Bad Toshiba customer support

Tracy Hooten is a lot more patient than I am, I think.  She’s been waiting for a month for Toshiba to repair her M200 Tablet PC and isn’t getting anywhere with them.  She’s blogged about how it took her days to get the fact she bought the “super duper no questions asked” warranty acknowledged by Toshiba so she could send it to them for repair.  She’s blogged about how she’s waited for 24 days now for the actual repair to get completed so she can get her Tablet PC returned.  She’s blogged about the fact the status of her repair keeps changing on the Toshiba status site.  Through all of this Tracy has been cool, calm and collected.  Me, I would be screaming from the top of the Toshiba headquarters.

Let’s help Tracy get her Tablet back.  Anyone with a Toshiba horror story about repair or customer service difficulties please chime in here with a comment.  Let’s see if a string of unsatisfied customers can get Toshiba’s attention about Tracy’s plight.  It’s worth a shot as she has nothing to lose since she is already without her precious.

Comments

[Tracy]

Thanks, James ^_^. Any help here is always a good thing. I have an update on the situation on my site, but not much has changed (except the fix date was moved back again).

[Philip Copeland]

I just read Tracy's story on her blog and I can't believe Toshiba's inadequacy. What's worse: I own a Toshiba. I bought it thinking that this was a company I could trust--I thought it was a leader in notebooks and service . . . it looks like that reputation has gone down the tubes.

[Eric Mack]

James, I sent Tracy some contacts at Toshiba - execs that contacted me after my first YABTHU post. Hopefully, they will help her.

Still, it's pathetic to see this level of support. I purchased the on-site repair in addition to all of the other warranties. I've been hesitant to get the specs of dust removed from my screen - not sure if the onsite support is as challenging as the mail-in support. Either way, it speaks poorly for Toshiba, and it will influence my decisions to recommend their products to my corporate customers.

Eric

[Mike]

There are a couple things that steer me away from Toshiba as a device to provide to Medical students. One is the issue of service and parts availability as evidenced here, the other is the huge amounts of garbage included on a base install. It's on the restore discs that they do not provide as well.

I have had nothing but good experiences with HP service and support thus far in comparison.

[Scotty]

First I would check the warranty and see if I had missed anything about how long they have to fix the silly thing when I bought the warranty.

If they were over the limit (if there is one) in the warranty I'd call the BBB and the State's Attorney General and ask them to investigate an apparently fraudulent warranty. BBB and AG's love to go after folks that sell warranties and then "disappear" when they actually have to do something instead of count the money.

[Michael]

Somewhat related: I bought a new laptop battery from Toshiba recently. Although they claimed it was in stock, it took more than a week to ship from their warehouse. Moreover, I called them on a Thursday to find out the status, and they claimed, despite their website's status report, that it had shipped two days earlier. However, it did not in fact ship until the day that I called.

Total time from ordering to receiving a supposedly in-stock item: 12 days. Shipping took four of them.

[jil]

Toshiba has the WORST customer service. my laptop has been broken since the day I took it out of the box; it is constantly in the repair shop, the warrantee is running out and "it is not toshiba's policy to replace or refrubish a laptop". I am floored. So because I trusted toshiba and was a sucker to buy one of there expensive products it is now my problem and there isn't any recourse. I will never buy another product from them again!

[James S]

I am currently embroiled in a customer service dispute regarding a laptop i bought from toshiba. Toshiba was fully aware of these issues at the time i bought this laptop and i am stunned as to how this shoddy company is still allowed to operate in the USA...I have checked the internet and the issues i am having with my laptop are common and the number one complaint of every one who owns a laptop of this particular model...I was really tempted to sell this piece of crap to some one on ebay and saddle them with this problem..But i have chosen not to..Toshiba will one way or another replace my laptop or give me back the equivalent value of this piece of manure laptop that they sold me!!!! It is now out of warranty and these scum want me to drive almost 400 miles to have my laptop repaired!!! And after that, if those repairs fail, i am on my own!!!! No one can sell you some worthless piece of plastic full well knowing the defects it has and then tell you to go to hell because you dont have a warranty!!!!

I will do whatever it takes and will stretch the law as far as it can be bent to ensure that Toshiba gives me what is mine!!!!

[Amir]

You guys think you have it bad. Toshiba lost my laptop two months ago! They literally lost it and all they tell me is: "Sorry there is nothing we can do!"
I told them, that's just not gonna cut it. I really haven't gotten too far with it though. It seems as thought Toshiba's support people are trained to beat you down and pee on you, rather than try and help you out.

