T61 and the BBB

Hi,
I just wanted to let you guys know of my experience with the BBB and Lenovo. I ordered on May 10th and like all of you my ship date changed from May 28th to August 31st. I filed a complaint because I couldn't get through to a sales rep to either give me a real ship date or to cancel my order. The delay doesn't bother me as much as not knowing because then I can decide to wait to order something else.

Long story short, the sales rep gave me a ship date of 6/13. A few days later the customer service rep from the BBB complaint said that is an estimated date. They can't promise the date or a shipping upgrade but would try to expedite; I expect that to mean nothing will be done.

If I could have ordered a Dell or HP and have had it next week, I'd cancel my order for the T61 but it looks like any new order won't ship until the end of June so I'll stick it out here for now. I can reach someone by voicemail and cancel if I want now thanks to the BBB.

I'm sure Lenovo didn't tell us in May that it would be another 2-4 weeks because many of us would have cancelled and went somewhere else. With luck Dell may have the m1330 ready to order next week and I'll jump ship.

Regards-Michael G.

 

(ohhhh God) how many of us are there?

odered on may 29 ship is aug 31

take a look..............

 

I think everyone should cancel their orders.

(Makes it so they can focus on fullfilling mine )

 

LOL I can't believe you actually contacted the BBB. You have absolutely no cause whatsoever to complain to the BBB. There is no fraud- Lenovo does not charge people until they ship the laptop, so even if there is a delay, Lenovo never took anything from you. If you don't like how long they're taking, just shop at a different business. Normally people complain to the BBB if they paid for something and didn't get it. You haven't paid anything and you're complaining about not getting something. Of course the BBB isn't going to give a flying crap about you; you aren't even a victim.

 

I mostly agree, but some people have been completely screwed over by lenovo.
when calling in, the reps promise it won't get delayed, and the ship date gets pushed several times.
that's pretty dishonest, as you don't cancel cause you're in belief that it's almost gonna ship

 

Lenovo has been dishonest throughout this whole ordeal. When I ordered on may 11th I was told may 30th would be the latest date my computer would get shipped. Then on may 25th I called and said I've heard of orders being delayed and I wanted to know if mine would be too. Rep assured me it would ship on time. Ever since may 30th I've talked to about 4 or 5 different reps. 2 of them assured me my computer would have shipped by yesterday. The last rep I spoke to said june 13th my computer would ship. I've spent hours on the phone being lied to repeatedly by lenovo. The business has to be held responsible in a case like this, and I know they've done this to many other people.

If on may 25th they told me what was really going on I would've cancelled my order. We just found out 2 days ago what was really going on throughout this whole thing, and the way I look at it now is that whether I order from dell, HP, or keep my lenovo order. They'll be here in around 2-3 weeks.

 

Lets just get something straight here.

They never gauranteed you anything. All dates are estimated dates, not gaurantees. If it was a gauranteed date I would 100% agree with you but it is not, it is an estimated date that can change without notice as is clearly told to you at every step of the process (including from other companies like Dell and HP). Here are the dynamics of how they calculate the estimated date but remember it is not always 100% correct, just an estimation:
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/orderstatus/learnmore.html

They are not being dishonest, their system just spits out the estimate dates and did not know they had some other system issues. It is an issue, get over it, mistakes happen (even the great Dell and HP have had mistakes that have even affected me (gasp). If you need a laptop now buy it somewhere else, it is a free market and you can do as you wish. Just do not complain every step of the way and keep calling them when they have already said their is nothing imediate they can do.

Yes it is not the greatest thing going on, but Lenovo does not enjoy it either and are doing their best. Lenovo does not like it anymore than you, they have to have more people on hand to take complaint calls, more orders cancelled, more bad reviews, and more BBB complaints ( ). Remember it is not just YOU or the few people on this board being affected. I am sure there are thousands upon thousands of orders being affected. It is not easy to just fix it right this second when you have 10,000 + to fix....

 

Sounds to me like the people building computers in the shops of China need to work much longer hours and fewer breaks so our computers get shipped in a more timely manner. What's wrong with management over their? Aren't they making them work hard enough?

 

Are you sure the correct spelling of your name is Stallen, or should it be Stalin

 

I think everyone knows the vast amount of people this is affecting, and that these things always happen, especially with new technology. I think what most people were having difficulty with was the lack of communication on Lenovo's part. At least that was what bothered me. I can handle the waiting if I'm told the truth. I can't handle being lied to when I'm spending $1,700 on your product. Again, I'm not blaming the reps because they weren't the problem. The problem came from mngt. They didn't communicate the issue to the reps and therefore nobody was able to get the real reason for the delays.

When lenovo discovered this problem 2+ weeks ago(since beginning on may 25 the orders didn't have the missing part) they should have sent out an e-mail to everyone that ordered a computer on those dates and informed them of the delay and reason. I'm sure a great percentage of people that ordered these computers still don't know the real reason for the delay. Not everyone check these forums and lenovoblogs. To me that is not the way you should be running a business.

 

I'm so happy that someone took it the right way. I totally figured someone would immediately jump on their political high horse.

