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My original blog - I have moved to http://shannonclark.wordpress.com so this remains only as an archive.
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Searching for the Moon
by Shannon Clark
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Thursday, June 30, 2005
When tech support works - IBM
For the past couple of months I have been suffering from a laptop with a keyboard where the keys were not completely functional, my space bar in particular would often not register meaning that as I was typing, and I type very fast, occasionally the space bar would not hit and two words (or more) would run together. The result was that over the past few months I have been finding myself resisting writing as much as I usually do and since what I get paid to do is very much based on written results, this was a problem.
So, yesterday I finally looked up the phone number and called IBM tech support for my T40.
A few specific ways in which they made this process better than painless.
1. On their website they had a quick and easy tool which looked up my details automagically - so in one single web window I had my product type and serial number (no need to turn over the laptop and squint at worn codes on the bottom).
2. Their phone number was answered immediately, the automatic system was clear and concise with just a few options and with the most common option being 1 (i.e. I called for hardware support and the choices for hardware support were generally 1) all told it took just a few seconds to get to a person, who then answered on about the second ring, so no long wait on hold.
3. When I explained that my keyboard was sticking and was broken, all that I was asked was what my model and serial number was, he then located the right replacement keyboard, confirmed my shipping address (I had to have it shipped to my home not my business address, which was no problem at all), and he then directed me to a page on their website, accessible via just a few steps, which gave me detailed instructions on how to replace the keyboard.
4. The keyboard arrived this morning at 10am - so less than 24 hours after I called them. What's more, replacing an IBM Thinkpad keyboard is something the consumer can do (without voiding any warrentees) and all it required was that I unscrew 4 philip's head screws. A few minutes after getting the new keyboard here I am typing happily away on a brand new keyboard.
As always, the IBM keyboards on their Thinkpads (well Lenova now) are great, the ease with which it was replaced was fantastic. And though they did make a small change in the look, it functions perfectly and I am a very happy IBM/Lenova customer.
In constrast most other firms I have dealt with insist on tying you up on the phone for pointless delays and waits. IBM just identified my problems, provided me a solution and then that was that.
Fantastic and a reminder of why I picked an IBM (and why I got a 3 year warrentee when I did).
6/30/2005 11:28:00 AM
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