Since 2014, I have been a faithful user of Lenovo computer devices. In March of 2014, I bought my first Lenovo device, an IdeaPad Yoga 11s laptop from Best Buy. I still own it to this day, although the mousepad has seen better days. I must admit that it has served me well.

Why have I pledged that neither I, my wife, nor my kids would ever own a Lenovo computer device or shop at Best Buy? In November 2017, right before Thanksgiving, I purchased a Lenovo Yoga 710 laptop, with a 15-inch touchscreen, solid slate drive, i8 processor, 500 GB, fingerprint login, and a battery that could survive an international flight to Dubai. I was in love. However, the honeymoon did not last long.

After about six months into ownership, I started to notice little glitches, like the monitor flashing on and off, or the computer shutting down for no apparent reason. Then, to make matters worse, after dropping it on the carpet, the southwest bottom left corner of the screen cracked. I wasn’t expecting that from a line of computers that are billed as being extremely durable.

Finally, I decided to take it back to Best Buy, where I purchased it from since it was still under the one-year manufacturer’s warranty and a one-year Geek Squad device protection plan. I would later discover that the person that handled my laptop purchase had sold me a bill of goods by convincing me that the manufacturer’s warranty and Geek Squad protection device plan were dissimilar. He told me that the later offered me another layer of protection, and conned me out of $129.99. What a liar, but that’s another story, for another day.

I made a Geek Squad appointment for the next day. However, nothing could have prepared me for the incompetence that would be waiting for me when I arrived. I will try my best to keep this story short and sweet. The customer service representative seemed nervous and unsure of himself, or maybe he was a bit frazzled from the backlog of customers. He pulled up my account and asked me to explain in detail the issues that I was experiencing with my laptop.

After I did, he told me that he would need to send my device back to Lenovo, and let them fix it under the terms of my original manufacturer’s warranty. My jaw hit the floor when he told me that it would take 5-6 weeks at a minimum to get my device back. Who in the world can afford to be without their computer for 5-6 weeks? Why can’t Geek Squad fix my laptop on site?

Sure, I had my old Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11s laptop, but as I mentioned earlier, the mousepad had seen better days and was hard to navigate. I told him that I would transfer my files over to my old computer and bring the device back. As soon as I got home, I discovered another issue; the keyboard was experiencing glitches also. Only half of the keys worked, much to my dismay. I tried some tips that I found on YouTube, but it did not help.

To further exacerbate things, I didn’t have time to take it back in, as a death in the family took me away from home for a couple of weeks. By the time I made it back home, the Lenovo warranty and Geek Squad protection plan had expired. I attempted to explain to the Geek Squad representative that I missed the deadline by a couple of days because of a death in the family. To no avail, it was like talking to a robot, and for me the last straw.

At this point, I pledged never to purchase another Lenovo computer device, and I would advise you to save yourself some grief and do the same. The only thing worse than their unreliable products is the terrible customer service that you will receive when you ask them to honor their warranty. 

They told me 5-6 weeks. Sheesh! Here is some unsolicited advice to Lenovo. If you are concerned about customer service, first of all, you will make more reliable products. Also, you would streamline your warranty process. Here is how the logistics should go. It should only take one day to have the device overnighted to your repair facility. The barcode box would be scanned and assigned to a repair technician.

Since I assume that you already have parts available at the facility, it should take the technician less than 8 hours to fix the device which means that in 3 days or less, the device could be returned to directly to the customer or via a third party like Best Buy.

What’s the moral of the story? Don’t purchase a Lenovo device or shop at Best Buy unless you want to flush your hard earned money down the drain and be treated like a nuisance.