Dell Out of Warranty Repair = DONT DO IT

I don't think many people have spoken up about this so I will post my experience thus far with Dell's terrible out of warranty repair service.

I bought a broken second hand m170, it was doa because of a bad video card. I was of course foolish enough to buy it first without researching the cost of the repair ~ I even thought I would be able to go to a 7900 or 7950 card affordably which I was VERY wrong on. Turns out the 7800gtx is the laptop's max, the only available seller has them is on ebay @ $360+ ship. I tried negotiating with him but he was an @$$hole to say in the least and the deal fell through.

The next option I looked into was Dell's Out of Warranty service. BIG MISTAKE.

Here's how it works based on my understanding from poor ESL speaking employees in India. The repair is $200 regardless, if a mobo or LCD needs to be replaced it is an additional $240. Fine I thought; it's just a video card. You send the laptop in a coffin that gets next dayed to the repair facility in Tennessee (IIRC). Exactly 7 business days later I received the laptop back, they replaced the video card and keyboard apparently ~ the other items I requested to be replaced were untouched (palm rest, Speaker LED), this is forgiveable seeing as how the parts were non-essential to functionality.

The laptop worked for about 30 seconds before developing the same video card problem of artifacting and corruption. I also notice there are now dust specks under the screen that were not there before due to some tech's carelessness, they also scratched the hell out of the screw hole covers on the LCD assembly as evidence. I send it in again noting the parts that were not replaced and newly found dust under the LCD.

This time the rep slaps me with the $240 charge because "the mobo" needs to be replaced ~ "this is refundable if it's NOT the mobo". I know as well as you that this is BS, it's a second faulty DOA video card plain and simple ~ they use refurbished parts and did a piss poor job of testing before sending it back out. I swallow my pride and give my CC digits anyways.

Two weeks go by with no word. I call to find out what's going on. Apparently they replaced the parts requested and to my dismay the LCD.... what this means is that the $240 charge + the 200 stands.

Very frustrated at this point because the LCD was fine going in, THEY SCREWED IT UP, and charged me for it. I still don't have the laptop back because they are "waiting" for a part to come in ~ it was supposed to arrive at the facility last Friday but never did. I can get ZERO sympathy from the ESL folks in India ~ hell even trying to argue with them is useless; they don't understand 1/2 the things I'm saying to them and vice versa.

At this point I'm out about $800 with no laptop in my hands thanks to Dell's Out of Warranty service. In retrospect I should have dealt with the eBay seller or not have bit on the deal in the first place.

 

I hate to say this but.....this has poor decision making written all over it.

 

Everyone knows that Dell's, or any large computer manufacturer's service is bad.

But buying a broken computer without researching is just stupid.

 

Yeah I'll take responsibility for that one, new lesson learned.

 

Ouch, bad decision, but I'm not gonna lecture you any.

Frankly, I'd go straight to management to to hell with those useless techs. You get parts replaced and they still fail to work, and they come back damaged. Sorry but you know what, just reading that garbage Dell is putting you through makes me sick to my stomach.

Note to self: take pictures of machine before sending in for repair (If I ever allow it to be sent).

Just so you know, they don't stress test any of those parts as far as 3D rendering and such.. As long as it boots and shows a picture and works, it qualifies as 'non-defective'. Meanwhile, it could have coke spilled all over it, look like someone beat it with a hammer, and make funny noises. Pisses me off..

 

Hey Man,

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Try sending a registered letter to Dell Corporate Relations (to the corporate Round Rock, TX address). I had a similar experience with an Inspiron 4000 back in 2003. I had written and addressed a letter to Michael Dell. A week and a half later, I recieved a call from the corporate customer relations and public affairs office offering an extremely attractive package.

 

Sorry for the back luck. Out of warranty repaires should be DIY or just replace the laptop - usually with laptops its probably worth just getting a new one. I know a lot of broken laptops are sold on ebay etc but 90% are really not worth it unless they're pennies.

 

Yes, the corporate relations route may help. Dell places snail mail complaints at a much higher priority than internet and your letter will get routed directly to executive support. been there with my M1210, wrote the letter and they exchanged it with my M1330.

 

You'd have been much better off ordering the parts yourself and putting them in.

 

You take a chance in buying a used broken computer and having it repaired. Like they say the cheap comes out more expensive.

 

I would ring my CC company and get them to reclaim the funds, then start a claim against Dell.

 

Contacting Dell Corporate Relations is the way to go.

Give it a try - what's the downside and you may be
surprised.

Sorry about the difficulty u'v had--hang in there.

 

Let's face it, un-sodering and sodering in a new GPU chip, assuming you can find the chip in the first place, is pretty much impossible for most of us... .

I wish all (...any?) Notebooks came with a removable GPU but I guess this is too impractical due to space restrictions.

 

Dell GPUs aren't soldered in. They use a proprietary connection format.

 

You're both wrong. lol..

Dell machines, have removable GPU's, at the exception of the 14" models, and these new ultra-slim XPS machines; which have the GPU's built right onto the mobo.

(Integrated graphics are always, built into the mobo, above only applies to dedicated graphics.)

 

If this topic was talking about "these new ultra-slim XPS machines", you would have a point.

But we're not, so fail.

 

Well, you said "Dell GPUs", that's not clear, someone could read it and assume it applies to all machines with dedicated GPU's. Which is not the case, as I stated, the 14" models and the slim XPS models, have the GPU's built into the mobo.

All I did was clarify what you said for those who would assumed the wrong.

So fail.