Dell complaints

bhhumika · conscientious beginner Joined: 24 Jul 2007 Posts: 1

Hi all,
I really hate and I wanted to know y I do. I bought a laptop model
e1505 from dell. I realised yesterday that my battery was not working
and Had a chat with a representative and that guy says dell extended warranty doesnt cover battery,it has warranty of only one year. When I bought extended warranty that didnt even told that entended warranty
doesnt cover battery, there were no terms and conditions that I accepted
to because I made purchase on phone.I posted this on DELL forums and
everyone there was posting that it was my fault.I want u people to comment on it, I can really have sleep bcoz Iam feeling guilty.

More PROBS:
And it always gives lot of heat ,u know what it can burn your thighs if u keep working by placing it on ur thighs.I called customer care
and that guy suggested me to use a plank of wood. I spent $ 1200 on laptop
and in the end came to know that I cant work by placing it on my lap.
I think dell should change the name from laptop to burning computer.

diashto · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:09 pm Post subject:

They don't call it a laptop, they call it a notebook.

It sucks that they dont warrantee the batteries for more than a year.. and moreso that the extended warrantee doesnt cover it, but it's one of the "disposable" parts of the notebook. The batteries are known to only be "good" for 300-500 charging cycles, so they don't warantee them past what should be the average life.

It'd be like the battery being waranteed when you buy your car. They wear out.. it happens. Sometimes they last until you get a new car, sometimes you have to buy another and move on.

Dude-5 · one bitch wonder Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 4

I actually agree with this one, but it does seem to be the #1 complaint I see from customers. Batteries wear out--it's not good business to put a 4 year guarantee on something that typically only lasts 1 year. It's stated clearly in the warranty. Most of the customers I've talked with about batteries have systems only 12-18 months old--yes, it sucks, I know, it's as if the battery knows when it's time is up--but that's just business.

You do good to get a 90 day warranty on a battery, truth be told.

FallenAngel · Super Hater Joined: 21 Feb 2006 Posts: 1493

It's not your "fault", but you did agree to their terms and conditions when you first turned on the system. Simple as that. If you don't accept the Dell EULA when the system first turns on, you get nowhere, so you are FORCED to accept whether you like it or not. This is Dell's get out of jail free card.

Batteries are considered consumable parts, no different than if you buy a walkman or whatever else takes batteries. No warranty will cover batteries and other consumable parts, because they are...consumable. They are 100% GUARANTEED to fail, it's just a matter of when.

Extended warranty just gives the system itself an extra 1-3 years of support, nothing more. All batteries from Dell have stock 1 year from date of invoice warranty.

nobiggie · Regular Hater Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 20

If you pursue you complaint you will be able to convince them to give you a new battery! The Ext. warranty not covering chargers & batteries is a common complaint & many many ppl win that debate.....BUT if your talking to SALES then no you won't win... talk to Tech or Cust care!!

Dell Policies are always meant to be broken

jinzu · Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 12:53 pm Post subject: Yea

Yea i had a inspiron 6000 battery failed within a year lol

Dipankar · Regular Hater Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 10

I think this will help you guys .....
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/batteries_sitelet/en/replacement?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/batteries_sitelet/en/batteries_more?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/vectors/en/2005_batterylife?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

pointofview · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 12:14 pm Post subject: batteries

My battery on my inspiron 6400 has never been used in mobile service. Since I bought it I have not had occasion to travel with it, and it has sat on my desk with the power cord plugged in. After almost a year and a half, the battery fail light started to come on. No charge cycles occurred.

Thus, it seems these batteries are designed to fail, whether they are cycled or not. Then I understand they have the computers set to detect any non-Dell batteries, so they can screw you royally for a replacement that is likely designed to fail as well.

I was dumb enough to pay almost 300 for their three year warranty, which is never explained, other than to say that if the unit fails for any reason, they will send a tech out in 24 hours. So the failure of a battery they charge $200 to $300 for isn't covered.

I wonder if there is an attorney general somewhere in the USA that can investigate this? If it isn't fraud, it is about as close as you can come.

diashto · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 4:00 pm Post subject: Re: batteries

pointofview · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 4:06 pm Post subject:

I don't know if you are a ringer for Dell or not, but let me tell you a couple of things. I have owned several laptops over the last 10 or 12 years, and have NEVER had a battery go out on me. I have typically owned each of those for about 3 years. This is the first, and, FUNNY THING--they have you by the short hairs as you have to buy from them--all the others had batteries available through numerous third-party manufacturers.

Perhaps you should go to work for Dell--youd make a good service rep. for them.

FallenAngel · Super Hater Joined: 21 Feb 2006 Posts: 1493

There's no fraud here. I believe, at last check, that all major OEM's including Dell have a base warranty of 1 year on batteries purchased through them. Unless it is a replacement or used battery, then it's 90 days.

There's no fraud because a battery is considered a consumable component, and this is why they will never replace a battery beyond one year. Involving the AG will just result in a laugh off and hearing that there's nothing they will do. The battery info is contained in the warranty description for any to see, if they decide to do so.

Regardless of previous history with batteries, it's all irrelevant. If you were lucky enough to have had batteries last way beyond their estimated shelf life, then look at it as a plus. Nowadays, batteries rarely last longer than their estimated shelf life which is approximately 1 year by no coincidence.

The 3 year warranty will still serve you in the long run outside the battery. If you break something else in that time, and had no warranty to cover you, a dead battery would be the least of your concerns. Be thankful that you paid for the 3 year warranty and hope that you never have to use it.

n00bs · one bitch wonder Joined: 19 May 2008 Posts: 3

dell offers up to 3 years warranty on the battery, you have to pay extra of course, but that is business. if you chose the standard warranty, and then complain about the policy, its your own fault, stop crying.

Rocke_T_Sinetist · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 5:26 pm Post subject:

Note that poster HAD the extended warranty, but it does not cover batteries.

While the T&C specifies that it does not, one could readily be led to presume that an 'extended warranty' covered the entire purchase. Dell has another warranty layer, the 'whatever' warranty. Even if you drop it down stairs, or a tsunami engulfs it, "complete coverage" is supposed to fix it.

Does anyone know if "complete" also excludes batteries? I'd be surprised if it didn't.
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FallenAngel · Super Hater Joined: 21 Feb 2006 Posts: 1493

Again, just using my inner working knowledge of the company, Complete Care covers accidents but not the battery anymore than the 1, 2 or 3 year standard warranties.

Complete Care just translates into accidental damage coverage and little else. Though we have had, on only too many occasions, so many customers call in demanding a replacement battery after the 1 year warranty under the "Complete Care" warranty citing that they "assumed" that Complete means "all things".

Having to sit there and argue with customers about rash associations and assumptions was always a chore and drained the life of anyone forced to deal with it.

If the poster above says that you can cover a battery for 3 years for a little extra cash, I'd like to see that in print anywhere because I think they've got their facts mixed up. Dell would lose so much money for the small pittance collected at POS that it wouldn't make economical sense for them to cover a consumable part longer than 1 year, unless the extra price for coverage was approximately $500 extra. In any other case, Dell would stand to lose millions if not hundreds of millions by covering batteries for longer than a year.

Rocke_T_Sinetist · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 6:57 pm Post subject:

Well I spoze from scrutiny of the warranty terms, customers could deign that batteries were not expected to last longer than 12 months.

But I also spoze that a corporation NOT intent upon getting over on their customers would print the exclusions in something bigger than 2-point font, when the word "complete" is in 14 point.

I mean, if you need to hire a lawyer to interpret the terms of purchase, do you really want to do business with that vendor?
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as in, 'it doesn't take a...'