Actually Jake is right. I happen to know the person that developed the "assett tag" tracking system and integrated it into DELL's support system. He is part of a boutique system builder firm and the stories that guy could tell you about the flags and hooks built into the DELL support system phone & database are UN-REAL.
Support for business customers is better because DELL doesn't cut them these outrageous deals, they tell you they do, but there is a reason that the S.B. department at DELL rarely puts out a coupon, and if they do it is meager.
Even at INSTITUIONAL corporate level, the prices suck. I have a friend at MetLife and they have a HUGE account, and the prices he got were higher than if I went to the website and configured it myself, but of course, that INCLUDED the support that you couldn't strip off his order. Like Jake said, when you PAY for gold level support, they are there.
The person who started this thread though knows he can come to Tom's Hardware and I will pretty much support his DELL anyway so he isn't sweating it.
KN,
You are so right about that. I know that I can come here and definitely get accurate information and answers to problems that I cannot solve myself. Why would I pay for Dell support packages, and possibly not ever get the right answer, when I can come here and talk to the experts?
Besides, there are few parts on a laptop that cannot be replaced for nearly the same price or cheaper than it would cost for an upgraded support package. I'll take my chances.