Dell complaints

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

Media knows what goes on inside Dell. Customers contact them, employees contact them, and they read this site. They are under editorial restraint not to print what one person or a few people say. That level of restraint is just as valid in media as it is in an engineering laboratory.

One instance of something is not a reportable event, but raises awareness. Several concurring instances is cause to look closer. When everybody reports the same thing, it is a strong trend.

Even though a collection of individual reports is not 'news' (because the number of people NOT reporting is not quantifiable), a body of evidence piques the effort of journalists to report in favor of the individuals who DO report.

So if you have personal observations about dealing with Dell, as a customer or an employee, posting them on this site definitely has an impact. Even though you might not see it in headlines, right away.
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Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[Apathy]

Rocke,

People who are still inside the little slice of hell we like to call Dell can not post everything we know or heard about without putting our jobs at risk.

Needless to say do I know a lot of rumors and facts that have not gone public
That answer is Yes.

Can I post this information publicly without fear of retribution
That answer is NO
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Q: How do you know Dell Management is lying to you?

A: Until proven otherwise, Assume EVERYTHING coming from Dell Management is a lie.

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

Understood. If Dell puts customers on retribution lists for having too many 'unresolvable' problems, they most assuredly do it to employees. Obviously, if an employee's only computer access is at work it will not be possible for them to participate, or even read, here.

Isn't there some mechanism by which employees can post here with genuine anonymity? Yes, I understand the person with access to the email address with which one registers is himself anonymous and therefore can't be trusted fully.

But there IS such thing as anonymous email, and it doesn't cost anything. Oh, your IPA? To get an individual's identity information from that requires a court order and substantial expense. Dell could deal with the expense part, but ISPs routinely countersue on the behalf of account holders to keep their identities confidential. Moreover, there are no issues posted here which would qualify for judicial intervention in the first place.

Gawd, if we're not a resource, we're just a blog.
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Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[DOC_Is_Evil]

There are a lot of people on this site who no longer work for Dell, so even if Dell were to go through here, how could they fire those people? They might be able to sue, but from the interpretation I got, once you have quit or been fired for 6 months, you are allowed to share what went on while you were employed there. But I could be wrong...Or lied to.

[Starman97]

So how exactly does Dell go about resolving the owner of a Gmail account
that only posts/reads from public Wifi hotspots?

Tip: If you're really paranoid, setup VMware player With XP or Linux and post from within that session using an external Wireless card on a laptop. Only use the the VMware/Wifi card for posting here.

The NSA could still figure out who you are, but unless you stole all Mike's stock options, Dell wont spend the $$$ to find you.

[Jane Carnall]

Four months ago when I bought a heavy Inspiron laptop from Dell, I also bought a carry-case - a Targus backpack.

The backpack was extremely comfortable and made transporting the heavy laptop around very easy, but after four months use, the zip went. (It took several days to disintegrate, but today, as I was zipping it up to go to work, it finally went.)

This afternoon, I rang Dell.

After a long, long phone call with much "Push 1 for this" "Push 2 for that" during which I twice got put through to the Inspiron technical service department, I finally got through to a human being at a customer care desk. This human being listened to my explanation, and suggested I find a local repairshop that would sew in a new zip.

I said that Dell had sold me a backpack that was intended for the purpose of carrying heavy laptops only four months ago: it had proved unsuitable for that purpose, and what responsibility was Dell going to take?

Response from Amir Amir: None. "It could have been tampered with," he said. "It was not faulty when we delivered it to you. It could have been tampered with." He kept repeating that. Eventually I got fed up, read back a summary of the notes I'd been making during the call to him: (Dell says: if the backpack Dell sells for the purpose of carrying Inspiron Notebook is not suitable/proves faulty, Dell takes no responsibility") and asked him if he agreed that this was Dell's position. He said it was.

I wasn't ready to give in and follow Dell's suggestion of just paying to have a new zip stitched in. It was a brand new backpack, the sort - if I bought it from a camping shop - I'd expect to have a 10-year warranty at least.

When I googled on Targus, I rapidly found the manufacturer, discovered that the backpack has a lifetime warranty, found a helpline number, got through to a human being, confirmed that what I had was a Targus produce and I had a problem with it, was advised to send photos (Dell didn't provide the product code) and, shortly, was notified that the photos and my problem would be passed on to the warranty department. Of course, I could have done this *first* and saved myself the agony of a phone call with Dell, but I admit that didn't occur to me: I'd bought it from Dell, I assumed Dell would take responsibility for it.

Why couldn't someone at Dell advise me to contact the manufacturer? I mean, at minimum, that would have been helpful advice. If I had taken Dell's advice and sewn in a new zip, that would have voided the warranty on the backpack.

[FallenAngel]

For future reference Jane, unless it has a Dell badge/logo/spraypaint/urine on it somewhere, Dell will not support it past the first 21 days. Just because it was bought through Dell doesn't make it a Dell product, and thereby still serviced only through the vendor of the product itself and not the seller.

But by this time, you have contacted the vendor, and know better for next time

[Jane Carnall]

...why the HELL couldn't someone at Dell say that?

I told each human I spoke to when I'd bought the backpack. No one mentioned 21 days. No one said "You need to contact the original manufacturer". What I got was an hour-long runaround which could have been resolved 30 seconds after I first got through to a human being: ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS SAY "It's been more than three weeks, you need to contact Targus direct".

I obviously didn't manage to communicate what the problem was, so let me say it again:

The problem was not that Dell won't support something they didn't make if it was delivered more than three weeks ago.

The problem was that they spent an hour or so of my time not telling me anything useful, when apparently there is a standard Dell policy they could have told me in 30 seconds.

[nashdell]

Has any tech support person in Nashville (not management) been offered a job in sales by Dell?
I can't find any.
Anyone in Waco coming to work in Nashville?
Anyone in Waco been promised a Nashville job that is actually moving to Nashville?

This is what was Dell told the press and this is what was published by the news services.

[Jax]

A group of folks from Waco were touring the Nashville campus on Black Tuesday, right during the slaughter.