 

Why cannot we contact BBB?
The Federal Trade Commission's Mail or Telephone Order Rule covers goods you order by mail, telephone, computer, and fax machine. By law, a company should ship your order within the time stated in its ads.

So, the estimating shipping time is sort of contract and promise. BBB actually has an subject of delay shipment.

Accordig to my experiece, at least, now, a guy from Lenovo monitor my order and answer my question according to his knowledge without BS. He called me directly and let me know the progress. I do not need to wait one hour on-line and get the BS from CSR.

When LENOVO tells the ESD or it said T61 will be shipped with 1-2 weeks.
"Before a customer pays for goods and services, you must disclose, orally or in writing, certain information that is likely to affect the customer's decision to purchase the offered goods or services." If it gives the wrong information, the it is deceptive ads.

It is hard to prove that LENOVO know the delay before they take the order. But why cannot we complain??

 

I agree, I would much rather be in the know and it is upsetting that I really have no idea as to what is going on with my order other than I will get it within the next few weeks (no need to make jokes about septemeber and such, lenovo has already said they will get them out).

Too badly lenovo is not providing this, but there is nothing saying they HAVE to so going to the BBB and such just does not provide anything for anyone.

 

I disagree.. Lenovo's behavior, from top to bottom, has been horrible. I don't believe that they have committed fraud so I doubt that anyone would have a legal case against them but it is still useful to make our voices heard about the terrible way Lenovo is treating their customers... this is really the only tool we have available to us aside from cancelling our orders and going elsewhere. I still want a Thinkpad and as a result have not cancelled my order, but I want it to be shipped to me too, so I think it is very productive if we shout as loudly as possible through any avenue available. Maybe, just maybe, Lenovo will listen up and will be a better company for it.

 

Jonny 1987 you couldn't be more wrong there isn't any cause to contact the BBB. Actually the BBB did review the complaint and pass it along to Lenovo. I received a call within a day of Lenovo receiving the complaint. Guess what they solved my problem. Did anyone else here receive a call from Lenovo customer service? I left the CS rep a voicemail received a return call the same day. It gets better, if I want to cancel my order, I can leave the CS another message, he'll cancel it and send me confirmation. That is exactly what I expect, a reasonable means to cancel an order.

I placed an order, was given an estimated ship date. I can live with a delay of a week or two, no big deal. I had a similar problem with an A31p I ordered so many years ago. However, my decision to purchase is certainly based upon delivery date. If they gave me an estimated delivery date of August 31st when I placed my order, I certainly would have went elsewhere.

So here we at the ship date and it is changed to Auguest 31st. I give it a few days but no change, then I decide to reach out for them. Over a week I try to reach Lenovo by phone and email to get a realistic date and have the option to cancel my order. Instead of customer service, I get disconnected, busy signals or hold times exceeding thirty minutes and no response to three emails over six days.

If my order is a couple of days delayed and I order something else I have to waste my time shopping, placing and cancelling yet another order, having my cc chanrged and waiting for a credit to be applied. I can't get a realistic ship date nor do I have the option to even cancel an order as I can't reach customer service.

I don't think Lenovo is being dishonest but rather incompetent in dealing with the situation. I wasn't expecting the BBB to get my order shipped next day air that night, I had the realistic expectation of being able to pick up a phone and in a reasonable amount of time reach a Lenovo customer service rep to cancel an order for $1700. As for the ship date, basically I was told by Lenovo that I could expect my notebook to be shipped before the end of June.

 

I agree 110%. By contacting the BBB you managed to get some customer service and support; something that isn't possible when you call the regular customer support number. I also agree I wouldn't expect BBB to do anything other than keeping track of your compliant and then notifying lenovo. I think you did what you had to do.

 

it's unfortunate that you have to threaten lenovo with BBB for them to give you an acceptable level of support

what is the world coming to?

 

Problem is they did not charge your CC yet.

Also, I did not see anymore CS you got over what others are getting that are just calling in, all seems about the same.

I have never been one to believe in threats unless really necissary, in this case we know there was an issue, Lenovo is working to solve it, do not threaten them while they are working on solving it. They did not handle it correctly, but they are working on it.

I can also tell not many of you have had to deal with real scam type companies or companies that really do not want to comply...that is what the BBB was made for.

 

don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds like you're a lenovo employee.
you're not really in a position to defend lenovo to the death.
take my laptop order for instance.
ordered early may, and my shipping date has changed 3 times.
yuup, 3 times. They haven't emailed me to tell me there are problems, the website just keeps changing from end of may, early june, mid june etc...
when calling in to see the problem, they assure me it will be shipped at the latest by my ship date (which it doesn't, cause every time my ship dates comes along, they tack on another week)
there's no possible way to defend this

you argue it's not dishonesty, but incompetence.
I'd argue both, as on lenovo's website, the estimated shipping time has always been 1-2 weeks. STILL, even though they know that's not realistic.
you could argue it's not dishonest, it's incompetence, as they forgot to change the date.

either way, people are STILL ordering, as they see the optimistic 1-2 week estimate

 

grentz, it isn't a problem that they didn't charge the card; I would have ordered somewhere else if they told me there is an eight week wait and they know it. I don't know about you but I tried numerous times to get through via phone and email and didn't get anywhere. When the BBB got involved I received a personal call and simple instructions on who I can call, without waiting on hold, to cancel my order. That's all I wanted so the problem is solved.

