New M6500 Discussion Thread

Hi xPat,

The tech rep told me that they (at least in germany) always change graphics card and mother board at a time because a faulty gc often damages the mobo and vice versa.
If I agreed to let DELL repair my M6500 they would have changed EVERYTHING except chassis and display at a single service call.

And about the wrong service tag they set: I would have found very clear (but still polite) words for this! This would have ended the service odyssey in my case.
Tell them that they blew it and an exchange is the only way to fix the damaged trust in DELL service. Really!

Cheers,
Alex

 

The plot thickens... I literally had to terminate a service call today and kick the guy out. Literally fired him for incompetence. Here is what he told me:

• There is nothing wrong with my hardware. The problem is that the m6500 only supports 16gb max, and I caused the problem by upgrading to 32gb
• I should downgrade to 16gb memory as originally shipped
• [I swear I'm not making this up] The reason the HARDWARE diagnostics running in FIRMWARE from the F12 menu are failing "has to be" a bad Windows driver. I should re-install the OS, which is my responsibility.
• He has installed the new motherboard (2nd one in 3 days), but has left me with BIOS A06 and a POST error for TPM won't initialize because installing software is the customer's responsibility, not his.

Seriously. He also failed to secure the CPU heatsink. As he was trying to put the plastic piece with the touchpad back on, I exclaimed "Hey! Top right CPU heatsink screw!". The heatsink was visibly crooked (one side not in contact with the CPU) from across the room! He got defensive and seemed to resent me telling him how to do his job. Only when I demanded that he tighten the screw did he realize the heatsink was not properly attached. He also assembled both the video card and cpu heatsink BEFORE re-installing the CPU fan, and had to take it all apart when he finally realized it won't go together in that order.

The good news is that his incompetence was so eggregious that Dell immediately caved and agreed to send a replacement system when I told them about the call. A windows driver causing the firmware diagnostics to fail. Right...

But I'm getting a very different story than Alex apparently did. The guy I'm working with has actually been pretty cool and honest about everything so far. He said the way it works is they get approval to replace the system, then it goes to some department that builds a "like or better" system. He said there is no way to request or agree on a specific configuration in advance. He said it would be either an m6600 or m6700, probably an m6600. But he said there is no way to insist on one or the other. I asked for my original 16gb to be replaced with a two-stick configuration, so I could more easily upgrade to 32 without having to discard a 4x4 setup. He said there is no process to even request that, never mind guarantee it.

Alex, did they actually promise you an m6700 with a specific CPU when they agreed to replace it, or did they just agree to replace and then you happened to get that config? The guy I'm dealing with claims there simply is no way to commit to a specific configuration. They commit to build something "equal or better" than the original config, and you don't find out what you're getting till the box arrives in the mail. This doesn't seem to jibe with Alex' experience...

Thanks,
xPat

 

This is not true, in the event of a swap, if your replacement system isn't identical to your current system, they have to get your confirmation that you agree with the new configuration first, only then can they create the new order.
If some things don't look right to you, or are missing, you will need to ask for those adjustments, then you will most likely have to wait a few more days for approval and have them set it up.

Do request to view the configuration before they process the order, I've had it gone wrong too many times, bad experiences here.

 

I will make a few post..
I see where a few people have had success installing windows8...

I have tried a couple of time without luck... trying again with a usb stick..

anyone care to share tips on installing windows8

 

This is extremely interesting information, but totally out of sync with what Dell (USA) is telling me. The Dell guy says he has obtained authorization from his management for the swap, and wants a ship-to address. But I have already asked several times to know the exact config they will replace with, and he has been very firm in saying there is simply no way to do that. He claims that this is simply Dell policy, and that's that. No room to negotiate, period. And he does seem to me like a straight-shooting guy.

So now I'm wondering if this is a country policy issue. I wonder if the policy for Germany is different than USA? Creative, where are you located? Has anyone here had experience with a swap like this in USA? Were they willing to commit to a specific configuration?

Thanks everyone - this has been profoundly helpful to know the experience of others!

xPat

 

I'm located in the Netherlands.

It seems like you're probably dealing with the wrong person, is he your only point of contact? Sounds to me like he's incapable or just not bothered to go through the process.
Did you try discussing your case with another support person at Dell?
Some people can be hard to deal with, or not understanding how important something may be to you, and then there are a few who can be very helpful. If you have tried, but didn't have any luck, you might want to talk to the manager.
Either way insist that you must know what you will receive, it's unacceptable for them to keep you in the dark like that.

Do you have ProSupport or Basic Warranty with your system? I don't know if there is any difference with policies there though.

 

The guy I am working with seems sincere, and seems to have best of intentions. I believe him when he says that so far as he knows there is no way to agree on the specific configuration before proceeding. But it is clear from this discussion that there really is. I have cc'd his manager on the most blunt e-mails describing my dissatisfaction, but so far I have only had direct contact with this one guy. Again, I am convinced he is doing his personal best. I just wonder if there is an escalation procedure he is not aware of.

Bottom line, my m6500 keeps crashing, and I am not willing to tolerate any more inept service calls. I would really like Dell to commit to a specific configuration, and that doesn't seem to me to be too much to ask. I'm going to keep pushing for that, but so far I'm not getting much cooperation. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

Alex, did they offer to give my a m6700, or did you have to negotiate for it? The guy I'm working with is telling me I could get either another 6500 or maybe a 6600, but it sounds like 6700 is unlikely. Doesn't seem reasonable to me - they gave you one, and I've been through almost as much BS as you have, including several service calls punctuated by abject incompetence.

