Comments on: My Dell Hell http://patphelan.net/my-dell-hell/ Mobile, Roaming and Social Media Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:02:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: John royse http://patphelan.net/my-dell-hell/comment-page-1/#comment-592158 John royse Thu, 12 May 2011 15:32:48 +0000 http://patphelan.net/?p=5314#comment-592158 Ordered Streak over a year ago with promise of Froyo upgrade. NEVER GOT IT DESPITE MANY - and expensive - attempts. No customer service..just run arounds. THEY DON'T CARE. Ordered Streak over a year ago with promise of Froyo upgrade. NEVER GOT IT DESPITE MANY – and expensive – attempts. No customer service..just run arounds. THEY DON’T CARE.

]]> By: SomeoneSomewhere http://patphelan.net/my-dell-hell/comment-page-1/#comment-547135 SomeoneSomewhere Sat, 01 May 2010 04:26:49 +0000 http://patphelan.net/?p=5314#comment-547135 I purchased an Inspiron 1525 laptop in 2008 from Best Buy and within the first year had 3 hard drive crashes and constant overheating issues. I also had problems with the computer rebooting by itself as well. I contacted Dell in November 2009 to explain my frustration regarding the laptop. It's obvious it is defective but they chose to blame Best Buy for my problems since I went to Geek Squad to have it repaired. I was under the impression Best Buy was an official Dell outlet since they sell their products and repair them there. For the people who sell their product, that's a horrible way to throw them under the bus like that. They said they didn't know what they were doing when they repaired it and gave me bad hard drives. I refuse to believe Best Buy would do that especially 3 times. I spoke to someone at Dell who promised me that they would examine my laptop completely and fix ALL problems I was having. I even wrote them a list of problems so they'd know. One problem was the computer shutting off due to overheating, another was that the screws kept falling out, another was that the cursor kept skipping lines when I typed and lastly that when I closed the lid, instead of going into hibernation like it's set at, it rebooted. They promised they'd fix it and make it as good as new. It was ready 2 days later which to me was very fast considering what they had promised me. When I received it, there was a small crack on the right corner that was not there when I sent it out and NOTHING was fixed except the heat sink. There were screws missing as well. If that's the product they stand behind as good as new then that's terrible. They told me if I called again I'd be charged $45 since my warranty expired. I am unemployed and do not have extra money so I didn't know what to do. If I contacted them, they'd charge me so I've tried to make due but now the problems are too much to ignore. It's overheating again only after 4-5 months and all the problems are still there. I will never deal with Dell again because they're product is below average and customer service as well. Don't promise a customer something and then not deliver it. I am very dissatisfied with the quality of work they did and the fact they refuse to stand behind their product. If it's having this much trouble within ONE year, imagine how bad it'd be in two or three. I had other laptops before and none had this much trouble. It is possible for a laptop to be defective but Dell refuses to admit it and satisfy the customer. I have read on Dell forums about other people who've had trouble too and it seems like Dell just doesn't care. All of us can't be wrong. Dell needs to stand behind their product and do all they can to satisfy the customer, not just say things to shut them up. They offered to take it back to the repair depot but they already had their chance. This laptop is a lemon and if there was a lemon law for electronics, it'd have been replaced already. They said if that repair didn't work they'd send me a refurb laptop. WHY? Why would I want to wait for it to fail again? It's going to because since I bought it, that's all it's done, fail on me. And why would I want a used laptop after everything I've been through? Is this how Dell treats their customers? Replacing defective items with used products? Wow, great way to satisfy a customer Dell. It's too bad we can't get all unhappy customers together and fight back because Dell shouldn't be allowed to get away with this. It's a sad world we live in and the BBB is useless because they don't help the customer at all. What's the point of the BBB then? I can talk to Dell without them. Things have to change that's for sure but until then I am stuck with a useless hunk of metal called a Dell laptop. I purchased an Inspiron 1525 laptop in 2008 from Best Buy and within the first year had 3 hard drive crashes and constant overheating issues. I also had problems with the computer rebooting by itself as well. I contacted Dell in November 2009 to explain my frustration regarding the laptop. It’s obvious it is defective but they chose to blame Best Buy for my problems since I went to Geek Squad to have it repaired. I was under the impression Best Buy was an official Dell outlet since they sell their products and repair them there. For the people who sell their product, that’s a horrible way to throw them under the bus like that. They said they didn’t know what they were doing when they repaired it and gave me bad hard drives. I refuse to believe Best Buy would do that especially 3 times. I spoke to someone at Dell who promised me that they would examine my laptop completely and fix ALL problems I was having. I even wrote them a list of problems so they’d know. One problem was the computer shutting off due to overheating, another was that the screws kept falling out, another was that the cursor kept skipping lines when I typed and lastly that when I closed the lid, instead of going into hibernation like it’s set at, it rebooted. They promised they’d fix it and make it as good as new. It was ready 2 days later which to me was very fast considering what they had promised me. When I received it, there was a small crack on the right corner that was not there when I sent it out and NOTHING was fixed except the heat sink. There were screws missing as well. If that’s the product they stand behind as good as new then that’s terrible. They told me if I called again I’d be charged $45 since my warranty expired. I am unemployed and do not have extra money so I didn’t know what to do. If I contacted them, they’d charge me so I’ve tried to make due but now the problems are too much to ignore. It’s overheating again only after 4-5 months and all the problems are still there. I will never deal with Dell again because they’re product is below average and customer service as well. Don’t promise a customer something and then not deliver it. I am very dissatisfied with the quality of work they did and the fact they refuse to stand behind their product. If it’s having this much trouble within ONE year, imagine how bad it’d be in two or three. I had other laptops before and none had this much trouble. It is possible for a laptop to be defective but Dell refuses to admit it and satisfy the customer. I have read on Dell forums about other people who’ve had trouble too and it seems like Dell just doesn’t care. All of us can’t be wrong. Dell needs to stand behind their product and do all they can to satisfy the customer, not just say things to shut them up. They offered to take it back to the repair depot but they already had their chance. This laptop is a lemon and if there was a lemon law for electronics, it’d have been replaced already. They said if that repair didn’t work they’d send me a refurb laptop. WHY? Why would I want to wait for it to fail again? It’s going to because since I bought it, that’s all it’s done, fail on me. And why would I want a used laptop after everything I’ve been through? Is this how Dell treats their customers? Replacing defective items with used products? Wow, great way to satisfy a customer Dell. It’s too bad we can’t get all unhappy customers together and fight back because Dell shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this. It’s a sad world we live in and the BBB is useless because they don’t help the customer at all. What’s the point of the BBB then? I can talk to Dell without them. Things have to change that’s for sure but until then I am stuck with a useless hunk of metal called a Dell laptop.

