Dell complaints

[Fearecia]

A few months ago I extended my warranty on my Dell laptop and bought the accident protection. So if I dropped the computer they'd repair/replace it. All fine and dandy, right?

Well, this is the complaints forum, so we all know the answer. Wrong! I dropped it, busted up the casing, sent it in for repairs. Strangely enough, they wanted me to send the harddrive, battery, and adapter with the laptop. Oookay, if they insisted. Needless to say I created a back up file on my external hard drive just in case (being an artist, author, student, and using a computer in general, that back up file has probably saved my butt.) Now, let me remind you I sent them a computer that WORKED. The casing was busted up and it had some issues, but it still ran and functioned.

First things first, FedEx messes up and takes a week to overnight the thing. Joy of joys. Okay, not Dell's fault, but I wish someone would have bothered to tell me! So I'm out an extra week on the computer. Okay fine. It sits in their repair center for another week and a half before I call them up (they have 8 business days according to their policy to fix and return a computer) and ask them what's going on.

They tell me the computer is beyond repair and will be shipping a new one.

EXCUSE ME? Beyond repair? The damage was bloody cosmetic! The casing was cracked! The computer worked when I sent it to them!

Okay fine. What about my hard drive? What about the hundreds of dollars of software, art files, and other irreplaceable files on that hard drive?

According to a supervisor, they either reformatted the hard drive, or threw it away. Either way, I was not getting it back. Thank god for having the insight to make a back up file!

Okay, what about my gig and a half of ram? What about my upgraded graphics card? No need to worry there, apparently, because they'll make sure the new computer is as good or better than the old one (I will be checking that one when I get the new one!). Okay, fine. You're going to put XP back on there, right?

Nope. You're getting Vista.

Most of the nation agrees that Vista sucks. None of my programs or hardware is compatible with Vista (and I doubt that backup file will be compatible either!). I have to have XP. Just put it on there. Nope, no can do, because after all, XP has been "end of lifed" and will no longer be supported. I don't care, obviously. Put XP on it! Nope, only way I can get XP is to buy the operating system. Well screw them.

So yeah, they honored the warranty and have nearly sent me to Kingdom Come and back with all this crap. I'm getting XP discs from my mother so I'll install XP myself and take care of everything that way. We're just hoping that the backup file will restore everything, which it should, but we all know how computers are. Grrrrrr.

So, they trash my computer, trash my harddrive, don't even think twice about everything it could very well cost me to upgrade and replace in order to be compatible with Vista... or just what those irreplaceable art files are worth. And I've been without a computer for 3 weeks by the time this is all said and done. Being a student with online classes to top it all off... it hasn't been a fun day!

So, in short, I officially hate Dell now. I'm buying a Mac when the warranty on the computer runs out.

[Bug16]

It sounds like they couldn't be bothered to repair it or it was cheaper to just give you a new PC.

With regard to the Vista installation, surely you still have your Dell XP install DVD? It'll take you 45 minutes tops to reinstall with a quick format of your HD. Ok it's a pain but not the end of the world.

Btw, I'm one of the few who actually really like Vista.

[DELLapidated]

System repairs are not done directly by Dell and they're handled by companies like Getronics and Unisys. These companies receive and assess the damage on the computers they work on and if they determine that the damage is more extensive than believed, they will annotate the info in Dell's database. If they say the damage is cosmetic, then there's no problem and the computer is sent back with new plastics.

If you purchased something that's called "Keep your Hard drive" option, then you were not obliged to ship the HDD with the system, but it's an option generally for business customers. The reason why HDD"s, Batteries, and Adapters must be returned with the system with a Complete Care warranty is that the Service Providers (SP) will have to recertify the system at the depot, meaning everything is a-ok.

But here lies the rub: we wouldn't know if some or all of the parts that had been replaced were brand new or refurbished or used. I've seen lots of cases where techs tell lots of white lies to the customer just to get them off the phone, so I find it hard to believe everything Dell will say now. As a consumer I won't gamble my money with Dell...now that Canadian support mainly comes from India (Americans may feel luckier to get someone from the Philippines, they're not really that bad), I don't want to bet on getting quick and accurate support from "experts" if problems arise on a Dell. The extended warranty is a sham... I think customers will be better off to keep their money than buy it as Dell systems are expected to fail after one year from date of purchase. Then again, why would we buy something that we know will become an expensive paper weight next year?

Go with the Mac! As a consumer you have a choice. Your next purchase will be a vote of confidence for Apple, a loss for Dell.

Like Bug16, I actually one of the so-called few who like Vista. I don't have any problems with it for more than a year. It's a little slower than XP for games however.

