Dell... Hell!

I've loved personal computers since they first came on the scene. My first experience with anything of the sort was a keyboard that was hooked to a monitor. You could type in something like 350 lines of code and produce a picture of Alfred E. Neuman. How funny is that?

My first PC was an IBM clone. When that finally blew, I was able to afford a Gateway. Loved it and the tech support was phenomenal. When they started the downhill slide, I turned to Dell.

I've had five Dells, three still working. I could probably get the PC back up if I wanted to fool with it, but decided on a laptop instead. My daughter still has that laptop, given to her when I upgraded to the one I have now. My oldest son has the first Dell I gave my youngest, given to him when the youngest upgraded (he was in school as a computer science major, so had to have the higher capabilities).

This last laptop is the one at issue now. Like I mentioned, my youngest was a computer science major, which translates into needing the biggest, baddest computer we could afford. It ended up costing us $3400 AFTER corporate discounts (perhaps not a huge amount of money to some of you, but a ton to me!). He'd had it just a little over a year (past warranty as usual) when the graphics card died.

You'd think that this would be a minor matter of calling Dell and ordering a replacement, wouldn't you? Nope. We called and ordered it. A few days later, nothing, so my son contacted Dell via live chat. There was a problem and the order had been canceled (I guess they couldn't be bothered to notify us of that, eh?).

I got on the phone at that point and worked my way through a bunch of Indians (not a racist remark!) with really strong accents (note: I'm hard of hearing!)... Obviously, their scripts had no protocol for this scenario... to an American in tech support and, again, supposedly the part was on its way... Nope, nothing. Big surprise.

Then I started getting the e-mails and phone calls (I got so tired of telling them I was hard of hearing!) wanting to resolve the matter. They wanted us to SEND them the computer so that they could repair it (at a healthy charge). Both of my sons could replace the part with one hand, so WHY would I do that???

In response, I sent them this e-mail:

We actually WERE connected with tech support and supposedly a part was ordered. The tech said that he was putting in a special request for the part and would notify us within 48 hours. The tech was also supposed to e-mail detailed instructions for changing out the part. Your e-mail, however, is the first response that we’ve gotten since that day.

This situation began before the conversation that you mention in your e-mail. My son had called and ordered the graphics board, but never received a confirmation e-mail. Two days later, he made contact again via live chat and was told that the order had been cancelled, that his $3400 computer was irreparable.

We own FIVE Dell systems, a PC and four laptops. We’ve recommended Dell to more than twenty people, some in business situations. I will no longer be praising Dell and will more than likely look to another brand in the future. I will also suggest to my friends in the corporate world that they not purchase Dell.

This had been an absurd situation from the beginning. I am completely disappointed in what was once a fine company who put quality products and customer service as a priority. Someone has dropped the ball in this situation. Please get my son the part he needs to repair his computer so at least we can get a few more dollars worth out of an expensive machine.

Thank you

So, what do you think happened next? More e-mails/phone calls from individuals I couldn't understand as well as an attempt on their part to get me to order a graphics card for a PC... Even I know a part labeled PCI is NOT for a laptop!

Next, they wanted us to send them the computer and give us a 20% discount on the repair. They sent me the following e-mail (note the grammar!):

I am really sorry for this situation that you are in, as this system is out of warranty, systems at technical department won’t allow us to issues replacements for graphics card that you are looking for. We are at customer care and we can issue replacements in first 30 days.

Since then, I've gotten a few more e-mails telling ME to call tech support and order the part. Isn't that kind of going back to step ONE??? Now, they simply ignore my inquiries.

The end result is that we now have a $3400 laptop relegated to a back closet and my son got an HP PC for his birthday.

So, if you're looking into buying a computer, DO NOT BUY DELL!!!