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.








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).
Posted by: Tracy | October 12, 2005 at 09:01 PM
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.
Posted by: Philip Copeland | October 12, 2005 at 10:19 PM
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
Posted by: Eric Mack | October 13, 2005 at 01:41 AM
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.
Posted by: Mike | October 13, 2005 at 10:46 AM
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.
Posted by: Scotty | October 13, 2005 at 01:42 PM
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.
Posted by: Michael | October 13, 2005 at 11:08 PM
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!
Posted by: jil | November 08, 2005 at 03:13 PM
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!!!!
Posted by: James S | December 01, 2005 at 04:37 PM
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.
Posted by: Amir | February 27, 2006 at 11:47 PM
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
Posted by: Rick A | April 11, 2006 at 04:34 AM
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.
Posted by: Jamie Dudley | April 17, 2006 at 01:24 PM
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.
Posted by: nina | June 17, 2006 at 11:28 PM
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>
Posted by: Chris Laughlin | July 08, 2006 at 09:44 AM
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.
Posted by: hal9000 | July 21, 2006 at 01:20 AM
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
Posted by: Manish Pandey | August 26, 2006 at 10:59 AM
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.
Posted by: jeff | November 04, 2006 at 04:20 AM
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.
Posted by: Kevin | December 12, 2006 at 08:47 PM
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!!!
Posted by: Fanny | January 05, 2007 at 07:57 AM
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
Posted by: Sebastian | February 06, 2007 at 04:04 PM
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
Posted by: Joe | March 05, 2007 at 10:45 PM
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.
Posted by: Laron | March 11, 2007 at 05:04 PM
Please someone do you have a copy of the qosmio player recovery disc
Posted by: Laron | March 11, 2007 at 05:09 PM
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
Posted by: Jerry | April 10, 2007 at 12:13 PM
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?
Posted by: m0dred | April 17, 2007 at 04:23 PM
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
Posted by: C. O | April 27, 2007 at 02:45 PM
For the THIRD TIME, I'm having my Toshiba satellite notebook repaired! I am heading down to the dreadful repair center tomorrow.
First it was the cooling fan that went bonkers, then several months later, the motherboard (which took them a month to repair! I was so mad. because they only started repairing it on the third week)gave in. And now, it's the CD/DVD ROM that stopped working! I wonder what's next? I'm still lucky that everything was covered by the warranty, but not for long since mine ends this month.
I really regret having acquired this mediocre piece of technology. It's even sadder when I found online that there are thousands of others who suffer from poor Toshiba products.
Regarding their customer support, although I've dealt with good people in certain instances, they all seem to be in denial with the fact that their product is a pain in the ass. The amount of time the laptop spends in the service center has also been causing me so much inconvenience, especially that I am an undergrad who is in constant need of a computer. They don't offer service laptops as a temporary replacement, which by right, they should be. I really envy my friends who purchased other brands. Not only do they get excellent customer support, when all else fails, the company willingly gives them a replacement. Even a brand new laptop in some cases.
I don't think I'll ever buy a toshiba product again. And I'll make it sure that people I know, won't too because frankly, it's a big mistake. I am SO NOT PLEASED.
Posted by: Clarence C. | May 06, 2007 at 07:18 AM
I have a Toshiba Sattelite with a bad video card fan bearing, makes a ton of noise, I call inside my 1 year warranty and the problem is too 'technical' for customer support (who originally advise me to reboot and other, equally educated recommendations), so they tell me a qualified technician can call me back within24 hours. Never happens. 1 month later and with a worsening bearin, I call again, and they tell me I am now OUTSIDE of the 1 year warranty... I respond that I called INSIDE the warranty (11th month mark), and have a service ID for the call. They tell me I will be transfered to a manager. I sit on the phone. On hold. For thirty minutes. I have work to do, I hang up. I spent almost 2,000.00 dollars on this machine. The first and last Toshiba I will buy.
Posted by: Troy | May 09, 2007 at 07:40 PM
This is a general statement about my less than stellar experience with my Toshiba Laptop. I'm writing this on my HP Pavillion desktop, because at present, my Toshiba Satellite in still at Henry's Business machines in Tampa, FL. It has been there for 4 weeks, at a repair center that is 60 miles away. This is the second time it has been at Henry's Business Machines for repair and I have only had the laptop since September of 2006. I bought it brand new, from Circuit City and I think it's safe to say, I am not impressed with Toshiba's product quality or their customer service.
