ninja mode

Okay so. Waywayway back in November, my laptop died. Motherboard just randomly went. That was all well and fine (in the OH GOD PANIC kind of way,) because Toshiba, in their vast and generous kindness, authorizes random service centers where you can take your computer to be repaired instead of shipping it off into the unknown reaches of oblivion.

“Well gee golly that sounds like a good idea,” I said to myself in infinite naivete. “That sounds like a great idea.”

And so it was. Well apparently, Radio Shack Repair (Toshiba Approved and Authorized!) is staffed only by assholes. Like, I bet in order to work there, they make you take an assholery exam. I dunno what that is, taking candy from small children or something equally sinister, I’m sure. Anyway. They were jerks and held onto my computer for near forever and told me I was stupid when I asked what the holdup was and generally were a bunch of assholes. And on top of that, my laptop came back with new problems that didn’t exist before I took it in. Just wonderful.

Because it was the middle of the year at school, and the computer hadn’t totally died or something and was still kind of useable, and I have a three-year warranty with two years left, I decided to hang onto it through spring semester even though it’s sort of backwards and painful to use. Being a tablet pc, it has all these extra buttons and spangly awesome bits that do neat things that other laptops don’t, when they’re working right anyway. Basically, none of these things worked anymore, which were part of the reason I paid through the nose to buy the thing in the first place. If you’re going to pay a lot of money for something, pay a lot of money for something because it’s awesome. This was awesome. Key word in that sentence being “was.” No longer was it awesome. In fact, loathesome might be a better word. But I digress.

I made it through the rest of the semester and into the summer, up to now, and finally decided that since I had the time and no real need to have a laptop all the time, it was a good moment to see about getting these random things fixed. So I called Toshiba, and bypassed the grand plan of taking it somewhere locally, instead opting to ship it to their repair depot. When all else fails, go straight for the source, right? I packed it up in the free box they sent me (how very kind!!) along with an extremely polite and detailed note describing all the issues present. Should have gone off without a hitch, right?

WRONG. SO VERY WRONG.

I just got it back today, and they DIDN’T TOUCH A THING. Not one single problem has been fixed. None. Not one. Well, supposedly they reseated the cooling fan, but I sure don’t see a difference, and the stripped out screws on the case from the last guy who “fixed” it are still there, so I have no idea if they even opened it.

They seem to contend that they fixed all these things, but they damn sure did not. I want heads. On platters. Silver ones. With a fine parsley garnish to make it look appetizing, because it sure doesn’t seem too appetizing all on its own. But I guess I’m just going to have to settle for shit instead, since they can’t seem to get their act together.

Looks like laptop is on its way back home already. :O

According to the tech support site, they reimaged the drive, reseated the fan, and reset the dmi. Hopefully it works now.

Time to wait and see…

So it looks like I’m tablet-less again for a while. Exactly how long, I do not know. I finally decided to give it up and send the laptop back and try to deal with the miscellaneous little issues that appeared after I got it “repaired” the first time. Funny how that works.

Got a prepaid box from Toshiba two days after a call to them, took my sweet time packing it up (and sticking labels with my name and address all over it because I am paranoid) and dropped it off at the UPS Store today. I wrote a nice note to go along with it explaining everything that is wrong with it, sounding very polite and professional, so hopefully they’ll be able to fix it up.

Because I’m a paranoid dork, I started formatting it before packing it up to clear all my information off, but apparently my set of recovery CD’s is not so good and the format failed halfway through, leaving it un-bootable. Oh well. There wasn’t a whole lot on there worth anything to anyone but me anyway, and I have a feeling it’s inaccessible or written over. Well, probably not, but it makes me feel better to pull an ostrich and pretend like it is. I’m sort of hoping they accidentally reinstall Vista on it and don’t notice. For all the complaining everyone in the world does about Vista, it is very, very nice on a tablet. I don’t know that I’d install Vista on my desktop just yet, but for the tablet at least, it is a definite good thing.

So now the waiting begins, counting down (or up?) from today. I took pics of the poor little lappy in its box, but I can’t find my camera cable at the moment to post them. Alas. Figured I’d best at least start documenting this all here incase something ridiculous happens, anyway.

Laptop is (nearly) dead again. Arrrrrrrgh.

