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Dell computer service, a sad story

post #1 of 123
10/26/09 at 11:27am
Thread Starter 
I'm on hold with Dell for 2 hours now. And 5 hours last night!

I had bought what I thought was a decent computer. A DEll XPS M1330 ( loaded to the hilt ).

Now it turns out there are "issues", especially motherboard problems.

I have the extended warranty but it's like they want to wear you down. Keep you on hold till you give up, or connect you to India where you will encounter language understanding problems.

See this link anout Dell support!

And this link about how they rate versus the competition.

Anybody have any recent experience with this once great innovative company that has turned to shit!!!!
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post #2 of 123
10/26/09 at 11:33am
Why did you buy one then? P.S. - Sorry to hear of your troubles.
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post #3 of 123
10/26/09 at 11:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rnoldh View Post
I'm on hold with Dell for 2 hours now. And 5 hours last night!

I had bought what I thought was a decent computer. A DEll XPS M1330 ( loaded to the hilt ).

Now it turns out there are "issues", especially motherboard problems.

I have the extended warranty but it's like they want to wear you down. Keep you on hold till you give up, or connect you to India where you will encounter language understanding problems.

See this link anout Dell support!

And this link about how they rate versus the competition.

Anybody have any recent experience with this once great innovative company that has turned to shit!!!!

Too many to list, but, yeah, they're awful. It's too bad because they used to be great, but they have really fallen off in quality.
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post #4 of 123
10/26/09 at 11:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrG View Post
Too many to list, but, yeah, they're awful. It's too bad because they used to be great, but they have really fallen off in quality.

I'm not sure I'd be so quick to write-off all their products, but their customer service is most definitely appalling.

http://consumerist.com/5093188/apple...evidence-shows
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post #5 of 123
10/26/09 at 12:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 83glt View Post
Why did you buy one then?

P.S. - Sorry to hear of your troubles.

I didn't do my due diligence.

That was my mistake.

Due diligence is a great idea in picking computers, investments, wives, cars, etc.

I had previous good experiences with Dell and just bought the XPS M1330, which was F..cking expensive.

And it's truly sad. Back in the 1980s I knew the Compaq start up guys ( they were Rice U. guys ) and I once met Michael Dell at a fundraiser.

I wonder if they know or care that their once great, innovative companies are turning to shit. I think they know but I wonder if they care?

PS: I'm still on the line with India as we speak.
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post #6 of 123
10/26/09 at 12:02pm
Exactly the reason I've stayed away from Dell...OTH, I don't know any computer maker with a half-decent customer service
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post #7 of 123
10/26/09 at 12:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JustinW View Post
I'm not sure I'd be so quick to write-off all their products, but their customer service is most definitely appalling.

http://consumerist.com/5093188/apple...evidence-shows

I may have just been unlucky, but the last two computers I've bought from them have been sub-par in terms of quality. One was a desktop and one was an XPS laptop, and both lacked in construction, the laptop in particular. The desktop had to be repaired twice within six months of ownership, and the LCD monitor died after less than two years. The laptop had too many problems to list - everything from loose screen hinges to non-functional keys.

I agree that customer service is their primary problem, but my experiences with the products themselves have been almost uniformly disappointing.
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post #8 of 123
10/26/09 at 12:34pm
I bought the XPS 1330 a couple of years ago and got the 3 year warranty with it. Good thing I did. Same problems as you. A tech actually had to come out and replace the motherboard. Then the keyboard stopped working properly so a tech had to come out and replace the keyboard. Fun times all around.
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post #9 of 123
10/26/09 at 12:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikej77 View Post
I bought the XPS 1330 a couple of years ago and got the 3 year warranty with it. Good thing I did. Same problems as you. A tech actually had to come out and replace the motherboard. Then the keyboard stopped working properly so a tech had to come out and replace the keyboard. Fun times all around.

I'm still on with India.

I didn't make this up!


Dell Sucks!
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post #10 of 123
10/26/09 at 12:57pm
Support is bad from all these PC makers. I had an HP laptop that had a dead cooling fan. I called them, and they made me update the bios and do all sorts of ridiculous things before they would agree to fix it. And I made the guy promise not to mess with the hard drive, I put a note in with it, "DO NOT REIMAGE THE HARD DRIVE," put a sticky note on the screen to the same effect.

And sure enough they wiped the drive anyway. Good thing I backed it up.

Fortunately I never had any problems with my Dell, but I'm sure the result would have been the same.
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post #11 of 123
10/26/09 at 12:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rnoldh View Post
I'm still on with India.

Heheh.

It always struck me as rather amusing that Dell is based in Austin but outsources support to India, while Apple moved most of it's email, chat and telephone support into Austin about 5 years ago.
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post #12 of 123
10/26/09 at 12:59pm
+1 on Dell sucks.

I've spent around $30,000 on their products - and will not spend another penny to buy a Dell computer of any type. Wayyyy too many hours on customer service hold. I even ended up in their "gold" customer service group ('cause I spent $$$ obviously) and actually spoke with people who spoke english as their first language. They provided MUCH better service than their shitty regular level of "service" (i.e., abuse of customer's time) - but still couldn't fix the hardware problems.

My desktop from them never has worked 100%. Multiple units have died due to drives going bad. No reason for such poor product... then killer bad customer service (unless you get to their gold/business level - then it's ok)

stay far away from these guys
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post #13 of 123
10/26/09 at 1:04pm
For personal PCs, I was a Dell fan from the late 90s into the mid-naughts. But totally agree they are not what they once were, and had a run in with extremely shitty customer service this summer, buying a camera. They made a $200 Amex gift card disappear, and told me for weeks it was gone for good. I filed a complaint with the BBB and after another 3-4 weeks, it was resolved. The final resolution was when the Dell "specialist" assigned to my complaint, conference called in an Amex person. The Dell person was sure the Amex person was going to agree with her, that the card was essentially vaporized, but the Amex guy told her Dell was at fault and needed to make this good.

Use the BBB Rnold.
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post #14 of 123
10/26/09 at 1:06pm
I remember having stellar service with Dell around 1998. I can't believe where it's gone from there.
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post #15 of 123
10/26/09 at 1:08pm
rnoldh - my experience with Dell service has been pretty bad. But calling is the worse method of all to get things done there. The technical support chat is way way faster - ususall get picked up within 2 minutes, sometimes instantly. Never had someone on the phone before at least 20 minutes of hold. Second, on chat, the technician can post links and description that will make the overall process far more effective. I know it's not necessarily intuitive but my experience with Dell support is that Chat >>>>>>> phone
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