Dell depot service

I sent my XPS M1710 in for repair Nov 11 and they received it Nov 13. I was told it would take over a month, it was on back log. I called yesterday to get the status and got nowhere fast. I tried logging in to Dell chat using my service tag number, the response was "Our records indicate that your service tag belongs to a system that was purchased outside the United States." Can I get some advice on what to do? Thank you.

 

First and foremost, how did you purchase your system? If you purchased it secondhand or off of eBay, it might have been originally purchased outside the US. If so, the service tag will usually end in a letter instead of a number.

If it ends in a one, that usually means it was purchased in the US. It could be that the tag was mistyped.

Having a system that was purchased outside the US does not preclude your system from being serviced, just makes it more difficult.

 

It was bought new 3 years ago from Dell by me in VA. And the service tag ends with a 1. I'm beginning to think that they refurbished my laptop and sold it to someone out of the US. I can't get a straight answer from Dell. Thanks.

 

What was wrong with it?
What kind of warranty do you have?
I'm afraid you're going to have to devote some time to phoning up Dell until you get someone who will help you.

 

The video card went bad. I have a 3 year limited warranty and an extended 2 year warranty. Now when I check my System or Peripheral, it says contract expiration date - expired. I bought the laptop 12/31/06. I get nowhere when I call Dell and I'm waiting on someone to call me back and have filed a complaint with the BBB online.

 

You're not alone. Dell's service isn't what it used to be.
Hope the BBB can help you out. At least they'll get you the attention of one of the higher-ups in the company.

 

I was contacted by 2 people from Dell. Both are now saying the M1710 laptop is physically damaged and saying it isn't repairable. Which is a lie, it was in excellent condition except the video card. That also doesn't explain "Our records indicate that your service tag belongs to a system that was purchased outside the United States." They said they will be shipping a replacement. I will post when/if I get the replacement. I doubt it will be anything close to the system specs of my M1710.

 

I am so mad! Dell is going to replace my system with a refurbished system worth:
Sub-Total : $2537.29
Shipping : $.00
Tax : $.00
Order Total : $2537.31

My M1710 was:
Sub-Total : $3903.21
Tax : $195.17
Order Total : $4098.38

This is so unbelievable! I am NOT going to accept this!

 

What are the system specs on the new notebook and the old notebook?

 

This is the refurb:

