[I'm replying to my original post because there were so many very helpful answers -- thank you everyone for the assistance both on-list and off-list!]
It all turned out very well. Here's what happened. First I tried to call at 1-877-69-THINK, got connected to what was obviously a Canadian location (choice of English or French) and after working through the prompts got a "you cannot call that toll-free number from your location" message, which is not unreasonable (if they don't service Canada) but wrong on the face (or ear) of it! So I poked around a little more and found an email address, [email protected] Emailed them on Tuesday at 4:24pm, described the problem (works from wall outlet, not from car outlet) and attached a PDF of the original order (June 2010). Asked if they would replace the two potentially defective parts (cigarette lighter adapter (FRU 41R4542) or the DC adapter (FRU 41R4508), please send to US address "A" if no signature required, or US address "B" if signature required. Heard back at 4:44pm, with a real reply and not a standard "we received your email", which is astonishing in itself. More astonishing was the answer: no problem they'll send out a replacement and RMA for the defective! I wrote back to confirm which address they used (it was "B" because signature required). Today I received shipment notification. It appears they're replacing the whole kit (78Y1147) which would be my second choice because if they really want the bad one back, it's more work. But this is incredible service, to replace at no cost an adapter that cost $44.19 and was originally shipped last June 30. I figured they'd declare a 90-day warranty period on Outlet sales and tell me to buy another. Thanks to everyone who helped me with this. I've very happy with the result. And I'll be sure to try every component as soon as I get it. :) -- Andrew mailto:[email protected] Sunday, May 29, 2011, 2:29:08 PM, you wrote: > Last summer, I bought a refurb "Lenovo 90W Ultraslim AC/DC Combo > Adapter - US/Canada (41R4493)" shipped to a US address where I was > staying. > It's worked fine thought I'm a little disappointed with the overall > size (I had visions of its ultraslimness letting me just tuck it into > a corner of my case, but with all the cables and adapters it ends up > pretty bulky; oh well it was a really good price for a second > adapter). > However I only used it with the 120V connector. About a month ago I > tried it in the car and it didn't work! I also tried it in the > cigarette-lighter adapter of an emergency car starter (portable > battery) and again the computer didn't see any power. > I'm assuming the problem is with the adapter and not the computer, and > that it's some part of the device that's used in a car and not in a > wall outlet (called "DC Input Cable" or perhaps "Cigarette lighter > plug (auto/air connector)" at > http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-73396 > I think). I also assume the refurb unit had only 90 days waranty and > not 1 year, though I don't have access to the paperwork at this > moment. > Is there anything I can get Lenovo to do? The page cited above shows > a picture labelled "DC Input Cable" that I think actually includes the > "Cigarette lighter plug", the former being the parallelogram+empower > connector and the latter being a empower-lighter adapter? > Interesting that both have replacement FRUs that are not the original. > I can't find a way to buy just those parts on the Lenovo site (and I'm > worried they'd be expensive). Is there any other way or source? > Thanks! _______________________________________________ Thinkpad mailing list [email protected] http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad
