What Dell Doesn't Want You To Know

[dave-p]

well said + Rep

[Crimsoned]

I current got in my possession a M4600. Before that I had a M6500 and before that an E6500/E6400. But I too have owned or had in my possession Dell inspirons (XPS included).

This is what I found: Stay away from anything consumer. Buy only business. Dell home is included in this star away from list.
Want a good experience generally?: Run towards Dell Business.

The support in Dell Pro Support (precision/my E6500/E6400) has been by far the best support I have ever received. I mention the problem and the solution, 2-5 minutes later they dispatch a technician or sent me the part needed. No troubleshooting required, not hassling, not "please check the AC plug".
The first person I speak with is the last person I need to speak with. From ordering a replacement, having a tech come by, to sending parts, to issuing refunds. One person is all I need to talk with. I always joke about support centers: I don't want to speak with someone who has to ask for permission to breathe.

In a contrast of experience: I have dealt with every manufacturer for personal or business (on behalf of customers) with every laptop manufacturer minus Sager directly (Dealt with a retailer, was a pleasant enough experience).

Dell business has been the absolute best for me. Overnight on-site tech, to great support.
Even Apple didnt have this kind of support (their support is above average and for some problems can be quite pleasant but far from the best).

[Affenkatzen]

I know 4 people with dell laptops(pretty expensive and designed for gaming)in real life,all of them got failure with their laptops(problems gpu or mboard) in the first year but at the end Dell fixed problems quickly,same for me,Dell just replaced my gpu in 2 day after my contact with them,they even did not ask reason for replacement

[Turbot]

I came across this sad story written by a father of a sixteen year old who was very dismayed by Dell after many ridiculous problems emerged with his computer, and felt totally messed around by Dell,. The whole story sounded very familiar to me:

Is Customer Service Alien To Alienware?

Please note that, Dell, just arbitrarily locked the thread with no reason given. If the above link becomes inactive at some point in the future, then ask yourself why?

RE: BUSINESS vs HOME
It seems very unfair that Dell have different standards for business versus home users as seems to be a commonly expressed sentiment in this forum. And Dell either isn't learning from it's mistakes *or* Dell doesn't care enough about the things we are discussing here. Most home users don't have the wherewithal or resources to follow up with Dell, and face limited time and opportunity for service calls.

For example, some recent L521x owners are saying their computers also throttle. This is the same issue that afflicted my father very unfairly by Dell that *could only* be fixed by a different bios and a different power supply. How is most of the World supposed to figure this out? If people on these forums can figure out that their computers throttle, WHY HASN'T DELL TESTED COMPUTERS TO PERFORM PROPERLY, WITHOUT THROTTLING, BEFORE SHIPPING?

Bill, please answer my question re: why you didn't proactively contact all Dell Studio 1558 owners to resolve their throttling issues, and instead only resolve this issue for people who contacted Dell querying this? Where is the integrity in this approach? Where is the bulletin clearly posted on the Dell website regarding this issue (that requires a hardware fix)?

[Crimsoned]

The person on the thread you linked seemed rather... pushy and quite frankly abusive.
They demand a replacement with better specifications... for being sent a DOA system? They haven't even gone through repair and they expect compensation?
Sorry but it's one thing to ask for a brand new replacement (which is fair) and another to be greedy about it.

#2. It is not Dell's problem that the customer is not doing well Financially and had to save for many years. Why should Dell all the sudden become responsible for what your son can and can't afford with your limited budget or goals in mind.
This is quite frankly the problem, they don't have the money to go elsewhere. So in their desperation they're trying to get Dell to compensate them.

Anyways I've dealt with these types of customers. They dont even want to give you a try, they just want compensation immediately but when it comes to paying,they're cheap.

[Dell-Bill_B]

Bill, please answer my question re: why you didn't proactively contact all Dell Studio 1558 owners to resolve their throttling issues, and instead only resolve this issue for people who contacted Dell querying this? Where is the integrity in this approach? Where is the bulletin clearly posted on the Dell website regarding this issue (that requires a hardware fix)?

The thread looks to have been locked because the OP was not on topic. He was offered a solution that was a policy exception, and he refused. Then he chose to ignore the fact that reps were trying to reach him and continued to post about how he was getting no resolution and turned the thread into a "What's wrong with Dell?" rant, which was OT. Thread was closed because it was going OT. Pretty common practice, and no, it won't be deleted, despite your accusatory speculation to the contrary.

No proactive notification was given because not all users were affected. If a user reports the problem on the 1558, he gets a solution in the form of a BIOS update and a higher rated AC adapter, if memory serves.

The front line reps you are asking your questions of are not the proper target. You are asking VP level and higher questions of people who work hard for an hourly wage and focus on helping individuals*. If all you want to do is increase awareness of your claims, it's unnecessary to hassle front line reps who are just trying to do their jobs. You can just rant away without asking the guy who pumps the gas why it's not got a higher octane rating or why it has 10% ethanol and still accomplish your apparent goal of bringing to light your concerns.

*In fact, when you take this approach, you are taking time away from people who are trying to help people. Kind of makes altruism not one of your traits, wouldn't you say?

[computerpens]

I have been a Dell customer as well as a Dell reseller for a while, and I have had my share of both good and bad experiences. After reading all of the posts here, I thought I would add my 5 cents worth. I have bought probably 300 systems over the past couple of years for my business and clients, and of those, I have had issues with maybe 10 of them during their warranty periods (most common is drive failure).

