Toshiba's Windows 7 Upgrade - did you get scammed???

Back in August, I exchanged a nice chunk of change for a Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q708 notebook. It came installed with Vista Ultimate, and according to Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade rules I would qualify for a Windows 7 Ultimate upgrade.

Apparently, as I've found out, that is not so!

When I went to the Toshiba website to enter my unit's product and serial number, the system told me I would receive "Windows 7 Home Premium". That's a downgrade, not an upgrade! According to their system, my unit came installed from the factory with Vista Home Premium, not Vista Ultimate.

Seems their system is reporting my unit's information incorrectly. My emails back and forth with Toshiba have been fruitless:

Hello,

I recently purchased a new Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q708 notebook. The notebook came factory-installed with Windows Vista Ultimate (original OS sticker on bottom of unit).

I am having an issue processing my Windows 7 upgrade request. According to the qualifying operating system chart, Windows Vista Ultimate upgrades to Windows 7 Ultimate. When I attempt to submit my unit information (product code and serial number) on your website the system states that I will receive Windows 7 Home Premium. This is not the correct version, and downgrading from Ultimate to Home Premium is not allowed under Microsoft terms and conditions.

Please advise as to how I can obtain the correct upgrade as I wish to use Windows 7 Ultimate and should be eligible for it.

Thank you,​

Their canned response was as follows:

This is in response to your e-mail regarding to your order that your query. We appreciate that you taking time to write us regarding your concern.

The Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program from Toshiba is designed for "like to like" version upgrades. This corresponds to the Microsoft guidelines for the program. Select versions of the Vista operating system are not included in this upgrade program.
HP Factory-Installed computer operating system Upgrade to Windows 7
Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows XP Home/Pro, Linux, Windows Vista Enterprise No upgrade available through this program
32-bit Windows Vista Home Premium to 32-bit Windows 7 Home Premium
64-bit Windows Vista Home Premium to 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium
32-bit Windows Vista Business to 32-bit Windows 7 Professional
64-bit Windows Vista Business to 64-bit Windows 7 Professional
32-bit Windows Vista Ultimate to 32-bit Windows 7 Ultimate
64-bit Windows Vista Ultimate to 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate

There is no charge for the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program from HP; however, shipping, handling, and other fees (including taxes depending on local and state laws) might apply depending on the retailer or reseller where you purchased your eligible computer.

Just to inform you, the webshop is automatically detects the operating system that you are using. Please make sure that you are using the righ operating system. There are several ways to determine this information:

- Your operating system version might be listed on your packing slip or receipt.
- If you cannot find your Windows operating system on your purchase receipt, you can find it as follows:
- From Windows, click Start , click Control Panel .
- Click System and Maintenance , and then click System .
- The version of Windows Vista is displayed under System. The System Type indicates either 32-bit or 64-bit versions.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to assist you. If you should need further assistance, please let us know.​

I wrote back to them:

I understand I am supposed to receive Windows 7 Ultimate. However, you have failed to explain why your website is incorrectly reporting my operating system, or provide details as to how I can verify that I will receive the correct upgrade.

It seems for some reason your website is incorrectly reporting my notebook, as I have checked that my system is set up correctly, and I have not tampered with the operating system. Your records should clearly indicate based on my unit's product/serial number that it was installed with Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit.

As I do not wish to receive the incorrect disc, I ask again that you please provide details as to how I can obtain my Windows 7 Ultimate upgrade media. My concern is that if I process my request online I will be sent a downgrade, which is not allowed and is wrong.

Thank you,​

Following this, I got an email requesting that I provide the information needed to process my upgrade request, as they would try to identify the cause of the problem. I sent them all the information needed, and got a response again a few days later:

This is in response to your email regarding the Windows 7 Upgrade Program. I would like to thank you for sending us the information needed. I am more than happy to assist you with this matter.

As I have checked your information, I was able to see that you are eligible for Windows 7 Edition: Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit). Since you are claiming that you have a pre-installed Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit, the best thing that I can advise you is to contact your retailer to where you made the purchase to verify if they just upgraded it from an originally pre-intalled 64-Bit Windows Vista Home Premium to 64-Bit Windows Vista Ultimate.

Please let us know if you have any additional questions. Thank you for contacting us and we appreciate your cooperation.

Thank you,​

As you might imagine, I was feeling seriously disappointed by this time. Exploited may be a better word. I cannot see why Toshiba would screw up something like this, and at the same time, refuse to offer assistance when they have been informed that there is a problem. My follow up email to them went like this:

Thank you for your response, however I am afraid to say that your logic is terribly flawed. The notebook was purchased brand-new - I opened the box in my own home myself. The Microsoft product authentication sticker on the bottom of the notebook clearly reads "Windows Vista Ultimate", as that is what came pre-installed from the factory. I am not making any claims whatsoever, I am stating to you the facts as they are.

