My new 1720 died already!

I got my 1720 on 9/10 and by 10/5 the hard drive died. It has taken me a week of phone calls, diagnostic tests & much irritation on my part to determine that my hard drive is shot! ONE MONTH OLD!!!! The phone calls were horrible, "outsourced" tech support did their best to keep me from getting a replacement hard drive. I knew from the initial diagnostics that the drive had to be replaced. The first genius I got told me that my hard drive could be fixed with a reinstallation of Windows. Now, I am not the most technically proficient person, but even I know that is not going to help.

The woman I talked to today topped them all though. After talking to numerous people & giving my phone #, name, email and address each time, she needed it again. It took us 10 MINUTES to get the email right!!! ARGGGHHH! After we spent over an hour on the phone, she finally says that I believe we need to replace your hard drive. Really! Then she says that it will take 2 or 3 days to get my new hard drive. I have the warranty that provides replacement parts next day. I explained this to her, she just didn't want to get it, kept repeating that it would be 2 to 3 days. Finally I gave up on that, hoping that it will be here Tuesday. Then she tells me to take it to a local computer shop & have them backup the hard drive for me since they will need me to return the other one. I (not so calmly) asked her how much Dell was going to give me to compensate me for that. She said that the warranty doesn't cover that. She finishes our wonderful conversation by asking me if I understand how to send back the old hard drive. At that I said yes & had to hang up! I am ready to scream & have already written a letter to Dell's headquarters. I am so frustrated & had to vent

 

The exact reason I'm boycotting Dell.

 

Why would they need your email address?
1- It should already be on their system if you bought online.
2- What happens if you didn't have an email address?

To think about:
If Dell actually trained well all their personnel, they would actually spend less in remunarations(they would need less personnel because the support team wouldn't be stuck for hours on a single costumer)

 

Same here. I received a 1720 from dell outlet October 3rd. I woke up this morning and it was dead. Spent about 15-20 minutes in Dell chat and the rep said the system board needs to be replaced. So, I'll be sending it back when box arrives. Hope it doesn't take too long.

 

@klondike

if i were you, i would also be pissed off after going through that process...

anyway, to explain the " next day" warranty as Dell explained it to me, if an onsite tech is going to replace any part on your computer, they need to send the part to the onsite tech first then after the onsite receives the part, the " next business day" will be the " next day" that the tech is going to replace the part. If they are going to send just the part, it normally takes a day or two (business days!) to get it.


anyway, call customer care to ask compensation with what happened to you. tech support cant give you compensation.

 

Crossing my fingers I don't have any problems like that because I don't have a very good temper

 

Dell tech support is like tech support or customer care at almost any company. They hire the cheapest they can find to handle the large number of calls from customers who don't understand anything about the system or the the product in question. As a result, the person you talk to knows probably about the same as or less than you and only reads a search engine's results to you to see what occurs...

If you know the problem and understand your computer enough to have diagnosed it yourself (as you said you knew the HD was dead) then you just feed them what they want to hear. They said "A reinstall of Windows will work" and you respond "Tried that"... I can't blame Dell because for the majority of users these things do fix the problem... And I've NEVER had a problem with Dell phone support sending a spare part. Sometimes they might take you through 5 minutes of crap, but generally they just go "ok" and order the part.

Also, I've never (ok well once... with my i1520 recently replaced HD) had Dell take more than next day to get a part to me. Typically they dispatch the order the same day (if done early enough) or the next business day (if done late) via DHL next day 3PM service... I haven't tried that onsite garbage, but I'm not sure I'll be impressed with it... I guess it will be nice to have my computer fixable in Canada without having to do a tag transfer though...

 

If it makes you feel any better, the 80 gb Maxtor hard drive in my five year old Dell is still working. It's amazing!

 

Exactly why I went for better warranty service.

My M90 has Gold support which consists of domestic personnel. Last time I called for a OS DVD, the CSR on chat line issued it out w/in 5 minutes of the chat, and I got it next moring. He was even asking if my M90 had any parts that needs to be replaced when only thing I asked was a OS DVD.

XPS support is also pretty okay to deal with. My M1330 had a CMO LCD w/ bad bleeding, and stuck pixels, and I told the CSR I wanted Toshiba replacement and I did get one. The field tech ended up messing up the system while replacing it, and got a brand new unit after.

