Dell Computer woes
- From: computernerd12345@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: 26 Apr 2007 22:51:20 -0700
I can't believe that Dell is still in business. Their "customer
support" is one of the worst I've seen. I have been in the computer
field for about twenty years now, and so have been asked _many_ times
to fix computers for friends/relatives/acquaintances. In addition,
I've been asked to build quite a few form scratch.
At my workplaces, I've been lucky enough to avoid Dell but for the
past few months I've been unfortunate enough to have to work on a
Dell.
Last October, an acquaintance offered me a couple of computers that he
didn't need as he just got a brand new super fast laptop. Since I get
so many requests to build or fix computers I figured I could at least
use the parts if not the entire computers. One of the computers I got
is a Dell Dimension 8100. It had only 256MB of memory but wasn't that
old so I figured I'd keep it in one piece.
In December, a friend who's family is on a really tight budget asked
me what it would take to get at least a "usable" computer for their
kids to do homework on. I wiped the hard drive on the Dell and
reinstalled XP and used an older verison of Office that I had lying
around. The computer was fairly slow with only 256MB but was at least
usable.
Shortly after I got a call saying it was making a lot of noise. When I
went over and opened it up I found that the fan on the video card was
locked up and the CPU fan was making a lot of noise.
At first I tried to order a replacement fan for the video card from
Dell. I called several 800 numbers on their website. I got put on hold
for long periods and I got transferred all over the place. The few
people I was able to talk to were in India and were hard to
understand. I never could make them understand that I just wanted to
see if it was possible to order a replacement fan for the video card.
Later, I tried the same procedure to order the CPU fan. At first, I
figured that it would be better to go to a local computer store and
buy a quality fan to replace the Dell crap. Well, wouldn't you know
it...Dell uses non-standard fans. The CPU fan is around 66mm rather
than the standard 60mm, 80mm or 120mm.
I called Dell and went through the same issues, but this time it was
worse. When I finally got to the correct department (and was talking
to some rude person here in the USA), I was asked if I got the OK from
tech support first. Also, I was asked for the service tag number. When
I gave her the service tag number, she wouldn't give me any further
information unless I was able to tell her who first bought the
computer. Luckily I knew the guy's name.
I explained that I needed to order a replacement CPU fan. She asked if
I had talked to tech support yet. I told her that I did not need to
talk to them again as I have been building computers for years and I
can tell when a fan is bad. She asked for the model number. I told her
I didn't have a model number it but that it was the only CPU fan in
the box. She said she thought it might be the power supply fan or some
other fan and that I should talk to tech support. I again told her
that I am not sure of the part number but that it was definitely the
CPU fan and I wanted to order a replacement. She then said "All I am
hearing from you is 'I am not sure' so I am going to transfer you to
tech support". I told her that I didn't want to talk to tech support
and I just wanted to order the fan. She said "Well, I _am_
transferring you to tech support." and at that point I heard the line
being transferred. I hung up in disgust.
When I had calmed down in a couple of days (March 14), I called Dell
again and when I finally got to the right department I told the person
I wanted to order a CPU fan. She asked for the service tag number and
again I had to provide the name of the original owner. She was more
helpful than the others I had talked with. In a few minutes she came
asked for the shipping address and my credit card info. She said "You
are in luck. This part is currently on sale." At first, I was happy
about this until she told me the sale price. She said that the current
price is $34.99 and it's normally $39.99. I can't believe it-- fourty
dollars for a stupid CPU fan. She then asked how fast I needed it and
I said I just wanted to go the cheapest method since the fan was so
ridiculously priced. The standard shipping with the slowest method for
a part that only weighs a few ounces is TWELVE DOLLARS! At this point
I had wasted so much time on the phone that I just wanted to be done
with it. I said to go ahead and ship it.
Well, after waiting ten days I still had not received the fan. Then,
yesterday I got a call on my cell phone from someone in India with the
usual hard-to-understand thick accent. He said he was calling from
Dell and wanted to confirm my shipping address. I gave him the
shipping address (naturally, I had to repeat it several times). I am
presently waiting for the fan.
Dell sucks! What kind of company:
* - Won't let you order parts for a computer unless you know who the
original owner was?
* - Uses non-standard sizes for standard parts, not due to product fit
requirements but jsut so they can make sure you have to go to them and
they can charge three times what the market rate is?
* - Takes two weeks to ship a replacement part order and can't even
keep track of the address?
I am thankful that for the most part I don't have to deal with Dell at
work. All our production servers are HP; only the security servers are
Dell. Since we are replacing the security systems I will do everything
in my power to convince the top management to push the Dell crap over
a cliff and go with a reputable company.
.
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