Let the repair adventures continue…

Also: I am sick.

Also: Go play with this. Ultimately, it is advertising, but it’s fun advertising. It made me less angry for a minute.

Also: This blog actually comes up when you search for various variations on the phrase “Toshiba Tecra M4 repair problem” in Google. I find this extremely entertaining.

Ok, it’s two days later, and here are my findings:

- One of my USB ports is not working.
- The laptop no longer goes into sleep mode or turns its screen off when the lid is closed.
- The fan is ridiculously loud compared to how it was before, and sounds…”metallic”? It doesn’t sound right.
- Plugging headphones or a microphone into the headphone/microphone jacks doesn’t feel right. Like you have to apply too much pressure to them to get them in or out, as if the sound card isn’t seated quite straight/properly?

There are also random extra files in my C:/ directory, which weren’t there before I took it in. Odd log files and other things that make me insanely suspicious. The “Created On” date in the file information doesn’t match up with anything, so I’m not sure what’s going on here. :/

More when I figure it out. Haven’t yet tested the VGA output or network ports, or the modem. (Not that I ever use that anyway.) Other things I can’t test include the IR port and the built-in Bluetooth. Not that I use these things (much) but I’d like to have them there anyway, it’s what I paid for when I bought the computer.

…and retrieve one’s computer in the state it should be in. :/

As mentioned prior, I recieved a call at about 8 this morning stating that Raider was “done and ready to be picked up.” Awesome, right? Well, theoretically, anyway.

After getting my act together to head to school after stopping at Radio Shack, I flew over there as fast as fast as my car would take me. And as fast as legally possible, of course.

When I walked in the door, the place was oddly emptier than usual, and after waiting a couple of minutes I met with what I presumed to be one of the secretaries. She was polite and friendly, a nice change, and I handed her the slip with my information and waited while she went back to find my computer.

While she was gone, I noticed how quiet it was, and looked around. The other people (secretaries; other technicians) who I had seen coming and going on every other visit I had made, regardless of time, were nowhere to be seen or heard. I thought this slightly odd, but didn’t pay much attention to it really. Still waiting, still waiting, when I saw the laptop technician cross the open doorway behind the desk, catch my eye briefly, and then walk away as quickly as possible. Granted, I had no business with him at the time, but to basically run away from me on sight? That’s a bit weird.

A few minutes later the secretary reappeared with Raider sealed up in a plastic bag and labeled with a form detailing all the work that had been “done,” which she passed off to me. I thanked her politely, after all, she seemed to be the nicest person I’d dealt with so far, and headed back to my car. As I was putting the key in the door, it occurred to me that I probably ought to have turned the computer on before I left the store, so I put it on the top of the car and turned on the power switch. The laptop booted up just as it should, and into Windows, with all my data apparently still there. It looked good enough, so I shut it down, put it in my bag, and headed on my way so I wouldn’t be late to class. I figured I could look it over more carefully later on.

I arrived at class with a few minutes to spare and pulled Raider out to see if I couldn’t get online and make a victory post about retrieving my computer relatively unscathed.

When I went to open the Network Connections dialog and get connected, I was puzzled by the fact that it wasn’t there. No icon, nothing under My Network Places, and no network card in the system devices. Okay, I thought, maybe it’s just a driver thing. Or maybe I’m being stupid like I occasionally am and forgot to turn the switch on so there’s power to the wireless card. (That’s a lovely feature by the way, noticeably saves battery when you’re in a pinch and when you don’t want to automatically start connecting to random networks. I do love it.) Sure enough, the switch was off, but when I turned it on, the LED which ordinarily signifies that the wireless card is on and working, did not come on at all. Even when not connected to a network, this LED is supposed to light up. Nothing seemed to get it on, and the card seemed nonexistent.

This was certainly not a problem before dropping the computer off, seeing how I’d been talking to friends online at precisely the moment it died.

I took it into the office where I work and got some of my co-workers to look at the problem, and they agreed that I wasn’t crazy and this was in fact a problem. I explained to them the problems I’d been having with Radio Shack previously, and they thought that the best method to getting them to listen would be to form a small angry mob and go in and:

A: Make noise until they actually listened about the problem, and

B: Not let them take the laptop back, because obviously they have issues dealing with both people and computers.

