IBM Thinkpad: Beyond terrible.
Last June, I purchased an IBM laptop, preferring it to a Toshiba machine. And everyday I regret the decision.
IBM was a costlier machine, but I thought that a product from an internationally renowned company was well worth the extra money. It is here that the story begins.
After a month or so after using the IBM laptop, some colleagues discovered that IBM had not delivered what they had contracted to deliver. The laptops were 20 GB vs. the 30 GB they had promised. Also there was no floppy disk drive!! After a few telephone calls, the floppy disk drives arrived. Nothing was done about the storage space though.
All was fine again for sometime. Then slowly the batteries began failing. We sent complaints. Nothing happened as usual. Soon the issue escalated. And then the whole ?within the warranty period? phrase was thrown up. IBM thought it could get out of the issue by saying that the complaints had to be within the 1 year warranty period for the battery replacements. Unfortunately for IBM, a vast majority of the complaints were within the warranty period. They hadn?t expected that.
The latest update I hear is that they have agreed to replace the batteries for which complaints had been registered within the warranty period. Any goodwill that IBM may have won by agreeing to replace the batteries was lost, due to the IBM employees? pathetic attempts to evade responsibility. They had indeed capitulated, but gracelessly and after a lot of bad blood.
I also had problems with my display screen. Another person who had the same problem said his motherboard had been replaced and that they had fixed the problem for him the same day, though he had to wait from 9 am to 6pm. so one day I took leave from office and went to IBM service centre. The staff told me that they would check the laptop and tell me what the problem was in an hour or so. I waited a little more than 2 hours for them to figure out what the problem was. Turns out, the motherboard had to be replaced. I was not surprised. But I was aghast when they told me that they would give the laptop ?tomorrow or maybe day after?!! The motherboard had to be ?shipped from Bangalore?
I work on my laptop and therefore there was no point of me going to office. And I am sure all readers are aware how difficult it is to get leave from office. Besides I didn?t want to take leave. I had a truckload of work. I agree I don?t know much about laptop servicing, but I think that they must hold spare parts in their service centres. And besides considering the number of instances of IBM laptops? motherboards having to replaced, it was amazing that they didn?t have the required parts.
I was requested to wait in a meeting room while I was they diagnosed the problem. So towards the end of those two hours, I walked out of that cramped, little room and stood a couple of feet outside the door. The gentleman who was diagnosing my laptop charged towards me an hour later than he was supposed to inform me what the problem was and told me that if I walked out of the meeting room then they wouldn?t be able to trace me. Excuse me?! But I thought they had taken down my mobile phone number just so that they could contact me. Besides, as far as I am aware, there is no rule that says if you bring your laptop in for servicing you have to stay waiting in the meeting room, neglecting all your other work.
I am a disgruntled IBM customer. And I am unhappy with the IBM attitude. After paying Rs. 85000 for a laptop you expect better service and a more customer friendly approach. My review is under stated, because I don?t want to sound like a hysterical shrew. But believe you me, IBM sucks.
Also, what a customer must note is that, in the course of this year and a half, the Toshiba machines have not had any major problems. I recommend Toshiba laptops to IBM Thinkpad, because they are cheaper and sturdier.
And someday dear IBM, if I reach a position where I can influence purchasing decisions in my organization, I will obstruct every single IBM purchase.