]]> By: Paul http://patphelan.net/my-dell-hell/comment-page-1/#comment-541865 Paul Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:59:36 +0000 http://patphelan.net/?p=5314#comment-541865 Me wife and I are planning a trip to Europe in May and picked up a couple Dell (hereafter referred to as Hell) netbooks.  Hers works just fine, but mine had an odd problem from day one.  If you touched it in certain places, moved it across the desk or picked it up wrong it would power off and restart.  If this happened too frequently, it forced you to do a scan disk before restarting.  I have rather large paws, so it took me a few days to realize that it wasn't just me accidentally pressing the power button.  When I figured out that it wasn't an operator error issue, we contacted Hell 'support'.  Since this was a new computer, we asked them to replace it.  But they told us it would take up to four weeks to replace, but they could have a 'technician' out within 48 hours.  We rolled the dice and had them send out a 'technician'.  He arrived two days later with the replacement parts Hell sent to him and spent about three hours disassembling, reassembling, scratching his head, muttering how odd this was, telling stories of his past successes...  After about three hours, he had the computer so messed up that it wouldn't even boot.  He called 'support' to order more parts for the ones he fried while he was here and a few that he 'thought' might be bad. He came back on Monday with the "new" parts and pretty much did the same as the last visit: take it apart, cram in "new" parts, oh crap, it isn't working, repeat, repeat, repeat, oh sh!t, it's dead again.  After a little over an hour of meandering around in dark sunglasses and a white cane, he raised the white flag and again called 'support'.  This time he told them in his "expert" opinion the computer needed to be replaced. He handed me the phone and had me speak with punjab-habib-handjob.  He told me it would take up to four weeks for the replacement to arrive.  After 30 minutes or so of telling the morons in India that this was not acceptable and requesting to speak with someone in the U.S. , I thrust the phone back in the hands of the 'technician' and told him to leave. Okay, that takes care of the history.  Let me provide a little time line:  The computer arrived 2/16/10, the first 'tech'  visit was 3/11, the second 'tech' visit was 3/15, this is when I was told a 'new' computer would arrive in 3-4 weeks. Fast forward to Monday, April 12... imagine my surprise, the replacement computer still has not arrived.  So I try the online chat (easier for me to avoid giving them a piece of my mind that I may not be able to spare when typing rather than talking/cursing).  It takes 45 minutes for punjab-habib-handjob to finally join the chat (no exaggeration, they were kind enough to send a transcript of the chat complete with time stamps).  During this chat, I am informed that there were "technical issues" with the initial order to replace my computer, though they cannot tell me what kind of "technical issues". The chat lasted more than an hour (I'll gladly produce the complete transcript) and NOTHING was resolved.  The only concession they granted was a three month extension on the warranty, but I still have no idea when the replacement computer will arrive. As much as I LOATH Microsoft, Hell has me more convinced than ever that my next computer will be a Mac! Remember, Friends don't let friends by from Hell!!! Me wife and I are planning a trip to Europe in May and picked up a couple Dell (hereafter referred to as Hell) netbooks.  Hers works just fine, but mine had an odd problem from day one.  If you touched it in certain places, moved it across the desk or picked it up wrong it would power off and restart.  If this happened too frequently, it forced you to do a scan disk before restarting. 

