Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)
When my Gateway laptop computer needed warranty repair, I got it back in less
time than they'd promised. When my Dell home system crashed, all I got was long
waits, broken promises, and buck passing.
December 29th, the computer crashes to a blue screen and I can't get out. I hit the
power button to turn the computer off to reboot. It won't come back on. No power
light, nothing. I open it up to see if there was anything obviously wrong, a loose
wire, etc. I clean it out thoroughly with compressed air. I try again. Dead. I start
to experience some mild panic. My wife, who writes for the newspaper, has a nearly
completed article in there, plus the invoices for the work she'd done in December.
Plus, I have the last three days of work on my novel in there and hadn't yet backed
it up.
I call Dell Tech support. I listen to the music and the suggestions on the phone
for about 45 minutes. Then as the phone finally rings on Dell's end—I get
disconnected. I cuss a little and call back. Another twenty minutes of the same
suggestions. Finally I get hold of a tech who while very nice, doesn't seem to
understand at first that pushing CTRL-ALT-DEL isn't going to do me any good because
the computer is dead. He walks me through a number of steps, which do nothing.
Finally, he hits the wall and turns me over to another very nice tech who walks me
through another set of steps before finally giving up and saying they'll need to do
a service call. He says the parts will be ordered and shipped airborne but because
of the New Year's Holiday, it'll be Monday before a tech can visit. He says we'll
get a call before noon. We're going to be out of town for the holiday anyway, so
this isn't too awful.
Monday morning comes and goes. No call. No visit. I call Dell. More waiting, more
music, more recorded suggestions. When I finally get a human on the line, I inquire
where my service call is. He informs me the parts were ordered and shipped. I tell
him I know that, because I'd checked the status by phone like tech #2 had told me I
could do. Now, I ask, where's my service call? A lot of hemming and hawing and
waiting while he checks the info. Finally, I'm told that the service call has been
ordered. No joke. Eventually I get a number for the dispatcher. I call and get
someplace called Banktech, obviously a subcontractor. They say they'll "leave a
message for the tech." Hours go by. No call. I call again. This time they connect me
directly with the tech who's not even in the state right then. Nice of them to let
me know. He says he doesn't have the paperwork but he knows he has calls in the area
on Tuesday and he'll call between 12 and 2 for directions.
My son has an eye doctor appointment on Tuesday so I come home for lunch (a 12
mile drive) so someone will be here to cover the phone. 12 o'clock comes, then 1:00,
then 2:00. No visit, no call. I call Banktech, who—guess what?-- has to leave a
message for the tech. I let them know this is not acceptable. They promise to have a
supervisor call my house. He never does. I can't face another session waiting on the
phone, so I get on Dell's website and get online tech support chat. I suggest that,
if the tech was delayed, common courtesy would dictate that he at least call and let
us know. Tech support, it seems, can neither confirm nor deny anything regarding
common courtesy. As for the service call, they tell me they can't do anything, it's
not their department. They tell me the "maximum they can do" is tell me to call
Banktech again or have a tech support manager call me in a couple of hours. No one
there offers to try to light a fire under Banktech. Apparently that too is more than
they can do for a customer.
Finally at 4:00 today, the tech shows up. He puts the parts in in about two seconds,
hits the button, it comes on, and he's gone so fast that, as my wife puts it, "I can
feel the breeze." Doesn't bother to test anything to see if it actually works.
Apparently to him the power light=success and everything else can just go hang. . He
also mentions that the guy who was supposed to come yesterday refused to come "all
the way" to my little town. Funny that no one thinks to mention these little
geographical restrictions. Or, as I say, bothers to call and let us know they're not
coming.
Oh and the tech support manager still hasn't called.
So finally the computer is supposedly fixed, but I had to be the one to make the
effort to hound Dell and its subcontractors to do it. If I hadn't done that, we'd
likely still be waiting and wondering when the phone would ring and arranging our
lives around the technicians. I know one thing for sure. I am never, ever, EVER
going to buy from Dell again. And I am going to recommend against anyone else ever
doing so.
I, however, keep MY promises. And I promised Dell I'd tell this story.
--
"The Devils' Right Hand" by J.D. Rhoades, AVAILABLE NOW from St. Martin's/Minotaur
Amazon.com page: http://tinyurl.com/5cn5b
When my Gateway laptop computer needed warranty repair, I got it back in less
time than they'd promised. When my Dell home system crashed, all I got was long
waits, broken promises, and buck passing.