Your suggestion that the retailer would open the package, modify the operating system, obtain a different OS sticker/product key, reseal the box as original and resell it as brand new is not only absurd, but is against store policy and illegal to do.

If you will refer to the product specifications for my notebook model, as shown on the Toshiba support website, you will see that the operating system is listed as "Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate (SP1, 64/32-bit version)". No other operating system version is mentioned, or ever came installed on this particular model. You may find the 4-page product specification PDF file listed under "Model Name: X305-Q708 Part Number: PQX31U-00U00C UPC: 883974146666". Document is version 1.1.

As you are the fourth person now who I am communicating with concerning this issue, albeit without a solution, I must come the the conclusion that you are refusing to honor the Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade coupon that I am entitled to. It is evident that your system is incorrectly identifying my notebook based on the product serial number, yet you fail to offer any explanation as to why this is so. As I have said already, my notebook was installed with Vista Ultimate, and as such I should be eligible for an upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate.

I would kindly request that you please escalate this issue to a Senior Toshiba Support Manager, as I have no desire to downgrade my factory Vista Ultmate installation to Windows 7 Home Premium. I would like to resolve this issue without any further inconvenience.

Kind Regards,​

I am currently awaiting their response.

I would like to know if anybody else out there has had similar issues dealing with Toshiba's Windows 7 Upgrade process, and what steps have been taken to resolve them. My intention is not to smear Toshiba or break any forum rules here, but this is something that needs to be addressed, especially if this problem pertains to notebook models other than mine.

 

Just link them to their own support page that lists the operating system as Vista Ultimate.

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/...lter=X305-Q708&selCategory=3&selFamily=804517

 

I have the same issue with my x305-q708.

They sent me Home Premium. Were you able to get them to send you Ultimate?

I don't believe that they even read or understand the emails I send. I've sent them links Toshiba's model description page.....

 

No response yet. I certainly hope Toshiba gets with a solution though - it would not look good for them missing the mark on this.

 

Unfortunately, it seems that Toshiba has been screwing some people over with the Windows 7 Upgrade. I think there are some other topics about them not getting shipped, etc.

 

Have you been able to actually deal with a person and not the generic help email address that they gave?

 

Time to get back here with an update!!! It's been three weeks since my last email and have still yet to hear back from them. Not wanting to wait for nothing to happen, I went ahead and called their regular support line. Luckily I was able to explain my situation and reached a Toshiba support manager there.

He confirmed that Toshiba is in fact farming out the whole Windows 7 upgrade circus to a 3rd party.

I spent a good 10 minutes on the line with him during which he verified all my information. I should be getting a call back within the next few days from one of their Windows 7 upgrade support people, but if that fails, I will again contact their support manager.

I might recommend if you are unable to get through to Windows 7 upgrade people using email to go ahead and place a call with Toshiba and request a support manager. I've been jumping through a lot of hoops before finally speaking to a live person who is in charge there.

On a separate matter, I was surprised to find out that my laptop registration did not go through properly back in August. Windows 7 upgrade requires you to purchase the machine within a certain date period, and my information was showing otherwise. The funny thing is the software on the laptop (Toshiba Registration) that's supposed to run and sync with their support database failed to send my information in. When I went online to use their web-based registration page that failed to work too. I was forced to manually fax in a copy of my receipt today before I could get my machine registered.

On the plus side, I did manage to get 15% off on an extended warranty from ToshibaDirect.com. Actually, I should have gotten that coupon emailed to me back in August, except it never arrived.

I have to say this is all way too much to deal with. I cannot tell you how many times I picked up the phone today and called number after number. While I am definitely happy with my notebook, I think Toshiba should take a hard look at the after-sales experience their consumers are forced to put up with - six weeks emailing four different people without a solution, registration software that fails to work, and a lengthy call to a supervisor that has still only provided a promise.

As a first-time Toshiba product owner, I can only say my experience so far has been extremely unique.

 

just wait, next year your PC will probably be in for repairs...... mine took 7 weeks to get repaired under my extended warranty.

On the positive side, Windows 7 Home Premium really offers everything USEFULL that Vista Ultimate had. 7 Ultimate offers a few bonuses (XP mode, multi-language), but nothing that compels me. My machine (x205-sli3) is older, so I just picked up the $30 student upgrade.