Experience Sharing – Laptop buying from amazon India

patkim

Cyborg Agent
Here I would like to post a recent laptop buying experience. I am not strictly complaining but I am completely stunned at this experience of laptop buying from amazon India.

Sometime ago my relative was looking for a low-end budget laptop. His budget was not over 25K INR. He wanted 1 TB HDD as a must, so I just suggested to look for a model with 8GB RAM to compensate for slow HDD and he on his own settled on this *www.amazon.in/Lenovo-14-inch-35-56...80-b8ec-91037c790a64&pd_rd_i=B0B2JVV426&psc=1

As per amazon listing this model Lenovo E41-55 comes with 1 TB HDD, 8GB RAM and Windows 11 Home preinstalled.

Despite amazon listing, I searched the MTM on Lenovo part list and found that for that MTM the compatible parts only indicated 4GB RAM and NoMedia meaning there’s no OS on the product.

So, I was a bit wary and so I wrote to Lenovo asking for clarification but after a few follow-ups they asked for product serial number before they could confirm anything, which was not possible as it was a pre-sales query.

After the laptop arrived, it was shipped with Windows 11 OEM sticker on back panel and 8GB RAM. Everything looked good. Windows Key was genuine and with 8GB it was working well. Buyer was happy! We registered the serial num on Lenovo website for warranty and the official machine config came up which showed that the machine only has 4 GB RAM and FreeDOS just like how the earlier MTM search had indicated.

So, I called Lenovo customer care and they as well confirmed that the machine config registered for that specific serial number at Lenovo is correct and the system ships with DOS and 4GB RAM for that serial number.

I investigated further and found that there’s no OEM Key in Firmware. I also ran WMIC MEMORYCHIP LIST FULL and was surprised to find two 4GB RAM sticks of different speeds combined on the motherboard. It’s highly unlikely that Lenovo would have taken such an approach of combining different speed RAM sticks.

I also wrote to escalation email ids in Lenovo and got a written confirmation that the product only ships with DOS and 4GB RAM.

It was then clear that the product has been modified after it left the Lenovo factory either by the dealer or the amazon retailer. What this means is that the modifications done won’t be covered under warranty. Suppose mobo fails then I won’t be getting another OEM Windows 11 with the replacement. Or if the added RAM fails Lenovo will treat it as an upgrade and won’t give me a replacement.

I wrote to seller asking for clarification but they just made a thin blank statement asking me to return the product stating that there’s some error. The same product with that 8GB and Windows 11 is still available on sell with 1 year warranty and amazon listing proudly shows additional protection plan for Extended warranty which is again a sort of cheating.

I escalated this observation to amazon. By the time I could collect all evidences the return window had closed but amazon accepted our claim and were ready to offer complete return & refund to us even beyond the return window, but by then otherwise the laptop was working fine and we had already populated lot of confidential data on HDD so going for return and refund was a painful process so we decided to keep the product. And even if he would have gone for 4GB I would have anyways added another 4GB to it later as 8GB is a must for smoother performance.

For me this is first of this kind of experience (product modifications by amazon dealers or sellers beyond factory config) which from Lenovo MTM checks I suspected but still could not confirm. The problem I generally find is tech support are quick in responding if you mention the serial number but for pre-sales it’s not possible and responses are many a times vague for pre-sales.

I cannot even now trust the amazon listing. For me this is still a sort of cheating because the ignorantly blissful buyer is under a wrong impression that entire product is under warranty.

So future buyers be aware, I am not saying not to buy it but be aware of what it actually is. The MTM is 82FJ009JIH which after my concern, seller has also purposely removed from the description page.

I won’t mind buying a modified product if the modifications are disclosed upfront as a disclaimer.

This is where I like Acer for their warranty void stickers, except service center no one should modify the product. I have written to Lenovo this experience and suggested them to implement such a practice of warranty void stickers on their laptops.

I am likely to post it with more details and screenshots on my personal blog as well soon.
 
This is where I like Acer for their warranty void stickers, except service center no one should modify the product. I have written to Lenovo this experience and suggested them to implement such a practice of warranty void stickers on their laptops.
This is a very bad suggestion & is anti-consumer.

I'm all for right to repair, I bought it, if I'm knowledgable enough, I should be able to upgrade it myself. Any damage done during upgrade will surely be out of warranty. If you want to see the other side, check Apple products. Heck their phones didn't have a separate back glass panel like other phones till iPhone 14 which would be easy to replace & in general Apple's attempts to block 3rd party repairs. Their laptops have soldered RAM & storage with outrageous price jump for higher tier of RAM or storage. Just scratching the surface of Apple's anti-consumer behaviours.

The case is interesting for sure, but warranty void sticker is not a solution at all. Authorised sellers should not be tampering with sealed boxes or modifying the SKU & its up to Lenovo to try to stop such practices.
 

whitestar_999

Super Moderator
Staff member
This is a very bad suggestion & is anti-consumer.
Exactly! Also, unless a laptop manufacturer can prove that using an outside ram/ssd damaged the laptop why should it even matter for availing warranty which is for "manufacturing/product defect" not to mention I have yet to see a case where a ram/ssd caused a laptop to go bad.
 

whitestar_999

Super Moderator
Staff member
This is where I like Acer for their warranty void stickers, except service center no one should modify the product. I have written to Lenovo this experience and suggested them to implement such a practice of warranty void stickers on their laptops.
Govt has already called for a "right to repair" framework so this policy of Acer(which btw is unique among all laptop manufacturers in India) will be nearing its end anyway in next 2-3 years. Also, I am wondering how putting a warranty void sticker would have helped in this case because unless you take the laptop to the service centre there are ways to put back such stickers in ways a typical person(like your relative) would not notice in the first place not to mention that seller could claim that laptop was opened by the user as evident by tampered sticker.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gadgets-news/government-may-set-up-unified-portal-for-repair-of-multi-brand-gadgets-and-electronics/articleshow/95556832.cms
@omega44-xt
 

SaiyanGoku

kamehameha!!
This is where I like Acer for their warranty void stickers, except service center no one should modify the product. I have written to Lenovo this experience and suggested them to implement such a practice of warranty void stickers on their laptops.
Get some help, counselling and therapy.
 
