There were three parts to Nazir’s order from Lenovo: a ThinkPad Edge lapotp, a laptop sleeve, and an external DVD burner. Well, one part of the order showed up on his doorstep. That was the sleeve. The rest of it? Who knows? Lenovo personnel keep assuring Nazir that the rest of the order is coming soon. They are wrong.

On November 14, 2012, my fiance and I placed an order for a ThinkPad Edge laptop, a USB DVD-burner and a laptop sleeve. When the order was placed, the estimated ship date was November 17, 2012. The laptop sleeve arrived within days and I thought that we might receive the rest of the order earlier than expected. Unfortunately that was not the case.

The DVD-burner shipped from Hong Kong and remained stuck at UPS sorting facility in Chantilly, Virginia. According to the UPS website, the package could not be delivered as addressed and they were waiting for more information from Lenovo. We contacted Lenovo and were assured they would contact UPS. On November 30, 2012, we called Lenovo again as UPS still had not delivered the package. Lenovo did not have any records of our previous call but once again assured us they would contact UPS and stated they would ship another DVD-burner if necessary. Three days later, the status on the UPS website indicated that the package had been returned to Lenovo. As of today, December 18, 2012 I have not received the DVD-burner even though I have two emails assuring me the DVD-burner would be shipped within 1-2 business days.

During our conversation with Lenovo on November 30th, the customer service representative told us that the laptop had been manufactured and would ship within a day or two. It did not ship and on December 1st, the order status page on Lenovo’s website showed that the estimated shipment date had been pushed to December 30, 2012. Since early December, I have emailed Lenovo almost every day asking them to explain why I was lied to by a customer service representative. And every day, I receive a response stating that the shipment date of December 30th is only an estimate and that I may actually receive the laptop earlier. Lenovo simply ignores the fact that the shipment date has been pushed back and that they had informed me that it was supposedly ready to ship on November 30, 2012. I was also assured that my order had been placed on a priority list and that it had also been escalated to “higher authorities” to be resolved.

Lenovo has a online community (forums) on their website. There are two threads on shipping delays for the ThinkPad Edge. In one post, a poster who placed an order on November 26th received their shipment notification on December 13th. I immediately emailed Lenovo asking them to explain how an order placed nearly two weeks after mine was shipped earlier when my order was supposedly on a priority list. I received a response stating that shipment dates are estimates only.
I have asked Lenovo to provide the direct contact details of a manager or the “higher authorities”. I received a response saying they are not authorized to provide this information. I have asked for a manager to contact me, but I seem only to be getting responses from [A], [P] and [M] in which they write that shipping dates are only estimates. [A] though, was kind enough to offer a $60 discount (for this mess I should be getting a free laptop or one at a steep discount at the very minimum).

Lenovo does not understand the basic tenets of customer service. They have lied to me. They have failed to recognize the mess they have created and they fail to address my concerns. And judging from the threads on their website, I am not alone.

Unfortunately, since their managers and “higher authorities” do not seem to exist, I don’t see what I can do but send a certified letter to their North American headquarters and hope that someone other than [A], [P] and [M] read it.

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