Repair - Gizmodo

posts about #repair more →
Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
The Weird and Wonderful Space Tools That Fixed Hubble
Off-Brand HDTVs May Not Be Such A Bargain After All
How To Repair Your Plasma TV With a Baseball Bat (NSFW)
The Mighty iPhone, Defeated by Pocket Lint
LHC Offline Until Spring of 2009
LHC Repair Update: Temperature Must Be Raised so Repairmen Don't Die
Apple MagSafe Replacements Are Now Free
Sanwa CD-RE1AT Puts Shine Back on Scuffed-Up CDs, Automagically
Shuttle to Repair ISS Toilet, Save the Day

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

Bokusatsu_Tenshi
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
I know there'll be lots of senseless bashing on the comments, so I'm just here to say that in Brazil, of all the brands I tested, Dell had the BEST costumer support ever.

With basic plans I got domiciliar repair 3 times during a couple of years for my Dell XPS 1330.

Some will argue that the laptop is crap, but all three times the problem was on the faulty nVidia 8400M chipset that overheated and burned. Other than that it's also the best laptop I ever dealt with.

Cases like these really makes a company look very bad, but it's no way representative to the majority of cases.

I also decided to get the laptop from them because I only heard of good cases in Brazil regarding their costumer support.

No questions asked, they make some simple tests, and in my case made a full motherboard replacement and one LCD screen.

And opposite to most other brands, the people who work for the tech support actually knew a lot about their products. So if I made questions about battery life, optional bluetooth chip and stuff like that they actually knew the answer... #laptops
Reply

Bokusatsu_Tenshi was starred Bokusatsu_Tenshi was unstarred

MessYoSelf!
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
At least now you will probably have the lightest laptop around. So you got that going for you. #laptops
Reply

omgwtflolbbqbye promoted this comment MessYoSelf! was starred MessYoSelf! was unstarred

OCEntertainment
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
Somewhere, a guy who sent in a hard drive to get repaired is very pleased to receive a whole new laptop. He is not furiously calling Dell Technical Support back. #laptops
Reply

OCEntertainment was starred OCEntertainment was unstarred

Shadowfury
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
This is a whole new level of faggotry from tech support. Congratulations, Dell, you fail it! #laptops
Reply

OMG! Ponies! promoted this comment Shadowfury was starred Shadowfury was unstarred

OMG! Ponies!
11/02/09

@Shadowfury: can we get a ban hammer here? #laptops
Reply

OMG! Ponies! was starred OMG! Ponies! was unstarred

Zordon
11/02/09

@Shadowfury: So much of this. #laptops
Reply

Duckspwn:Loves Approving Reds promoted this comment Zordon was starred Zordon was unstarred

toblathe
11/02/09

@OMG! Ponies!: Ban? You promoted it by replying... most people would have never even seen his useless comment. #laptops
Reply

OMG! Ponies! promoted this comment toblathe was starred toblathe was unstarred

OMG! Ponies!
11/02/09

@toblathe: Ummm, I'm fully aware of how to comment under the new system. And by promoting it, it makes it more visible to the Ban Hammer. #laptops
Reply

OMG! Ponies! was starred OMG! Ponies! was unstarred

yardameus
11/02/09

@OMG! Ponies!: At least a good ol' fashioned disemvoweling. #laptops
Reply

dingus promoted this comment yardameus was starred yardameus was unstarred

shorty63136
11/02/09

@OMG! Ponies!: Thirded. #laptops
Reply

shorty63136 was starred shorty63136 was unstarred

doofusgumby
11/02/09

@OMG! Ponies!: is replying in threads here like a /b/tard a bannable offense? #laptops
Reply

Duckspwn:Loves Approving Reds promoted this comment doofusgumby was starred doofusgumby was unstarred

Duckspwn
11/02/09

@Zordon: English is not a dead language. That means it constantly evolves. That word no longer means what it used to mean. #laptops
Reply

Duckspwn was starred Duckspwn was unstarred

Shadowfury
11/02/09

@OMG! Ponies!: Oh no! Someone used a meme! Ban him!