The first repair was a DVD that quit working after I had the laptop for 1 month. This second repair, they tell me is the failure of the motherboard. The HP Pavillion desktop from which I am typing this is 3 years old and I have never had to send it in for repair, not once. So the next time I go to buy a new computer, laptop or other wise..I guess I don't have to tell you which one I will---or won't buy.
I do NOT like the 120 mile round trip to the laptop repair center...especially since it is so backed up with Toshiba's waiting to be repaired, they say typical repair is 4-10 weeks. That is 1-2 months OUT OF MY Warranty time that I have lost and not had use of laptop. I have 20 websites to manage and this experience has been extremely inconvenient.
Because of this experience, I WILL NOT recommend buying a Toshiba to anyone, in, near or around me. I used to think Toshibas were top-of-the-line...the best,,but not anymore.
Linda Westrich
Posted by: Linda Westrich | May 22, 2007 at 03:50 PM
I have called Toshiba tech support 5 times with absolutely no help offered any time. They were rude, and didn't attempt to solve the problem. They put you on hold and lie about when they will (won't) get back to you. I will never buy another Toshiba product after this dismal lack of support experience.
Posted by: Richard | June 15, 2007 at 04:49 AM
So I have come to the point in my Toshiba ownership where I have a virus that's making things so bad that I pretty much can't use the laptop anymore...So, of course, I pop in the system restore CD to start again from scratch, willingly erasing all of my data under the assumption that I'd be back up and running in an hour or so.
Or not.
Everytime I tried to do system restore, it'd get about 30% of the way through, then it would say 'output a:/ghost.err'. OK, makes sense, having problems with the ghost image...but...my notebook doesn't have an A: drive. I click the 'no' button, system restore shuts down, and all I am left with is a black screen with a blinking cursor at the top left corner. So, I restart, thinking I can go back to Windows XP...nope. Of course, all of my data was gone. This happened about 4 times, (if you click yes at the error message system restore ultimately shuts down as well, it's unavoidable). I read countless accounts of this happening to other toshiba satellite owners online, except of course I can't find a solution that I can understand.
I call customer support at 2:30 am, pleased that I can receive 24 hour help. What do they tell me? 'Your system restore CD is corrupted'. Corrupted? I didn't do anything to it, this is the first time I even took it out of the case. 'Oh well, I guess it's defective then...Hmm...Your warranty has expired, so you'll have to purchase a new one.' How much? 'About $40'. For a CD?!?!!? That I didnt even damage?! The tech then says hang up and call a customer service rep. So I do, tell her my story, and she says OK you have to pay for it. I said I didn't think I should have to if it is a factory defect and I obviously knew numerous people were having the same issue. She then tells me to talk to customer relations, but of course won't give me a number to contact them and says I have to call customer service back during their regular pacific time hours of operation (5am-5pm PST). So much for 24 hour support. So now all I have is a black screen and a malfunctioning system restore disk...Did I really pay $1000 for this?
I'm giving up and letting a friend try to work whatever magic they can on the thing because, well, anything's better than a black screen and I'm just not ready to pay $40 for something that was the company's fault. I'm in college, and seriously, 40$ is like $400 to me these days.
Posted by: A. | June 18, 2007 at 02:29 AM
I paid $1200 for a Toshiba Satellite that crashed 2 weeks later. The repair centre told me it was a factory fault and should never have been sent out but they would only repaired it and not replace it. It worked for a coule of weeks then crashed again. I returned it to the repair centre who again mended it and, when I got it back, it worked for all of two minutes before crashing again. Finally, Toshiba agreed to take it themselves instead to repair it properly once and for all. They then lost it and offered me $350 to replace my $1200 laptop that had never worked. I told them to stick it us their a**
I'm still fighting.
Posted by: Sarah Elder | June 29, 2007 at 07:45 AM
Wow! Looking at all these comments thru a Toshiba tech's eyes, I'm quite surprised! I work at a Toshiba ASP location, so I deal/fix alot of Toshiba laptops. It's good to know the "customer service" they provide to customers. I wonder if they treat ASPs differently? Hmmm....
