Michael purchased a new laptop from Lenovo this past summer. This laptop came with the promise that he would receive a free copy of Windows 7 as soon as the new operating system was released. Michael writes that (as other customers of various computer vendors have discovered) the free OS was not free–it cost over $30. And four months after the retail release date of Windows 7, Michael still hasn’t received his disc.

I purchased a Lenovo laptop during the summer, when all laptops were supposed to come with a free upgrade to Windows 7 upon its release.

When Windows 7 was released (Oct 22), I jumped on the website to order the upgrade, only to find the ridiculously high shipping & handling fee of $30.89USD. I was upset, but eventually caved put in my credit card details and placed the order. After all, $30.89 is a lot for something that’s supposed to be free, but it’s not much compared to what Windows 7 would cost me at retail.

About a week later, I got an email stating that due to demand, it would take longer to fulfill orders than expected, but that they would not charge my credit card until they shipped.

My next contact from them was an email on Dec 31st (two and a half months later) that they had charged my credit card and would send me another email when they had shipped the upgrade. Today is two weeks later, and I still have no email from them saying that they’ve actually shipped the item, and so tomorrow, I get to start making phone calls to try and figure out when they plan on shipping my Windows 7.

So far, my free upgrade is:

a) Not free.
b) Three months late.

And I have to wonder, how the hell can they get away with this crap?

That’s the problem. They already have his money for the computer, as well as his $30.89, so they have no incentive to hurry. Other readers have found success with a concise and polite e-mail to Lenovo president Rory Read.

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