Pathetic. #laptops
Reply

Shadowfury was starred Shadowfury was unstarred

Slyd3z
11/02/09

@Duckspwn: Loves Approving Reds: That word... I don't think it means what you think it means. #laptops
Reply

Duckspwn:Loves Approving Reds promoted this comment Slyd3z was starred Slyd3z was unstarred

Duckspwn
11/02/09

@Slyd3z: Haha, exactly! Good call. #laptops
Reply

Duckspwn was starred Duckspwn was unstarred

Duckspwn
11/02/09

@doofusgumby: I would have to say... yep. I don't know, I don't have control of the banhammer, but seriously, talking like a /b/tard anywhere other then /b/ is just asking for trouble. #laptops
Reply

Duckspwn was starred Duckspwn was unstarred

PaddyDugan
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
Having read this story and the comments, there is nothing here to dissuade me from buying a Dell. A single one sided complaint about service followed by a number of unsubstantiated slams against a major company don't convince me of anything. Pick a company and you could make up this same kind of "story" about it. #laptops
Reply

Lite: hates Illinois Nazis promoted this comment PaddyDugan was starred PaddyDugan was unstarred

Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
11/02/09

@PaddyDugan: Actually, I've had far worse experience with HP than Dell when it comes to support. I wouldn't rate either top-notch, but I hold nothing against Dell Tech Support either.

However I to have done the Dell Two-Step when it comes to getting a laptop they manufactured repaired.

Inluding: New hard drives, keyboards, mice, motherboards, power supplies, and even whole laptops.

It used to be (early 2000's) that the mice would start drifting randomly up and to the right after a while. And, they never managed to fix it short of replacing the whole machine. #laptops
Reply

YardanCabaret
11/02/09

@PaddyDugan: I think it has more to do with them having been much better in the past. They really only suck now in comparison to how awesome they used to be in the "Dude! You're getting a Dell!" days.

(disclosure: I've never owned a Dell and the only ones I've used have been at work checking work e-mail so I've not had a good or bad experience with them. This entire comment is also conjecture and should not be taken as fact or even opinion as my mind might have changed after posting. That being said it is entirely accurate to the best of my knowledge up to the moment that I hit share) #laptops
Reply

Lite: hates Illinois Nazis promoted this comment YardanCabaret was starred YardanCabaret was unstarred

Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
Heh, I have an application that allows me to control multiple putty screens at once. Whatever it is using to navigate between screens to relay commands brings out very odd behavior in the Dell Laptop I'm using.

CD's eject. Screens dim. With the right command I'll put the entire damn laptop to sleep... #laptops
Reply

Zordon
11/02/09

@Lite: hates Illinois Nazis: What manner of socercy have you installed upon thine laptop!?!

also: love the second half of your name there. #laptops
Reply

Lite: hates Illinois Nazis promoted this comment Zordon was starred Zordon was unstarred

Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
11/02/09

@Zordon: Let us just say that a young priest and an old priest could not exorcise the demons contained within this laptop O' Evil. #laptops
Reply

dapoktan
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
This has been happening for 2 months now.. I've had 3 on site tech visits, 2 replacement laptops, and now I need to send out my laptop to a depot to get fixed - saying that this would be the surest way to finally get it fixed.. ridiculous.. and they dont even offer some sort of warranty extension or sorry-package to the customer who has been f*cked with for over 2 months now..

I had passing thoughts of switching to Macs after this.. altho i prolly wont.. there DEF wont be another Dell in my future.. #laptops
Reply

shorty63136 promoted this comment dapoktan was starred dapoktan was unstarred

shorty63136
11/02/09

@dapoktan: Go to consumerist.com and search Executive Email Carpet Bomb. It's a sternly (but intelligently) worded letter to higher ups in a company that should help you resolve your problems.

I've used them many times during different fiascos and when used properly, they work like a charm. #laptops
Reply

shorty63136 was starred shorty63136 was unstarred

SigmundTheSeaMonster
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
This is normal. Complete Care returns your drive incase you need data.
The laptop is likely shipping from another depot. Patience. Dell just changed all their support over to India.
Enjoy. #laptops
Reply

MrBangBam
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
This is like sending off your child to boarding school and getting sent back a skull.

The whole situation made me chuckle in class - Awesome. #laptops
Reply

MrBangBam was starred MrBangBam was unstarred

Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!!
11/02/09

@MrBangBam: I'm not so sure that this constitutes awesome, especially since it can happen to any one of us.

