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Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to tell you my experience with Dell and express my dissapointments with Dell tech support. (They lied to me three times)
I apologize if this letter offends anyone, but please read about my story.
I always loved DELL and I purchased my DELL XPS M1210 on Aug 28, 2006, the first day on which Core 2 duo (Merom) became available on DELL laptops.
It arrived 3 weeks later and I immediately found that its optical drive vibrates like a massage machine when it has a DVD in it. I contacted Dell tech support and Dell support said optical drives normally vibrate with low quality discs and the optical drive should be fine. (so they blamed my discs)
I also noticed that my laptop runs quite hot, especially when I play warcraft. I called Dell support again and the answer I got was that I had an powerful NVIDIA graphics card so it should run hot. (Ok, blame NVIDIA this time)
After several weeks (unfortunately after 21 days), my LCD started to flicker. I contacted DELL tech support again! Their answer was that it was an known issue with the NVIDIA graphics driver and they have no fix for it yet. What I can do is to disable the NVIDIA powermizer or wait patiently for NVIDIA to release a fix or driver update. (Ok, so it is again NVIDIA's problem and it is only a software/driver problem, if i did not understand them wrong. And disabling powermizer didn't work for me)
I patiently waited for over 3 month with my flickering LCD, vibrating optical drive, and hot(literally) machine, until last week--when my laptop lost its abiblity to produce any sound.
A Dell technician came this morning and found that the sound card got toasted so he replaced the motherboard(the sound card is part of the motherboard). WHAT HE NOTICED WAS: MY HEATSINK WAS MISINSTALLED and he said it would be surprising if my system does not run hot.
I also showed him how my optical drive vibrates with a pretty good DVD and he concluded that the noise was unacceptable my optical drive was also defective and filed a replacement request for me.
Moreover, after the motherboard is replaced, I found that my LCD no longer flickers,!!! I feelt like Dell tech support lied to me three times! They cheated me into believing that their defective product was actually normal! I got really upset. I paid for the warranty and what I get in return are just deceits from Dell tech support?
But it is not over, after my motherboard is replaced, my system becomes unstable. It freezes frequently (alt-ctrl+del doesn't even work and I have to use the power button to reboot). And only one of its two speakers is working; the other is just silent.
Could anyone just give me a laptop that is well tested? I'd refuse to talk to Dell tech support before I become less upset with them. That's why I am writing to you.
BTW, please find someone to fix/replace my computer, which freezes after the motherboard replacement. Please do not make me talk to Dell tech support every week.
My service tag is: XXXXXXX (I talked to Dell tech support so many times and I even remembered this service tag like I remembered my email password)
Sincerely yours,
A disappointed Dell customer
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Update 3
Read this chat log, you will see what Dell tech support is really like.
I hope Dell go out of business soon! I will never buy anything from DELL again.
I cried over the phone today while I was talking to a Dell tech support manager and he basically ignored my requests.
I swear to God, I will not pay Dell a single penny in the future!
23:15:01 System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
23:15:01 System Connected with NV XPS Joshua F.
23:15:07 You hello
23:15:10 NV XPS Joshua F. Thank you for contacting Dell XPS Hardware Warranty Chat Support for Business! My name is Joshua F. How may I help you?
23:15:28 You Can you pull up case ********
23:15:40 You Thanks
23:16:43 You are you still there?
23:16:51 NV XPS Joshua F. What is your current issue?
23:17:12 You I just noticed that one of my speakers is silent, can you add this into that case?
23:17:51 NV XPS Joshua F. Ofcourse I can. Anything else tonight?
23:18:17 You My issue:
1. after my motherboard is replaced, the system periodically freezes
2. I just noticed that the left speaker does not make sound
23:19:15 You I've reinstalled my graphics driver, did system restore, booted into different OS. What should I do next?
23:19:33 You This is my 9th time with Dell tech support
23:19:51 NV XPS Joshua F. You will need to run the extended diagnostics on the system.
23:20:08 You That was what I did in the very beginning
23:20:16 You right after the motherboard was replaced
23:20:41 NV XPS Joshua F. I would do that. It would be important after a replacement of that nature to be sure there are no other system failures that would be causing this.
23:21:21 NV XPS Joshua F. Pleas run the extended diagnostics and report back any failure codes or errors to us.
23:21:27 You I said I did the diagnostics already...
It is my 9th time here talking to dell tech support today, I already did all they told me to do ...
23:21:38 You My computer passed all tests !!!!
23:22:02 NV XPS Joshua F. Be sure to have a disk in the drive so it can do the read test with out an automatic failure.
23:22:16 You optical drive?
23:23:13 NV XPS Joshua F. Yes how many other drives can you have disks in? If you have multiple please have a disk in each.
23:23:30 You I just said it did not fail any test, and it is run from the DELL diagnostic CD ...
23:24:11 You Please just fix this laptop instead of asking me to go back and do something and come back a 10th time
23:24:35 You I am not a technician, Dell need to send someone here to fix the speaker first....
23:25:08 You Dell cannot expect me to troubleshoot everything and I already did all I could ...
23:25:43 NV XPS Joshua F. If the speaker does not work then it should have failed the diagnostics.
23:26:33 NV XPS Joshua F. Which test did you run?
23:26:49 You the one lasted for over an hour!!
23:27:45 You You know why my motherboard was replaced? coz the sound card was toasted.
but it passed all extended tests even with a toasted sound card! so i do not believe in it very much
23:28:37 You it'll be great if someone can come to fix this problem instead of asking me to do stuff and come back later all the time
23:30:22 You are you still there?