[Rick A]

I bought a Toshib 1640 CDT in 1999 when I retired. After about 18 months the hdd gave up. I replaced it and found that Toshiba had identified a problem with the cooling fan operation and apparently issued a bios upgrade to deal with it.
From their own website I was able to identify the upgrade as 1620_1640_v106.exe. But is it to be found on any Toshiba site Ha Ha (File not found).
It is hardly possible to even find a reference to this obviously troubled model which was apparently available only in Europe.

I would not buy another Toshiba or recommend them

Rick

[Jamie Dudley]

I have a Toshiba notebook that is not quite 3 years old. The hard drive gave out about a month ago and now the a/c adapter has died. I called Toshiba Customer Care (an oxymoron if ever there was one) to inquire if this was a common problem and if they would consider standing by their products and replace at least the adapter. I was told by the gal that answered the phone that my question wasn't her department. Never once offering an apolgy for my inconvenience or offering to transfer me to someone else. She actually sounded bothered by my call. I have owned Toshiba products in the past, but certainly won't rush to own them in the future.

[nina]

I purchased a two-year extended warranty from Toshiba for $134. I received an email from Toshiba saying that they've processed my warranty. Then, when my computer had problems and I called, they said that my warranty had run out. In order to check that I did in fact have a warranty, they asked me to fax in the email they had sent me, a credit card report showing the purchase, and the bottom of my computer. This I did, even though I thought it was ridiculous because they, afterall, had sent me that email confirmation in the first place. I called them again, and they still didn't have my warranty on file, asking me to fax in the above documents, again. After bitter words, I did do this again, and they still didn't have me on file. I've given up now, and accepted the $134 as lost. Will never buy a computer from them again. Am currently trying to file a BBB report.

[Chris Laughlin]

I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop computer. My computer is less than a year old and I began to have problems with my computer. I called the Tech Support at Toshiba and the only thing they could recommend is to reboot my entire system. I informed him that I had sensitive business information on my computer that I could not loose, he told me to back-up my information on CD, which I did. The Tech support walked me through re-booting my system, which worked for a very short time, I then called back and they said when I performed the re-boot it was only within windows and I needed to do a complete re-boot, which I was walked through. Again this worked for a very short time but began having problems again. I have spoken to every tech support member I could including the Tech Support Supervisor who did not satisfy my compaint and refused to give me his supervisor. I was assured that I would receive a phone call back and to date have still not received a phone call back, every time I call Toshiba I get the run around like customer support is closed and they can not transfer my call. I have since purchased a compaq presario computer. BEWARE of TOSHIBA TECH SUPPORT. Having talked to numerous computer repair technicians since TOSHIBA I have learned not only from personal experience but also the experience of others that TOSHIBA TECH SUPPORT is not competent, the only recommendations they give is to re-boot your system when they can figure out what the problem is, which by the way does not fix the underlying problem. Also, the back-up disk I made at the recommendation of the tech support did not work, and because TOSHIBA walked me through several ways of re-booting my system all information was erased from my hard drive and all sensitive information that I had was completely lost. Again BEWARE OF TOSHIBA TECH SUPPORT THEY ARE INCOMPETENT>

[hal9000]

10 months and still waiting!
I'll type easy, I have few time:
Purchased Satellite A30 in Dec2003.
Worked fine till Jan2005, then the modem died.
I needed the notebook, so I purchased a PCMCIA modem and went with it till November2005.

November 2005: I ask Tronik (Barcelona) Toshiba dealer to repair it under warranty. They accept and replace mainboard. I went to get it back, on Jan2006. Result: Keyboard had a non-working key.
Wanted to charge me for a keyboard replacement, but it was not a keyboard's fault: the mainboard Toshiba sent to replace in my notebook was faulty.
BTW: Wireless on/off button was faulty too.
TOSHIBA REPLACEMENT PARTS ARE FAULTY.

March 2006, I got a call that told me that the notebook was ready again. Went for it again, and got it home. Started working but soon a smell of burned plastic got out of the unit. They missed to
connect the fans. Went to Tronik Barcelona toshiba dealer again and they reconnected the fans. No incident number registered, so I don't have the proof of incident.
INCOMPETENCE OF THE TOSHIBA OFFICIAL SERVICE.

April 2006, the notebook randomly stops working, and when trying to power it up, I get a flashing green-yellow-black power-on light.

