Can I sue DELL over hdd failure(4 times in a row!!)

Hello everyone!

Title says it all.

I have had a hdd failure 4 times in a row on xps1530. And I found out it was due to Dell's mistake of not informing me the consequences!(I cant tell the reason till I have decided what to do)

So if I sue dell what are my chances? Should I inform them before hand?

 

I don't know how sueing somebody or a company works in the UK, but I would only do that as a very last thing, when Dell has clearly shown that they are not willing to help you with your problem, and if you can clearly show that it's Dell's fault.

Sueing will most likely cost you a lot of time and money and aggravation. In my opinion it will most likely not be worth the trouble. Did the problem you have / had cause you a major loss of money etc.? Does it weigh up to the trouble of a lawsuit?

 

What kind of HDD failure? Complete HDD's totally shot? or corruption of a disk, then needing to reformat?

 

Well, all the hdd's were crashing with error code 0142
And all the tech gurs in dell stop trouble shooting once they see the code and proceed with replacement as said in there holy docs which they follow!

 

Yep it can be clearly shown that a perfectly good computer hdd can go faulty because of dell's mistake.

And this effects all the XPS 1530/1330 owners!

 

Well I lost all my personal data, my uni wok,which I am being given a weeks extension, a lot of frustration for sure!

 

TNH if you have 4 hard drive failures in a row it might be something you are doing. Kinda sounds like you are neutral bombing your car's transmission and then complaining to the manufacturer when the transmission goes bad.

I've been pretty hard on my inspiron 1520 hard drive but it hasn't failed yet

 

I am a techie myself! For more than a month I was trying to find out wtf was wrong with me?
I knew I was doing something wrong, but y was it hapenning then 1 fine day I realised what exactly was going on.

I have all the picturess and videos I took showing how I can ruin a hdd beyond repair using nothing but what dell has shipped me with
And to top it all I wont even touch the laptop!

 

Care to enlighten us then?

 

So what exactly are you doing to destroy the hard drives? Stop talking in code.

 

Am I reading this right? So you can destroy a hard drive without even touching the laptop?

 

4 HDs going bad. Something's not right! What's error 0412? You must be incredibly unlucky or you're doing something to cause these. Are you attempting to load Linux on the HD?

 

Well I will give u guys a brief pic.

I bought XPS1530 with 7200rpm hitachi drive. It was noisy so i got a replacement. This time 7200rpm fujitsu.
This drive crashed in <4 days once I loaded all my personal files,programs and all ****. I was at 80% usage of the drive.
I went crazy trying to figure out how to get my data. So I booted with Winxp cd and found the c drive was lost and the d drive was intact. I tried formatting (full) the c drive but the sys got stuck at 2% for 2 hours then 3% for 1 hour.
So i restarted and loaded xp on d: drive got back up of my files, tried repairing c from winxp, nogo. Called dell asked for replacemnt.
They sent a replacement and the same issue occured and i asked for a refund.
But before they picked it up I did experiments and finally ruined it beyond even being detected in the BIOS!!! I took videos and pictures, which I will be posting soon after my exams.
I got a new XPS1530 this time with 250GB 5400rpm
It crashed in 2 days. I failed to mention I even lost a HDD in similar way 2 months back. IT was a 20GB Tiny laptop(7years old)
The 250GB HDD(Samsung) crashed similarly!
I begged to dell tech support via emails asking them y i m getting ****ed! I dont want replacemenet i need ans.
They are like Error 2000-0142 calls for replacement cos its a h/w malfunction... d-uh.
They are gonna send the replacement 2morro .............. and I will complete my video on this samsung hdd.
I really cant tell the way I ruined it I am sorry, I want to talk this over with the big bosses of DELL if they can reimburse me with something for pointing out this flaw, which everyone can face/exploit!

 

You r absolutely right!

 

Huh? I don't understand. You did "experiments"? On the laptop / harddrive? And by doing those experiments you ruined it? And you can't tell us what those experiments were? This is starting to sound strange...

You first put all your important data on the laptop (and you don't have any backup), then you do some strange experiment, and then you complain that your data is lost?

And you also did the same to a completely different, old laptop? Was that a Dell too? Is this specific to the M1530 or even to Dell, or would your "experiment" work on all laptops or even other computers?

