What to expect from techinicians?

Hi guys,

I am a total noob when it comes to computers. recently i have been experiencing stuttering problems with my M17x R1. i rang dell up and they said they would send a technician over. Can anyone share with me their experiences with technicians and what should i do when he is doing the repairs.
Thank you very much!

 

Ask the guy how many M17x's he opened in his life. If none or very few - beware!
Now, you can let the tech do his worst (first, backup the data on external devices!) and then if he breaks it and requests replacement parts - let him do it. He will probably break something again and you'll have all what you need to justify the replacement.
Note: I'm not encouraging anyone to abuse the warranty, but the 3rd party outsourcing services employed by Dell are a total FAIL. And if the customers receive a broken system at the end of the service - IMHO, they deserve a replacement!

If you get an experienced tech and he fixes the problem - that's perfect.

I'd encourage you to do the job yourself, letting the tech observe or dismissing him altogether, but since you have a very little experience, - might not be a good idea.

Anyway, good luck and remember - you can't lose.
You either get a fixed system or a brand new one
Stay calm but vigilant!

 

Well, the tech I had was pretty good. He was flexible with his hours - came out the day after the Fourth of July - and he was there just a little early. Came in, opened up my computer, everything was informal professional. He was doing his job and all, yet we were talking, having a good ol' time. He opened the machine up, found a flawed part, and immediately ceased work on the machine. He told me if he continued, the laptop would have broken worse.

He has volunteered to swap my harddrive to the new machine I have coming in should I need it - I'll be all set with that, yet I appreciate the offer from him. All in all, he seemed like an AMAZING guy.

 

did you ask him out? lol sorry, just kidding. but thats good to hear becasue i have to call them out soon. not so worried now. did they give you a "between 10 and 6 type thing or was it more accurate? and do they carry parts with them?

 

One Dell technician I had ended up with about 8 leftover screws and didn't bother screwing in the DVD drive bracket. I don't think I would want him working on my M17x :/

 

well the only experience I had was a young guy that quite possibly had never even cracked a laptop before except to install RAM or a HDD swap.

I actually had to park him in a chair and explain to him why it is BAD to use a 1.5mm flathead jewlers screwdriver to remove a #0 phillips screw ...... long story there. but ya I did the repair myself as I do have 20 years experience and taught the kid a thing or 2 in the process.

pretty much my sentiments exactly

yup the where did these come from bit.... almost as fun as the why arent there MORE screws cause they missed some during the custom assembly

 

Hi guys,
Thx for sharing. One more question, approximatelly how long does it take for the technician to do the repairs?
Plus I am really afraid he will break something. Another thing, isit possible for him to convert my hard disk to an external hard disk should he screw up?

 

Repairs could take a few hours depending on the skill level and the difficulty of the job.

Regarding backups you have a couple of options,-

1)Backup the data only (personal files) - you can just copy those to a USB stick or/and burn DVDs. If you have an external HDD enclosure then you know what to do. If your system has 2 HDDs copy your important data to the second drive and remove it prior the repairs.

2)Make an image of the entire partition/drive,-
in that case you can restore not only your data but the whole HDD to the current state. This requires a second HDD of sufficient size.
There are plenty of tools available for the task but personally, I vote for Acronis True Image (IIRC, you can download a free trial version, that can be used for 15days).

But in this particular case, if you don't let the tech install and remove programs, - the only risk is if he physically mishandles the disk in the process of opening the system (hits it, drops, etc..). The worst I've seen so far is that one guy couldn't remove the HDD and pulling the plastic "tongue" tore it away, lol. That was funny.

 

Thx a lot,
Hopefully I get an experienced tech. Seems like I can only back up my important data since I do not have an external hdd. So what should I do if the repairs fixes nothing? Call dell up for a replacement? If so can anyone share with me how they will replace my system. Is it according to my current specs or the price I bought it for?
Thx again

 

If you got seagate drives which many have check links for free Acronis

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/07/28/get-acronis-true-image-for-free/

One of the best hdd utilities is free - The Inquirer

DiscWizard | Seagate

 

Just looked at the m17x teardown vid from youtube. looks amazingly tedious. hopefully the tech does it right! (fingers crossed). anyone has anything to share on mmy previous question about the replacement? i thank you all for your input.

