Lenovo’s marketing for the last few years has been built on the slogan “For those who do.” Who do what? You know, stuff. Stuff that you need computers for. Computer-needing stuff. Brad’s experience with purchasing a laptop from the company has led him to the conclusion that no one there doesmuch of anything. Which makes sense. The marketing material says that their computers are for those who do. Not from them.

What don’t they do? Well, let’s take a look:
Don’t ship fully functional brand new laptops
Don’t have an efficient returns process
Don’t return calls when they say they will
Don’t acknowledge or respond to repeated e-mails
Don’t make their expected ship dates multiple times

Now, for a little more detail.

On Tuesday June 26th, I purchased a brand new Lenovo Y580 on sale from their website. After 2 days of credit card processing I received my laptop on Friday, the 29th because I live in the 1 day coverage area of their [redacted] [delivery center]. I immediately noticed that the webcam was defective and contact customer service. The agent was unable to resolve the issue and determined that the laptop would need to be replaced by the “Post Sales” team, but their office was closed at the time and the agent would call back on Monday.

On Monday July 2nd, there is no call, so I call them in the late afternoon. Hardware support tells me there is no case for me on file and that I need to contact post sales support. Post sales support tells me they can’t do anything without a case number from hardware support. After a total of 2 hours on the phone, I finally get my case number and the initiation for a return.

Unfortunately, Lenovo’s return process is beyond terrible. I had to wait 3 business days (July 6th) for an agent to contact me with a return label to send the unit back, and they won’t send me a new one until I do (contrast that with their nearest competitor, HP, who immediately ships you a new unit and simply bills you if you don’t return the old one. Amazon does the same with Kindle).

I e-mail the agent asking if I can get the replacement shipped before I send the defective one, like their competitors do, no response. I return the laptop on Monday July 9th and e-mail the agent informing her, I receive no response. The tracking number shows Lenovo receiving the laptop Tuesday July 10th so I e-mail the agent asking for an update on my replacement now that they have the defective unit: no response.

For those keeping score at home: that’s 1 no-call-back and 3 no response e-mails from Lenovo’s customer service.

Tuesday afternoon I call Lenovo to find out the status and the agent tells me that they’re working on it and I should hear something the next day. On Wednesday, July 11th, I finally hear from my e-mail agent and am assigned a new order number. She doesn’t acknowledge my previous emails or offer any apologies.

The estimated ship date for my new order is Thursday July 12th. That day passes and the laptop doesn’t ship. On Friday, July 13th, I call customer service again, inquiring why the status still says “Order Processing”. The agent informs me that my agent had created the order and authorized it, but did not remove the hold on the order. The only explanation given is “technical issues”. I state the ridiculous nature of the situation and the agent informs me they’re “doing their level best”. Sorry, your level best isn’t good enough.

Today, Monday July 16th was the new ship date on my order. That time has come and gone, missing the 2nd assigned ship date with no explanation.

It has been 2 full weeks and counting since I received the defective laptop. In the meantime, I have had no personal laptop at all, spent hours on hold dealing with ineffective and incompetent customer service agents and even been blatantly ignored. Just about any other company would have had this handled by now, including their major competitors like HP.
This is easily the worst customer service experience I’ve ever had in my life, and I will never do business with Lenovo again. I have to suggest that you don’t either, especially if you value your sanity.

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