What action can I take over a VERY long repair period.

Hello

I had sent my Vostro 1500 in to Dell on June 10th 2008. They garunteed a 10-14 day period for repair. It has been 19 days and will be at least 21 days as today is saturday in Japan and it is also actually almost sunday (3 hours). I have called Six times to ask "whats up with my notebook" everytime getting the answer "its being fixed as we speak". One rep was naive enough to say "I can see them fixing it right now" although they stated it was sent to the "factory". I do not blame Dell but its workers at the moment as I have called in many times prior to this and at times have had good sales reps and most times bad.

I am looking for some sort of action I can take.

Thanks

 

Call and demand a replacement. Tell them you don't want to wait any longer.

That does suck. Maybe they are waiting on parts?

And I LOL'd when I read that the rep told you they saw them working on it right now. Haha.

 

I tried to demand a replacement with 2 seperate rep saying this is not fair... both said no dice

Not waiting on parts, they said they had all the parts ready when i was sending it in (6 different reps have confirmed) (new lid, lcd bezel, lcd screen, palmrest etc)

 

Called in again. They are saying another week is easily likly. This is crazy, what can I do?

 

Any updates? I'd be calling every hour asking for a replacement.

 

So far nothing. I will be calling within the next couple hours to see whats up. One issue is many of the sales reps are chinese living in japan who can just speak a bit of japanese... they are worse then american out sourcing... they are paid very low wages and are impolite. The only good sales reps I have gotton have been Japanese.. Its quite noticible which is which due to accents.

I have gone down the refund and replacement road many times with them and they keep saying "sorry no can do".

At this point I am hoping I get a "grainy" screen so that I can send it in. Then get another "grainy" screen... let it happen a few times and get a better notebook. Which currently I believe Dell america would have given me somthing, at least an apology for this long wait if not upgrade etc.

Thanks so far guys

 

Ask for a rep who can speak your language properly. That is bull****.

I don't know if that would happen in the US. They seem to be on the ball with replacements and repairs.

How many languages do you speak? English, Japanese, and French?

 

Yup, English, Japanese, French, and starting to pick up a tiny bit of German due to my girlfriend.

I have heard from others in Japan Dell support is terrible here although they have the best prices around by far. Computers are generally VERY over priced in Japan

 

Hrrm. That surprises me. I figured since Japan is pretty technologically advanced, they would have decent prices on electronics.

 

Nah.. everything else here is too high for the price.. For the price of an XPS 1530 From Dell (with 8600m GT) you could buy somthing with a celeron M from another brand.

 

I agree, outsourcing tech support is stupid and just angers the customer even more. That is far too long to take to repair a laptop, I would demand a replacement or a credit for the inconvenience.

 

UPDATE:

I called in again and got a chinese woman >.< anyways Dell says to wait till At earliest next week. Today is tuesday here in Japan.

They offered If I pay a fee of somthing over 600$ they might be able to get it to me "early" next week.

Currently I am on the road towards lawsuit. 4 weeks when they garauntee 10 to 14 days. I already have the ball rolling and going through family contacts ( many many many due to my grandfathers job) searching for a lawyer. They cannot advertise 10-14 days and garauntee it over the phone a dozen times and on paper and not follow through with it.

 

Did you read the fine print in the warranty? I never have, but could they get away with that by putting in some fine print about 10 - 14 days being an 'average' time or something?

 

Yes, but I am paying not warranty and I was told and read (including small print) 10-14 days, aswell as told on the phone by multiple reps saying 10-14 days. All Dell phone calls in Japan are recorded

I was also told today that they have not started work on the notebook.

 

Quit being such a jerk!

Just got word I got a fax from Dell, sent to a freinds house since I dont have a fax machine .. around 800$ american and I can have it next week for sure>.< thats about how much the notebook is worth.

 

Wow...that sucks. What was the first quote on it? How much would a similar spec'd system on Dell Japan cost?

 

I have contacted them saying I do not wish to pay the extra fee to garauntee the fix for next week and will wait for them to fix it according to the original quote. They have only charged me 63$ for the repair which I found quite fair. The system cost me 1080$ (regular 1680$ yes.. a 600$ discount). Currently here are no similar systems in Japan.

 

What was the original problem with the laptop? I read through the thread and didnt find it.

 

LCD had a cluster over over 25 stuck pixels, lid, lcd bezel, palmest were damaged as well as video card issues.

 

UPDATE :

I contacted a lawyer, who was nice enough to see if he can avoid the law suit and persuade Dell free of charge (connections through family).

He had me call in (him listning in) and they said well "youll be lucky to get it back next friday."

He had gone over their policies fine print etc. He called in and brought forward our lawsuit to Dell. Instantly they apologized and said that they will start work tonight and have it shipped out tommorow morning.

what do ya know it worked

 

Haha, so it is already been shipped back to you?