Posted by: Kat | August 22, 2007 at 04:01 PM
I purchased a Toshiba Satellite in May of 07. I had it for two months before it crashed. I call the so called tech support who tells me to reboot my computer. When I try to reboot, an error occurs and I lose everything. I am left witha black screen. I call back and ask where they got their training, they refuse to answer. Most likely because the book they are reading out of doesn't have that answer. They inform me I have to ship it to TN to the repair depot. I am told it will be done, when it is done. I get it back on Halloween. They inform me that they have reimaged the hard drive and the problem is fixed. It works for a total of 10 days. Then it crashes again. I call again. After telling them I am going to fly to India to shove my computer up their ass, they "escalate" my issue to corporate. This just means that they hang up on you and never call back.
I call back repeatedly for two days until finally someone says they are going to ship it back to TN. They assure me that if it comes back broken again I will receive a new computer. So off it goes. I get it back the day after Thanksgiving. They reimaged the hard drive, because it worked so well the first time. Then they put in a new motherboard. So it works for a total of 7 days this time.
By now I am so pissed if they were in front of me I would be in jail. I call and ask for corporate, they transfer me. I am on hold for 48 minutes before I hang up and call back. They then inform me that Coroporate closed, long before I was put on hold and would have to call back the next day.
After many, many ,nice words, I hang up and call back today. I call promptly at 8am, Eastern time, they told me they open at 8am, Eastern time. They tell me I can't talk to them because they are not open. I point out that it is after 8am, he tells me they do not open untill 8am, we go back and forth for a couple of minutes before I inform him he lacks a brain. Then he transfers me.
I am then told by customer relations that under no circunstances, never, ever, for any reason, will Toshiba ever give me my money back. I tell her I want a new computer, she tells me no and hangs up on me.
I then look up the corporate number in Irvine CA and call them directly. I tell them everything that happened, he tells me it is unacceptable and he will call me back in 1 hour with resolution. That was at 12pm today. Needless to say, he has not called back.
But..in the meantime, I have called my states attorney general office and am in the process of filing a complaint. I will also be writting a letter to the CEO and head of the IRvine office. I will then make 10 copies to mail, individually, everyday, until this is fixed. They will begin to hate seeing my name in front of them.
I think with all of the complaints out here, there are grounds for a class action lawsuit.
The CEO should be made to call his own support line and try to fix his computer. Chances are, he doesn't own a Toshiba!
Posted by: Jennifer Dayhuff | November 30, 2007 at 10:54 PM
I had purchased Toshiba Satellite laptop on 24/4/07. In December 07 I noted there is defecting in Keyboard, the key of 5 is stukking and I cannot us that. So I approached there service centre HCL Pune , they had noted my problem and till today it has not been solved, eventhough I am communicating them persistantly for last 8 days. Before that also I had iquired about the progress of my problem many times but they use to reply that we are not getting the spares from the company.
Hopeless service.
Posted by: Dr. Sampat M. Bhattad, Karad (M.S.) India | April 17, 2008 at 06:40 AM
I have 2 Toshiba laptops. One is an older Satellite which I don't really use much anymore. The other is from when I decided to upgrade the Satellite by purchasing a Qosmio. While I can say I got quite a bit of use out of these the hard drive on the qosmio did die after a few years so I decided to replace it with the help of my techie friend. Even for me this would be a relatively simple task...until Toshiba (lack of) customer service got involved. There are 2 recovery CDs for this model (one for the Qosmio player and one for the OS) and the qosmio player one apparently was corrupt (this was discovered after hours on the phone with India). Rather than sending me a new disk Toshiba wanted me to buy one! On probably a dozen occasions I was put on hold while being transferred to another department (ie from India to Indonesia) and eventually disconnected after holding for about 30 minutes. I asked for a direct number but nobody could ever give me one. Finally, after many hours on the phone Toshiba agreed to send me the 2 cent CD rather than charge me the $20+ dollars for it. It arrived and was the wrong one and on my next call they told me they were out of stock. Anyway, now thanks to the garbage customer service I opted to not get a new Toshiba when I went shopping 2 months ago....I got a Macbook Pro instead. That would equate to about a $2,700 mistake plus any future business on Toshiba's part.