Loading Linux will definitely not cause a hardware malfunction, and Linux runs quite well on the XPS M1530. Stop spreading FUD about Linux when you do not know anything about it!

 

Well Intially I was thinking maybe bcos I was changing the performance mode of the HDD in bios to performance(default is bypass) was causing it(i know its lame)
Then maybe it was flaw in the BIOS ver A08. THis was lame too!

It was becasause of something else!
I really cant tell wht untill like I said I speak with/inform DELL bosses!

 

Oh boy!

More lawsuits... the answer is yes, you can sue...but I can also sue you for divorce...don't mean either of us will win.

it may not be the guy's fault...what if the Mobo's power is killing the drives?



...then again he may be spraying perfume on the drive to complete his Dell Experience...


it's hard to tell what people do to their stuff once it gets home...

 

Sueing wont do any good I know! I neither have the time nor patience.
I will jus contact them via email and pics and vids and lets ce what they can turn up with.

 

I am not trying to deliberately ruin the laptop mind you, but its a flaw that everyone can face!

 

Considering you've gone through four hard drives, I'm thinking that your problem is not with the hard drive but with the RAM or motherboard or processor, and it is corrupting what's on the hard drive. You can try running memtest to see if it finds anything ( http://memtest86.com ), but I suspect you need to send the whole laptop back and remind Dell that it's fouled up 4 hard drives so far so the problem can't just be the hard drive.

 

if you tell a dell tech you gonna sue over the phone they will end the coversation and forward you to legal..

 

If it's so important that you would post here about it then why not tell us what the problem is?

If you don't want to tell us then how about you go away?

 

Well the title of the thread is ... is it feasible to sue dell or is it not worth it at all.
I promise to update all the information how I did it along with pix and vids once I sort it out in a few weeks.

 

I have to point it though 2 hdd's per new laptop(separately ordered!) where ruined.

My luck is not that bad to face the same issue multiple times!

 

Then come back in a few weeks. All you're doing right now is fuelling speculations about how 'you' killed your harddrives.

As for sueing, you can sue anyone for anything. Loosing is the costly part...

 

You call yourself a "techie". If you are a "techie", wouldn't you be doing backups?

I don't even consider myself a "techie" and I do routine backups of everything. I have 3 or 4 locations that I save my documents to.

 

Yes I do backups, but I never expected all the HDDs in my room would blow away one by one!

besides I usually don't care taking backup once a month!
I never expect my new computer to crash so soon before even I begin using it, forget abt planning to take a backup!

Besides all my critical data is backed up on my 80GB Ipod. I transfered all of it on the new computer to format my ipod(it had bcom slow and I wanted to update its firmware!)
Who wud have thougth new hdd would crash in <4days

 

If you are considering suing Dell, you DEFINITELY need to have counsel.

If you were in the US, you could probably go to a local firm, which would look up the particular state's products liability statutes, lemon laws, and see what applies. Then the attorney would probably tell you that you would most likely be successful if they could combine your problem with other people's complaints into a class action suit. Then they'd solicit other complaints, generate massive amounts of documents, blah blah blah. If all elements of the statute are met and the complaint is good, there'd probably be a settlement within a year, if its not good, then there'd be hearing for years and years.

That's just my guess, but I'm not qualified to comment, so don't take anything I've said as anything even close to legal advice Best bet is to find a barrister and see what he/she says.

 

**Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, but I am studying law (not UK law). This is not legal advice.**

Here's another option: call dell customer service and ask for a "manager." Manager = supervisor at dell. They have the authority to make things happen for you. Do some research beforehand on products liability. Some suggestions: the "implied warrant of merchantability" means that no matter what Dell's actual warranty says, the thing has to work as it's intended to or the company has to replace it or refund the money (at least under the UCC in the US).

My point is that you may not need counsel. Just do some research online, then call up and be extremely nice to the rep. Heck, compliment them for helping you. I'll bet you could get a significant upgrade and maybe an entirely new system. Could be something else in the system causing HD problems.

As a side note: I went through 3 HDDs on my 1330 and they deteremined it was something else (MOBO probably) causing the issue an gave me a brand new 1330.