There is a reason that there is a disparity in support between home and business, and it is both a economic and efficiency related. For the most part, those who call home support have little IT experience and thus it is pointless to staff the help center with high level tech support that most people wouldn't understand. This does make it quite frustrating though for those who have computer skills. My suggestion for those people is to have all the troubleshooting steps done and try to push through to advanced level support.

In my experience, business support is generally good, especially if you have taken the time to do some general troubleshooting before calling. Of course all computer companies have 'lemon' products, and issues with parts that are not up to par (no company is free of these issues, even Apple has it's large share of these kind of problems).

I have found that there are two good ways to get problems addressed that seem to be taking to long or are not resolved. One is reaching out to Dell through their social networking, ie @DellCares, the other is to use the 'Unresolved Issues' link at the bottom of the Dell.com pages (https://support.dell.com/support/top...=us&l=en&s=gen) - it is generally a good idea to already have an SR# before using either of these sources as there is not much Dell can do if you haven't reported a problem.

Compared to the other companies I have had tech support experiences with, Dell by far has the best overall support. I have yet to see another company that can routinely offer AND provide next business day service on their business products - almost every time I have had an issue, Dell has either drop shipped me a user replaceable part, or had a tech onsite the next day (sometimes two days depending on what time of day you make the inital call). Sure, there are some systems that have more problems that others, but all companies have problem systems.

The one area that I would like to see more improvement in customer service is in order support, especially the Outlet, which seems to have more issues that other departments that take a while to get resolved.

Although I have had some trying experiences, I will say that either @Dellcares, or using the Unresolved Issues link has gotten all my issues resolved in the end. I will stick with Dell because they seem to be trying and are certainly better in the business department than any other company I have dealt with. (try to get warranty on some Apple products - now THAT will have you pulling your hair out)

[Mourin @ Dell]

Computerpen,

Thanks for this great feedback. We continue to work to better our customer service and truly value your thoughts. I will forward your praise to the support team. Thanks again for being a Dell customer!

Mourin@Dell

I have been a Dell customer as well as a Dell reseller for a while, and I have had my share of both good and bad experiences. After reading all of the posts here, I thought I would add my 5 cents worth. I have bought probably 300 systems over the past couple of years for my business and clients, and of those, I have had issues with maybe 10 of them during their warranty periods (most common is drive failure).

There is a reason that there is a disparity in support between home and business, and it is both a economic and efficiency related. For the most part, those who call home support have little IT experience and thus it is pointless to staff the help center with high level tech support that most people wouldn't understand. This does make it quite frustrating though for those who have computer skills. My suggestion for those people is to have all the troubleshooting steps done and try to push through to advanced level support.

In my experience, business support is generally good, especially if you have taken the time to do some general troubleshooting before calling. Of course all computer companies have 'lemon' products, and issues with parts that are not up to par (no company is free of these issues, even Apple has it's large share of these kind of problems).

I have found that there are two good ways to get problems addressed that seem to be taking to long or are not resolved. One is reaching out to Dell through their social networking, ie @DellCares, the other is to use the 'Unresolved Issues' link at the bottom of the Dell.com pages (https://support.dell.com/support/top...=us&l=en&s=gen) - it is generally a good idea to already have an SR# before using either of these sources as there is not much Dell can do if you haven't reported a problem.

Compared to the other companies I have had tech support experiences with, Dell by far has the best overall support. I have yet to see another company that can routinely offer AND provide next business day service on their business products - almost every time I have had an issue, Dell has either drop shipped me a user replaceable part, or had a tech onsite the next day (sometimes two days depending on what time of day you make the inital call). Sure, there are some systems that have more problems that others, but all companies have problem systems.

The one area that I would like to see more improvement in customer service is in order support, especially the Outlet, which seems to have more issues that other departments that take a while to get resolved.

Although I have had some trying experiences, I will say that either @Dellcares, or using the Unresolved Issues link has gotten all my issues resolved in the end. I will stick with Dell because they seem to be trying and are certainly better in the business department than any other company I have dealt with. (try to get warranty on some Apple products - now THAT will have you pulling your hair out)

[yeuemmaimai]

I have bought 4 machines from Dell Business and 2 from the consumer side. Customer service on BOTH sides has been top notch. I have had 2 out of the 6 machines repaired by Dell during the warranty period. One was the fault of Nvidia (8400GS-M manufacturering defects) and the other one was the fault of Dell (Mainboard was bad).

For the Vostro 1400 (2007 vintage) i was sent a "coffin" and I received my same shell back exactly 7 days later completely repaired and now 4 plus years later the machine is still running like a champ

For the Studio 1558 (2010 vintage), it was dead within a week of ordering and when I contacted Dell and told them the issue, they had a tech out the very next day with a new mainboard and dvd drive. The issue was an intermittent hang during POST just before the DVD drive was checked. 2+ years since and no issues to speak of.

Vostro 1510 is still running to this day dispite being beat to death by it's user (dropped many times, cracked bezel, missing keys, filled to the rim with dirt and other crap)

Studio 1735 machine that my dad has is just now starting to have troubled, hopefully it is something simple to fix.

To the guys from Dell that regularly come and visit this forum and try to help people, God bless you, seriously, as you really got your hands full and I would like to say thanks for taking the time out of your day to help the rest of us when needed....

the biggest thing you can do before you contact Dell support is to keep a level head and treat the people you talk to with kindness and respect as it's not their fault you are having issues. Saying please and thank you goes a very long way...

[TheDweadPiwate]

I don't think Dell is unique in the sense described by the OP at all. A lot (most?) companies have bad service...but I've actually had better experiences with Dell's customer service than a lot of other companies. That's why I keep buying their computers...