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Repair Log for a cracked screen on an IBM Thinkpad 240 covered under warranty

This website will be removed as many days after I get my laptop repaired as I will have waited. If it takes 30 days to repair my laptop under warranty, then the page will go down 30 days after I have my laptop in hand. My laptop was sent for repair on 08.09.2000

The laptop was finally repaired on 06.12.2000, or 3 months and 2 days after the laptop was delivered for warranty work. This means that this site will be removed at the earliest on 08.03.2001. I say earliest because I am still out CHF 175.00 for the processing fee charged me by The Portable Shop for processing the initial claim.
I feel my claim will be closed when I am refunded this amount.

Product: IBM THINKPAD 240 (Cel 300MHz, 6.4Gb)

10.4" TFT, 800 x 600 VGA

Guarantee: 1 year (on-site, switzerland)

Problem: Cracked LCD on a 4-month old laptop under warranty

Background

On a Friday evening, I leave work witm my laptop. As always, I pack it into a softcover laptop case (ARGUS). I take the laptop along by train to Frankfurt, near where I live from Zürich, where I work. I use it on the train without problem.
On arriving in Frankfurt, I put the laptop in its case (ARGUS soft case) on th floor of the back seat of my VW GOLF. I do not use the machine in Frankfurt and return to Zurich at the end of the week-end.
On the Monday AM, I open the laptop to use it it turns out that the LCD display has cracked at the display-cover interface 1/2 way down the right-hand side.

Starting point:

The Portable Shop
I purchased the unit 09.04.2000 from The Portable Shop: Shifflände 22, Zürich branch.

The Portable Shop is a fairly large portable-device retail chain in Switzerland. They are fairly knowledgable about their products and are able to do fairly difficult tech work. Their prices are reasonable given the fact that it is a fairly upscale chain.

On the darker side of their business practices, the Portable Shop charged me a processing fee of 175.00 CHF ($US 100.00) for the trouble when I declined to have IBM repair the laptop for a fee. When I asked IBM to reimburse me for this ammount, the head of Swiss Warranty Service at IBM said that IBM does not charge processing fees and that the CHF 175.00 was a fee charged by The Portable Shop. he recommended that I contact the shop and ask for a refund.

Note of caution: Portable Shop does not (or did not at the time of purchase) accept credit cards for laptop purchases

Why is this significant?
If I had purchased this laptop with a credit card, then I would have been able to claim the damage to it on my credit card protection agreement.

Conclusion about buying there: Do not buy laptops from The Portable Shop if you are worried that you may have a warranty issue with the manufacturer later on. Buy it somewhere else

Actually Getting the LCD fixed...

First try: I take the laptop to the store whe I bought it

I drop the laptop off at the retail store where I bought the unit and ask to have it repaired under warranty. The clerk warns me immediately that he doubts that IBM will agree to repair the unit because it involves a cracked screen, and that IBM does not repair cracked screens under warranty.

I suddenly begin to think that maybe I got burned when I bought this machine where probably over 1/2 of the unit value may not be covered by warranty. The clerk recommends that I simply ask for a quote for the repair instead. I decline and insist on a warranty claim.

They offer to call me when the response from IBM is known.

More than 10 days later, still no call... I call the store and get the repair quote:

Proposed repair cost: 1,700.00 CHF (US$1,000.00) (77% of the original purchase price)

IBM CH Info Line
General questions
0848 80 43 43

IBM CH helpline
Customer help problems. Go here for warranty problems
0800 55 54 54

IBM Switzerland

28.09.2000
First call 28 September, 2000
IBM work order SD0F5 HR
Called the IBM CH Info Line. I was referred to the IBM CH Helpline who were fairly helpful. There, the reception informed me that the laptop should be under guarantee.
Went off line to talk to person responsible -- Talking to Hr. Grob who is referenced on the work order.
Mr. Grob's diagnostic: "This is the customer's fault and not a problem with IBM. It is not our responsability." The representative offeres to fax me an english-version of the thinkpad warranty.

28.09.2000
I promptly recieve the fax from IBM regarding the global waranty in English--
Base on the IBM fax, I access the HTML version of the IBM Thinkpad 240 warranty

28.09.2000
Second call to the IBM CH helpline. Calling to ask why my display is excluded from the warranty by IBM even though the warranty seems to cover it on paper. Spoke with Hr. Grob. When asked why my display is not covered under the warranty, he tells me that it is simply IBM company policy not to replace LCDs which fail due to mechanical failure. I ask that he quote to me the section of the warranty which excludes LCD damage. The representative states that it is not in the warranty, but is still company policy. Requested that he send to me in writing an expanation of which part of the warranty I have voided (The warranty for the IBM TP 240 does not exclude or mention LCD breakage, yet IBM insists that this is a customer problem).

