What Dell Doesn't Want You To Know

[dejazz]

Well I owned somewhere about 30 dell laptops ranging back to the early days in Dell, and I only had 2-3 major repairs, and maybe 1-2 minor repairs done

That's including the Accidental coverages when laptops took a fall.

I only had one new dell arrive DOA, which was promptly taken care of.

Dell is one of the few if only vendor who will allow user to upgrade memory, drives etc and not void the warranty.

I have to laugh tho at some who think they are going to get the same level of support for a 400 dollar laptop as you would a $ 2000.00 laptop.

Having worked as a technician for over 30 years I know Electronics can and will fail, and most times do so within the first year of use.

Is Dell Perfect - no, but my History of support has been good, and having the Dell Reps hanging around these and other sites speaks volumes to me, So thanks Guys.

I have had 2 laptop, 1 consumer & 1 business, both support are excellent.

Thanks

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

[jcjensen]

My wife and I are both in academics, we use computers alot. We use all Dell. I've been a dell customer for a long time - I've found the products to be really quite good and as advertised. We've had a few technical issues & repairs needed over the years (nowhere near 25%) and I've received prompt and helpful support every time.

I just bought an XPS 13 Ultrabook which I'm very happy with. It hasn't needed any tech support (except for a minor thing I think I've fixed with a BIOS update) but there was a payment issue when I ordered it (due to my bank's very aggressive anti-fraud program) which Dell helped me sort out the same day with no delay in delivery. And by the way, I believe that customer service rep was in India - he was very bright, knowledgeable and helpful - in fact he was assigned to personally track my order through the process until the Ultrabook was delivered to my home - which he cheerfully did.

I was also impressed that not only did I receive a customer service survey, but the e-mail signature of my CSR had the e-mail address of his supervisor and an invitation to contact his supervisor regarding his performance. Which I definitely did because it was really quite excellent.

So I guess others may have had different experiences, but I've been quite happy with Dell & I don't plan on changing brands unless that changes in the future.

[Mourin @ Dell]

Thank you dejazz, dave-p and jcjensen for your positive feedback!

@Dave-P, it is very encouraging to hear that our presence makes a difference to you!

Mourin@Dell

[periboob]

My 3 weeks up tomorrow, I plan to keep my XPS17. No problems with the power adapter yet (knock wood). I still dont have my USB-3.0 external drive, so have not tested that. Hate the fact that there is no hard buttons for volume control, and it has been pretty tedious to get the touchpad working acceptably (Still no "Scroll item under pointer") But for most part this computer is pretty decent, and good price. Lots of power that I probably dont need.

Since Y2K, I have had a Vostro 1700, 2 Inspirons, an old LT that I cant remember, (+4 various non Dell lap tops, various versions of Windows and Linux) before that several desktops. All still running, Win7, WinXP, Win2K, and WinNT. I had one Dell laptop that needed a keyboard replacement, Dell sent it, I put it in; one that needed a display, I sent it in, they fixed it. Both still running. (Just checked, my first laptop was an Inspiron 7500, so that makes 3)

I noticed this thread while scanning to see if there were problems I need to prepare for, and was very interested in several notes that users were going to change to Mac!!! I suspect that these folks have never used a Mac. I have, and I think they are wonderful... for people who treat their computer like driving a car, if their car is a Caddy. If you want to turn the key, put in gear, press pedal, add gas as necessary that is fine. I want my vehicle to be able to carry cargo, pull a trailer, shift into 4WD, and do what I want done. I want my computer to be MY computer, not controlled by someone else. If you are just a USER, if you just want to press the buttons designed by corporate programmers, then Apple is a great product, but it does not give me the freedom to work the way I want.

Bottom line, I think all the manufacturers are getting a little lax, and service is a little sloppy, but after a 3 months casual study, I went with Dell... again.

[ejl1980]

Thank you dejazz, dave-p and jcjensen for your positive feedback!

@Dave-P, it is very encouraging to hear that our presence makes a difference to you!

Mourin@Dell

I just had a great experience talking to your chat service. CLKsmb_Angelo_188645 helped me with a laptop with a faulty fingerprint reader and a refurbished monitor that has a bad USB hub. Pleasant, helpful, and scheduled my replacement/technician in under 15 minutes, including the time I spent on the phone with someone else. As always, SMB Dell gets 5 stars for service.

[math_geek]

No. It does not make sense. The presence of Dell helping out here is evidence of poor service or quality? Did you do a count on complaint posts to determine there are more about Dell? Not saying there's not. Just trying to understand your methodology.

Why not ask why the other manufacturers are not here? Is it because no one is complaining on their boards? Is Dell only here because of the number of complaints? If that were true, we'd have left a long time ago based on no ROI. I've been here over 4 years. No plans to leave no matter if what I'm doing is changing those numbers or not.

