The Commandments of Great Customer Service – A Lenovo Case Study in Futility
Introduction:
We all are experts on defining what good customer service is.?Although individually, we have varying lines of minimal expectations, we can all agree when customer service has exceeded our expectations.?When that happens, the love for the company and its products strengthens.?Not only do we continue to do business with them, but we also share this experience with our friends – we spread that joy.?So, what happens when service falls below expectations – we never buy again.?But what if this experience is so incomprehensible and unfathomable, what do you do then??You tell friends, you post on tick tock, and in my case, I am writing a 5-part article series on the Commandments of Great Customer Service and how Lenovo, a Fortune 500 and $86 billion-dollar company, failed at every stage.
Background:
Purchased a Lenovo Legion 5 laptop for our son going to first year college.?Within a week, he discovers software/hardware errors and after several tech support calls, he ships the laptop in for service.?After getting it back, same issues prevalent, and more tech support calls - you guessed it, he must send it in a second time.?After getting it back a second time, technical issues are still not fixed so it’s time to ask for a full refund. Lenovo agrees and tells us we will be getting the RMA by email.?In hindsight, sometimes there are product issues, and these things happen – get the refund and move on - no big deal, right??
This is where the story should end but oh no dear friends, this is where Lenovo’s customer service spirals into a dark and cold abyss.
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Commandment #1 – “Follow up with your Customer”
After a few weeks pass and no RMA, we call Lenovo on Oct 24.?We are told we will receive the RMA that day.?On Oct 26, we call and told the same again.?Still nothing and then on November 1st, I call and now told the refund and RMA was cancelled.?I explain that this is totally unacceptable given we were approved for a refund - we have already purchased a replacement laptop.?A ticket # is issued, and on Nov 8, an RMA is approved once again.?Time passes, I call again, and this time we are told a supervisor is investigating this and they will get back to me.?No word, no follow-up.?Each time I must call, each time I have to follow-up.?Every two weeks, round and round we go, I call.??Each time I get a different story; each time I am told they would follow up.?On Dec 22, yet again the RMA was approved, and I’ll receive it in 7-10 business days.??Today is January 16th.
I won’t continue to bore you with the number of phone calls and details to the Customer Service Advocacy Team at 1-855-253-6686, #3, #3 but rest assured its speed dialed into my phone.?When I have tried to escalate this matter, I have been connected to other lines where the call just disconnects and I have been sent to other local # and after on hold for more than an hour, I am forced to hang up.
On all these calls, I was reassured it was being handled but not once, ever, did Lenovo follow-up.
In my next article, Commandment #2 – Treat Customers like People, I will show actual email screenshots from Lenovo’s’ Customer Service Advocacy employees stating they were looking into this and when following up and asking politely when this would be resolved, I was then ghosted.??