Also they determined that they would comprise the small angry mob, and I agreed. Feeling slightly more confident about bringing along tech-smart friends to back me up, we headed back to Radio Shack Repair again. I was beginning to truly hate that building.

I was once again greeted by the same secretary I’d met with earlier that morning, and she looked puzzled at my presence. I explained the new problem, and she said she’d get it looked at right away. She took the computer, I winced, and she disappeared. I turned to my colleagues and shrugged, and we waited. The secretary returned shortly, telling us it was being worked on right away and to take a seat. We decided to stand. More authoritative and persistent that way.

We waited and waited a good 20 minutes, all the while discussing various computer-y things as tech nerds are wont to do, and were quietly ignored by most of the technicians and others passing back and forth through the lobby. Eventually the laptop was brought back out, as was the laptop technician, who explained to me, “Look. There’s your wireless. The wireless card came loose and was disconnected inside the case. Now it works.” And walked away.

I was surprised at how smoothly that went, and I can’t really be sure whether it was because they were eager to get rid of me, because I’d brought a posse along, or because they actually were being polite. I want to believe it’s because they actually were being polite, but I have a feeling it’s more likely because I brought people with me. I find that kind of sad, really, that they can’t be bothered to be polite to a customer because it’s right, but rather because they’re pressured into it.

So we left with a working laptop with a working wireless card, and all was well. I still wish I would have received some type of apology for the way I was treated, or some type of acknowledgment instead of being mostly ignored and hid from all day today, but at least I have my computer back and at least it is mostly working properly. Since getting it home again and inspecting it more closely, I have now noted that the screen does not turn off when the lid is closed, when it did before I brought it in for repair. I am pretty sure that this is a physical hardware switch within the laptop itself, rather than a software problem. However, I think that the pain of frustration of bringing it into that or any shop again outweighs the result. Which is kind of sad, really, because this really is an outstanding, well-built machine, but the support behind it doesn’t nearly match up to the quality of the product.

I still fully intend to pursue complaints with Radio Shack, Toshiba Corporate, and anyone else who will listen. I submitted a complaint to the Western New York Area Better Business Bureau yesterday, so that’s one down. I don’t feel that it’s right that they get away with this, and I hope that they don’t do this to anyone else in the future. Though at this point, I’m just glad I got my computer back and (mostly) working properly.

This is not the end of the story, I am sure.

Apparently, the laptop is “done.”

Finishing homework, showering, gathering belongings and getting there ASAP QUICK.

I want to believe. I really do.

So I flew to the repair center as soon as I got off work earlier today. The woman at the desk seemed rather shocked that no one had called me back as promised, and shuffled around nervously trying to find someone to get rid of me.

I spoke with the actual laptop tech, who admitted that they had lied to me, repeatedly, and that the board they had told me might have been installed had never been installed at all, and that my computer was “in a thousand pieces.”

I told him, I work with computers every day, I built my own desktop, and I am fairly certain that that laptop doesn’t even contain nearly a thousand pieces.

Minor frustration.

I asked to speak to a manager. All this while I was polite, firm, and slightly agitated though keeping my cool as best I could. There’s no reason to sound angry and irrational over something like this, despite how I might feel, and it doesn’t help anything, so I didn’t.

A few minutes later the manager appeared and I explained the situation. I’ve been promised calls back, that my computer will be done “tomorrow,” only to have no response and no computer. All she could say was “sorry,” and that my computer “would absolutely be done tomorrow.”

How can you promise this? I said. At this point, your promises mean nothing whatsoever to me because they’ve been broken so many times. That’s not good enough.

“Well, I’m sorry, that’s all I can do.”

Fine, I said. In that case, if you can’t help me, I’ll be taking this to Toshiba, and I’ll be reporting you to the BBB, because at this point, this is getting a little ridiculous.

She was clearly flustered, and I was secretly somewhat pleased by this.

Utterly frustrated, I sat in my car and thought about what to do. Clearly talking to these people would get me nowhere. At any rate, my mom was interested to know what happened, so I picked up my cell phone and called her and told her what had happened. She was as angry as I was, and told me to wait there while she attempted to talk to the manager.

I waited about ten or fifteen minutes while she called, and then called me. They were apparently just as rude with her as they had been with me. This is wrong. This is not how you treat a customer.