Quick count:
154,626 Dell/Alienware threads.
36,916 HP threads.
I'd venture to guess if there are 4X more Dell conversations than HP conversations, by your assertion (basically paraphrasing) that "more complaints=Dell reps here is BS," then we should be able to count all the complaints and see 4X the complaints about Dell. I doubt you will see proportionately equal numbers, but it's your assertion, not mine. Of the HP complaints, what percentage receive an HP response, or does that matter since it would be social media, marketing BS hype anyway?

I had an old Dell Inspiron that lasted forever. I subsequently purchased an Acer (junk) and then Toshiba laptops... The Toshiba, despite online reviews, was the most unreliable laptop that I have ever owned!

I work as a geological consultant and at a university. I am seriously considering the purchase of a Dell Precision M4600. I want a perfect machine, is the support different for Premier buyers?

[dave-p]

yes the support is better for Premier Buyers, and on Buisness line computers

[Dell-Bill_B]

I had an old Dell Inspiron that lasted forever. I subsequently purchased an Acer (junk) and then Toshiba laptops... The Toshiba, despite online reviews, was the most unreliable laptop that I have ever owned!

I work as a geological consultant and at a university. I am seriously considering the purchase of a Dell Precision M4600. I want a perfect machine, is the support different for Premier buyers?

If you add on ProSupport to your M4600 purchase, I seriously doubt you'd ever have a complaint about service. Those guys are amazing. Their methodology is very old school Dell- support everything with best effort, even if it's not defined as supported by the hardware warranty.

[anuoldman]

I've been a computer hardware industry professional since 91, know the industry at all levels very well, and have owned / authorized the purchase of / recommended a large number of Dell machines since their beginnings.

I cannot remember ever having had a Dell machine problem that wasn't attributable to pilot error within the first 5-7 years (!) of ownership.

The OP may have gotten a rash of bad machines.... or maybe he's a Mac fanboy.... or maybe he's just mad he called in 2 years after purchase and they wouldn't exchange his unit for a brand new one..... who knows.... however, he is the only person I've ever heard seriously bash Dell.

[Bronsky]

however, he is the only person I've ever heard seriously bash Dell.

Nonsense! Now who's being a fanboy? You need to read more ... even this site's threads contain a normal amount of complaining about Dell service. It is ... errr ... normal.

I cannot remember ever having had a Dell machine problem that wasn't attributable to pilot error within the first 5-7 years (!) of ownership.

No offense, but I don't find this particularly credible. I am involved in our company's hardware purchases and defects in new equipment are normal. Dell is rather average in that regard.

That being said, I have to agree that Dell normally has decent service. Nowhere near what it was 10 years ago, but then, what is? Outsourcing customer service has, IMO, made the process frustrating and unreliable. But, in large part, you get what you pay for. I think the OP is correct about the superiority of Apple service, but you pay dearly for what you get. My wife swears by her Mac and I would never own one. She needs to have her hand held and expects instant service. She can get it at the Apple Store but at a minimum 2x the price I pay for comparable or more powerful computing.

You can't really compare Dell to apple. You can compare it to HP, Acer and Asus. It is probably the best of that lot, although HP enterprise service has a bit of an edge over Dell's enterprise service IMO - that is why my company stopped its Dell Only policy two years ago and expanded permissible notebooks to include other business class units (I have the only consumer notebook in the company ). But, we still have quite a few Vostros being used by staff and Latitudes by our professionals and the reliability is quite good. I am currently looking at a Dell for a new professional hire ATM. That alleged 25% defect rate is not accurate IMO and was pulled out of thin air.

As far as warranty service, try to purchase a next day onsite warranty from Acer. Even Lenovo and HP who offer them charge an arm and a leg for them. Dell's is the least expensive and at least as good as the others, making it the product/warranty option of choice for many companies because of price. Plus, Dell has the best outlet in the business with great warranty options.

If you think Dell has instituted policies intended to frustrate customers, try getting Asus to honor its warranties. My experience has been that Asus might as well write its warranties on toilet paper. We do not allow Asus anything in our company.

I also appreciate Dell's participation in these threads. Bill does a decent job and it is a step forward in service. We had a similar experience in the HP Slate 500 tablet thread with HP's department head checking in from time to time,and it made our life so much easier when addressing issues. But, given the medium, there is only so much he can do or say here.

I guess my bottom line is that I don't think the OP's concerns should be trivalized here. But, some of the comments about Dell generally are obviously the result of frustration and, possibly, expectations that are a bit unrealistic. For the rest of us, including Dell fans, cooler heads should prevail.