Good Dell customer service experience yesterday re: laptop optical drive

Got an Inspiron 15z about a month ago and the optical drive tray I have noticed tends to get stuck on some sort of internal adhesive while opening, so instead of popping out when I press the eject button, it just barely moves out and I have to pry with my fingernail to get it to pop out normally.

Went on Dell support chat yesterday morning and within 13 minutes they agreed to send a replacement drive out to me.

Chat log:
01/16/2010 09:22:51AM Session Started with Agent (Rakhi_204010)
01/16/2010 09:22:55AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Welcome to Dell's Technical Support Chat! My name is Rakhi. How may I assist you today?"
01/16/2010 09:23:56AM Me: "Hi, my optical drive on my new Inspiron 15z is not seated quite properly in the housing and doesn't open/close properly"
01/16/2010 09:24:16AM Me: "When I press the eject button on the drive, it takes maybe 5 seconds to pop open...it does it very slowly"
01/16/2010 09:24:18AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "I understand your concern and I will personally attend to the issue. I assure you that I will do my best to provide you quality service."
01/16/2010 09:24:25AM Me: "Thanks"
01/16/2010 09:24:45AM Me: "It's almost as if there's some sort of adhesive inside that's slowing it down"
01/16/2010 09:25:11AM Me: "and when I pick up the laptop from the sides, the optical drive moves in a little bit"
01/16/2010 09:25:15AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "As per the records, you have an Inspiron 1570 with Windows 7 operating system on it. Am I correct?"
01/16/2010 09:25:21AM Me: "Yes"
01/16/2010 09:25:31AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Thank you."
01/16/2010 09:25:39AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "How long have you been facing this issue?"
01/16/2010 09:26:11AM Me: "Since I received it"
01/16/2010 09:26:28AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "All right."
01/16/2010 09:27:43AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "******, As I understand that you are not able to access the Optical drive , because of the fact that it ejects slowely. Am I correct?"
01/16/2010 09:28:49AM Me: "Well I can access it, but it opens slowly and seems to get caught on some sort of adhesive internally"
01/16/2010 09:29:05AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "All right."
01/16/2010 09:29:16AM Me: "And it consequentlydoes not sit sturdy in the housing"
01/16/2010 09:29:21AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Are you using the same system to chat with us?"
01/16/2010 09:29:28AM Me: "Yes"
01/16/2010 09:29:34AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Thank you."
01/16/2010 09:30:51AM Me: "And FYI I have a lot of experience doing repairs on Dell laptops so if you send a replacement optical drive I will be able to install it myself and return the old one"
01/16/2010 09:31:04AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "******, we will gave to reseat the optical drive for the system."
01/16/2010 09:31:58AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "I will provide you the link to reseat the optical drive."
01/16/2010 09:32:07AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1570/en/sm/optical.htm#wp1179928"
01/16/2010 09:32:32AM Me: "Actually it's not a problem with reseating"
01/16/2010 09:33:30AM Me: "There is exposed adhesive (I can see it) underneath where the black electrical tape lines the underside of the CD/DVD bay"
01/16/2010 09:34:34AM Me: "Part of the electrical tape is being pushed back by the external plastic part of the optical drive"
01/16/2010 09:35:10AM Me: "I tried setting the tape normally but the external part of the drive keeps exposing the adhesive again"
01/16/2010 09:35:22AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "All right, ****** we would be replacing the drive for your system."
01/16/2010 09:35:31AM Me: "ok"
01/16/2010 09:35:35AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "May I have the name of the person which was used while purchasing the system?"
01/16/2010 09:35:49AM Me: "****** ******"
01/16/2010 09:35:55AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Thank you."
01/16/2010 09:37:00AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "As you had mentioned that you would be able to replace the part on your own."
01/16/2010 09:37:05AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "You should receive the part within next 2 to 3 business days, depending upon the availability of the part in stock."
01/16/2010 09:37:06AM Me: "Yes"
01/16/2010 09:37:17AM Me: "Great"
01/16/2010 09:37:21AM Me: "Do you need my shipping address?"
01/16/2010 09:37:26AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "May I know the address on which the part is to be shipped?"
01/16/2010 09:37:34AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Yes, I do ******."
01/16/2010 09:37:38AM Me: "My Address"