 

just shipped off. Its 8:07 am, arrives tommorow

 

Awesome. Glad they got it fixed.

Well, I hope they fixed it..

 

Actually just got home, (shopping w00t) and turns out they stopped by already at 10 am meaning less then 2 hours shipping XD

Now waiting for them to come again

 

Did they fix it or send a replacement?

 

They fixed it, but now the notebook has ended up lost by the delievery company >.< ... they promise tommorow at latest

 

At least it is out of Dell's hands

 

yup but I think this vostro is trying to avoid me.. first suicidle then runs away from delivery man...

 

Thread cleaned

Whats the status on this your notebook? How does it end up lost by the delivery company?

 

Thanks flip

Well now the delivery company claims no responsibility, since they claim not to have had the notebook in the first place. I actually believe them since I believe Dell has lied to me about the ship date due to the fact they have not/will not give me a tracking number...

Currently I am really frustrated about this and will never be buying from Dell in Japan again.

 

Update:Dell resent me the same piece of paper that they had me fax them 3 weeks ago. I do not know why the heck the have sent this to me again. I dont get why they would do that according to the paper like last time they said expect your notebook within a week buyt last time its 3 weeks and they send this again. They also have no support or customer service for 2 days >.< I am close to just letting my notebook go and ignoring them.

 

Although no one seems to be reading another update: Well calling Dell I was transfered between customer service, tech support and some unnamed other branch. For hours >.< They seem not to know what is going on and it suddenly appears to be 1-2 more weeks for some reason.

 

I assume you won't be buying a Dell ever again?

 

Wow, that is just ridiculous! How could DHL claim to never have the laptop if they attempted delivery?

 

I am already planning to sell the Vostro if it is worth it ... Dell Japan appears to be more then a failure...

 

Sagawa Takyubin (Sagawa Courier) here in Japan... they dont use DHL in Japan although they have DHL in Japan..

 

Update: 2 days ago I did not have time to call so I convinced my mother to call. After 10 hours!!!! on the phone she convinced them to ship the computer. I was supposed to receieve it yesturday but it did not come >.<. I am now hoping that I see thise notebook today.

 

So how long have they had it as of now?

 

Well I justs recieved the notebook... AUO screen .. even worse then the ones posted in the forums.. i cant read anything its dimmer then my last screen at minimum dimness... Calling up... sadly its even worse then the Dell Latitude V170 ( im guessing 7 years old (rental))

 

Ah man. They better make this right..

 

They are picking it up on saturday... this better not take another month.. this time they promised me 7-10 days. this is a terrible screen... it actually is painful to look at.

 

I wouldnt hold my breath if a large company promises you a certain time frame.

You better be real patient for this one, like you were before. They seem to have just put you back into the system.

 

yup I am thinking of building a desktop durring that time ....

 

You should always have a desktop at hand anyway. (for hardcore gaming and such)

Notebooks are way more temperamental than desktops.

 

Yup. I decided I want somthing more powerful, upgradable and stable.

Just trying to get started on making a parts list see if that gets me anywhere .. Im not decided on doing a build yet..

 

My desktop is a XP2000+ with 1.25GB of RAM. It is an antique.

 

I was gaming on a pretty old desktop till last year

Sony PCVRS20g

P4 3.0Ghz w/HT
1.5gb ram
ATI Raedon 9200 SE 129mb (actually a 64 mb card they just uped the memory for the "se")
350w power supply
160gb hd..

It still running back in canada ..

 

>.< no word from Dell that they even got the notebook..

 

If I were you, I would contact your lawyer friend. Given the incomprehensible way you were treated the first time, and they didn't even fix the problem properly, I think you are probably entitled to a full refund.

Push hard for it.

Ask the lawyer about consumer protection laws in Japan. I don't know what your country has.

 

Unfourtunatly I have already talked to him. He said we were quite lucky it almost worked the first time. Japanese consumer protection laws are very weak and lawsuits are almost impossible to win according to him. Most Japanese if they break a notebook or it craps out of them even the day they get it they would instantly go buy a new one rather then bother with warranty. Its just they way they do it, hence why the laws blow.

I was in the process of sueing the electronics store I slipped in due to a wet floor with no sign and caused damage to my notebook (broke 3/4 outer casing parts) unfourtunatly I was not able to continue due to it taking 3 years to sue it was a waste. I have them convinced to possibly pay.

My current worry is warranty. My warranty ends in September (somwhere around the 6th). Since I got an AUO screen I know I had quite a old refurb and I have a good shot at getting many more before I get a viewable panel. And at this rate it looks like warranty will be almost up by the time I get my notebook again.