Toshiba Satellite M45-S331

Summary: Sleek notebook, but that’s the only positive. My absolute worst fears all came true only three weeks after I bought it.

Within three weeks the screen had died on me. Called the warranty service who advised me to send it to the Toshiba depot for repair, as opposed to taking it to a local service center. They assured me that the depot would have all the necessary parts, whereas a service center will have to order them and wait. They also assured me that I’ll have my notebook back in about a week.

Three weeks later, after countless phone calls, and many promises of delivery “next week”, they finally told me that parts are still not available and that it would take two additional weeks before they get them.

I called customer relations several times (get used to 45 minutes on hold, don’t bother leaving messages, they never return calls despite the promise of “within the hour”). Every time I was assured that this time they’ll get it right and that I’ll get my notebook within days.

Needless to say, two weeks passed, and the assurances turned to be meaningless. Customer relations’ only job is to get you off the phone, not to solve your problem. So here I am with a brand new notebook that spent twice as much time in the repair shop than on my desk. I called customer relations again, and asked to speak to someone who will actually do something to solve my problem, perhaps send me a replacement unit. I bought the notebook because I needed it, and I just can’t defer using it indefinitely. Guess what they told me? There’s not such thing as someone who could do something. There is no replacement policy. I’ll just have to wait for the part until it arrives – whenever that is.

A new notebook is not supposed to break right out of the box, but if it does, a respectable manufacturer should stand by their product and make up for the inconvenience to the customer. Toshiba has been utterly disappointing on all counts.