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Well folks, the stay in Dell Hell is evidently not over yet!
The same problem is recurring. I get a flashing black screen that tells me it is entering power save. I have e-mailed Manish and called and left him a voicemail (because no real person ever answers the phone).
We have replaced everything in this computer now except for the memory, the hard drive and the DVD/CD drive.
I can’t wait to see what hoops Dell Hell is going to now put me through!
I have received a comment from Christopher M. who purportedly works for Dell in their Online Community Program in their headquarters in Round Rock, Texas.
Christopher addresses only one small part of Dell Hell – that being the issue of refurbished parts. Christopher states that “after 21 days from the invoice date replacement parts will be used.” Hmmm….Christopher, here is my question to you – Say you purchased a brand new 2009 automobile and twenty-two days later the transmission went kaflooey. You manage to drive it back to the dealer and the dealer informs you that they will put a rebuilt transmission in your nice new auto – are you going to be happy about that? I think not.
Christopher also says that “Refurbished parts and systems are parts or systems that have been returned to Dell some of which were never used. All parts and systems are inspected and tested for quality.”
Wow if that is true, then what the heck happened with my brand new computer? Hmmmm…inspected and tested for quality eh? It does boggle one’s mind then that the entire computer had to be rebuilt and supposedly the original parts were new! This computer has been in my possession less than three months and has only been used a little over a month.
I don’t see anything on the Dell Website where they sell you computers telling you that your computer could fail entirely when it is new and that it will be rebuilt with refurbished parts. I doubt that many people would purchase them if that were the case.
Christopher also does not mention anything about the horrible customer service or the fact that Dell wants to charge me a monthly fee for the privilege of speaking to someone who actually understands my language. He also does not speak to the fact that the tier three Dell tech seemingly didn’t know how to do things he was supposed to know or the fact that he downloaded the wrong drivers onto my computer or the fact that he refused to let me speak to his superior. Or how about this Christopher – how come there is no phone number listed anywhere for the corporate offices of Dell?
No, Christopher doesn’t have an answer for any of those things, at least not that he has articulated to me.
Dell would have been much better served to to have some good customer service representative extend some good customer service to me and replace my computer instead of rebuilding it with used parts. Perhaps then, I would have been able to look past the horrible customer service and perhaps I may have still purchased Dell computers.
As it stands now, I have been treated badly and I will never purchase another Dell product and will do my best to urge everyone I know not to purchase Dell computers.
Yes Christopher, you commented but just like all the other Dell representatives before you in Dell Hell, you didn’t give me a straight answer about anything. I stand by my articles. The lack of customer service was abominable, not to mention all the money I lost because I didn’t have the use of the computer I paid for. Some folks might think that is a lawsuit waiting to happen when you pay for goods and services and they aren’t delivered…
I used to be very pro Dell. They manufactured good, solidly built computers, but then I had a problem with a brand new computer that I had purchased from them. Now I had an extended maintenance agreement, but of course, I had to deal with several of the good folks in India going through all manner of troubleshooting.
Call me crazy, but I am of the opinion that if a product is brand new, as in less than two months old, I shouldn’t have to take it apart and check it every which way from Sunday. Good customer service dictates that they send someone to take care of it and post haste! Eventually they did send someone on several occasions and when they had gotten to the point that they had replaced everything in the computer, they finally gave me another new one which thankfully, worked. I was somewhat dismayed though to find out that every part they replaced in my brand new computer was a “refurbished” part. So in essence I paid over two thousand dollars for a computer full of refurbished parts. Doesn’t seem right does it? Nah, I didn’t think so either.
So I decided to give good old Dell another shot and I just purchased another computer and large flat screen monitor from them. This computer is also less than two months old and again, I purchased the extended maintenance agreement with “next day service.”
Lo and behold when I fired up said computer yesterday the monitor went black and then before I could blink it came back on and then it was black again. This went on for quite a while and then finally the monitor went black and stayed that way.
So here I am with a state of the art computer that is now a very expensive doorstop because I cannot use it without a working monitor. So I place my first call to Dell. After being on hold for the better part of a half hour and with my legs crossed, I finally hung up in desperation so I could visit the bathroom.
I then persevered and placed my second call to Dell. Great – my call was answered by the good folks in India who are extremely difficult to understand and who seemingly have as much difficulty understanding me as I have understanding them. For the fourth time I gave this gentleman the express service tag and the other number he requested and he had me try this and that and we changed the bios settings, etc. Monitor is still intermittently going black.
I tell him I would like to speak to an American. Oh…he was only to glad to assist me….he asks me….”Would you like to have your own representative that you would use all the time?” This representative would be in your own country and would be the only person you ever talk to. Wow I say, yes, sure, I would LOVE that! Fine he says, that will be $13.00 a month. So let me get this straight, Dell has already jacked me up for over $1,700.00 for a computer and monitor, not to mention the extra $300.00 for the extended maintenance next day service agreement. Now they want to charge me every single month for the pleasure of dealing with someone whom I can understand and who can understand me! I do not call this great customer service. I call this outrageous!
So now this gentleman in India wants me to get down on the floor with a screwdriver and open up the computer and take the video card out and then put it back in. I said surely you jest. I just paid you all of this money and I am supposed to get next day service and you expect me to do this? He just kept repeating the same thing over and over wanting me to open the computer and remove the video card.
In desperation I asked to speak to his superior. Now I had another gentleman from India telling me the same thing over and over. I was told that they could not send a technician to fix my computer unless I did as I was told and finished the troubleshooting process. I said but this is a brand new computer – I shouldn’t have to do all of this. This is why I paid so much money – so I wouldn’t have to do this.
So I was told that this trouble ticket would now be escalated. Now normally in tech circles that means that it is moving up the ladder in importance. He then tells me that someone will call me in twenty four to forty eight hours to resolve the problem. Hellooooo…..I am trying to run a business here….I need this very expensive computer in order to do this. Sorry….we cannot do this any faster. Hmmm….I wonder how they would react if I stopped payment on the computer and told them I would see if I could get it to them in a couple of days. I am betting they would not like that very much.
So now, twenty four hours plus have passed and I have not heard a word from the good people at Dell. Interestingly enough, when I turned the computer on today it was fine and I had no problems with it all day. What this tells me though, is that I am going to have more problems down the road. The gentleman in India told me that this is a machine after all and I should expect problems. Great customer service eh?
I have no idea how long it will take them to resolve this problem but I can tell you this much Mr. Dell, I have purchased my last Dell product. When you can improve your customer service and give me an American to speak with I may reconsider. Just how cost effective is it Mr. Dell to use cheap labor in India to troubleshoot your poorly made computers when they have problems if you lose customers as a result?
It makes me wonder if the supposedly “new” computer I purchased was put together with “refurbished” parts to begin with. Just something to think about…