I decided to get a Thinkpad P50 because I need to do some statistical analysis that requires more power than my T460s dual core can provide. I visited Lenovo’s outlet website and found some crazy deals (since the P51 is coming soon). I put in an order for a new Xeon P50 with 8 MB RAM and 500 GB HDD (intending to swap these out) with a 4K screen and Quadro M2000M graphics card. I placed my order and discovered at the airport (I was traveling) that my order was cancelled by their credit card services fraud unit.
I called Lenovo, got them to remove the pre-authorization from my Amex card and then was switched over to a sales rep to replace my order. He (of course) could not find the configuration I originally ordered, but he found a refurbished model with 16 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD for $300 less than the new version I ordered above. I said fine, placed a $1290 order for the P50 as the airplane doors shut.
Once I landed, I noticed that an additional charge for $21 was placed on my credit card. I decided to wait until the next day to contact Lenovo to ask about the charge, but the laptop actually shipped the next day. I was originally quoted a two week wait that turned out to be three days (I am typing on it now).
My first surprise (good) was that the version I have has a Samsung 950 Pro 512 GB SSD, not the smaller SSD I thought I ordered. The second surprise (bad) is that it is the 1920 version and not the 4K I thought I was getting. But you know, the only reason I noticed the screen size difference is that I checked out of curiosity - I like this 1920 screen.
Normally (as folks know) I am one to complain about this type of bait and switch, but for $1310 I have a Xeon processor, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, Windows Pro, M2000M laptop that works great (as far as I can tell). Plus it still has a one-year warranty as a refurbished model. Not a bad deal.
I got a refurb T460s last summer with a defective screen. They sent a tech over but sent the wrong screen. Instead of telling me that and leaving, he replaces the motherboard (I was in another room so didn’t see him working). On top of that, he scuffed the touchpad and chassis and left a dent in the screen bezel (it was a refurb but physically in mint condition when i got it)
The next tech also arrived (a month later) with the wrong screen.
A month after that, the third tech gets it right, replaces the screen and screen bezel but they didn’t send the touchpad, instead they shipped me a 2nd screen bezel.
At that point, I gave up and decided to just put up with the (admittedly minor) scuffs.
So all this frustration and not even mentioning all the phone calls, being put on hold, bounced around from department to department. I had to call one number to cancel a tech visit and a different one to schedule a new one…there is no one-stop rescheduling at Lenovo, it seems!
So not a good experience. Still, i absolutely love the machine for my needs and got it for $640 when it would have been $1098 in that configuration (and added a stick of 8GB of ram for a lot less than it would have cost to configure the machine with 12GB to begin with)
I think the next time I do this I will call and order in real time because their inventory seems to update so quickly that the website can’t keep up. I will know what specs I want before I call, tell the rep what I want, and see how close he/she can come to those specs. Saving more than half the cost on a similarly configured new device (even with my university discount) is worth the risk in my opinion.
FWIW the last five machines I have ordered (not all mine. some sit on the laps of family and friends) have all been lenovo machines and they have all come as ordered. All are still working. As far as I know all of the users are happy with the machines.
New Lenovo experience. I decided to purchase a Thinkpad P51 primarily for the new 4K screen and graphics card upgrade. I placed an order, my credit card was authorized and then I began to wait the nearly month waiting time until it was supposed to be shipped. Half-way through I decided this was too long to wait for such an expensive machine, so I cancelled my order. Or I should say I requested to cancel my order. Lenovo originally authorized $3K on my CC when I first ordered. The afternoon after I requested to cancel my order they put through TWO authorizations for $3K on my CC.
The customer rep explained they were were “only” authorizations and will drop of in 7-10 days. I then lost it a bit and explained why I didn’t appreciate Lenovo “only” authorizing my CC for $6K for a cancelled order (rep confirmed it was cancelled and that I would receive an email in 24-48 hours confirming it was cancelled).
So thus ends my Thinkpad relationship! I’ll pay more for a Dell Precision, but hopefully will have a better customer service experience.
Update - I received my cancellation confirmation this afternoon. But still have $6K tied up in Lenovo authorizations. Ordered a Dell Precision 7520 instead.
Another update- Dell Outlet experience was flawless. I purchased a Dell Precision 7520 and an XPS 13. The 7520 was certified refreshed and looks new to me. The XPS 13 was new, but has a 7th gen processor (7560). Both were deeply discounted plus the XPS had an additional coupon for the outlet. Ordered on Tuesday next day air, had an estimated Friday delivery, but arrived on Thursday instead.
I originally ordered a new build 7520, but cancelled it once I found the business side of the outlet. Dell previously authorized $3800 on my credit card and without even asking, cleared the authorization after I cancelled. Big points for Dell!
Oh, and unlike Lenovo, what I ordered actually showed up in the package.
Dell’s driver update support page is WAY easier to use than the Lenovo Companion software on the Thinkpads. I just had to click to have the page scan my computer for updates (had to install a program to continue) and then it told me which updates and firmware needed fixing. It downloaded and installed everything but the firmware, but it told me I had to manually install that. I clicked to install the firmware and was done a couple of minutes.
