Dell Outlet Horror story I need serious help

Okay its been a 3 week process to get this XPS M1330. First the shipment was missing items. No problem.... Contacted Dell support and they overnight the items.... Then there was the battery recall...... dell said they shipped me a 6 cell to replace the 9 cell I purchased...(why not give me what I paid for 9 cell) Note the first 9 cell that came with my xps m1330 only held a charge for 35 to 45 minutes..l... the first 6 cell they say they shipped never arrived... DHL ... (again) so now they say they will ship a 9 cell guess what tracking says delivered but I didn't get the battery...... I figure i should test the sytem out so i put the messed up battery on and plugged it in... all looked fine.... for about 3 hours.... then guess what now the hard drive is making a clicking noise....... can someone tell me what I should do... I got it at the dell outlet online it seemed like a good deal.... I looked there again and they don't have any that are configured like the one I purchaed. If I send it back is there any gurantte that I will get the configureation I paid for as a replacement seeing how its a refurb...... please help so i know what to do.... I am out 1200 bucks and have a computer that is dead.

 

My configuration is as follows:

1 NU168 BASE (ASSEMBLY OR GROUP)..., NOTEBOOK..., CPEN, T9300, M1330
1 YU812 PROCESSOR..., T9300, 2.5, 6MB, CPEN, C0
1 83022 MODULE..., INFORMATION..., NO-FILLER, BOX, INSTALL
1 CN819 MODULE..., MEDIA..., DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE..., RDVD, XPS-M1330
1 CY416 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., DELL MEDIA DIRECT..., 3.5, OPERATING SYSTEM...
1 CY418 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., DELL MEDIA DIRECT..., 3.5, THURMAN
1 DR464 MODULE..., LABEL..., MICROSOFT..., VSTA, PREMIUM..., INSPIRON...
1 DX476 MODULE..., LABEL..., INTEL..., NOTEBOOK..., CENTRINO MOBILE TECHNOLOGY..., SRM
1 DX959 MODULE..., LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY..., NOTEBOOK..., BLACK..., DUMMY..., M1330
1 FK244 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., DT-ICLNR, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION...
1 FM165 MODULE..., HARD DRIVE..., 160G, 7.2K, FREE FALL SENSOR..., SE100, INS
1 FW319 MODULE..., BATTERY..., PRIMARY..., 85W, 9C, LITHIUM..., SAMSUNG POWER DIVISION...
1 FW577 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., VB32, DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE..., ENGLAND/ENGLISH..., DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION...
1 GM162 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., VB32, INSPIRON..., ENGLAND/ENGLISH..., DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION..., NO DOCS/DISKETTES...
1 GM519 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., ROMMEL, INSPIRON...
1 HJ805 MODULE..., DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE..., 3GB, 667, 1X2+1X1
1 HR824 SHIP GROUP..., NOTEBOOK..., UNITED STATES..., XPS-M1330, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION...
1 HT747 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., QUICK FIX ENGINEERING..., VB32, INSPIRON...
1 JM048 MODULE..., DVD+/-RW..., 8X, IDE (INTEGRATED DRIVE ELECTRONICS) ..., 9.5, M1330
1 JM295 MODULE..., ADAPTER..., ALTERNATING CURRENT..., 65W, DELTA - AC ADAPT..., WORLD WIDE..., M1330
1 JM322 MODULE..., ADAPTER..., ALTERNATING CURRENT..., 65W, LATIN/LATIN AMERICA..., ADDITIONAL..., UNITED STATES...
1 JP927 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., DELL-WELCOME, TLOB
1 MM350 MODULE..., LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY..., 13.3WX, LIGHT EMITTING DIODE..., TRANSFORMER METROPLEX DESKTOP..., M1330
1 PN039 MODULE..., ASSEMBLY..., BASE (ASSEMBLY OR GROUP)..., NOTEBOOK..., DISCRETE VIDEO..., M1330
1 PN175 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., WORKS..., 8.5, ENGLAND/ENGLISH...
1 PU575 MODULE..., REMOTE CONTROL..., NOTEBOOK..., M08
1 RN536 MODULE..., CARD (CIRCUIT)..., NETWORK..., BLUETOOTH..., 355, TMA, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION...
1 RR375 MODULE..., LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY..., LIGHT EMITTING DIODE..., CAMERA..., DUMMY..., M1330
1 RU245 MODULE..., KEYBOARD..., 86, US-ENG, SINGLE POINTING..., DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION...
1 TR250 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., DELL MEDIA DIRECT..., 3.5, KIT..., DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE..., EXTREME PERFORMANCE SYSTEM...
1 UN078 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., VSTA, HYPERTEXT MARKUP LANGUAGE..., GUIDE, WORLD WIDE...
1 UU534 MODULE..., MODEM..., UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS..., EXTERNAL..., NO BIOS..., ERPA, WORLD WIDE...
1 WK528 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., GOOGLE, SEARCH..., CONSUMER...
1 XK189 MODULE..., PALMREST..., MAGNESIUM-ALLOY..., W/FPRDR, M1330
1 XM387 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., ROXIO..., CRTR, DE, 9.0, TRANSACTIONAL LINE OF BUSINESS...
1 XM544 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., PC-RESTORE, TRANSACTIONAL LINE OF BUSINESS...
1 XW219 MODULE..., COVER..., LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY..., BLACK..., .3M, LIGHT EMITTING DIODE..., M1330
1 XW606 SERVICE INSTALL MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., INSPIRON..., XPS-M1330
1 YY220 MODULE..., CARD (CIRCUIT)..., NETWORK..., 4965, INSPIRON..., MOW1
1 C0374 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., Soft Contracts..., BANCTEC SERVICES CORP....