1 F679C Base,Notebook,CPEN,T9500,M1730 $536.16
1 0293D Module,Cord,Power,120V,6 Ft $.00
1 0797C Customer Kit,Documentation, Airborne $1.99
1 C6439 Module,Techsheet,Recycle, Notebook/Desktop,System $.40
1 CU030 Module,Dvd+/-rw,8X,Ide (integrated Drive Electronics),M1730,HLDS $36.50
1 CW774 Service Install Module Software,Inspiron,M1730 $.00
1 CY416 Module,Software,Dell Media Direct,3.5,Operating System $4.97
1 CY419 Module,Software,Dell Media Direct,3.5,SIBERIA $5.86
1 DR146 Module,Software,VU32,Inspiron English,Dell Americas Organization,No Docs/diskettes $.31
1 DX476 Module,Label,Intel,Notebook Centrino Mobile Technology Santa Rosa Merom $.00
1 FK244 Module,Software,DT-ICLNR Dell Americas Organization $.00
1 FM172 Module,Hard Drive,200G,7.2K Free Fall Sensor,SE100,INS $103.00
1 FM173 Module,Hard Drive,200,7.,Free Fall Sensor,#2,SE100,INS $103.00
1 FT348 Module,Assembly,Base,M1730 $165.87
1 FY892 Module,Media,Digital Video Disk Drive,Resource Dvd XPS-M1730 $.55
1 GT655 Module,Liquid Crystal Display 17WU,W/CMRA,M1730,SHAR $261.41
1 HT748 Module,Software,Quick Fix Engineering,VU32,Inspiron $.00
1 JN197 Ship Group,Notebook,United States,M1730,DAO-MDS $5.24
1 JP927 Module,Software,DELL-WELCOME Transactional Line Of Business $.00
1 KU312 Module,Software,Works,8.5 Office,TRIAL, ENG $1.46
1 KX954 Module,Card,Graphics,IUPGA5C G92,Scalable Link Interface $800.00
1 MU177 Module,Information,RABIT D-SRS+,Extreme Performance System $.00
1 P350D Module,Software,Dell Media Direct,3.5,Kit,M1730 $1.06
1 PU575 Module,Remote Control Notebook,Mobile 2008 $1.75
1 PU870 Module,Software,VU32,Digital Video Disk Drive,England,DAO $.00
1 R110C Module,Software,Turbine,Lord Of The Rings,Extreme Performance System,DAO $.26
1 RR009 Module,Insert,Plastic,Blue Liquid Crystal Display,M1730 $7.60
1 TJ544 Module,Information,RAID 0 Inspiron $.00
1 UN078 Module,Software,Windows Vista Os,Hypertext Markup Language GUIDE,World Wide $.00
1 UW429 Module,Keyboard,101,United States,M1730,Dell Americas Organization $23.70
1 UY392 Module,Information,Liquid Crystal Display,Cover,WCMRA Corsica/Gilligan/Sapporo/Yebis $.00
1 WK011 Service Install Module,Intel Matrix Storage Manager,M1730 $.00
1 WP008 Module,Accessory,Binder,M1730 England/english,Dell Americas Organization $14.82
1 WW439 Module,Label,Microsoft,WindowsVista Os,Premium,Small $.02
1 WX695 Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,230W,Delta - Ac Adapt World Wide $34.00
1 XD717 Module,Dual In-line Memory Module,2GB,667MHZ,2X1GB,512 $376.80
1 XG487 Module,Battery,Primary,80WHR 9C,SANYO $50.05
1 XM387 Module,Software,Roxio,Creator Dell Edition,9.0,TransactionalLine of Business $.01
1 XM544 Module,Software,PC-RESTORE Transactional Line Of Business $.00
1 YY220 Module,Card,Network,4965 Inspiron,Most Of World 1 $.50

Sub-Total : $2537.29
Shipping : $.00
Tax : $.00
Order Total : $2537.31


This is what my M1710 had:

1 222-4633 XPS M1710, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7600 (2.33GHz/667MHz/4MB) $3563.68
1 320-4755 17 inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA with Black LCD Cover, for XPS M1710 $0.00
1 311-5892 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 677MHZ,2 DIMM, for XPS M1710 $0.00
1 320-5159 512MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX, for XPS M1710 $0.00
1 341-3346 100GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive for XPS M1710 $0.00
1 420-5591 Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005,English for Inspiron XPS $0.00
1 420-4928 Windows Media Player 10 $0.00
1 463-2282 Dell Owners Manual installed on your system,click on icon after system set-up to access $0.00
1 313-4210 Dell Resource CD with Application Backup,w/Tools for XPS M1710 $0.00
1 412-0911 Dell Support $0.00
1 420-5476 Dell Direct Download $0.00
1 420-5924 Icon Consolidation Application $0.00
1 420-5769 Internet Search and Portal $0.00
1 412-0689 Image Restore $0.00
1 430-1277 Integrated 10/100/1000 NetworkCard and Modem for Inspiron $0.00
1 412-0917 Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0, for Inspiron $0.00
1 313-4079 8X DVD+/-RW Drive, for XPS M1710 $0.00
1 420-5791 Roxio Creator Basic/MyDVD Basic $0.00
1 313-4218 SoundBlaster Advanced Audio for XPS M1710 $0.00
1 430-1931 Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps) for XPS M1710 $0.00
1 464-6328 I chose the promotional security package with service $0.00
1 312-0422 80 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, for XPS M1710 $0.00
1 412-0787 AOL for Broadband $0.00
1 412-0934 Earthlink $0.00
1 412-0935 NETZERO ISP $0.00
1 412-0938 AOL Offers $0.00
1 412-0861 MS Worksuite 2006 $0.00
1 950-3339 3 Year Limited Warranty $0.00
1 983-8457 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Extended Year(s) $0.00
1 960-5852 Type 15- Third Party At Home Service with Nights and Week ends, 24x7 Technical Support, 2 Year Extended $0.00
1 983-8449 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Initial Year $0.00
1 970-2200 Type 15- Third Party At Home Service with Nights and Week ends, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year $0.00
1 412-0359 Soft Contracts - Qualxserve $0.00
1 960-3652 Warranty Support,2 Year Extended $0.00
1 960-8710 Warranty Support,Initial Year $0.00
1 960-9188 CompleteCare Accidental DamageProtection, Inspiron, 3 Year $119
1 412-0358 Soft Contracts - Consumer Complete Care $0.00
1 466-1192 Trend Micro PC-cillin InternetSecurity, English, 3-Year Subscription $0.00
1 986-2659 Dell On Call, 30 Days, Getting Started Assistance, Unlimited Incidents{POS} $49
1 970-5927 XPS Specialized Support, DHS $0.00
1 310-7828 130 Watt Spare AC Adapter, forXPS M1710 $54.12
1 420-5792 Roxio Creator Dell Edition: Burn/Copy/Backup, Label (CD-RW/DVD+RW only) $26.60
1 465-2374 Thank you for choosing Dell $0.00
1 465-4663 Windows Vista Capable $0.00
1 310-8571 Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Home Premium, Free plus S and H payable at redemption $0.00
1 310-8590 Upon receipt of PC, Go to http://www.dellvistaupgrade.com to redeemVista upgrade by 03/31/2007 $0.00
1 412-0867 Premium digital Music, Photo and Game experience plus advanced photo editing $90.81
1 310-8314 Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor $0.00
Sub-Total : $3903.21
Tax : $195.17
Order Total : $4098.38