 

Once you get the new drive, I wouldn't worry about returning the old one, they won't care, and you can tell them you put it in the mail anyway.

 

Dell's quality is crap *sigh*. Makes me regret getting a Vostro... But so far, problems haven't been too bad!

 

Your new hard drive is sent to you right?
Why are you so pissed off , since the lady on the phone told you that you MAY back up you HDD since you're not going to see it anymore.
However there're plenty people out there who doesnt understand what to do with their machines , so the technical support must follow the procedures.
I think dell has good support . I used to chat with them 2 times for some issues and everything went as smooth as baby's skin.

 

This is why I plan to get it when I get my Latitude, this event reaffirms my decision.

 

why should dell not outsource their CS when it

A) saves them money
B) still doesnt affect who buys their product?


its crummy, i agree, but until 1000's of people tell dell, "hey look, id like an english speaking rep, or ill give someone else my business", itll continue.

its a shame, they used to be very helpful, very fast too.

 

what? your kidding.

return the old drive, because if you dont use their tracking number, you damn well better be able to prove the old drive was delivered to dell. Else, youll be charged some outrageous price for the new HD

 

dell has some issues with thier computer... i have had bad experience with their E1705 so i just return the thing ... get refund buy new lap from other manufacturer

 

Uh... They generally don't care, actually.

This is a no bull**** story that happened to a friend:
He got two laptops delivered to him even though he only ordered one. He called up Dell to tell them that he got two (since he doesn't want to be charged for something he didn't buy, duh), and the Dell rep said they'll send him a return box. The box never came. And Dell never charged him for the second lappy.

Another story from a different friend:
He ordered a Belkin lappy bag (the ones that retail for around 50 bucks), and two came in the mail. This friend didn't bother calling Dell up and Dell still only charged him for one bag.

Weird, but true. I guess they don't keep track of their inventory very well .

 

Haha, you guys don't seem to be very good at the Dell support system.

From now on just tell the rep you want (yes take command) a replacement system sent NOW!! You don't want to fool around with repair techs or mailing in your system.

They will usually say ok, it will take me 5 minutes to get the dispatch... And they send you a new latop and you mail your old non-working one back.

Let them sell the broke one on the outlet site so some guy selling on ebay can buy it an resell it.

 

lol...

You people do need to learn how to be stern.. I haven't found a company, no matter what they do, phone, T.V services, computers.. w.e they all have ****ty uneducated, untrained, completely unaware people running the phones. Deal with it.

For the record, you don't need a fancy warranty for amazing services, I got the plain default warranty, return to depot, and I can throw this laptop around like a rag doll - call and ask for new parts and they'll be sent out immediately or after they run through their procedures (diagnostics).

Recently dropped my perfect i1520, while walking and using it. Landed on the open lid, and got kicked when falling. Cracked the LCD and scratched the crap out of the lid. Got on the phone, 15 minutes later i had a screen and lid coming. It arrived 3 days later, and got a even better screen then I previously had!

And OP, I hope you're aware they're a large company, they sell thousands of systems a day, and receive tech support calls out the ass, that's why they have PROCEDURES, and need to diagnose the drive. Next day shipping isn't cheap and either is sending working parts out for no reason, their just covering they're own ass - you'd do the damn same. How the hell do they know what the problem is with you're computer when they don't even know who the hell you are!

And by all means DO send that drive back. There will be dispatch papers and records of the drive being sent - THEY WILL want it. Send replacement parts out and receiving a screwed up order is totally 2 different things. No matter how many facts they share..completely different process on Dells part.

And hard drive fail..deal with it... They're precision mechanical devices, THEY WILL fail in the first 3 months if there are any defects. This is the hard drive manufactures fault..not Dell. No one and no how can you detect if a hard drive is or when it's gonna die, no more then you know when you're gonna fall over dead. If they don't fail within the first 3 months, they should be safe until the 3rd year, then the failure rate increases like mad. Don't believe me? Google did a huge write up on drive failure, look it up. If you back up you have nothing to fear, if you don't back up - you deserve what you get.