I drove home, and when I got home, my mom said that she had asked my dad to call and see what he could get from them.

They apologized to him.

And told him that the computer was sitting on a shelf on top of an unopened box with the new board in it. It was not in a thousand pieces, nor had it even been touched.

He didn’t buy the computer. He didn’t bring it in. It has nothing to do with him.

So basically what I get from this?

“You’re a girl, so you don’t know anything about how computers work, so we’ll push you around as long as we feel like and however we feel like, and when you try to find out where your computer is? We won’t tell you the truth, because you couldn’t possibly understand, anyway.”

So, at this point, I’ve been promised my laptop returned and repaired by noon tomorrow. Whether or not this will be true, I have yet to see, but if in fact I’ve been lied to again, things will not be good for RadioShack Repair.

Presently, I’m trying to find out where I can write to at Toshiba, more specifically higher-level support, so that someone might actually listen to the problems I’ve been having and do something about this. I’m extremely dissatisfied with the way I’ve been treated and the way my personal property has been held hostage all this time.

My advice at the moment?

Do not buy Toshiba.

Do not take your broken electronics equipment to a Radio Shack Repair Center for repairs.

Well now.

So about two weeks ago on a Monday, my faithful tabletpc, Raider, decided to bite the dust in a flurry of gray Russian ASCII values and broken pixellated lines throughout my screen. After a day or two of panic and demonstrating the issue (which got progressively worse with each attempt to boot) to several co-workers (I work in a computer-related tech-support-like environment, so we know what we’re looking at for the most part) we all concurred that it was likely the motherboard, and that there was little I could do about it on my own. After some frustration and debate, I bit the bullet and contacted Toshiba Support. (Raider is a Tecra M4-S435 Tablet PC)

I was told that I could take my laptop to a local Authorized Service Center, which at the time, seemed like a grand idea. I wouldn’t end up paying stray shipping charges, and it would hopefully be a faster turnaround time than if I had decided to send it all the way back to the Toshiba Depot for repair. So I looked up the nearest, best-rated service center I could find, and dropped it off the next day, a Wednesday.

Upon explaining my problems to the woman at the desk, she took my computer, taped a label to it, and told me that it would be about a week before I got it back. I wasn’t really happy, but happy enough. A week did not seem all that bad a wait, calculating ordering the parts, recieving the parts, installing the parts, testing, etc. Reasonable enough, I figured.

A week came and went, and I heard nothing. Feeling impatient and mildly frustrated, I called the number on the slip I was given when I dropped Raider off, and I was told that “the part had been ordered, and it may or may not have been installed, but that I’d get a call back the next day.”

Reasonable enough. I waited, and recieved no call. Slightly annoyed, I called back, and was given the same response. Now, it was Friday, and I’d have to wait till Monday to find out what was wrong with my computer. I was promised a phone call Monday morning.

Monday morning came and went, so I called again, hoping to find out anything about where my computer was, if it was repaired, when I could get it back, or if anybody in that damn building even knew what a computer even was. I was told that “no one could find the repair tech, and that I would recieve a call shortly when they found him.” The afternoon passed, and I still heard nothing. Not a word. More than a little annoyed, I drove to the repair center itself. By now it was 4:30 pm, so I didn’t have high hopes.

Upon arrival, I explained that it’s nearly been two weeks when I was told a week, I have gotten no answers and no one seems to know anything about the existence of my (expensive) computer. The woman at the desk could tell me nothing, and after some prodding, asked a (non-laptop-repairing) tech how long it would take to install a new board. He said an hour to put it in, and maybe an hour to test. So she promised personally to call me back tomorrow morning (which is now today) and report back with the status of my computer.

It’s now 3:10 in the afternoon, with no call from RadioShack Repair.

I am more than a little angry.

In approximately 20 minutes I will be going over there myself and asking for my computer back, repaired or not, and with the parts covered by my warranty. If these people aren’t competent enough to repair my computer on timely basis, I can and will find someone else who is. And I will be complaining to Toshiba directly, as well as the BBB. If I had recieved a reasonable response in a reasonable amount of time, or even an answer, period, when trying to find out exactly where my computer is and when I could expect it, I wouldn’t be so frustrated. But too many promises have been broken by this point, and I am not pleased.

I should have bought a Mac….