 

I think that the difference between Tech's is exactly the same as the difference with people in general.

Some are decent and give it their best and hopefully have the experience to make good choices and some are downright scary and there are some everywhere in between.

I always tell the customer that "It costs more if they help" and I am not really kidding.

I have an old friend who says,"Time takes Time",
Experience is the best teacher,accept no substitutes.

I have been a Tech for over 30 years.
Unfortunately I can rarely have all the parts I need with me the first trip,there are just too many options.

Also if you are not already backing-up, the quality of the Tech. you get is not your biggest problem.

Ed

 

hi avservice
I do not get what you mean by accept no substitute.
Are you trying to say that i should not change a tech half way through?
And backing up has been a real problem, i need to find a BIG hard disk, so for now i will just back up the files i need.

thank you for your input.

 

I am not too sure what your options are really but I think you can have a short conversation with a Tech before he dives in and determine for yourself if he/she seems competent.
Call it a gut feeling, I can tell quickly if I have someone I feel comfortable with or not.

I don't think it is out of line if needed to put the repair on hold until you feel a more qualified Tech will be doing it.
It seems like too many people in the field these days are not ready to be on their own and I imagine most supervisors will accept this if suggested politely.

I would not let an obvious idiot touch my sophisticated device if I felt he was not experienced and equipped to.

Conversely I often walk into a job I have not done before but I give it a lot of thought before digging in so I have a plan before starting.
Laying out a job is as important as doing it,maybe more.

Luckily it is fairly easy these days to find take-apart guides for most computers.

I am eager to not reinvent the wheel.

Ed

 

The guy who came to fix my m17x, was in his 50s,

I asked about his career, and he had a long hsitory of working on IBM, Compaq, HP, and Dells.

Watching how he carefully laid the screws out, told me he knew what he was doing.

but I still sat there and watched. lol

 

I had an engineer to come and replace my M15x screen took him from 6pm till 9pm to replace it ... i asked him if he has ever seen an M15x or opened one.. his answer nope first time.... i had to give him the vids that where on youtube to help him open and pull the machine apart after he left the day after i noticed that the touch section was not on properly and he had scrached the sides on the laptop screen .. you know the black edges grrrrr cant be bothered to report it to dell but i may do as we dont pay for

 

backing up your hard drive is a must before anyone (including yourself) trys to repair your machine

 

when I had the motherboard from my XPS replaced, the tech guy handled the laptop with exreme care, and wroked flawlessly... I was staring over his shoulder the whole time, and he didn't mess up once...

 

hi guys,
If every tech was like avservice it would be awesome. seems like i would get the m17x teardown video ready before he comes and have a short conversation just to check his competency. thank you for your input. still waiting for the techinicians call...

 

tech called, coming down tomorrow night

 

Hi beef331994,
I hope that your repair experience goes well. The requirements for being a Dell DCSE has not changed, and I'm sure you will receive someone knowledgeable. Keep in mind that a survey usually follows the repair, and it is most commonly emailed. Don't forget to fill it out, as this is a determinining factor when it comes to Dell choosing which DSP (or Dell Service Provider) is used.

Thanks,
Gabe

 

hi gabez,
thx for the well wishes. may i know what is DCSE?

 

tech coming down in approx 30 min

 

good luck dude!

 

i had a tech come in today to replace my mobo. gpu fan failed and i hadn't noticed since i was wearing headphones while playing a game. ac power led was showing an overload due to a short.

he replaced almost everything, the gfx, ram, mobo, fans and heatsinks.

all the while we were talking about the history of pc's/consoles etc. seemed like a nice bloke and knew what he was doing. i must say was a very good service.

 

sounds great. i really need to call them up to fix my sound issue. wonder if i could add another hard drive while he's at it. any idea how much that would run me?

 

hi guys,
xeroxide, my rig had the same parts replaced, however no windows does not boot. i am at a loss now.

 

Since you began posting in the warranty/repair thread, please continue there. I left replied to your post and my reply can be found here.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...s-warranty-repair-issues-109.html#post6494700

closing this thread - continue in the other. thanks.