*Disclaimer: A long post for my grumble on LG. Either you read it or leave.*

Recently there are a few incidents that annoy the hell out of me. The latest is on my LG Netbook X120.

I bought it during the recent Comex IT show. So it was only about 2 weeks ago. However, my girlfriend realized that the netbook’s hinge is a bit loose (when you open or close the LCD). Thus, when you carry it at a slanted angle, the screen will “topple” or “slide” down, if you understand what I mean.

If this is a 14″ or 15″ notebook, I can gladly accept it because it will be more bulky and I will carry around less often, so it shouldn’t be an major issue. However, a NETBOOK will be a different story. It is meant to be PORTABLE.  We carry the netbook around here and there, hence it’s kinda of irritating when the LCD just “slide” downwards.

So, I paid a visit to LG notebook service center at Alexandra Road, hoping they can make the hinge tighter. I thought it would be a simple job.

But I was wrong. When I told the customer service representative what’s the problem. She told me flatly, “It’s like that one.”

Then I proceed to tell her that I checked out other retail stores that carry the netbook and it wasn’t LIKE THAT.

As usual at customer service center, she asked me to hold for a moment while she went to the back-office and compare it with other same model netbooks and discussed it with her colleague (I could see them).

She brought out 2 other identical netbooks and still insist that “It is like that one”. WTF. I was starting to boil. Of course, I inspected the other netbooks and clearly their hinges are tighter and I even demonstrate the difference between my netbook and others.

All the yada-yada… and then, a guy came out to serve me instead. I guess he was the technical person.

He said quite a number of people had encountered this problem and said it is a common issue.  YEAH…SO? HOW CAN YOU SOLVE IT? C’mon, I just bought the netbook 2 weeks ago. It is as good as new. It’s not like I have used for half a year and then complained about it.

The guy then said that if I insist on having the hinge tightened, they can do it for me but I have to accept the condition after the “repair”.  Because he said that the hinge is under the motherboard and they have to dismantle the whole thing before it can be tightened. Even doing so, the hinge may just be slightly tightened only.

WTF! Dismantle the whole thing? Then it will not be a newly manufactured set like before. Who knows what will happen later on when they dismantle the whole damn thing?

So, I said I wanted a new set. Because it IS a defective product. It’s not a wear-and-tear issue, not due to user carelessness and most importantly, they CAN’T guarantee the problem will be solved if it is sent for service and I have to accept the outcome.

The tech guy then said the service center does not do 1-to-1 exchange and I have to direct my concern to the “sales” team, which is the retail shop which I bought my netbook from.

Again… WTF. Do you think the shop will give me a new set?? It will NOT! I worked in IT retail sales before. The shop will definitely push the problem to the service center. So what am I supposed to do?

The LG service center cannot provide me the “service” when it is called the “service center”. I left the place angrily. Clearly, there is something wrong with the product and LG didn’t take up the responsibility.

You know what? I happened to buy a defective blood pressure monitor a week ago at the Bukit Batok Polyclinic NHG Pharmacy a week ago. The machine itself is alright. But the arm velcro is torn after one use. So, I went back. The people there just changed for me on the spot and I got a new arm piece and they didn’t even request for a receipt. This is what I call a good after sales service.

C’mon, LG… Do you think I purposely “destroy” my netbook, so that I can demand a new set? Do you think it’s fun to take public transport all the way to the service center and get a non-satisfactory solution? Or rather NO solution.

1st hand experience is very important, especially for a new customer. This is my first LG product. However, this will be my last as well. So what if the laptops/mobile phones look chic and cool? The after sales support is terrible.

There is NO way I will buy a LG product in the future. The brand is tarnished in my heart.  You just lose a customer. Yeah, to you… I am just ONE of the million customers. No big deal.

But my blog is read by my friends and search engine visitors. Their buying decision for LG products  may be influenced by such a negative post. You may just lose 1 customer for now. But it may be potentially hundreds or thousands in the near future.