battery switch came off...

the switch on the back of the battery came off today, the plastic that connects the switch to the battery is broken. Now I have to use a pen to remove battery from the thinkpad.

Is this covered by warranty?

picture is attached below.

 

you should call up Lenovo service and find out.

 

how can I tell my thinkpad's build date?

I called lenovo, they said my thinkpad was build in April 2008, therefore the battery is not covered under warranty, they said that the it is a three year warranty and the warranty expire April 2011, which makes the machine built or sold in april 2008.

However I checked tabook, the available date for my model type is September 2009. What does this date stand for? Available until September 09 or available from September 09?

Also at the end of the Serial number on the back of the thinkpad there is 10/02, is that the build date?

 

10/02 means Feb of 2010. Are you sure it is a 3 years warranty? it sounds more like one year warranty.

check your warranty page on Lenovo.com

Lenovo Support & downloads - Warranty and License Agreement

X200t was not released in April 2008.

 

I checked, what the service guy told me was right, so what's going on? I bought my machine Feb this year from eBay, is there way I determine the built date from the machine itself, like a sticker or something.

 

i think someone whom did the warranty initiation stuffed up somewhere, it happens sometimes (but this is first time i have seen it personally).

You would need to contact Lenovo customer support (not Lenovo warranty, which is run through IBM, they don't have access to your tax invoices) or the sellers of this machine, and request the original tax invoice of the laptop.

Then send in the original sales invoice to IBM service in Australia to get the warranty corrected to the actual entitlement. Lucky you caught this problem early.

 

The Australian post sale team could not help me but they did tell me the machine was purchased in Feb 2010, I have to call the American post sale team later for the invoice.

 

i think only the purchaser can request the invoice.

 

since it came from ebay, more than likely you were sold a refurbished system -- hence the 1-year warranty.   is your MTM sticker white or black?

 

Then why does it say "the product has a three limited warranty"? And
what is MTM and and where is it located?

 

MTM = Machine Type and Model

which is in the form xxxx-xxx

In your case it is 7450-67U

 

the MTM sticker black background with white font.

 

it could be an error on the entitlement date or an error in the warranty database.   i recommend calling service and asking if the system was sold through the US outlet.   you have the correct MTM sticker for a non-refurb but there's still a chance it was sold as new or open-box through the outlet.

in any case, your battery should be covered under warranty assuming the entitlement date isn't wrong.   if the entitlement date is wrong then you'll incorrectly be past the first year of warranty and need to fix the discrepancy before proceeding with warrantying the battery.

 

I just called the American lenovo, they said they don't have invoice, saying that I must go to the guy from eBay. Which is impossible at this stage.

I don't understand, the problem is simple, they have the serial number, they can just check it up and know it was built and sold in Feb 2010, the lady at the Australian office already told me yesterday it was sold in Feb 2010, then check the original buyer bought three warranty or not and fix the warranty up. Why are they so insisting on having the invoice?

 

IBM Service can't access these sales information, not everything is shared in a manner that you want it to.

It is a simple problem, but the information is only accessible by certain people in the communication chain.

Warranty is run through IBM service, and IBM can only authorize repair if they can establish your purchase and entitlement. Basically they must have a paper trail of every documents to support a particular claim, so they know who to blame if something does go wrong.

If all else fails, you may try to ask Cleo_Lenovo, JameZ or Mark_Lenovo for their assistance on this matter.

 

apparently the entitlement date is incorrect and was set for 2008-04-17 instead of 2010-04-17.   from what i can tell it's a retail model and did not pass through the US outlet.

i'll send you a PM with instructions on how to proceed.

 

The same thing happened to my x200T in late 2009. I was able to get the battery replaced under warranty.

Note that the battery (as well as the digitizer pen) only has a one year warranty regardless of the length of your main system warranty.

This information is mostly for others that might read this post as you clearly have a different issue regarding warranty start date that is complicating your situation.

 

does anybody know what the "loading team" does? Apparently my case in now transferred to the "loading team" located in China. The customer service guy in Malaysia told me that, him manager is in Australia, my entitlement has to go through the loading team and his manager.

 

the process is what it is.   trying to correct entitlement on a system intended for the US market in another country carries with it certain complexities.

you have a unique warranty error coupled with a permanent relocation of a US-market system.   at this point it's best to be patient while the process works through the system.

 

they do a lot of back office works. Most of the Australian Lenovo customer service is run through China or Malaysia....

 

I hope it is rare and does not happen again in the future. Giving the warranty starting date two years before the machine's built date shouldn't happen in the information age.