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A Dell Customer Service Dispute

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Re: A Dell Customer Service Dispute

#51

Post by chris_wot »

CJefferson wrote: post #44
gizmo686 wrote: post #14

Dell's customer service is terrible. I had my harddrive die. My laptop was still under warranty, so I decided call Dell to get it fixed. After about 4 hours, I was able to get someone to start working on my case (I was transferred between departments 5 times, and only got someone to deal with the issue after I insisted that the previous person stay on the line until I did). We than spent the next hour diagnosing the…

I have to be honest, quite a bit of this seems reasonable in Dell's part -- I would expect a like for like swap, and to have to give back the broken part, else the possibility for fraud is too high.

Not in Australia. You get to keep the broken parts.

Re: A Dell Customer Service Dispute

#52

Post by chris_wot »

jpalomaki wrote: post #41
SSLy wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what do you buy?

I've moved years ago from Dell to Lenovo. And specifically to professional models which come with onsite warranty. The onsite warranty is of course very good thing on its own, but I also believe it puts pressure on the vendor to focus on quality and getting issues sorted out quickly (because doing onsite visits is not cheap). It also indicates the computer is built in a way I can also replace parts, because you can't…

The X1 Carbons have quite a few models with the RAM chips soldered to the motherboard.

Re: A Dell Customer Service Dispute

#53

Post by gbil »

beilabs wrote: post #46
arjie wrote: post #45

Back in 2008, I had an XPS M1330 with an Nvidia 8400M GS. Now, if you guys remember this, it was the infamous integrated GPU which it would fail after some heat/cool cycle because the BGA would crack or some such rubbish. I was covered under warranty when I first bought it, but as soon as I exited the period, they clammed up. It was comical - the thing came with a built-in expiry date! Eventually, of course, they cav…

I had that Nvidia card replaced 3 times. Each time an 'expert' came to my home and replaced the motherboard in front of me. Each time I had it replaced apparently it extended the warranty for 1 more year. The laptop scorched a mark in my table. The charger exploded and scorched my carpet. They wouldn't exchange it until I told them I would send my bill for the carpet as well.... I didn't buy a Dell again for 8 years.…

In EU the warranty resets for the component that is replaced. Of course there are many times the seller/manufacturer will try to present it in a different way and you might have to contact the chamber of commerce or even a lawyer but the EU law is there for the consumer to use.

Re: A Dell Customer Service Dispute

#54

Post by jaredklewis »

jpatokal wrote: post #42

There's one missing piece in the story here: I told him if [returning the laptop again is] the best solution that he can provide (customer care is not an iterative process), I would have no option but to pursue this through my university's legal department. So what was the best solution that the complainer wanted? It seems like a replacement would have been a pretty reasonable thing to ask for at this point. This, on…

For sure, I think the "complainer" here didn't handle things perfectly, but I am prepared to give him a lot of leeway considering what he has endured so far.

The fact that the issue persisted after the out-of-pocket repair, makes it obvious that the original product was defective. I know if I paid the price of laptop, was told it was my fault (when it wasn't), paid the price of a repair that didn't fix the issue, and was without the laptop for 60 days, I would be seeing red and probably prone to making belligerent statements.

After bungling so badly, Dell should be tripping over themselves to offer him a refund.

Re: A Dell Customer Service Dispute

#55

Post by ex3ndr »

CJefferson wrote: post #44
gizmo686 wrote: post #14

Dell's customer service is terrible. I had my harddrive die. My laptop was still under warranty, so I decided call Dell to get it fixed. After about 4 hours, I was able to get someone to start working on my case (I was transferred between departments 5 times, and only got someone to deal with the issue after I insisted that the previous person stay on the line until I did). We than spent the next hour diagnosing the…

I have to be honest, quite a bit of this seems reasonable in Dell's part -- I would expect a like for like swap, and to have to give back the broken part, else the possibility for fraud is too high.

Well, logitech is very different in this case. Couple years ago my trackball got broken and i was a fan of trackballs, but they started to disappear from shops. Then i just emailed them that my device broken and they immediately send me a replacement, they even didn't ask about check or any warranty proof.

Re: A Dell Customer Service Dispute

#56

Post by throwwatgku »

ex3ndr wrote: post #55
CJefferson wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to be honest, quite a bit of this seems reasonable in Dell's part -- I would expect a like for like swap, and to have to give back the broken part, else the possibility for fraud is too high.

Well, logitech is very different in this case. Couple years ago my trackball got broken and i was a fan of trackballs, but they started to disappear from shops. Then i just emailed them that my device broken and they immediately send me a replacement, they even didn't ask about check or any warranty proof.

Same happened to me. I have an unreasonable loyalty to Logitech not just because their product are decent but because their customer service is great.

The only other company to come close is Sandisk, who once sent me an upgraded version of my mp3 player when my head phone jack broke

Re: A Dell Customer Service Dispute

#57

Post by t27 »

cjslep wrote: post #5

This is absolutely horrendous. Dell is continuously denying the customer from escalating their case. Probably because this customer isn't a VIP partner like a BestBuy executive. Anecdotally, customer support escalations for individuals such as those can go all the way up to the CEO. There's definitely someone higher that could handle the case. But this level of strict-adherence-to-policy without escalating internally…

Exactly, that's my friend who's suffering, he bieng a US buyer, I'm pretty sure that there will be a local customer support team who can help him.

Re: A Dell Customer Service Dispute

#58

Post by t27 »

jpatokal wrote: post #42

There's one missing piece in the story here: I told him if [returning the laptop again is] the best solution that he can provide (customer care is not an iterative process), I would have no option but to pursue this through my university's legal department. So what was the best solution that the complainer wanted? It seems like a replacement would have been a pretty reasonable thing to ask for at this point. This, on…

Hmm, yeah, that's possible. My friend's not a regular to HN, I'll definitely ask him to come up here and participate

Re: A Dell Customer Service Dispute

#60

Post by jlgaddis »

gizmo686 wrote: post #14

Dell's customer service is terrible. I had my harddrive die. My laptop was still under warranty, so I decided call Dell to get it fixed. After about 4 hours, I was able to get someone to start working on my case (I was transferred between departments 5 times, and only got someone to deal with the issue after I insisted that the previous person stay on the line until I did). We than spent the next hour diagnosing the…

> ... I was informed that I would be paying for the full price of the drive ...

This is pretty standard. Even at the corporate/enterprise level -- where the disk may contain sensitive data -- you have to send the drive back. You can pay extra (at the time of purchase) to have the option to not have to send your broken drive back.

I fully understand why they require the defective drive be returned, however. Their replacement policy would quickly be abused if they didn't require the customer to return the drive.

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