Things go wrong on May2006 and I go to Tronik
Barcelona again. I get a DVD with a video record of the notebook making that funny start-stop game, but I did not need it as the notebook failed when the technician tested it. Resunt: Mainboard replacement again. So, again:
TWICE TIMES: TOSHIBA REPLACEMENT MAINBOARD WAS FAULTY AGAIN.

JULY 2006: Yesterday went again to Tronik Barcelona to get the Satellite A30. First think I tested: Was the wireless button working? NO.
TWICE TIMES INCOMPETENCE OF THE TOSHIBA OFFICIAL SERVICE.
No incident number again, so I don't have any proof of the incident.

Let's wait, and see how long they last to fix the wireless button, and let's check if the mainboard is OK or is faulty again. The notebook is still there.

Each time I go to Barcelona I need to pay $30 (gas and highway taxes). Went 5 times ($150).
The professional life of a notebook is between 3 and 5 years, let's expect 4. This notebook has been in the Tech service 8 months, that's 0.7 years, that's 18% of the notebook, so I think that I'll require Toshiba to refund me 18% of 1292$,
that's: $240, plus 1/3 of a new battery because of the damage the battery had during the time it was sitting in the toshiba dealer.

[Manish Pandey]

Its to my great disappointment that i bought a Toshiba state of the art notebook only to find it does not work after three days of its purchase and to top it when i contacted the show room and informed them about the problem, I had to call several times to get my problem across and the agent suggested why you did not by the Sony one its better and Toshiba was a cheaper choice.

After speaking to him for 20 minutes on overseas call i was convinced that he would solve the problem only to my surprise i got a mail stating i have to bear the expense of shipping it back and then also i have to bear the expense of getting it back.

I did not buy an expensive device to send it back for repair or exchange; i have been using Toshiba for quite some time and know its value very well.

I am totally dissatisfied by the way of treatment and also the poor quality of device being sold to me.

The above was purchased from Jumbo Electronic , Deira City Centre ,Store Manager , Neil Dadula Bisquera

Cash Memo no. RI 425890

DATE OF PURCHASE 23/08/06

Paid by credit card number 4695780010058716

[jeff]

Toshiba needs to put out of business and bill geek gates needs a smack in the head. My Toshiba P20 is in for repair for the 4th. time and it never really worked without problems. I am now on my 4th. Qosmio in 5 months. Harddrive failures in 2 G30's and the latest one is going to be returned to London drugs. All kinds of wierd problems. Mostly can't go 10 minutes without them freezing up or something needing to close.
Microsoft assholes are now pushing vista when they haven't even got windows 98 working properly yet. People I know are also having issues with other brands like hp, sony, etc. My solution? I am reducing my need and involvement with this electronic technology shit. I have lost 2 much time and suffered 2 much frustration, it is no longer worth it. Too bad people are such lazy wimps with short memories. If people would get organized and bring their purchasing to a halt, maybe these companies would smarten up.

[Kevin]

I bought a satellite M70 last boxing day. Within two monthes the battery died. I called Toshiba and they said the only way I could get warranty was if I sent my whole pc into them. (There are no service centers near me) I need my PC daily for work. I got lucky and a nice kid at Future Shop heard my story and traded me a new battery for my pooched battery on the down low. Six months later the new battery calved out! I did some research on the web and found out that there is a recall on this exact model of battery. I called Toshiba and they said that although I had the battery with the recall on it, I would still need to send my entire work pc into them to check for shorts. I don't know.. If your battery fails, and there is a recall on it meaning the battery is know to be faulty, why would i need to send my laptop in also? Anyhow, since this isn't an option for me I guess I'll be asking for a new $169 battery for Christmas. I will never buy another Toshiba. I love the computer, byt the customer service regarding my battery was terrible.

[Fanny]

I'm so surprised to find so many bad stories about Toshiba Laptops, I thought I was alone in the world with my problem since there's been nothing but frustration for me.
I bought one of those Satellite laptops about five months ago and the first time it failed right out of the box, so I went to Liverpool (the store where I bought it, I live in Sinaloa, Mexico) and after 9 days and having to drive back and forth to the store almost every day they replaced it with a new one, but this new one also failed in less than a month so I went to the store and asked them to give me a refund or a computer from a different manufacturer but of course they said that it was Toshiba's problem. Toshiba's lawyer told me that if I wanted a refund first I had to send the computer to the shop so they could make sure there was a problem and so I did, but after 20 days they called me to say that they had changed the parts of the computer that were not working and that the refund was not possible and that I HAD TO take it back but I didn't, and I won't! It's been over two months already and they haven't even tried to give me a solution. If somebody has an idea of what I could do please let me know, your help will be deeply appreciated. And please NEVER BUY A TOSHIBA!!!