28.09.2000
I e-mail a request for a written explanation of the basis which IBM is using th refuse to repair my screen.

First e-mail to IBM

Requesting an written explanation why they refuse to honour the warranty.

Sent:	9/28/00 5:47:14 PM
From:	"ronan oger" <ronan@stellarhouse.com>
To:	christian.grob@ch.ibm.com
CC:
Subject:	TP 240 warranty claim for cracked LCD
MIME Ver:
Attachments:
Mr. Grob: Regarding my claim number: SD0F5 Thank you for your assistance thus far. I would be grateful if you could notify me in writing why my laptop fails to meet the requirements for warranty repair by IBM. Please specifically refer to the applicable section(s) of the warranty. I bring to your attention the fact that nowhere in the warranty statement which you faxed me today is it mentionned that LCD physical damage is not included in the warranty coverage of the IBM Thinkpad 240. had this been told to me before purchasing the item. The warranty (TP 240 Statement of Limited Warranty, applicable world-wide) does state the following: "Misuse, accident, modification, unsuitable physical or operating environment, improper maintenance by you, removal of product labels or parts identification labels, or failure caused by a product for which IBM is not responsible may void the warranty." If IBM declines to honour the warranty on the basis of the above (or any other) section of the warranty text, please quote the section of the warranty which disqualifies me machine from warranty coverage. I further wish to point out to you that the laptop was never transported or stored outside of a soft carrying case, was only used indoors, and bears no physical evidence of any kind that would support more than normal wear and tear as the primary machine of an IT contractor. My mailing address is: Ronan Oger [snipped....] Best regards, Ronan Oger www.stellarhouse.com ----------------

03.10.2000
No sign of the promised letter from IBM thus far.

03.10.2000
The Portable Shop calls me to inquire about what I want to do with my laptop.
The technician tells me he is calling to ask whether or not I wish to proceed with the repair. I decline to repair the unit and request that it be sent back to them (It is still with IBM). The tech says that if I do not have the repair performed, then I must pay IBM a CHF175 processing fee (~US$110). I had known about this fee since the beginning, so it is not a great surprise. The tech also tells me that if I desire to, IBM is offering to waive the fee if I leave them the laptop for 'recycling'.

Now maybe it's just me, but isn't my machine worth something at all? It appears that IBM values a display-less, perfectly functional laptop, at approximately US$100.00. Given that, should they not be providing warranty service against damage resulting from normal usage?

05.10.2000
IBM's official (final) response to my warranty request
I get the letter confirming that IBM declines to honour the warranty. As expected given the cost of repairing the display, IBM does not accept that they carry any liability regarding the repair of broken LCDs.

17.11.00
I pay the CHF 175.00 to retrieve my laptop from IBM
This is not due to any slacking on their part as I could have picket up the unit earlier, but as I was weighing my options it seemed better to leave it with them for a while. Now that I have the unit back in my posession, I decide to re-attempt to get the warranty work done by contacting IBM through their website.

Second e-mail to IBM

Complaining to IBM via their Contact IBM website

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Re: Thinkpad 240 warranty/sales problem

Please refer to:

http://www.stellarhouse.com/cal-30/tprepairlog.shtml for further information.

I purchased an IBM Thinkpad 240 laptop from a swiss portable retail store some months ago.

I selected this machine over others due to IBM's reputation for solid construction and excellent warranty.  As part of my purchasing decision, I verified that the warranty service offered by IBM covered all key components of the machine. The warranty does not exclude LCD physical damage.  At the time of purchase, The warranty was the single most important feature of this laptop in my eyes.

On business travel from Zürich to Frankfurt (I am an IT consultant in the investment banking industry), the laptop LCD became cracked while the machine was in a standard carrying case, closed, and off. 
The crack occurred on the housing-LCD boundary, at the point where the housing flexed and the LCD did not.

It is clear from inspection of the unit that the crack occurred due to differential flexing between the LCD housing and the LCD screen due to inward pressure on the unit.
This means that the housing is insufficiently reinforced given the LCD rigidity.  Given IBM's claim for rugged laptops, this is ironic.

It seems that this problem is known to IBM because the new laptops produced by IBM (currently offered for sale in retail) have a significantly reinforced frame which does not flex as much as on the TP240.

As I felt that the damage was due to poor design, I sent my laptop in for repair under warranty.  The warranty claim code is SD0F5 HR.
IBM flatly rejected my request for warranty repair , and charged me 175 CHF for even asking for service.
I find this totally unacceptable and require a resolution to this problem. The response from IBM to my warranty request is available on the website: http://www.stellarhouse.com/cal-30/tpwarranty.shtml#tprejectfax

I purchased this laptop because the warranty includes the LCD (the warranty does not exclude LCD breakage under normal use, hence it includes it under both Swiss and American warranty standards).

