Very bad Lenovo laptop hardware and after sales warranty experience

On 17th of September 2010 I purchased (Online) a Lenovo G560 I5 laptop from a company called Insight. I purchased the laptop ready for the post holiday start of a Masters study program which I about to embark on at the time. On return from my holiday and on first setup of my laptop, it became clear there were some serious issues (it was freezing regularly and unusable), however it had gone beyond the 14 day return policy and I had to now deal with the Lenovo warranty people to try and resolve the situation.

Under the Lenovo warrantee, my machine was sent back for repairs 4+ times and each time either came back with the same problem or with the same problem as well as some new ones. Finally after 6 months Lenovo agreed to replace the Laptop which was picked up on the 17th of March 2011 at which point I was told that it would take another 2 to 6 weeks to find a replacement. We are now in July and I still do not have my Laptop replaced, nor have I received any communication on Lenovo’s part to tell me when this might happen.

I purchased this Laptop in good faith, thinking that Lenovo was a known and trusted manufacturer of Computers and Laptops and hence was a safe buy, and because of this surely their after sales service would be great. I have never been proved so wrong. The worse hardware purchasing experience I have ever made, privately or in my capacity as Head of IT, so this is saying something.

It is now nearly 1 year since I paid over my hard earned cash for a Laptop which I still do not have. I have now finished the Masters degree for which I had originally bought the laptop.

In any other situation, this would be considered theft and not just of a physical item, but of my peace of mind and ability to execute the Masters degree for which this Laptop was purchased to aid in the first place.
I have tried to speak to management at the Lenovo Warranty department and have been unsuccessful. The only people I have been able to speak to are the same 3 or 4 customer services people whom have done absolutely nothing for me and usually end up with them telling that they will escalate the matter. Nothing ever happens at this point, leading me to believe they are either escalating my matter to a bunch of chimpanzees, or to complicit thieves which have stolen £650.00 (or so) pounds from me and see me more as a victim for their theft than a customer.

It is incredible that a company with so much to lose with regards to their image, can treat someone like me in such a way, and be so confident that it will not affect them. Clearly, Lenovo’s image is not a priority. This was my first experience with Lenovo (I am an HP man and should have stayed) and I will never buy another Lenovo product. Very bad products and worse after sales services. Their warranty is basically useless and I am still to this day, without a laptops which I purchased in September 2010.