What blows my mind are Dell's policies. I'm very willing to work with them, and try to avoid unnecessary (expensive) service calls. But they literally have a policy that customers are not allowed access to the "ePSA" diagnostic program, which is the only one that gives meaningful error messages that you can diagnose from. It's hard to feel sorry for Dell when I am trying my best to do my part, and they are doing their best to PREVENT me from helping to solve the problem. Yeesh!

xPat

 

When DELL approved the replacement they told me that it would be a M6600 or a M6700 (I made clear that I'd never accept another M6500 - even a new one).
And the first offer was a silver M6700 with 820QM and K3000M ... which I didn't accept

Cheers,
Alex

 

Here's the e-mail reply I received today from the manager of the USA Workstation basic support dept:

---- Forwarded Message ---

My name is Chris, I`m the Case Manager for Danthony`s team and I`m responding to your email in his absence.

I'm sorry for whatever misinformation may have been provided by RealJEDI and rQcreative on notebookreview.com. I checked with management to see what the options would be from our end of things. Here in Basic Technical Support, we're unfortunately unable to build a system to specification and provide those specifications before the order is processed. When we create exchanges, we basically create a blank dispatch and flag it as an exchange for a particular Service Tag. The Exchange Department sees this flag and configures a system based on currently available stock and are generally able to build a system like-or-better than your existing model.

Occasionally, they do miss an item or two, but if we catch it before the system ships, we can request that they re-enter the order to better match your existing system. If the system ends up shipping right away and we don't catch it in time, we can always retroactively address whatever discrepancies are found, either via part replacement and onsite service, if applicable, or through another exchange if there are just too many discrepancies, which I've only seen occur once or twice.

I don't know what department RealJEDI or rQcreative were speaking with, they may have an Account Manager for their Dell Account that has special access to be able to build system exchanges on-the-fly, or they may have been working with Customer Care or some specialized department within Dell, we simply have no way of knowing. But from here in Basic Tech Support, unfortunately we simply do not have the option of setting up a dispatch like that. Let me know if you'd still like the exchange and I'll get it set up and keep an eye on it so that as soon as the specifications are solidified, I can send you an email with a link to the build. Since exchanges generally take longer to process than regular part dispatches, I *should* be able to get you that link well before the system ships so that you can verify the specifications and we can make any adjustments that may be needed.

The other options that we have would be that you can contact Customer Care to see if they are able to set up an exchange in the manner that you're requesting. Not working in that department, I don't know how their exchange system works, so that may be a possibility for them, I'm not sure. Generally they're unable to process exchanges beyond the first 21 days of the invoice date, but they *may* be able to make an exception for this situation. Definitely worth checking with them about.

Finally, we can always hold off on the exchange for now and continue repairing the system via troubleshooting, diagnosis, and part replacement.

Let us know how you'd like to proceed on this.

Thank you for choosing Dell!

Chris L.
Case Manager
1-877-671-3355
Dell | Workstation
11:00am - 8:00pm EST Mon - Fri
[email protected]

 

Guys,

I sure could use some more "misinformation" about specifically who I should escalate this to and what to say. A couple of people mentioned escalating to sales, but to be frank I'm not sure what I would say to them. This system is more than a year old, and I'm not a big customer who spends zillions per quarter on Dell, so I can't call my "Account Rep" and ask them to put the pressure on.

I'll take as much more "misinformation" (meaning advice from you guys) as I can get! FYI, here is my reply to Chris L.:

-- Forwarded Message --

Hi Chris,



Thanks very much for this thorough and detailed message. I really appreciate you taking the time to clearly spell out the options as you understand them, and I have no doubt whatsoever that both you and Tony are being honest and truthful. There is no doubt in my mind that what you have offered is the best that your department is authorized to offer, and I very much appreciate both you and Tony doing your best for me.



That said, the word on the street (in the forums) seems to suggest that the best wisdom is not to settle for what you are able to offer, and that I should instead escalate my concern to another department that is able to be more committal about what system is being offered in exchange. One of the users you described as giving “misinformation” is also having his defective m6500 replaced with a nice new m6700, in an exact configuration that was agreed to between him and Dell in advance. While his experience may indeed not reflect accurately on what your department is able to offer, I’m sure you can understand why a person in my position would prefer to gain as much more “misinformation” as possible, since that information, “mis” or otherwise, seems to be resulting in much better customer satisfaction for those who have escalated their issues beyond your department.



My intention is to seek their advice, and see if I can get some more “misinformation” on how I might endeavor to receive the same higher standard of customer service that has been enjoyed by the “misinformed”. I’ll get back to you within a day or two regarding whether and how to proceed with the exchange, after following up with the “misinformed” community to learn more about who specifically I should be escalating my issue to. Meanwhile, please know that I really do appreciate your position, and have no doubt that you are already offering the best that your department can offer. Tony has been fantastic to work with, and I’m sure both you and he will understand that given the far more satisfactory experiences that these “misinformed” customers have enjoyed, I need to do what I can to become “misinformed” myself. I’ll let you know how it goes.



Thanks!