The fan in my ThinkPad died last week. On bootup the ThinkPad gives me “Fan error” and shuts down automatically to prevent the CPU from frying. I contacted IBM early last Thursday and they said they would get me a box by the end of the next day so I could send the machine to Memphis (!) for repair. It’s now the end of Monday and I still haven’t received the box.

My dad had his ThinkPad repaired in Oslo recently. He dropped it off at IBM’s service location and 3 hours later it was repaired. When they called it was rush hour so my dad decided to wait until the next day to pick it up. The next day IBM delivered it for free.

You’d think that getting a ThinkPad repaired would be easier and quicker in Silicon Valley than Oslo, but I guess not…

Update: DHL delivered the box on Tuesday. IBM had a quick turnaround; they repaired the ThinkPad and sent it back on Wednesday.

One more thing: DHL sucks. I was supposed to have the ThinkPad back on Thursday, but didn’t have it until Friday. DHL somehow managed to completely lose track of the package for about 24 hours. When I called, they apologized and said that “sometimes the driver forgets to scan the package”. Their “noon next day delivery” ended up more like two days. I had to head over to the DHL depot and wait in line for 30mn to actually get my package.