This whole matter is quite unfortunate. Aside from  IBM's horrendous customer-relations behaviour towards me, the TP240 is excellent product and I would otherwise recommend it to fellow IT professionals.  Unfortunately, after-sales support is the most important part of a laptop's price and in my opinion, IBM fails entirely here.

I require that IBM provide me either:
(1) A legitimate, fact based response to my warranty request with supporting documentation if the warranty request is rejected.
or
(2) The requested repair as implied at the point of sale by the warranty
or
(3) A replacement unit of option (2) us unrealistic for some reason.

Please note that this e-mail, and all communications between IBM, its representatives, and myself, are being published on a publicly-accessible website.

Sincerely,

Ronan Oger

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Reply from IBM to my web-based query

Aknowledging reciept of the request and promising prompt attention

Sent:	11/20/00 4:08:53 PM
From:	STUCKT@uk.ibm.com
To:	ronan@stellarhouse.com
CC:
Subject:	Re: warranty problem with thinkpad 240 cracked LCD
MIME Ver:
Attachments:
Dear Mr Oger I forwarded your e-mail concerning the warranty claim to Mrs Paone from the warranty department. She or one of her colleagues will contact you as soon as possible With kind regards / Mit freundlichen Grüssen / Meilleures salutations / Con cordiali saluti Thomas Stucki ibm.com Service Centre EMEA Tel: 0848 80 4343 e-mail Address: ibmdiro@ch.ibm.com Web site: www.ibm.com/ch ----------------

01.12.00
Action on my server
my server logs show interesting activity. It seems that IBM has become sensitive to the existance of the site. gator.mktg.ibm.ch - - [01/Dec/2000:05:10:35 -0500] "GET /thinkpad/tprepairlog.shtml HTTP/1.0" 200 31406 "-" "Mozilla/4.7 [en] (Win95; I)"
kerberos.mktg.ibm.ch - - [01/Dec/2000:05:09:04 -0500] "GET /www/FreeTOC_menu.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 2133 "http://www.stellarhouse.com/thinkpad/tprepairlog.shtml" "Mozilla/4.7 [en] (Win95; I)" gator.mktg.ibm.ch - - [01/Dec/2000:05:09:03 -0500] "GET /thinkpad/tprepairlog.shtml HTTP/1.0" 200 31406 "-" "Mozilla/4.7 [en] (Win95; I)"

1.12.00
A crack in the ice appears: IBM contacts me by phone. I get a voicemail from Arun Parekh, the person responsible for country-wide warranty for IBM Switzerland. His message says he would very much like to speak to me about my problem with the Thinkpad. He leaves me his email:
address:apar@ch.ibm.com
I miss him at the office on Friday.

04.12.00
Second try to return call to IBM CH-country-wide-warranty manager
I try him again Monday morning but have no success either. I decide to send him an email confirming that I got his call and giving him alternate contact information.

Aknowledgement to IBM

Now would have been a bad time to lost communication

Sent:	12/4/00 1:36:02 PM
From:	ronan@stellarhouse.com
To:	apar@ch.ibm.com
CC:
Subject:	Re: reply to your voicemail Friday
MIME Ver:
Attachments:
Adam: Thank you for contacting me regarding my Thinkpad 240 on Friday. I tried several times Friday and today to call you at the number you left on the voicemail: +41 1 6435389. I have had no success, so am trying by email. If you'd like to reach me directly, you can try my mobile phone +41 76 XXX-XXXX or my work phone +41 1 234-XXXX at UBS Warburg. Of course, you are welcome to reply by email instead if that is better for you. Kindest regards, Ronan Oger Voice: +41 76 XXX-XXXX Switzerland Fax/Voicemail: +1 (604) 608-XXXX www.stellarhouse.com ----------------

04.12.2000
Second call from IBM: THINGS HAVE CHANGED

Mr. Parekh is calling to provide me support about my laptop's LCD monitor. He provided me with wholehearted appologies regarding my problem and offered to explain to me why there had been such difficulties with my warranty claim.

IBM Switzerland 'had originally been correct to decline to repair my laptop'

Mr Parekh explains to me that when I had requested the original warranty work, there were was no known history of such failures and the facility which produces the units in the UK (Edinburgh, I think he said) had released no problem-report bulletins (NB: my laptop says Made In Taiwan, not Made in the United Kingdom on the bottom of the unit).
Without such a bulletin, he claimed, the thinkpad could not be repaired by the service center at the time.