Govt has already called for a "right to repair" framework so this policy of Acer(which btw is unique among all laptop manufacturers in India) will be nearing its end anyway in next 2-3 years. Also, I am wondering how putting a warranty void sticker would have helped in this case because unless you take the laptop to the service centre there are ways to put back such stickers in ways a typical person(like your relative) would not notice in the first place not to mention that seller could claim that laptop was opened by the user as evident by tampered sticker.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gadgets-news/government-may-set-up-unified-portal-for-repair-of-multi-brand-gadgets-and-electronics/articleshow/95556832.cms
@omega44-xt
MSI also puts that sticker, but we don't recommend MSI here.
 

Desmond

Destroy Erase Improve
Staff member
Admin
What happened to eye! why so BIG @whitestar_999
Actually these emojis were migrated from the older forum software and since these are SVGs, Xenforo makes them as large as possible. To fix this we will have to manually delete all such emojis. That is too much effort so I left it as is.

MSI also puts that sticker, but we don't recommend MSI here.
What's wrong with MSI?
 
OP
patkim

patkim

Cyborg Agent
On Digit Laptop page this product is showcased with Buy-Now button and it appears that the specs are simply copied from Amazon. Clicking Buy-Now button takes me to the same ASIN on Amazon.

While Digit page comes with a disclaimer that price and specs are subject to change, but the fact remains - Windows 11 & additional 4 GB RAM is not covered under warranty even if you buy extended warranty. MTM is missing on Digit page.

This will remain latent & hidden for ignorantly blissful buyer until warranty needs to be invoked either for mobo or RAM.

The sad part is Manufacturer is ignorant, Amazon is a silent spectator, consumer is at a potential loss and only the seller is winning as of now.

Since links are disabled, I am posting a screenshot with URL in the address bar.

*www.digit.in/laptops/lenovo-e41-55-athlon-pro-3045b-2022-price-308791.html

lenovo.png
 

whitestar_999

Super Moderator
Staff member
The sad part is Manufacturer is ignorant, Amazon is a silent spectator, consumer is at a potential loss and only the seller is winning as of now.
So have you complained at consumerhelpline.gov.in against amazon for letting such a seller continue on its platform attaching all the screenshots from lenovo, seller & amazon(incl accepted return) as proof.
 
OP
patkim

patkim

Cyborg Agent
At present i am in discussion with Lenovo to see if they have any solution so that laptops wont be opened by middlemen. But does not look like they are much responsive to my mails. Once I get idea that they are sort of turning blind eye to my queries will most probably take the consumerhelpline approach.
The thing is I am sure laptop config was modified but I dont know if it was seller/retailer or the dealer & that is beyond my scope to confirm.
 
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whitestar_999

Super Moderator
Staff member
At present i am in discussion with Lenovo to see if they have any solution so that laptops wont be opened by middlemen. But does not look like they are much responsive to my mails. Once I get idea that they are sort of turning blind eye to my queries will most probably take the consumerhelpline approach.
The thing is I am sure laptop config was modified but I dont know if it was seller/retailer or the dealer & that is beyond my scope to confirm.
Laptop should come with their original manufacturer packaging intact, have you compared yours with others(unboxing videos/reviews etc) because I doubt any middleman can perfectly replicate the original laptop packaging with all the seals & stickers.
 
OP
patkim

patkim

Cyborg Agent
Laptop should come with their original manufacturer packaging intact, have you compared yours with others(unboxing videos/reviews etc) because I doubt any middleman can perfectly replicate the original laptop packaging with all the seals & stickers.
The middleman has been successful in keeping the seal on carton box intact. I suspect box was opened from the bottom fold side somehow.

That’s the precise reason why I think sealed stickers or warranty void stickers on the laptop itself could possibly be a deterrent factor here. Once they find warranty void sticker on laptop itself, they will think twice before opening it further. Laptop must reach the end consumer the way it left the factory. To replicate stickers they will have to buy stolen or duplicate ones from aliexpress or ebay I suppose.
 
The middleman has been successful in keeping the seal on carton box intact. I suspect box was opened from the bottom fold side somehow.

That’s the precise reason why I think sealed stickers or warranty void stickers on the laptop itself could possibly be a deterrent factor here. Once they find warranty void sticker on laptop itself, they will think twice before opening it further. Laptop must reach the end consumer the way it left the factory. To replicate stickers they will have to buy stolen or duplicate ones from aliexpress or ebay I suppose.
I have myself seen Acer service centre guys carefully removing the seal to add RAM, then placing it back on the screw (took friend's laptop to add RAM for INR 500 + time + fuel cost to get there). That statement is pure anti-consumer & anti-repair.
 

whitestar_999

Super Moderator
Staff member
The middleman has been successful in keeping the seal on carton box intact. I suspect box was opened from the bottom fold side somehow.

That’s the precise reason why I think sealed stickers or warranty void stickers on the laptop itself could possibly be a deterrent factor here. Once they find warranty void sticker on laptop itself, they will think twice before opening it further. Laptop must reach the end consumer the way it left the factory. To replicate stickers they will have to buy stolen or duplicate ones from aliexpress or ebay I suppose.
Besides the argument given by @omega44-xt above the more likely scenario would be seller scamming even more consumers by shifting the blame on consumers for "tampering with stickers".
 
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