DO NOT BUY A DELL!!!

[GroundZero]

Over the past few days I have been experiencing some big problems with Dell, especially concerning their technical support.

"The Dell Problem"
Dell's have proprietary M/boards and Power supplys, and with a dell you cannot just remove the power cord and put it back in with the power point turned on cos it short curcuits the m/b and you have to wait 10 mins before it comes on again. This is enough of a problem in itself.

On Saturday, I went to a LAN. Because I only have 32Meg RAM in my Dell, a friend offered to lend me one of his 64Meg chips. Naturally I accepted. We put the chip in and there were no troubles with it. As it came closer to time to leave, we put my RAM back in. After experiencing "the Dell Problem", we got the comp up and running again. About 10 minutes later it just died. Upon inspecting the motherboard for obvious damage, we noticed that there were several points that were corroded. This simply shouldn't be the case, and it definitely not OUR fault.

I rang Dell tech support and they tried to manipulate my wording of the situation to make it sound like I had voided the warranty terms by opening the case and "fiddling" around. Since there were no stickers ANYWHERE saying it was against warrant terms to open the case, I haven't done anything wrong there. Because I never recieved any manuals with the computer, I haven't voided any other warranties. I asked Dell tech support if they could send us the original manuals for the motherboard and other components. I had to inform them that it is against the law not to provide the manuals upon request. They disagreed with this, and I said that they should instead provide me with a signed document saying that they will not send me the manuals. I recieved a call about 5 minutes later saying that I had to make a formal, written complaint in order to get a signed declaration like this.
Considering that the hardware of the computer is still under warranty, Dell are legally required to replace the motherboard and any other defective components. They are saying that they don't have to replace the motherboard because I voided the warranty by opening the computer.
Currently my computer is dead, and Dell are not going to fix it at this point in time.

Does anyone have an opinion on this issue
(sorry for writing so much - im just so ANGRY!)

The last thing I would like to say, is NEVER EVER BUY A DELL!!!
There are way too many problems with them!

[orkboss]

With a big company like dell they like to keep a good appearance in the public eye. It cannot be seen that they do not offer a poor service, so keep on at them.

Then tell them what you intend to do, write to magazines, bulletin boards, her majesty the Queen, Dell's parents and kick up a stink.

They might consider replacing the board to keep you quite even if they still think the fault to be yours.

Dell have a good reputation for their customer service, prehaps they had a bad day when you contact them.

[Stan]

Good reputation for their customer service ?
Hummmm... don't think so...

I think they have a good reputation for the PC/servers they sell. I have to admit these are good machines... BUT customer service is way below average.

Two months ago, we bought 3 servers (worth approx $60.000). It took Dell 6 weeks to deliver the servers.

They told me that it should take 10 working days... wrong wrong wrong.

I will not explain the entire story but I had to speak to 5 different people, go through 2 different account managers and I am still waiting for an item to be delivered (part of the rack).

I am not happy at all with this kind of service.

Stan

[orkboss]

The UK dell service aren't too bad apparently. As for myself, I could never have enough money to buy a new computer, so I am my own customer service.

When something goes wrong I save myself a fortune in phone bills yet still have the same result! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Quint-alias orkboss

[Stan]

I was talking about the UK Dell customer service... I live/work in London UK

Stan

[orkboss]

Fair enough, I'll go and put petrol through their letter box, the bastards! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[AQR8]

GroundZero, keep chipping away at them. They are a big co and don't need an informed and obviously unhappy customer. Call them back and get the supervisor of the tech area and start with them (make sure to ask for name and have them spell it for you). If you cannot reason with them, ask them for the name of their superior and take it to them. Let everyone know you will persit and ultimately take it to the web if they will not stand behind their product. How about Small Claims Court if all else fails. You might also write to the public affairs dept if you can get the info on them. Hang in there and good luck. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by AQR8 (edited 12-21-1999).]

[orkboss]

Yes, threaten them!
Kidnap their pets, burn their children!

[Stan]

Beat them up !