01/16/2010 09:38:19AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Thank you."
01/16/2010 09:39:45AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "When you shall receive the replacement part, please put the old one back in the box in which you receive the replacement. You shall also receive a prepaid return waybill. Please call on the number that you receive along with it so that the old part could be collected from your place and could be shipped back to Dell."
01/16/2010 09:39:56AM Me: "Ok"
01/16/2010 09:40:16AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Could you please check and confirm if there are any missing keys on keyboard, screws, rubber bumpers or rubber feet missing from your system ? Also please ensure that there is no visible damage to the keyboard, touchpad and other plastic parts. Also, do you have all the CDs that were shipped along with the system?"
01/16/2010 09:41:18AM Me: "There are no missing keys, screws, etc. and I have all the CDs"
01/16/2010 09:42:00AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Great, ****** before we go ahead and send you the part, I would like to tell you that we need to update the BIOS and the Firmware for the system."
01/16/2010 09:42:18AM Me: "Ok"
01/16/2010 09:42:20AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "We will be replacing the part for sure, however we need to make sure that this issue does not appear again."
01/16/2010 09:42:27AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "We have software available on www.dell.com/dc1 that would allow me to assist you remotely. You will see everything I do as I do it and you may regain control by moving mouse at any time. If I have the permission, I can go ahead and guide you through the steps for downloading the same. Would you like to try it ?"
01/16/2010 09:42:53AM Me: "No thanks, I will go to support.dell.com and download the updates on my own"
01/16/2010 09:43:02AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Thank you."
01/16/2010 09:43:38AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&cs=2684&l=en&s=pub&ServiceTag=*******&SystemID=inspiron1570&os=WV64&osl=en&catid=&impid='
01/16/2010 09:43:47AM Me: 'Okk"
01/16/2010 09:44:08AM Me: "Could I please get an email confirmation for the replacement drive?"
01/16/2010 09:44:38AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Yes, you will receive it as soon as the parts are dispatched."
01/16/2010 09:44:49AM Me: "Ok thanks"
01/16/2010 09:45:04AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Is there anything else regarding your Dell system that you need help with ?"
01/16/2010 09:45:23AM Me: "That's it, thanks"
01/16/2010 09:45:25AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "http://tinyurl.com/*******"
01/16/2010 09:45:40AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "You can use this link for the downloads."
01/16/2010 09:45:40AM Me: "What is that?"
01/16/2010 09:45:43AM Me: "OK"
01/16/2010 09:45:45AM Me: "thanks"
01/16/2010 09:46:05AM Me: "Do you need anything else from me or can I exit the chat"
01/16/2010 09:46:08AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Are you satisfied with the level of service provided to you on this interaction?"
01/16/2010 09:46:15AM Me: "Yes"
01/16/2010 09:46:34AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "I will provide you the link for replacing the optical drive as well."
01/16/2010 09:46:45AM Me: "ok"
01/16/2010 09:46:56AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "http://tinyurl.com/*******"
01/16/2010 09:47:05AM Me: "thanks"
01/16/2010 09:47:08AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "This is the link that you can use for the replacement,"
01/16/2010 09:47:13AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "You are welcome."
01/16/2010 09:47:17AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "I would request you to please provide me an alternate phone number along with the extension number (if any) on which you can be contacted in case the chat gets disconnected."
01/16/2010 09:47:31AM Me: "***.***.****"
01/16/2010 09:47:35AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Thank you."
01/16/2010 09:47:39AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Thank you for contacting Dell Technical Support and allowing me the opportunity to assist you. Have a good day."
01/16/2010 09:47:47AM Me: "Bye"
01/16/2010 09:47:59AM Agent (Rakhi_204010): "Bye, ******."
01/16/2010 09:48:04AM Session Ended

 

That is great to hear. From my experience, they have been always good for replacing parts and letting users replace parts themselves versus waiting for a technician to come out.

 

I personally only had to use the chat to get a replacement keyboard for my Dell Latitude 2100, but it was pretty similar to this conversation. Told them two keys came off, asked for a new one that I could install on my own, and they sent one out and got it within 3 days of the chat (talked to them at night).

Good to hear your experience.