Rant on Dell (1 Viewer)

[Andrew Pratt]

My troubles with my Inspiron 5100 laptop began a few months ago when the CPU was over heating and shutting down the PC. According to the Dell user forum this is a very common issue with this laptop. Anyway since I paid for a 3 year on site warranty Dell sent out a tech to replace the CPU and heatsink. This seemed to fix the issue as my laptop's temp dropped from a max of 77C to temps in the 50's which seemed more normal for a P4 chip. Things were ok for a few weeks then I started to get BSOD's in Windows XP Pro. I tried the usual fix's but kept getting different errors at somewhat random times so I did a reinstall of the OS and thought that would be the end of it....nope no luck. After several more installs and getting no further ahead I called Dell again and this time they replaced the motherboard and ram sodim modual. Since it was a new mobo I did yet another reinstall of XP but it was evident that there was still an issue as the BSOD remained. On top of the OS issues my ethernet port no longer worked on the new board so I called Dell again and complained so they sent the tech back with another motherboard. This one fixed the ethernet port but I can't even do an install of the OS as it BSOD's half way though the install and rebooting it tries to continue but fails again and now will not boot at all (just boots to the BSOD). I've been calling Dell now for over two months trying to get a working laptop and their latest line is that they have to send out a level 2 tech to see what's going on before they can replace it out right (which would have been much cheaper for them and I'd be a happy camper not as hell). When they set up the Level 2 tech to come out I was told he'd call within 5 business days...after not hearing anything on day 7 I called and was told he tried to call at 4 the day before and left a message...which is BS since we were home at the time and there's no message on the machine. I'll be calling again on Monday to bitch some more but I'm really getting tired of this run around not to mention having to deal with staff that don't seem to grasp the simple concept of transfering a call properly or even speaking english (they often transfer calls to India which while they're technically proficent communication barriers exist). I actually got transfered to the wrong department 4 times in a row the other day before I just hung up and dialed up the department I needed myself. I won't even start about the "on hold" time I've had to put up with...I think the longest was nearly 1.5 hours before even talking to someone

Dell had the oppertunity to make me a believer if they'd simply said that since the first board swap didn't work that they'd just replace it outright. They could have done it sooner given the apparent design flaw surrounding the CPU over heating issue but I'd have been ok with them trying to resolve the issue first...that hasn't happened and its now gone on way to long so this will be my last Dell and given that I frequently recomend systems for friends and co workers Dell will likely loose several systems a year now. Likely nothing they're going to get too worried about but it points to a bigger problem with the way they're doing tech support and that will show up in their sales figures in the not so distant future...actually it already is given they now have dropped to 3rd (last time I looked) in customer satisfaction with IBM and Toshiba ranking above them.

 

[Scott L]

Ahhhhh is the Return key broken too???

 

[Paul Stanley]

I did NOT want to hear that... I'm supposed to get my new Dell from work next month.

 

[SethH]

Don't worry about it. Dell and Apple were recently rated as the top two computer manufacturer's for customer service quality. Of course there will be occurances like this, but there will be such for every manufacturer out there. Does the situation suck? Yep. And Dell really should move to rectify it quickly. It's a shame it's gotten to the point it has, but hopefully it will get worked out soon. I'm sure if you run a google search you'll find similar situations -- maybe worse -- for every manufacturer you would consider buying from.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Dell's business latitude line is quite a bit better then their consumer line and its really what I should have gone with in the first place. Did Dell really score that well? Last time I checked they were a distant 4th behind Apple, IBM and Toshiba for customer service.

 

[ThomasC]

Customer satisfaction/service ratings vary by who rates them.

 

[SethH]

Below is a link to the article. Dell came in just below Apple with Gateway in third. Compaq and HP both came in just below the industry average. Naturally these rankings will vary each year and depending on who does the rankings, so it doesn't necessarily mean too much. I will second the motion of getting the Latitude series. I've had a C800 for 3.5 years and it's been great. I've had a few minor issues, but Dell was quick to clear them up. Unfortunately, however, all their computers don't work well all the time, and occasionally when they don't you'll get a crappy deal with customer service. It's a tough break, but it could happen anywhere.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...x&sid=95573662

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

Sorry to hear about all the problems, but I have no criticism for Dell.

I've had no problems with my Dell laptop or workstation, except for the power supply fan in my workstation which is now starting to fail after 2 1/2 years of continuous operation, and Dell is sending a new power supply.

Next time I need a new computer, if the price is right, I won't hesitate to buy a Dell.

 

[Seth--L]

Best thing to always to is ask for a supervisor. They're typically smart enough to quickly figure out if you're just a complainer, or if their underling has indeed botched something.

 

[DaveB]

Dell's CS may still be 3rd or 4th in the "ratings," but word around the net is that their CS has rapidly declined over the past two years and isn't getting any better. Hopefully they don't feel that their name is big enough that CS no longer remains a priority. I hate to see this kind of thing happening. Hope you can get your situation resolved, Andrew.

David

 

[Andrew Pratt]

As an update when I got to work this morning (took last week off) there was a message from the tech on my work phone. I really can't understand why he called me at work when my home number is the one Dell has on file and I checked to make sure they had it right the last time I called. Still at least he tried to make contact so its a step in the right direction (not that they had anywhere to go but up )

 

[Eric Samonte]

We have an Inspiron 8500 which has been serviced twice due to the battery not charging. The first episode, they replaced one thing at a time. Th next time around, someone just came down and replaced just about everything. They did this in good time too. But recently, the CSR people have gone crappy with those "outsourced" call centers.
There was one time I called trying to get a price on an internal WIFI adapter and this guy barked at me saying I'm not supposed to call to ask for prices and that I should call only if I'm going to buy. Of course I went ballistic and all.
Now I'm having second thoughts on the overall quality of Dell, before sales and after sales.

 

[Donovan]

Hey Andrew. I have a 8500 and it went back last week for the non-working ethernet port and processor overheating issue as well. It is very frustrating because I have spoken to no less than 3 different reps, and I had to troubleshoot the exact same things with each rep. It worries me that they only replace one thing at a time too and I foresee this going on for months. Will it burn all my karma to have them send me a new laptop right off the bat? Hehe.

I don't think I will buy another Dell... I've been using their products for 6 years and things always fail right after the 1 year warranty expires. With their price point, I don't think many people really care, they just buy another one.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

All I know is that my company had Dells and the reliability was zilch and the keyboards were worse. We now have all ThinkPads and are very happy.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Donovan I'm sorry to hear you're having to go though the same crap with Dell as I did We got mine working again after replacing everything once more so at least its up and running again. Interestingly enough the only component that hadn't been changed prior to this past weekend was the modem daughter card so it appears as though that was the issue all along...though it seems like an odd culprit but if you've replaced everything else multiple times over what else could it be.

Anyway in your case have them replace the motherboard, CPU and heatsink at the very least and then keep and eye out for BSOD's. If you get into their typical loop email me and I'll send you my reference # that they can look up to see what was done to mine...might not mean much but at least its a pattern.

Oh and be very nice to the local techs when they come out...you'll be seeing them a lot

Lee we did the same thing at my work place...long time IBM loyalists that experimented with Dell for one year...what a mess and we've now got a series of laptops with failing parts to deal with. Its like a penny saved....a dollar spent later