I have rather large paws, so it took me a few days to realize that it wasn’t just me accidentally pressing the power button.  When I figured out that it wasn’t an operator error issue, we contacted Hell ‘support’.  Since this was a new computer, we asked them to replace it.  But they told us it would take up to four weeks to replace, but they could have a ‘technician’ out within 48 hours. 

We rolled the dice and had them send out a ‘technician’.  He arrived two days later with the replacement parts Hell sent to him and spent about three hours disassembling, reassembling, scratching his head, muttering how odd this was, telling stories of his past successes…  After about three hours, he had the computer so messed up that it wouldn’t even boot.  He called ‘support’ to order more parts for the ones he fried while he was here and a few that he ‘thought’ might be bad.

He came back on Monday with the “new” parts and pretty much did the same as the last visit: take it apart, cram in “new” parts, oh crap, it isn’t working, repeat, repeat, repeat, oh sh!t, it’s dead again.  After a little over an hour of meandering around in dark sunglasses and a white cane, he raised the white flag and again called ‘support’.  This time he told them in his “expert” opinion the computer needed to be replaced.

He handed me the phone and had me speak with punjab-habib-handjob.  He told me it would take up to four weeks for the replacement to arrive.  After 30 minutes or so of telling the morons in India that this was not acceptable and requesting to speak with someone in the U.S. , I thrust the phone back in the hands of the ‘technician’ and told him to leave.

Okay, that takes care of the history.  Let me provide a little time line:  The computer arrived 2/16/10, the first ‘tech’  visit was 3/11, the second ‘tech’ visit was 3/15, this is when I was told a ‘new’ computer would arrive in 3-4 weeks.

Fast forward to Monday, April 12… imagine my surprise, the replacement computer still has not arrived.  So I try the online chat (easier for me to avoid giving them a piece of my mind that I may not be able to spare when typing rather than talking/cursing).  It takes 45 minutes for punjab-habib-handjob to finally join the chat (no exaggeration, they were kind enough to send a transcript of the chat complete with time stamps).  During this chat, I am informed that there were “technical issues” with the initial order to replace my computer, though they cannot tell me what kind of “technical issues”.

The chat lasted more than an hour (I’ll gladly produce the complete transcript) and NOTHING was resolved.  The only concession they granted was a three month extension on the warranty, but I still have no idea when the replacement computer will arrive.

As much as I LOATH Microsoft, Hell has me more convinced than ever that my next computer will be a Mac!

Remember, Friends don’t let friends by from Hell!!!