Posted by: John Roper | April 25, 2008 at 08:11 PM
Bad Toshiba customer support
I have a Toshiba laptop that developed a bad mother board after two years. Thank goodness it was under extended warrantee. The nice people at Toshiba fixed it promptly and sent it back. Everything that I had on it was lost and everything had to be re-installed. Who has time for that? Then, two weeks later, the mother board crashed again and everything, again, was lost. Toshiba said that it was a “bad job” and to send it back. I again lost everything – two weeks later. The time I have put into the is computer – especially time on hold with Toshiba is exasperating to say the least. They people on the phone are pleasant and are good at taking abuse (boy, was I mad but polite)… but there is, like many big companies, no connection or sympathy or over the top service. If it were me, and I wanted to hold on to that customer, I would have done just about anything including replacement lap top. After all, I trusted them to fix it and in two weeks the same thing occurs and I loose everything again.
Posted by: Matt | May 16, 2008 at 05:12 PM
I TOO will never buy a Toshiba laptop again . I bought S100 series in Jakarta in June 2006 . Two weeks ago it just stoped working . I went to Toshiba Ratu Plaza ( their official Service Centre) . They said the Mother Board overheated and I have to replace this. Cost $ 600 ? This company is useless and they are cheating us . FRIENDS , DONT EVERY BUY TOSHIBA .
Posted by: Rina Respati | May 27, 2008 at 01:57 AM
Bought an M70, the modem has never worked properly and toshiba couldn't care less.
The battery also died early and again toshiba couldn't care less.
The modem drops the connection constantly whether it's on dial up, wireless, or wired.
What a piece of crap.
It's the last toshiba product I'll ever buy.
Posted by: Stan | June 13, 2008 at 09:41 PM
Bought an TOSHIBAPSM70C in Canada..within 6 months, touchpad jumps. Sent in to official service centre, Genamation in Whitby....not once but 4 times. 1st time, returned frozen keyboard. 2nd time, USB no longer worked. 3rd time, wireless modem disconnected. 4th time, told the touchpad no different initially. Wasted my time during office hrs bringing in & back. Backing up data before bringing in notebook. Registered mail to Toshiba Canada...no response. Call to Headquarters...do not want to give any responsible person to explain, nor any other service centres. BOTTOM LINE--VERY POOR SERVICE=NEVER BUY ANY PRODUCT TOSHIBA!!
Posted by: R Morgan | July 01, 2008 at 11:36 PM
Hello,
I bought 2 Toshiba l25-s1216's at the same time. one for me and one for my father. My wife seems to have "stored" my origional documents for mine somewhere indeterminable. So I made a copy of my fathers restore disk. I had recently re-banged his computer, so I know the disk did work. I tried yeaterday and ended up with this "output a:\ghost.err" error. I see now that there are many ligitimate complaints about Toshibas restore disks. I know I had problems with my 5205-s703. I had to reflach the bios in order to get it to stop thinking it was a different type of computer.
The question is, has anybody considered or know of any kind of "class action lawsuite" against them? It seems to be a continuing practice. I am a UBUNTU u
wife can't quit the MSCrack. Schools make it hard for you to do it anyway.
Posted by: LOL | August 20, 2008 at 07:54 AM
Does "Toshiba" really care about you after SALE????????????
Dear President of Toshiba,
My story is suh a long one....
I bought this lap on 06/10/2008,which is just a few months ago. and I travelled from CA to LA.When I opened it, there is no image at all!!! for only a few months! when I bought it, the screen is shaking, although slightly...
I called the customer again and again....to my disappointed there is only one or two person so kind to help amoung hundreds of the "so-called" Toshiba specialists. It seems to me that they could do nothing really meaningful rather than keep on asking questions and saying" sorry"this "sorry" that...and the customer service has been so bad that I have never met before. although there is only two persons who are really so kind to help.
So I decided not to buy any Toshiba products any more.Besides, as a journalist from China, and since my experience has hurt me so much. I wanted to write something about such bad customer service and maybe the so poor quality,too...
I want billions of my People---the Chinese know what happened to me, using the power of new medias, including networks!
BECAUSE I AM SO ANGRY WITH THE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND MAYBE THE POOR QUALITY,TOO!!!!!
I WOULD REALLY APPRICIATED IT IF YOU COULD HELP ME TO CHANGE A NEW ONE TO ME.Anyway, I just bought it for a few months .....
my case number:
1-105-002-6076
my email: mysprint@163.com
address:
Aihua Gao
China King Buffet
(Chinadaily newspaper)
Aihua Gao
9750 Cortana Place,
Baton Rouge, LA 70815
Thanks and have a prosperous sales in China
Posted by: A Chinese Customer | November 18, 2008 at 11:50 PM