If anything, it should have us readying our molotov cocktails and pitchforks. #laptops
Reply

Patrick O'Neill
11/02/09

@Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!!: Not true, can only happen to people that choose to buy from Dell... #laptops
Reply

Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!! promoted this comment Patrick O'Neill was starred Patrick O'Neill was unstarred

HowieFelterbush
11/02/09

@Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!!: cant happen to me cuz i will never buy another dell, ever again.

at least we know why dell has "award winning" customer support... every dell customer gets executive customer support with each purchase.

anyways, if i were michael dell, i'd sell the brand for what little it's still worth and give the money back to the shareholders. #laptops
Reply

Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!! promoted this comment HowieFelterbush was starred HowieFelterbush was unstarred

rentahero1
11/02/09

@MrBangBam: Except a hard drive is still somewhat useful, whereas a skull is of dubious use to most people... #laptops
Reply

MrBangBam promoted this comment rentahero1 was starred rentahero1 was unstarred

Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!!
11/02/09

@Patrick O'Neill: Very true. Great point, indeed.

Personally, I am happy with ASUS and SAGER products, though I will admit that ASUS is slow in giving us our Windows 7 updates for our G51s and G71s.

YES ASUS, I AM LOOKING AT YOU AND MENTOR MEDIA, CORP. #laptops
Reply

MrBangBam
11/02/09

@rentahero1: I don't know about you but I've got a collection of skulls for a variety of purposes.

skullcups
skullcaps
skullcups (to protect my man-jewels)
skullpoopbowl (for WOW runs)
skullbowlingball

and for the lonely, horny nights...
skul- (Transmission Intercepted by the FBI) #laptops
Reply

MrBangBam was starred MrBangBam was unstarred

Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!!
11/02/09

@HowieFelterbush: I could understand how you feel about this.

Personally, in recent years, I have never really been impressed with Dell (and it's luxury brands, XPS and Alienware). I have friends that bought their products and are constantly left unsatisfied and miffed about their products and the encounters they've had with "customer support".

That's not even counting the umpteenth amounts of clunky hardware, the drivers being faulty, and an overall dull and slow experience.

I imagine that Dell Computers are practically the "Jacob's Ladder" of computers.

No, wait... That would be Acer. #laptops
Reply

Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!!
11/02/09

@rentahero1: It'd make a morbid paperweight. #laptops
Reply

asten77
11/02/09

@Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!!: I love my XPS laptop, personally. #laptops
Reply

Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!! promoted this comment asten77 was starred asten77 was unstarred

Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!!
11/02/09

@asten77: I'm happy that you do : )

Don't get me wrong, if you are happy with your Dell device, then that's excellent. But from life's experience (and having to deal with some of my friend's woes with Dell by lending them my loaners), I've shared in enough Dell headaches for a lifetime. #laptops
Reply

swilliams001
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
Dell lost my wife's entire laptop. I pulled the drive and battery prior to shipping. After two weeks of escalating the issue with their support folks, I was finally able to get a new-refurbished inspiron 1545 out of them. Equal replacement for a 4 year old XPS M140? Maybe.
Reply

soggy_cheerio promoted this comment Sean Fallon approved this comment swilliams001 was starred swilliams001 was unstarred

soggy_cheerio
11/02/09

@swilliams001: Equal upgrade, or an improvement?

When Dell couldn't fix my E1505 after it crapped out with just over a month left on its warranty, Dell replaced it with a completely loaded Studio 15.

Dell replaces things with an equal model, if it's available. If not, things get replaced with the newer version of the same class of computer with the same upgrades as you had before. If they're replacing something with a screen upgrade, you'll get something with a screen upgrade. An upgraded hard drive nets you a hard drive upgrade. I can't say for sure, but there's probably quite a bit of leeway for their replacements based on the type of customer you are, or how much you were inconvenienced, or the interactions with service representatives, etc.

The important things to remember when dealing with customer support is to be patient, pleasant, and assertive. If you are a whiny pain-in-the-ass to deal with type of customer that wants something for nothing and makes their jobs harder, the likelihood of you getting exceptional treatment decreases dramatically. If people were to go in with a little bit of understanding, a pleasant demeanor, and a little bit of a backbone, they might not be as disappointed with the quality of service.