]]> By: Anonymous http://patphelan.net/my-dell-hell/comment-page-1/#comment-541864 Anonymous Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:56:39 +0000 http://patphelan.net/?p=5314#comment-541864 Me wife and I are planning a trip to Europe in May and picked up a couple Dell (hereafter referred to as Hell) netbooks.  Hers works just fine, but mine had an odd problem from day one.  If you touched it in certain places, moved it across the desk or picked it up wrong it would power off and restart.  If this happened too frequently, it forced you to do a scan disk before restarting.  I have rather large paws, so it took me a few days to realize that it wasn't just me accidentally pressing the power button.  When I figured out that it wasn't an operator error issue, we contacted Hell 'support'.  Since this was a new computer, we asked them to replace it.  But they told us it would take up to four weeks to replace, but they could have a 'technician' out within 48 hours.  We rolled the dice and had them send out a 'technician'.  He arrived two days later with the replacement parts Hell sent to him and spent about three hours disassembling, reassembling, scratching his head, muttering how odd this was, telling stories of his past successes...  After about three hours, he had the computer so messed up that it wouldn't even boot.  He called 'support' to order more parts for the ones he fried while he was here and a few that he 'thought' might be bad. He came back on Monday with the "new" parts and pretty much did the same as the last visit: take it apart, cram in "new" parts, oh crap, it isn't working, repeat, repeat, repeat, oh sh!t, it's dead again.  After a little over an hour of meandering around in dark sunglasses and a white cane, he raised the white flag and again called 'support'.  This time he told them in his "expert" opinion the computer needed to be replaced. He handed me the phone and had me speak with punjab-habib-handjob.  He told me it would take up to four weeks for the replacement to arrive.  After 30 minutes or so of telling the morons in India that this was not acceptable and requesting to speak with someone in the U.S. , I thrust the phone back in the hands of the 'technician' and told him to leave. Okay, that takes care of the history.  Let me provide a little time line:  The computer arrived 2/16/10, the first 'tech'  visit was 3/11, the second 'tech' visit was 3/15, this is when I was told a 'new' computer would arrive in 3-4 weeks. Fast forward to Monday, April 12... imagine my surprise, the replacement computer still has not arrived.  So I try the online chat (easier for me to avoid giving them a piece of my mind that I may not be able to spare when typing rather than talking/cursing).  It takes 45 minutes for punjab-habib-handjob to finally join the chat (no exaggeration, they were kind enough to send a transcript of the chat complete with time stamps).  During this chat, I am informed that there were "technical issues" with the initial order to replace my computer, though they cannot tell me what kind of "technical issues". The chat lasted more than an hour (I'll gladly produce the complete transcript) and NOTHING was resolved.  The only concession they granted was a three month extension on the warranty, but I still have no idea when the replacement computer will arrive. As much as I LOATH Microsoft, Hell has me more convinced than ever that my next computer will be a Mac! Remember, Friends don't let friends by from Hell!!! Me wife and I are planning a trip to Europe in May and picked up a couple Dell (hereafter referred to as Hell) netbooks.  Hers works just fine, but mine had an odd problem from day one.  If you touched it in certain places, moved it across the desk or picked it up wrong it would power off and restart.  If this happened too frequently, it forced you to do a scan disk before restarting. 

I have rather large paws, so it took me a few days to realize that it wasn’t just me accidentally pressing the power button.  When I figured out that it wasn’t an operator error issue, we contacted Hell ‘support’.  Since this was a new computer, we asked them to replace it.  But they told us it would take up to four weeks to replace, but they could have a ‘technician’ out within 48 hours. 

We rolled the dice and had them send out a ‘technician’.  He arrived two days later with the replacement parts Hell sent to him and spent about three hours disassembling, reassembling, scratching his head, muttering how odd this was, telling stories of his past successes…  After about three hours, he had the computer so messed up that it wouldn’t even boot.  He called ‘support’ to order more parts for the ones he fried while he was here and a few that he ‘thought’ might be bad.

He came back on Monday with the “new” parts and pretty much did the same as the last visit: take it apart, cram in “new” parts, oh crap, it isn’t working, repeat, repeat, repeat, oh sh!t, it’s dead again.  After a little over an hour of meandering around in dark sunglasses and a white cane, he raised the white flag and again called ‘support’.  This time he told them in his “expert” opinion the computer needed to be replaced.

He handed me the phone and had me speak with punjab-habib-handjob.  He told me it would take up to four weeks for the replacement to arrive.  After 30 minutes or so of telling the morons in India that this was not acceptable and requesting to speak with someone in the U.S. , I thrust the phone back in the hands of the ‘technician’ and told him to leave.

Okay, that takes care of the history.  Let me provide a little time line:  The computer arrived 2/16/10, the first ‘tech’  visit was 3/11, the second ‘tech’ visit was 3/15, this is when I was told a ‘new’ computer would arrive in 3-4 weeks.

Fast forward to Monday, April 12… imagine my surprise, the replacement computer still has not arrived.  So I try the online chat (easier for me to avoid giving them a piece of my mind that I may not be able to spare when typing rather than talking/cursing).  It takes 45 minutes for punjab-habib-handjob to finally join the chat (no exaggeration, they were kind enough to send a transcript of the chat complete with time stamps).  During this chat, I am informed that there were “technical issues” with the initial order to replace my computer, though they cannot tell me what kind of “technical issues”.