[Fearecia]

In regards to having the XP install disc, no, I don't have it. They stopped sending those out with the systems years ago. I never got one and never got around to asking for one to be sent to me. Hence why my mother sent me hers.

I've used Vista.. It's okay; I really don't like it. All the school computers operate off of Vista, and I've had to do a lot of troubleshooting for one of my client's with Vista. Of course, she's pretty computer illerate, but I hate some of the hoops they make you jump through to change options. Plus none of my stuff is Vista compatible, so I can't use it. Anyway.

The damage was cosmetic. The casing was busted up on the back corner where I dropped the computer. I *used* it to chat with a Dell representative initially, so I know everything worked. Yes, the casing needed to be replaced, probably the keyboard and motherboard as well (slowly declining issues there), but none of that is hard stuff. In short, they probably couldn't find new plastic to put it on there. At least, that's what I can figure.

In short, I'm very displeased with customer service and the lack of communication and lack of ability to make the small adjustments (giving me XP - how hard is that when they still sell it, really?) so that I can get back up and running like I should be? I should have been called when the computer was deemed unrepairable. Instead, I had to call and find that out. Doesn't make me very happy. And I got three different stories on the hard drive. The short of that one is that I'm not getting it back.

First time I sent the computer in (2 years ago?) I didn't have to send the hard drive - no big deal. Took it and the battery out, just sent in the system. Peachy keen and happiness. I was very pleased with that run around as they ended up repairing a lot more than I expected. Cool! But it has just been a huge headache this time, and not a set of dice I'm willing to roll again. So, this is why it made me pause about sending the HD in and making a back up file (thank god!).

So yeah. There's some elaborations for you.

[Fearecia]

The new computer they sent me is a Dell Inspiron 1420. I have to admit, it does have better specs than my old one.

With the help of a computer friend, we wiped out Vista and installed XP, then tried to return all my files via the backup file on the external HD. Ha ha ha... RIGHT. I've learned a valuable lesson about registry values on that one. The mistake there was that I used the Windows software to make an actual backup file of the whole computer, so I couldn't separate the files from the registry values (which were screwing over the OS - we had to rewrite the registry values just to get the computer to boot after the backup file was put on there), which meant I could either have a perfectly working version of XP, or one that barely worked at all with my files on it. Drat and bebother.

I tried a couple other things to fix the computer so I could have my files and a decently running OS, which led me to finding out about some dumb shit Dell Media software/hardware that's on the computer. Blue screen of death! (The computer geek had long since abandoned me by this time - bah!). Wipe the OS, setup the partition and reinstall to fix that issue. I think I ended up putting a new OS on the computer about 5 times because of the various issues.

A major miracle happened and my old HD showed up in the mail. Thank gods! Took the bastard comp down to Staples and they did a file transfer. Okay. Great. So now I have all my files back (which I promptly simply copied over to the external HD instead of making another backup file), but none of my programs. Begin slow re-installation process. I got just about everything back except Photoshop... that I don't have the disc for. Gah!

I spent forever trouble shooting my video card and learning more about the registry and startup programs (way the by, if anyone has Nvidia, make sure you disable Quicktime in your startup. The two don't mesh). Then I had to fix the hibernation as well. I also had to go hunt down a bunch of drivers for the hardware on the computer so that everything would work. Gah! It's taken me weeks to get this thing up and running to par. For those who know computers, it pry doesn't sound like much, but for mua, I'm learning by trial and error.

In short, I've got just about everything back, have the computer set on selective startup mode in order to make things work right, and now am just waiting for a photoshop disc to hopefully show up in the mail. Bloody nightmare.

I'm still getting a Mac next time.

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

Microsloth and Intel have conspired against the enduser. At the same time Intel made it impossible to put your old boot drive in a new system, Microsloth made backup versions incompatible.

The only way I know to do it is manually. Old Intel images will still 'play' on new chipsets, though they won't boot. You justabout have to copy/paste the desired files from the old working drive to the new drive, folder by folder.

Backup was thus cantankerous even as far back as DOS. Trying to import my W98 files to Vista would most likely be impossible, except maybe MS Word, and it would still argue with me.

Shmucks! They completely disregard the actual utility of a computer--storage--while at the same time forcing you into 'new' stuff that argues with 'old' stuff. Intel and Microsloth are despicable. Add Adobe/Flash to that list. REAL commercial software, like say AutoCAD, has a one-click update from archived files to current format. So it CAN be done, Microsloth just doesn't bother.
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Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[diashto]

[Fearecia]