And if you got any content on that drive and want it back and the drive is indefinitely hardware wise dead - www.drivesavers.com - hope ur data is worth $1000 - $4000 to get back.

Bad temper or not, people need to get control and think before they start foaming at the mouth over the stupidest of things. Of course, the language barrier, that's something to get upset about and don't blame you one bit! But you have a mouth and such a bad temper ASK FOR SOMEONE ENGLISH.

People love to troll Dell just because they're mad..boo-hoo - world doesn't move to the beat of one drum people.

Truth is, dell would bend over backwards to please every customer. Any other company would give you the "Sorry you are not covered" bull **** or simply tell you to go to hell and laugh in your face. Try asking for a replacement computer from, alienware, apple.. or any other fancy manufacture you fools may think is sooo great.

Ditch this $%^&

 

My XBOX just failed but they handled it well so in the end I had no issues with Microsoft. Same thing here. Just follow their return procedures. Components can and will fail and you're just one of the unfortunate ones who it happened to. As long as they don't mess up the repair, it should all be good.

And complaining you didn't receive a replacement within 24 hours is NOT what I consider to be a fair complaint My 360 was gone like a month haha.

 

And complaining you didn't receive a replacement within 24 hours is NOT what I consider to be a fair complaint My 360 was gone like a month haha

I paid extra for that service. If I didn't pay extra for the overnight, I would not say a word.

And OP, I hope you're aware they're a large company, they sell thousands of systems a day, and receive tech support calls out the ass, that's why they have PROCEDURES, and need to diagnose the drive. Next day shipping isn't cheap and either is sending working parts out for no reason, their just covering they're own ass - you'd do the damn same. How the hell do they know what the problem is with you're computer when they don't even know who the hell you are!


The first guy diagnosed the hard drive as failed, but wanted me to install Windows again, sorry that is not acceptable for the additional $$ I paid for the warranty. Also, I have a warranty that provides for overnight delivery of parts. Again, if I didn't pay extra for that, I wouldn't have any right to complain, BUT I did.

 

Got the new HD today, not any happier than I was the other day. Open the box, it's a REFURBISHED hard drive!

 

they usually swap parts with refurbished ones after the 21 day return period

 

ummm, do they usually send refurbished computers as replcements? (im worried about my laptop in sig)

 

yes after the first 30 days you normally would receive a refurbished system

 

Someone earlier mentioned that he thought Dell's quality was crap. Have to disagree, though I don't think much of Dell's service. I've never had any real problems with Dell machines, but hate calling the company for any reason.

As far as quality is concerned, an hdd in a Mac I bought a couple of years ago blew before I had it a week. I was very angry, but from the time I left my house, got to the local Apple store and returned home with a brand new machine less than an hour had passed. My point is that parts in any computer can go bad, but the service received makes a huge difference in customer satisfaction. Oh, and my son now uses the laptop, a 15" PB, and has never had any other problems with it. The OP may well never experience any other problems with his new Dell.

 

OF course all the parts they send out as replacements are refurbished. What do you think they do with all those sent back machines for bad screens or w.e reason, just throw them out? No..they salvage the working parts..

Refurbished is computers/components returned for w.e reason with all the problems fixed.. Lol you people are amusing, you act as if you need everything served to you on a golden platter, brand new and spit shined by a midget..They don't make money selling computers and having them returned 30 days later to be thrown in the garbage...

Come'on people.. common sense..

 

No golden platter needed, just getting what I paid $2,000 for a month or so ago. With the "new" refurbished hard drive, my computer now won't run off the battery, it freezes up immediately and can't be used. I can't run anything more than one program without causing significant delays, even when it is running on the cord.

I contacted Dell, told them what was happening and pretty much got a "so what". I wrote a letter to their headquarters, telling them how unhappy I was with the whole process. A week to two weeks later I got an email from Customer Care offering me a new system exchange. I am getting a new machine Thursday, hopefully one that is better than what I have.

I have to give them credit for replacing it, although it took a nasty letter & many phone calls to get it. I want to love my Dell, but I also want them to understand that they need to deliver what they promise.

 

I personally wouldn't care if the HD was a refurb or not as long as it worked.

Hell the HD you had was brand new and crapped out.