The chat lasted more than an hour (I’ll gladly produce the complete transcript) and NOTHING was resolved.  The only concession they granted was a three month extension on the warranty, but I still have no idea when the replacement computer will arrive.

As much as I LOATH Microsoft, Hell has me more convinced than ever that my next computer will be a Mac!

Remember, Friends don’t let friends by from Hell!!!

]]> By: Paul Mullan http://patphelan.net/my-dell-hell/comment-page-1/#comment-537329 Paul Mullan Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:21:10 +0000 http://patphelan.net/?p=5314#comment-537329 I have to agree with you Pat. Bought a Dell about 6 months ago and it has gremlins. Tried to get some resolution but felt in the end that investment in a new laptop would be cheaper and less stressful than customer service. P I have to agree with you Pat.

Bought a Dell about 6 months ago and it has gremlins. Tried to get some resolution but felt in the end that investment in a new laptop would be cheaper and less stressful than customer service.

P

]]> By: Pauline http://patphelan.net/my-dell-hell/comment-page-1/#comment-530433 Pauline Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:41:30 +0000 http://patphelan.net/?p=5314#comment-530433 When I bought my laptop I got a Dell because they had a good reputation and we had tons of them at work. I was disappointed to say the least. After two weeks it just stopped working - blank screen. Email support from Dell was hopeless, they kept telling me to try stuff but none of it worked and being non technical I had no idea what the heck they were trying ot get me to do. Eventually they agreed to take it in for repair whech took ten days. A few months down the line the keyboard packed in and I had to go through the whole thing again. I wouldn't buy fron them again. When I bought my laptop I got a Dell because they had a good reputation and we had tons of them at work. I was disappointed to say the least. After two weeks it just stopped working – blank screen. Email support from Dell was hopeless, they kept telling me to try stuff but none of it worked and being non technical I had no idea what the heck they were trying ot get me to do. Eventually they agreed to take it in for repair whech took ten days. A few months down the line the keyboard packed in and I had to go through the whole thing again.
I wouldn’t buy fron them again.

]]> By: rockman http://patphelan.net/my-dell-hell/comment-page-1/#comment-528574 rockman Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:19:01 +0000 http://patphelan.net/?p=5314#comment-528574 Buy your dell from Europc.co.uk, they carry cancelled orders and refurbs(with the Dell nbd warranty). Normally 2 days delivery. Plus can be a whole lot cheaper than Dell. Fast friendly service. I haven't bought a machine off dell directly for years (even sold some of these back into the Dell plant in Limerick for external contractors) Buy your dell from Europc.co.uk, they carry cancelled orders and refurbs(with the Dell nbd warranty). Normally 2 days delivery.
Plus can be a whole lot cheaper than Dell.
Fast friendly service. I haven’t bought a machine off dell directly for years (even sold some of these back into the Dell plant in Limerick for external contractors)

]]> By: kerry ritz http://patphelan.net/my-dell-hell/comment-page-1/#comment-528485 kerry ritz Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:11:19 +0000 http://patphelan.net/?p=5314#comment-528485 write to michael dell michael@dell.com and he is generally pretty responsive! write to michael dell
michael@dell.com

and he is generally pretty responsive!

]]> By: Mac http://patphelan.net/my-dell-hell/comment-page-1/#comment-528006 Mac Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:10:23 +0000 http://patphelan.net/?p=5314#comment-528006 Sorry to hear about your experience Pat. We usually buy our laptops online. Dont want to be promoting one site over another but its worth looking elsewhere than Dell! Sorry to hear about your experience Pat. We usually buy our laptops online. Dont want to be promoting one site over another but its worth looking elsewhere than Dell!

]]> By: Michele http://patphelan.net/my-dell-hell/comment-page-1/#comment-527324 Michele Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:49:16 +0000 http://patphelan.net/?p=5314#comment-527324 We've had mixed experiences with Dell Generally speaking if I want a desktop or laptop for a member of staff in a hurry I just get one from PC Pro. Most of the time there isn't much difference in price and the customer service is excellent We’ve had mixed experiences with Dell

Generally speaking if I want a desktop or laptop for a member of staff in a hurry I just get one from PC Pro. Most of the time there isn’t much difference in price and the customer service is excellent

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