I'd venture a guess that most of the people that complain about horrible service are the ones that do nothing but things to impede the resolution of the problem. #laptops
Reply

soggy_cheerio was starred soggy_cheerio was unstarred

Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
Welcome to the world of cloud computing.. #laptops
Reply

GitEmSteveDave_OverSleptThisMorn
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
Whyon sweet Jebus's dubs do people send their HDD in the laptop? You can check and test a DVD drive w/o the hard drive in just BIOS/a startup disk. #laptops
Reply

LessthanZach
11/02/09

@GitEmSteveDave_ H1N1 Symptoms List: I would guess that DELL would void your warranty or some crazy bullshit for pulling your HDD. I could be wrong, but it's my guess. They don't need much excuse to throw down the big, red and bold VOID stamp. #laptops
Reply

LessthanZach was starred LessthanZach was unstarred

GitEmSteveDave_OverSleptThisMorn
11/02/09

@LessthanZach: Since at most your HDD tray is secured by one screw, it's about as hard to remove as the one screw you need to remove something in the drive bay. #laptops
Reply

jepzilla
11/02/09

@LessthanZach: I doubt that. Last time I dealt with Dell customer service, they recommended removing the hdd before shipping it (since the problem was unrelated to the hard drive). #laptops
Reply

jepzilla was starred jepzilla was unstarred

Nick
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
i once got shoooed off my Michael Dell's drive way. that is all. #laptops
Reply

Nick was starred Nick was unstarred

weatherman
11/02/09

@Nick:
Reply

Edited by weatherman at 11/02/09 4:01 PM weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred

weatherman
11/02/09

@Nick: why, was it recently refurbished? badum-bum. #laptops
Reply

weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred

Nick
11/02/09

@weatherman: *crickets*

/scratches head #laptops
Reply

Edited by Nick at 11/02/09 4:14 PM Nick was starred Nick was unstarred

oojoo
11/02/09

@weatherman: *crickets* *crickets* *crickets* *crickets* *crickets* *crickets* *crickets* *crickets* *crickets* *crickets* *crickets* *crickets*... #laptops
Reply

oojoo was starred oojoo was unstarred

weatherman
11/02/09

@oojoo: Ouch. Tough crowd. #laptops
Reply

weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred

met2art
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
Was your customer rep named Hansel?

"The files are in the computer! Ohhh..." #laptops
Reply

met2art was starred met2art was unstarred

Malfunktion v2
11/02/09

In reply to Dell Doesn't Understand That a "Hard Drive For Laptops" Program Doesn't Fly With Support Customers
Note to self: Never own a Dell. #laptops
Reply

Malfunktion v2 was starred Malfunktion v2 was unstarred

weatherman
11/02/09

@Malfunktion v2: One logistics problem does not mean that the whole company is screwed up. Dell ships millions of computers a year, and I'd guess tens or hundreds of thousands of returns/repair/spare parts, and I'm sure there are the occasional problems.

I recently had my Dell laptop in for service and it was returned very quickly. Sadly, they returned it to an old address that they had on file and I had to deal with support, but after a couple of regular support agents weren't able to help me, they assigned me a "fixer" who went through great lengths to find the laptop and have it delivered to the right address. I'd say my experience with Dell was excellent - far better than I've had with other companies, including Apple and HP.
Reply

Edited by weatherman at 11/02/09 4:26 PM weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred

torgreed
11/03/09

@weatherman: Right, but it's how they deal with the problem that is worth judging them by.

And this isn't looking brilliant for Dell.

(Someone mentioned this is standard procedure, to ship your drive back early. If that's the case, going through 7 support reps without one of them knowing about it is particularly bad. Standard procedures should be documented.) #laptops
Reply

weatherman promoted this comment torgreed was starred torgreed was unstarred

weatherman
11/03/09

@torgreed: actually standard procedure is to remove the hard drive and the battery and send the computer without either. #laptops
Reply

weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred

Earlier threads | All threads | Show hidden threads | Show featured threads only | Start a new discussion

Gizmodo Team

SUBSCRIBE TO Gizmodo

Login

Reset Password

Register

Submit Your Comment