But things have changed

Now, Mr. Parekh explained, things are now different and IBM would be glad to fix my laptop. Apparently the Edinburgh plant has just recently issued a problem report for the Thinkpad 240 LCD related to their cracking due to a manufacturing defect.

And IBM would like to process my warranty claim as quickly as possible

Would I mind, asked Mr. Parekh, bringing my laptop to the Zürich repair facility to have my laptop repaired as quickly as possible.
I declined to bring the laptop to the repair center as I am too busy to do so and do not feel like dealing with more hassles than I have already had to.

I had paid for on-site warranty, had lost 3 months of use of my system (1/4 of the warranty period was wasted on them), a machine which I bought reasonably leading-edge has spent 3 months of its high-performance life sitting as a desk ornament at the IBM repair facility.

I felt that the least IBM could do was pick the unit up themeselves.
Mr. Parekh tells me that someone from the Zürich repair center will contact me.

04.12.2000
I get a call from Christian Grob - Operation Support Repair Center in Zürich.
A taxi will pick up my laptop Tuesday morning. Can I have my laptop there ready for pickup?.

5.12.2000
10:00. IBM sends a taxi to my workplace to pick up my laptop. This is the first thing they have done in the 6 months I have owned this machine which makes me glad I bought a thinkpad.

06.12.2000
16:00AM. IBM returns my laptop with new LCD
This is the first thing they have done in the 6 months I have owned this machine which makes me glad I bought a thinkpad.

I still have not been reimbursed for the 'processing fee' charged in the name of IBM by the Portable Shop

08.12.2000
Frist try to get my refund from The Portable Shop
I call The portable Shop and try to request a refund for the CHF 175.00 I had to pay. I get helped in French by a gentleman who very nicely tells to fuck off. I request to be passed on to Sasa Jankovic, the clerk whose name is on the 175 CHF invoice. Sasa does not speak French or English, but manages to get me the phone number and address of the repair center for the Portable Shop in Zürich:
Portable Shop Zürich repair cente

Telephone: +41 1 212 46 64
Address: thalstrasse 26

08.12.2000
Second try to get my refund from The Portable Shop
I go to the Portable Shop repair center as instructed by Portable Shop personnel. I make my case to the clerk at the desk who very helpfully tells me that he is unable to help me. Clearly I bought the unit from another branch of their company, and clearly that branch is responsible for the invoice I am trying to get reversed. So clearly, the shop at Schifflände 22 (the one which sent me to them in the first place only hours before) is where I must go to get my request looked at.
A very nice woman at the counter with me points out the the man that she just came from that very store herself and had also been sent to the repair center on a fool's errand. She very much doubted, she said, that anyone at that store would help me. I agree with her, but am willing to be surprized. Leaving the store, I take the time to redirect the demo Internet Explorer 5 session of the demonstration computer in the store to this site. Hopefully that will provide meaningful information to those who enter the store.

Links about related IBM reviews and/or bad press:

IBM Slips In Customer-Satisfaction Survey
(TechWeb IT News)

Thinkpad repair complaints
(ZDNet: PC Magazine Talkback)

"IBM ThinkPad 26270-720 i series LCD needed replacement as per IBM
service center report.Unit was 13 days out of one year warranty. IBM wants
$1050 to replace LCD. Unit cost $2017 new (2-5-99). Made at least 50 phone
calls and have at least 6 - 8 service/report no.s from IBM. Their positon has
been none yielding. I am in the process to resolve. 

Based on this, I think IBM is unfair, unyielding and seems to have the 'big
company' arrogance it had before it lost market share in mainframes and lost
its share in PC's. ..."

Why IBM Sucks
A 'Friendly' little jab courtesy of friends of Apple computers

Thinkpad Product Review
(computing review.com). Good and bad reviews about the 240 from owners.

IBM User Has Second Thoughts About His Pad
(THE TRAVEL TECHNOLOGIST - March 30, 2000)
A Thinkpad owner complaint involves none other than IBM and its popular line of ThinkPad laptop computers, which are the darlings of hard-core business travelers. The Oakton, Va., Internet and networking consultant is having second thoughts about buying one of Big Blue’s best-selling portables last September.
"I’ve been shafted," he says.
Two weeks after buying the ThinkPad, things started to head south for Holden. "I noticed that Windows 98 would frequently run the ScanDisk utility when rebooting, even though everything had apparently shut down normally," he remembers. "I called the IBM help line, and after we ran a few diagnostics, they asked me to return the system."

IBM 240 -All opinions and experience welcome
(March 2000) A News group thread about Thinkpad 240s

Thinkpad Dissapointment Pages

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