You'd have a valid point if Lenovo had communicated the problem, expected resolution date and a simple means to cancel an order; instead we had total confusion and ship dates that are all over the place. Unless you have an hour to clear off your daily schedule and hope someone picks up the phone, you can't even cancel the order and that's a big problem.

I'd rather spend 10 minutes writing up a complaint to the BBB than be on hold for hours trying to get a sales rep, my time is valuable even if I want to use it for sitting in the park.

On a bigger picture note, when companies like Lenovo want to do a global business they need to cater to the demands of a global market. Maybe in China where they have the lion's share of the pc pie, this isn't a big deal. In America, we are more demanding so that business model doesn't work. Proof is in their global market share dropping. Overseas tech support was the beginning of the end for Dell because they couldn't deliver the level of service customers expect. It isn't all about price.

 

I am not a lenovo employee or related in anyway. In fact I am in the same boat as you guys waiting for my order and trying to cancel one. I agree it has been handled wrong. Is what I am is someone who has been on the other side of these cases in the past and it is not fun for that side either (not with Lenovo but with another company I worked with).

None of this justifys what has gone on. I really want my T61 as well and am upset it is not here yet when I ordered so long ago (yet not as long as some of you have been waiting). I am upset, sad, disappointed, and have a trip coming up I want to use it on so I am crossing my fingers it will make it here. I also have an order I need to cancel and I cannot get through (because so many are calling asking when their order will ship 5x a day)

I am done though, I was trying to just shed some light on the situation besides constant complaining. We are all frustrated, have a drink on me and lets relax and get our laptops eventually. I am upset as well, but just trying to get through it. Lenovo doesn't shine through to well in my books after this experience but hopefully the T61 will make up for it once I get it.

 

Not true. Because I called to cancel my order and found that they didn't really cancel it. Now suppose they ship it and leave it at my door - I used my home address. Then suppose I don't need to sign for it and they charge my credit card any way.

Fortunately, I did check to make sure it was canceled a week after I called to cancel and then had to spend another 30 minutes on hold to cancel again.

What I suggest is that you call your credit card company and tell them NOT to accept any online orders with Lenovo. Then they will call you when they can't charge your card. This works, because I've done it. Tell them you tried to call but after getting disconnected twice while on hold, you gave up. This happened to me before also.

 

I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to mgerbasio. mgerbasio was complaining about shipping delays, not shipping something that was supposed to be canceled. How is my comment even slightly related to your situation?

 

I have been trying to order a laptop from this company for over a month now. They have had a hold on my 3,000$ for over 3 weeks and keep changing my ship date. It took 2 weeks for them to agree that my billing address was correct before they would even process my order and in that two weeks I called 4 times . Each time that I called I was lied to by a CS representative who gave me fake extension numbers and told me that there were no supervisors that I could talk to. For a company to not have any supervisors for two weeks is a little outrageous and unbelievable. I have been an IBM thinkpad user for over 10 years now and feel like they have the best product on the market, but their CS is absolutely unacceptable. Just because they havent actually charged my account is really besides the point. They have a hold on my money, therefor I cannot use that money! The funny thing is that a hold only lasts for appx 1 week, so they have obviously renewed it. For a company to waste my time and patience as well as lie to me on more than one occasion is reason enough for me to go to the BBB.

If they had just been honest and not given me bogus extensions, fake names and no way of going any further, then I wouldnt be so upset.

 

"Each time that I called I was lied to by a CS representative who gave me fake extension numbers and told me that there were no supervisors that I could talk to."

You know? This is really interesting because when I made my order, I received a note from a sales rep and in the note was his name and his lenovo email address. I was invited to mail him anytime I had problems.

There is a problem..... no such email exists at lenovo.

 

I had similar issues with the CS folks. Very rude and very hurried to get me off the phone (my order was placed via the web site, not through a sales person).

However, I did call the sales line to price a system and see if there were parts on delay. He was pleasant, helpful and gave me all his contact info. I called and emailed him several times to discuss options for the machine as well as have him research Outlet models that might be available. Maybe I just got a caring sales guy. But.....he had not sold a machine yet......so not sure what it would be like after the sale. My guess is I'd be passed off to the nasty CS folks.

 

well since Lenovo didn't pick up my laptop today like they said they would I'll spill the beans on some contact info for you guys. US contact number Her name is Christi Deway number is 1 877-338-4465 extension 6445. Extensions 6445-6449 all are for the same department. Supervisor is Chris. Terry Mcarthy lenovo executave relations #919 257 4820, this is the guy that responded from my BBB claim.
I had taken today off because they said someone had to be here for UPS to pick up the laptop. Well big suprise they never showed up. so I highly suggest you all go after those people its payback time I think.