December 29th, the computer crashes to a blue screen and I can't get out. I hit the
power button to turn the computer off to reboot. It won't come back on. No power
light, nothing. I open it up to see if there was anything obviously wrong, a loose
wire, etc. I clean it out thoroughly with compressed air. I try again. Dead. I start
to experience some mild panic. My wife, who writes for the newspaper, has a nearly
completed article in there, plus the invoices for the work she'd done in December.
Plus, I have the last three days of work on my novel in there and hadn't yet backed
it up.
I call Dell Tech support. I listen to the music and the suggestions on the phone
for about 45 minutes. Then as the phone finally rings on Dell's end—I get
disconnected. I cuss a little and call back. Another twenty minutes of the same
suggestions. Finally I get hold of a tech who while very nice, doesn't seem to
understand at first that pushing CTRL-ALT-DEL isn't going to do me any good because
the computer is dead. He walks me through a number of steps, which do nothing.
Finally, he hits the wall and turns me over to another very nice tech who walks me
through another set of steps before finally giving up and saying they'll need to do
a service call. He says the parts will be ordered and shipped airborne but because
of the New Year's Holiday, it'll be Monday before a tech can visit. He says we'll
get a call before noon. We're going to be out of town for the holiday anyway, so
this isn't too awful.
Monday morning comes and goes. No call. No visit. I call Dell. More waiting, more
music, more recorded suggestions. When I finally get a human on the line, I inquire
where my service call is. He informs me the parts were ordered and shipped. I tell
him I know that, because I'd checked the status by phone like tech #2 had told me I
could do. Now, I ask, where's my service call? A lot of hemming and hawing and
waiting while he checks the info. Finally, I'm told that the service call has been
ordered. No joke. Eventually I get a number for the dispatcher. I call and get
someplace called Banktech, obviously a subcontractor. They say they'll "leave a
message for the tech." Hours go by. No call. I call again. This time they connect me
directly with the tech who's not even in the state right then. Nice of them to let
me know. He says he doesn't have the paperwork but he knows he has calls in the area
on Tuesday and he'll call between 12 and 2 for directions.
My son has an eye doctor appointment on Tuesday so I come home for lunch (a 12
mile drive) so someone will be here to cover the phone. 12 o'clock comes, then 1:00,
then 2:00. No visit, no call. I call Banktech, who—guess what?-- has to leave a
message for the tech. I let them know this is not acceptable. They promise to have a
supervisor call my house. He never does. I can't face another session waiting on the
phone, so I get on Dell's website and get online tech support chat. I suggest that,
if the tech was delayed, common courtesy would dictate that he at least call and let
us know. Tech support, it seems, can neither confirm nor deny anything regarding
common courtesy. As for the service call, they tell me they can't do anything, it's
not their department. They tell me the "maximum they can do" is tell me to call
Banktech again or have a tech support manager call me in a couple of hours. No one
there offers to try to light a fire under Banktech. Apparently that too is more than
they can do for a customer.
Finally at 4:00 today, the tech shows up. He puts the parts in in about two seconds,
hits the button, it comes on, and he's gone so fast that, as my wife puts it, "I can
feel the breeze." Doesn't bother to test anything to see if it actually works.
Apparently to him the power light=success and everything else can just go hang. . He
also mentions that the guy who was supposed to come yesterday refused to come "all
the way" to my little town. Funny that no one thinks to mention these little
geographical restrictions. Or, as I say, bothers to call and let us know they're not
coming.
Oh and the tech support manager still hasn't called.
So finally the computer is supposedly fixed, but I had to be the one to make the
effort to hound Dell and its subcontractors to do it. If I hadn't done that, we'd
likely still be waiting and wondering when the phone would ring and arranging our
lives around the technicians. I know one thing for sure. I am never, ever, EVER
going to buy from Dell again. And I am going to recommend against anyone else ever
doing so.
I, however, keep MY promises. And I promised Dell I'd tell this story.
--
"The Devils' Right Hand" by J.D. Rhoades, AVAILABLE NOW from St. Martin's/Minotaur
Amazon.com page: http://tinyurl.com/5cn5b
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