Hope this helps.

 

Umm..... i have a 1530 and i have not experienced the HDD failure, maybe mine is defective and works perfectly

So you are saying its Dells fault for the faulty HDD and not the manufacturer of the HDD

 

I wonder what's the saddest thing in this story...

Is it unskilled Dell techs sending you loads of brand new HDDs without even thinking that they will be ruined again and that the fault may be coming from another reason?

Or is it you, boasting about, on this forum, without saying what you actually did to ruin so many HDDs?

 

With a name like "metalheadkicks" I somehow envision laptops or any piece of fragile technology not standing a chance in your hands.

 

Oh, this reminds me, I need to go sue Dell because my Laptop generates heat every time I use it. Gosh, I totally have prove that it is Dell's fail.....

 

No, Pai, I have a better case.

Dell VOIDED my warranty when I bought and replaced the videocard AND motherboard from ebay! Can you believe that!?

 

But you still had your Dell case so that's totaly unacceptable. Sue!!!

 

I know exactly how ur feeling with me being hush hush on the actual thing whcih I did. Its kinda annoying! Sorry for that. I need to complete my video maybe tonight before I swap with a newly shipped hdd thas gonna arrive 2morro.
After that I am gonna mail all the info to Dell(gotta find some higher up's email id's) and see for 1 day how will they respond. If they dont give a sheet then I will go ahead and start posting the entire story.
I cant expect them to be nice with me if I have already let out the cat.
So I shud give it a shot! maybe they will reward me with something hehe.

I have >25 lengthy emails exchanged with Dell tech support. I explain each and every detail!
I told them there is something wrong with what I am doing and the hdd could be fine. I even told them I want a refund jus on hdd so I can purchase from outside.
But the techs over there are so stubborn, they jus stick to there forwarded scripts thas all. they dont pay any attention to what we write. They jus searched the error code in my email and fwd a script for a replacemnt.
They never give a reasonable answer.
In my last mail I even asked was I mailing to a Bot?? no answer in the reply.......... its crazy!!

Its gonna take less than a week. I have to be patient!

 

So what are you saying? If Dell give you enough incentive you're not going to reveal your 'super secret method of destroying harddrives without touching the laptop'?

You're starting to sound more and more like a troll to me...

 

Well I promise I will update this thread with what I did. I may however will not make it as extravagant as I had planned to.
Besides I really dont think DELL will respond to me with such high spirits.
But this is jus so perfect that I dont wanna miss my chance.

 

You have no chance tbh.

 

Jus to let u guys no I m not faking a **** and bull story, I will show u guys a pic. tell me how to upload it here?

 

Here is the pix of both the laptops.
1 was on its way of return, I ordered a new laptop before even returning the 1st one. Because I really like this machine. I added these so u can now trust me more than 80%

 

And? So you have 2 laptops showing the error. Useless unless you tell us what you did.

 

Look, dell does not make the hard drives, so your suing the wrong person. Second, the hard drive manufacturers warranty their drives, therefore you have no case.

But go ahead and sue like everyone else wants to do. Its the nature of this world anyways. However, im more able to think that it is your "techie" skills that is destroying the drive.

 

Ha... Now u trust me.

But I aint letting it out till before next week.

 

I have given up the thought of suing them.

Trust me the techie inside me was driving me nuts for not finding the solution.
But the answer was so naive, any innocent consumer would have faced it.

 

Are you kidding? Absolutely not.

I'm starting to think you have no clue what you're doing and keep destroying good harddrives in the process of whatever you're attempting to do. Just your attitude towards backups says a lot...

 

I agree. You are no "techie" in my eyes. More like a lil college kid who thinks he knows computers but really only knows enough to be dangerous to his own.

 

+1!

Sorry OP.... :s

 

Here is a good idea:-

1. PM me the details of exactly what you did.
2. I'll publically give my opinion of whether you did anything stupid/deliberate/intentional, and whether "Average Joe" is likely to fall foul of this.

How's that? Bench engineer for 2 years, field engineer for 7. Seems a good way to help put the naysayers to bed...

 

The fact that he wont anonymously post what he did on the internet proves hes a troll. There should be no need to make this huge thread and then keep the details a secret.