23:32:02 You are you still there?
23:32:55 NV XPS Joshua F. Would you please verify the person or company name that owns this system and the current address of the system?
23:33:07 You my name is *******
23:33:26 You can I have the same person who serviced my laptop today?
23:35:00 You can i call him tomorrow regarding this issue?
23:35:07 NV XPS Joshua F. I am not able to send anyone at this time. We will need to run the diagnostics again on the system. We need to test the system and again like mentioned earlier if your speaker didn't work then you should have had a failure in the diagnostics.
23:35:37 You Then send someone to run it, I already did it ....
23:35:45 You but only one of my two speakers works...
23:36:16 You did you add this into the case so that I won't need to explain this again tomorrow?
23:37:19 NV XPS Joshua F. Yes but you will need to have the diagnostics complete and the failure codes for us.
23:37:29 NV XPS Joshua F. Is there anything else that I can help you with today? (he is so impation with me)
23:37:44 You I said it didn't fail anything!!!
23:37:46 You please!!!
23:39:04 You I understand that it is late now, and people are tired. But this is my 9th time today talking to Dell tech support.
23:39:29 NV XPS Joshua F. I am sorry but you would even be prompted during speaker tests and such during testing. If the speaker or other device didn't respond during testing you could prompt a failure.
23:40:20 You it produced 8 different tones and asked me weather I heard those tones, since I have one speaker, of course I answered I did
23:42:20 NV XPS Joshua F. I am sorry please run the tests and we will be able to continue, we must have the errors if there are any failures prior to replacing parts. (I was asked to do it 3 times this afternoon)
23:42:50 NV XPS Joshua F. You will need to complete the diagnostics again to continue.
23:42:59 NV XPS Joshua F. Is there anything else that I can help you with today? (Very very impatient)
23:43:14 You Anyway, you do not even try to be helpful.(I apologize if this offends you) I understand it is late and everybody wants to take a rest.
I did 3 diagnostics this afternoon.
23:43:42 You I will call and complain tomorrow and I saved all chat logs
23:44:20 You Thanks for you help anyway. no one wants to work at mid night
23:45:09 NV XPS Joshua F. I am sorry you feel that way i only want to assist you. (Then he hung up on me ...)
23:45:19 NV XPS Joshua F. Thank You for choosing Dell XPS Hardware Warranty Chat Support *******. Have a Great Day!
23:45:19 System NV XPS Joshua F. has left this session!
23:45:19 System The session has ended!
Update 2
Just spent two hours on the phone (40 minutes of which was put on hold) with a Dell Tech Support Manager. And all he told me to do was to reinstall my OS and come back again...
He refused to do anything else. When I requested to talk to another manager, he said he was the only manager there after 9pm.
Moreover, I just found out that only one of my speakers works and the other one is actually dead.
(I burst into tears while talking to the manager, but still, my problem was not solved...)
Update 1 (A chat log with a Dell rep)
02/12/2007 06:10:44PM *****: "hello"
02/12/2007 06:11:29PM *****: "I am pretty mad at my m1210 and would like to talk to a supervisor if possible"
02/12/2007 06:11:46PM Agent (NV XPS *****): "OK, and what can I help you with today?" (He basically ignored my request)
02/12/2007 06:12:16PM *****: "my m1210 had lots of problems and a Dell tech replaced its motherboard this morning. But it froze 2 times in the paste five hours!"
02/12/2007 06:12:29PM *****: "and I had to press the power button to reboot"
02/12/2007 06:12:49PM Agent (NV XPS *****): "Have you run the hardware diagnostics on the computer?"
02/12/2007 06:13:01PM *****: "passed every test"
02/12/2007 06:13:20PM *****: "I ran Dell diagnostics right after the motherboard replacement" (Of course I did it coz the mobo got replaced. Well, my computer passed all tests with a toasted sound card so I do no trust it very much)
02/12/2007 06:13:30PM Agent (NV XPS ******): "OK, and did anything fail"
02/12/2007 06:13:49PM *****: "no, it passes all tests"
02/12/2007 06:14:10PM Agent (NV XPS ******): "OK, so how do we know that you do not have a software issue?" (lol, I am here to find answers, not questions >_<)
02/12/2007 06:15:05PM *****: "because my computer never does it before the motherboard replacement... and "so how do we know that you do not have a software issue?" if you can tell me how, I can do it"
(Then he asked me to do system restored... ... So that when I go back later, I'll end up with a different technician and it'll be none of his business?)
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and that, my friend, is exactly why i got rid of my m1210 (well with that whole T2300E/T2300 fiasco, the poor customer service (albeit the guys i spoke to were in China since i'm in HK... cocky and unhelpful), poor build quality (compared to my current laptop)) and got meself an asus g1
g'luck dood. hope u get ur issue sorted. -
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I've contacted XPS support a couple of times since I bought my laptop and wait times were always quite short. The only time I've ever had to wait for more than 10-15 min for any branch of Dell was once with Out of Warranty support (and that was less than 45 min). I imagine Vista is gumming up the works.
I HAVE had to demand a manager before and then tell them exactly what I expected. Don't *ask* for something; *tell* them what you want, and don't take no for an answer (assuming you're being reasonable here). I have had much better luck on the phone than with chat--it's harder to brush off someone on the phone.
My XPS m1210 and my letter to Dell
Discussion in 'Dell' started by Percybut, Feb 12, 2007.