 

That's not a bad replacement, though I'd want more than 2GB RAM in a gaming computer with Vista.

 

I received the refurb, it is in horrible condition. There are scratches and fingerprints all over it! I didn't even bother to turn it on, there is NO way I am accepting this as a replacement.

I configured an M1730 and it was only $150.71 more than the refurb and am demanding that as a replacement. I sent a very stern email to the Executive Support Resolver, telling him, I will take this further than the BBB if needed.

 

It sounds more like a "scratch 'n dent" than a refurb.
Do you have a camera that you can take pictures of it with?

 

The only camera I have is on my cell phone. I'd have to see if my daughter could come over to take pictures. I still can't believe the condition it is in, unbelievable!

 

That is how DELL deals with systems that customer have no choice of returning. (System that is past total satisfaction guarantee period).

Did you actually get a reply when you E-mailed customer service?
I contacted DELL CS serveral times through their E-mail system, never heard back. Only received auto generated response saying they will reply in 48 hours.
Been a month, still nothing.

DELL might replace it with another one. (With high probably of getting a same junk like I did)

 

When I emailed customer service, only received the automated emails. I didn't get any real response till I filed the complaint with the BBB, I've also been updating the complaint with the BBB, with Dell's and my responses. I won't accept phone calls from Dell, only emails, so I have proof of whats been said etc. I am now requesting a new system. The person I have been in contact with, sees the request as reasonable and says she is working on it. She also said she will address the condition of the refurb with the Quality Control Department. We'll see what comes of this now. I'll post again with an update, if/when I get the new system.

 

Did you have the "At Home" Service Warranty?
Even if you didn't, if the computer is under warranty you should be able to get a computer that satisfies you.

 

Yes, I had the "at home" service. The tech tried to replace the video card but didn't solve the problem and suggested I send it in to depot service. I will never do that again! They still haven't answered my question as to what happened to my M1710. The new system M1730 that I configured, was shipped today and I should receive it tomorrow by 3:00 pm. I'm glad I contacted the BBB!

 

Wow, that's a pretty rough story and I'm glad to see that the Executive Support team at Dell are taking this seriously and are shipping you a brand-new system. While I don't have anything against refurbished systems, I do not think that they should be shipped out in an "as-is" condition with scratches and markings all over them (unfortunately, this also happens with some new units). Let us know how it goes, and good luck.