TOSHIBA JUNK LAPTOP AND THE UNREPENTANT COMPANY

Post by reinhard_heydr
Posted: 6/10/2005 5:12:03 PM

Toshiba Laptop - Worst Product and Non Existent Warranty, to boot I wanted to bring a problem to the attention of my fellow members and hope you can avoid repeating my purchasing error.

Specifically, my problem encompasses lack of quality and denial of any warranty or normal responsibility for performance that are shocking and frightening, even in today's "laissez-faire" and "blasé" consumer society. For everyone's reference, the model name and number in question are the Toshiba Satellite M30 Laptop Computer.
Here's what happened: I own an 11-month-old Toshiba Satellite M30 Laptop that my kid used at first year University. The Hard Drive just burnt out on this, a $ 2,500 machine! A very disappointing start in itself! Toshiba WAS SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD, since it had a "good name" But, an even more horrid experience awaited me. After dropping off the machine for "service" I was lied to, on the telephone, for 5 days straight on the availability of parts.” Supposed to come tomorrow.."

I finally went in person to the Toshiba "Service Department” and I was told, (after more CYA and "buck - passing": "We have no hard drives in stock and WE HAVE NO ETA!!??" Just like that! The effect and translation of such a statement is: " You are on your own, now, sucker!" THE Laptop IS An Essential appendage in my "technology run" life, as all can appreciate. Where does such a statement leave me? I had to take immediate action or suffer even greater monetary loss. The first independent computer repair shop I went into told me:

"I saw it before, it's just a scam Toshiba uses. Toshiba just PAID OUT a class action lawsuit in the States: $2.1 billion US FUNDS for the very same thing!!??Their hard drives are absolute garbage. They just want you to buy a new drive. I can get one for you and install it in 1 day but NOTHING UNDER WARRANTY. I deal with the Toshiba New Parts department people, they have them over there, but never through the warranty department" To cut to the chase, approx.$ 2,500 later (back and forth out of town for the configuration disks, software, loading the software, labour, intranet configuration software, new drive hard drive sold at "parts "prices, data recovery under very severe time constraints etc.) I had a new hard drive. It could not get any worse, right? Wrong!

Friends worried about my cardio health combed the Internet and found out that Toshiba ITSELF has listed my VERY model as one with a defective factory installed hard drive. It was there, in the bowels of their website, together with 20 or so other SATELLITE and TECRA model numbers. Thus, I realized that all of the 20 or so Toshiba personnel, at different levels that I was bounced around to, just pretended to be helpful, while all the time just perpetrating a well rehearsed scam! They all knew about the "defective from birth hard drive" and naturally kept it under wraps when I took the machine for "IN - WARRANTY" service.

Internet searches further revealed sites like: www.thesqueakywheel.com, complaints.com, consumeraffairs.com, ZDNET (the $2.1billion class action and paid out lawsuit) plus topics under "Toshiba Laptop Complaints”,” I hate Toshiba”,” Toshiba sucks", etc. full of lamentations from duped consumers such as I. Needless to say, ever since (Feb 2005), there has been not a peep from Toshiba, no acknowledgement that I exist, let alone an attempt of addressing their shockingly unethical business practices. This would be the ultimate case of BUYER BEWARE!!

This is a repost from http://www.techvibes.com/idealbb/view5040.html