 

Well, you can't blame Dell if DHL lost the shipment, or if they dropped off the items without a signature required and the items were stolen before you got home. However, with the problems you've had I would just contact Dell and arrange for a return and full refund. You probably won't be able to get the exact same system, since there is such a huge demand for the outlet computers, but you should be able to get something fairly similar.

 

Sounds like a lemon to me. Call up Dell and see what they have to say.

 

You should be able to solve your HD clicking problem here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=168425

However, it seems to me that you are having more of a problem than a simple HD clicking sound....is your system dead? If so, my recommendation is to get a box and ship the sucker back to DELL ASAP (while it is still within 21 days of purchase), or else dell may simply ignore your calls, or send you "techs" to "fix" your problems (which rarely happen)...

If your 1330 is not physically defective, then you can try and reinstall the OS, which may or may not solve the problem. (PS. 45 min on a 9-cell is way too short....you should get at least 5 hours out of that sucker...my guess? the battery is used...)

 

as u can see by my configuration its a was a good deal for 1200 bucks.. now the outlet does not have any t9300 cpus..... i purchased acdental damage protection will i be albe to use this and force dell to ship me a new one to replace this lemon

 

They'll probably send you a refurb replacement again & since there ain't any M1330 with a T9300 CPU in the outlet as of now, you may have to wait for a while before Dell sent you that replacement. Anyway, good luck.

 

Yep, you do have a good config, LED screen too... T9300 with LED is really hard to get at the outlet as it is so new (penryn) and "top of the line", if you do have issues and it turns out to be a lemon they will replace your laptop with the same or better config (new if they cannot get refurb) even if it was originally an outlet purchase, or so I have read on these boards, but that will be after you have allowed them some opportunities to repair it, which will probably put you outside your 21 day return period, so it is a slight risk.

I have had a few XPS lappies over the years and was always happy with the service, I never got a replacement, a part upgrade, or any of the stuff like I read on these boards, but everytime I had an issue the tech they sent was good at repairing and they always got the issue fixed so I was happy. There was one time with my m170 screen issues that they sent the wrong part (matte and lower resolution instead of trulife 1920x1200) like 3 times, but each part was overnighted, so at least the delay was short!

I am dealing with similar issues on missing parts from my M1730 order as well. I was just trying to get the replacements today... and what a nightmare. In my case the hard part was tracking down the part numbers, hell after 4 hours I still wasn't able to get the adapters for component output, S/PDIF output, and HDMI from DVI... they couldn't find the part nubmers to order them. If you have already gotten through that, then getting the issues with the laptop fixed should be easier .

 

If the hard drive is bad and IF you saved a considerable amount of money by going through the outlet, you could just buy a new hard drive. They are fairly cheap now.

 

seems that the only real issue is the hard drive. I took a hard drive out of my old laptop and put it in and installed the OS and works like a charm. I just want what I paid for. will they send me a repalcement hard drive for the one that is bad......on a side note the replacement 9 cell showed up... DHL had the wrong status ...... once again dhl strikes

 

I wouldn't necessarily call this a horror story. You ended up in an unfortunate circumstance that really had no bearing on the outlet at all. Dell made good by replacing everything as requested. My suggestion is to have Dell replace the HD too if you're not happy with it.

 

ok contacted dell support they can replace hard drive. They said i can get an upgrade to a 5400rpm 250gb drive (free of charge) or I can wait a few weeks for them to get the 7200 RPM 160gb that I originally purchaed what should I do. Is the 7200 better.

 

You won't notice the speed increase between the 5400 and the 7200. 5400s are even clocking as fast or faster than some 7200s. Get the 5400, save the battery and keep the space.

 

Thank you so much for the help. I will keep u posted on the outcome.