[Nathan]

Actually the pen is mighter than the sword. Send them this thread in e-mail. If they don't fix your computer, then tell them this thread will be spread to as many of the other forums as you possibly can. And back it up. Send them another e-mail with links pasted in the message from all the sites you have posted this message on. And let's see what happens.

There is another way of handling this too. We can all send about 25 e-mails a day demanding the problem being resolved. If we have say 200 people doing this every day, that should get their attention. Getting some 5000 mail on one problem will get their attention.

[Wiz]

i have found very proffesional, very hostile-in-a-non-threatening-way letters to work best. I got $100 off when musicians friend forgot to ship my order out after i sent a letter to the head of their cutomer service. A hand written letter, not email.

[Axel]

A question comes to mind - why was it you bought a DELL in the first place - For the most part, their stuff looks nice, but costs way way too much to appeal to me...... I hate paying for a name.....

[jokostel]

that's why i and many others like to build our machines....so we know what components we have and if you put it together yourself well,to me i feel that it grows on ya and you learn what it does..... the last proprietary machine i had was a packard bell 386sx-25mhz...... from then on i learned the ropes. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif but .... i hope dell gives in to give ya a new mobo or something to reimburse ya....

jokostel

have a nice day all.... and guess what... i had the ear tube surgery and i tell ya what as soon as this novicane wears off ill be able to hear great again... http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[pickel]

Ground Zero; Wish you woulda read my post about Pionex computers. Tech support is great
One night ,with three techs got my computer running great. It was in the shambles. Got
a brand new one for my daughter and called them up and told them about my networking
plans and adding more RAM. The technician said," man, it's your computer do what you want, it won't void the warranty". He had my records of previous calls and I guess he realized that I wasn't a complete dumbass and would be careful with my modifications.
Every timed I called I was treated the way you'd want to treated and when the call was over, I felt like I had been hanging out with the dude instead getting help for my computer
Can't say enough about them.And they are completely upgradable. When the new K-2+ chips come out I'm ganna flash the bios and put in the biggest proccessor I can. Every thing isn't perfect, and I have a naging probelm but nothing I can't deal with. Good luck with yours. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

the pickel

[bulb]

I have found that with most companies, all you have to do is make it be known that just saying no once or twice won't make the problem go away. If you think about it, if you delt with that many warrenty claims every year, and you knew you could save 100's of thousands of doallars just by saying no to everyone they can at first. Knowing full well they can always deney that they ever said no and there must have been a misunderstanding to avoid a law suit. This way they onle have to deal with the customers like you who know they are right and are going to demand warrenty work. Hang in there, you can get anything you want if you just keep pushing. Well, almost. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif


-m@

[GroundZero]

This Dell was bought by my dad who didn't trust me enough to build it at the time, and so therefore went for the biggest company he could.
Now I have my own computer business and have more than enough skills to build/repair pc's. In fact, I recently build dad a new one!

I have been ringing Dell about once or twice a day for the last week, and have proven them wrong in every argument they have put forward for themselves. Finally today I think they realised that Im not stupid, and I actually managed to get one guy to promise me he would send out a new m/b.

also, i think they realise that my hardware warranty is about 4 days from expiring!!!, and they are just trying to extend this argument long enough till my warranty runs out, and then they can just tell me to **** off.

Overall, I think the only good thing that has come out of this is that at least some people are hearing just how bad Dell are! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[BEOR999]

Sad isn't it, but on average, 1 customer with a bad experience will tell 10 people about the 'problem' and the same customer with a good experience will tell only 2 others.

So, just to redress the balance, who is the best out there ?

(I have a vested intrest in this)
Thanx http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[daveleau]

I work for a medical university and find this very interesting because our lab is about to buy several systems (5-P3's or Athlons) amd have only heard fine things anout Dell tech support. I have built systems for our lab but since I am not a tenured member of the staff and since I am the only guy with computer knowledge there, they want to buy v/s have me build a bunch of computers that are not 'officially' backed w/ tech support. I hope Dell fixes this otherwise we may go elsewhere. I would definately send this thread to them to try and get some service. Let us know how it goes.
Dave
Med. Univ. of S.C.