[Sebastian]

Hi,

In Argentina we have open a site to join the claims about the toshiba warranty.
Basically they are taking more than 4 months to repair the machine.
Our site is at http://www.garantiatoshiba.com.ar

[Joe]

Hi all,

I bought my Toshiba Tecra M3 in the summer of 05. This winter, I found out about the Toshiba "voluntary battery recall" program. So I take it in on January 5th to have it replaced, and the guy takes it in and says I'll have the new battery in about 4 weeks.

So I wait.

And wait.

After 5 weeks, I give Genemation, the company Toshiba sanctioned to deal with such things, a call only to find out that NO ONE PLACED THE ORDER, but that they would take care of it.

So I wait.

And wait.

Its now been 2 MONTHS and I still have no battery. I gave Genamation a call, they did absolutely nothing for me. I gave Toshiba a call, and naturally the response was "we'll look into it." This is the worst costumer service I have ever received. Its down-right shameful. I learned my lesson though. NEVER AGAIN will I buy a Toshiba.

Best of luck to you guys.

Joe

[Laron]

toshiba is one of the worst companies ever when it comes to tring to get your laptop repaired
they have come up with every reason i could think of not to repair my qosmio. I even just asked them to send me the software needed to make my pc work the way it did when i got it from the store. All I need is the qosmio player recovery disc and they refused to send it to me even though my pc is still under warranty which they are no saying there is a question to when and were i purchased the pc. NOTE I promise on my dead mother I will never purchase another toshiba product in my life. I spent a total of 12 hours on hold for 9 calls to toshiba.

[Laron]

Please someone do you have a copy of the qosmio player recovery disc

[Jerry]

I TOO will NEVER purchase a Toshiba product.I bought the most EXPENSIVE laptop there was 4 years ago( I know you can buy a much better one now for about 1/2 that price)and I have been throughly AGGRIVATED ever since.Go ask IRIS !! That is their answer to customer support.Its a customer support JOKE.Iris is a computer! You can't ever talk to a real human being, that is unless your computer is less than 90 days old and even then you may be on hold until it expires. Save yourselves a LOT of trouble.STAY AWAY FROM TOSHIBA ! A computer is only as good as the support you receive.Try it for yourself.Bring up Toshiba on one of the search engines and try getting support.You need not own one to try this experiment.I am not sure what brand I will purchase in the near future BUT it will be the one with Customer Support.Ya know.....the human being customer support.If I can find one that speaks English that will just be an added bonus.NEVER AGAIN,Jerry

[m0dred]

Hi my friends, I am afraid I am another one victim of lame Toshiba customer support. In November 2005 I bought a Tecra M4. Everything was fine till March 2007, then the motherboard died - some strange things started to appear on the screen and the laptop could boot only WinXP safe mode (no Linux, no Windoze). Since I just moved to Barcelona from Poland, I took my precious toy to the Tronik service. They agreed that the laptop is still under 3 years worldwide warranty.But now it is over three weeks (I count business days together with the Easter) and whenever I go there I hear the same story - the replacement motherboard did not arrive yet. What a shame! This device costed me over 2000 Euro. Imagine a businessman who have the whole office in his Tecra :(. I will probably sell it after getting it back if I ever get it back ... I hope so, or even better if I got the money back... I dunno what to do, maybe I should use some explosives or martial arts on them?

[C. O]

I am to angry to even type anything. I called Toshiba about my defective USB ports, they told me they would send me a box to have my laptop repaired in, then they didnt send anything. I called weeks later and they tell me my warranty is up so they wouldnt send it. I told them I CALLED WHEN I STILL HAD A WARRANTY, back in december 2006. It is now April 2007 and I still have no USB cords. They keep on transferring me to Customer Relations, but I sit on hold for over an hour before I give up and hang up. That has been happening for a couple weeks now and Ive been calling daily. Then they give me these stupid case ID numbers that dont help, because I get one every time I call, so when I call again the representative reads all of them before helping me. i think, if you own a toshiba and live in America, AMERICANS SHOULD HELP YOU!! Whatver country you live in, thats where your representative should be from! I dont know when theyll get my laptop repaired, I think they give you the run around till your warranty runs up or till you get tired, then go pay a repairman by yourself