Dell Caught Pushing Unnecessary Warranties on Customers

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The third call was the clincher, though. When they phoned to ask about improving battery life, the representative taking the call gave "a hurried explanation about never letting the battery’s charge go below 40 or 50 percent." Then, he told them they had won a daily drawing to purchase a four-year extended warranty for $317. When Laptop Mag said they weren't interested, the rep became insistent, before getting agitated. He then started talking about eligibility for a software warranty.

So now you have to call tech support, wait on hold and then have your spam emails read aloud instead of getting support from the company you over-paid in the first place to buy the discounted junk you had to turn around and call about?

Sounds like a winner to me. Dell's quality of hardware and support went down the tubes about a decade ago.
 
[citation][nom]rubix_1011[/nom]Dell's quality of hardware and support went down the toilet drain about a decade ago.[/citation]

My thoughts and feelings exactly.
 
I have a Dell laptop that I currently use for work. It currently has a dead battery, and the laptop has a 3 year hardware warranty coverage. I called Dell for a replacement battery, they said that the battery isn't covered and that I would have to pay the 129.95 fee to get a replacement. I told them, the hell with that,

I will be getting rid of this laptop and going with another manufacture that has has better support. Never going to Dell to buy a computer.


 
Meh, it's what you'd expect from an OEM that converted to selling computers largely over the internet or phone to Wal-mart sales. When you are forced to strip your PC's down to the bare minimum in order to make margins, you cut the warranty back to the absolute legal minimum, and rely on poor suckers calling in for tech support to make your money back. Especially since it's a revenue source that doesn't require much in the way of expense.
 
[citation][nom]virtualhawk86[/nom]I have a Dell laptop that I currently use for work. It currently has a dead battery, and the laptop has a 3 year hardware warranty coverage. I called Dell for a replacement battery, they said that the battery isn't covered and that I would have to pay the 129.95 fee to get a replacement.[/citation]

LOL!
 
I run an IT company, and my experience with Dell Support is not as bad as all this warranty nonsense. I have had them dick me around juggling me on hold. Bouncing my phone call through every phone department they have. But when I get in touch of who I am supposed to be talking to they can get things done. It seems the trick is to tell the first deadbeat that answers that you are not going to waste your time with tier 1 support. They are a buffer and are useless order takers, and that they need to transfer you directly to tier 2 or 3.

-CB
 
"won a daily drawing to purchase a four-year extended warranty for $317"

Hey, can I pay that with a check from my Nigerian bank account? I am expecting a $15,000,000 deposit there any day now.

 
[citation][nom]virtualhawk86[/nom]I have a Dell laptop that I currently use for work. It currently has a dead battery, and the laptop has a 3 year hardware warranty coverage. I called Dell for a replacement battery, they said that the battery isn't covered and that I would have to pay the 129.95 fee to get a replacement. I told them, the hell with that, I will be getting rid of this laptop and going with another manufacture that has has better support. Never going to Dell to buy a computer.[/citation]
Batteries are never covered under warranty for any manufacturer (battery wear and tear has a lot to do with how you treat the battery so you may wan to look into that).

However, that price is insane! You can likely find a larger aftermarket battery for $50 or less.
 
Have not had any problems with their warranty coverage for workstation class machines purchased directly from Dell (it's been very good overall). I also have two consumer machines (laptops) that didn't need warranty support so I never had to deal with their consumer tech support (sounds like it's not so good).
 
Hmm Raj. I'm pretty sure Dell is rewarding these overseas support people very well for giving out warranties. Else I don't see a very good reason for them to be doing this.
 
Dell says these daily drawings aren't regular practice nor are they an encouraged tactic and that it would reinforce this with its teams, adding that the company's only priority is to resolve customers' issues.
Yeah, Right!
 
[citation][nom]raytseng[/nom]trust the internet?you underestimate the trolls:http://www.memeopoly.com/gag/534[/citation]

I recall years ago, someone suggested to me that I should delete the system registry to fix a problem. I asked him to try it on his computer to see if it won't harm my computer, knowing what would happen.

Let's just say, his computer broke.
 
This article is not fully correct. I called Dell last week for a broken hard drive. I spoke with the tech and his manager and neither of them pushed anything.
 
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