. They verified the problem. Tried to replace the palmrest (twice) and see if the problem persisted. Compared it some other machines and saw the difference and even then there was a lot of resistance (from Lenovo Care). But then again, when the higher management people got involved, the replacement option was exercised. Also, just to be clear, I had consistently maintained that I would be happy with replacing the palmrest (and not necessarily the machine itself) as long as the problem was fixed. I guess they did their assessment and opted for replacement of the machine.

 

it's like buying a car.   if you buy it, drive it off the lot, and discover that there's a small rattle inside, the dealership will try to fix it.   giving you a whole new car or taking the car back for something that can be fixed is silly.   after all, you bought the car because you wanted the car, right?

computers aren't much different.   once you buy one, open the box, and press the power button, they depreciate in value.   because of this, the 15% restocking fee is there to cover the expenses lost in having to ship the system, return it, inspect it, re-image the hard drive, inventory it, pack it back up, and resell it as used, slightly used, or like new.

my advice is to talk to service about the palmrest.   if it's truly defective then it will be fixed.   expecting a full refund for something fixable seems excessive.   that's not to discount the defect, though.   with thousands of systems shipped every month, there's bound to be a problem somewhere.   this is true of anything.

 

Expecting a full for for a fixable defect, just drives up the cost the next time you get a notebook. Unless you're extremely charming, which I don't see, I don't think you'd talk them into giving you a full refund and I why would you want one if you're happy with it otherwise?

 

Whatever the case, you should start by calling Lenovo and get the laptop sent into depot for it to be fixed.

 

If you used it, then yes, you have to let them try and repair (or of course you can always take them up on their 15% restocking fee option).

 

If they fixed it, but I read here about a case where the guy sent it back to Lenovo for the same issue. He got it back also with a new palmrest with the same old problem.

 

That also happened to me not once but twice. It is something that they have to try out. They will have an escalation process, by which the problem gets pushed to higher and higher levels as it proves itself unsolvable by previously laid out counter-measures. When all else fails, then some person or persons with decision-making capabilities take a call. The question is whether (1) your problem does get escalated to that level and (2) whether the decision-maker pays attention to it (not because he or she does not want to but because he or she should be alerted to it).

Regardless, you will have to go through the motions.

BTW, if you have onsite warranty, maybe they can come over to your location and try putting in a new palmrest and/ or resetting it. That's what they did in my case.

 

I have just bought onsite warranty for 26 $, I didn't think I will need it when I bought the laptop. This will save me time, I assume.

 

Ah yeah, onsite tends to be way better.

 

On site warranty for 26$ is quite a bargain. You'll definitely appreciate it if things go wrong.