Request for replacement of product

Hi all,

I brought Dell 7567 a few months back. It was all working fine when after some time, the laptop started having screen flickering issue. I contacted Dell to get this issue resolved since the product was still in the warranty period. The Dell mail-in service was expected to take too long (at least ~10 days) so I paid an additional $40+taxes and opted for on-site service. 

On the first onsite service, the screen was replaced and the original issue was resolved. However, it came to my notice that the service had caused another problem while resolving the screen problem. There was a tapering gap between my screen and the body. It was a serious aesthetic issue. I suppose it was caused either due to the manufacturing problem or the technician's fault. So, I reported the problem to Dell and it took a couple of hours to explain the entire story. They agreed to schedule another on-site appointment to get the new issue fixed. 

For the second onsite service, the technician rescheduled the original appointment and never turned up on that day. I had already wasted a couple of hours talking to customer care agents and missed my work day. On trying to contact the technician, he was unresponsive at first and then got back to me to inform that Dell had shipped back the required parts and the service cannot take place. Even after all this trouble, I informed Dell about the situation and they agreed to schedule the third onsite service.

For the third onsite service, the technician tried to resolve the issue. He tried replacing the parts that the Dell had shipped for the service dispatch but found that the cause of the issue was something else. So, even after the third onsite service, the issue is not resolved. I contacted the Dell again just to hear that another onsite service is scheduled and another dispatch with the required parts is created. In spite of wasting a lot of my time, I was still okay with this. I just wanted my system back in the perfect condition.

For the fourth onsite service, the technician came with all the required parts that were sent by Dell. Now the parts that the Dell had dispatched were themselves defective. The dispatch had a laptop heat-sink that was bent and so the technician could not put it on my laptop. So he tried to figure out other ways of resolving the issue by replacing a couple of other parts that were likely to cause the issue. But even this did not work. Moreover, after the onsite service, the touchpad broke down. He mentioned to me that even that will require a replacement now. After struggling for some time, he was able to get it working with a temporary fix. On examining the system further, even he agreed on the fact that the entire system will need to be replaced. So after the fourth service and a temporary fix for the totally new problem (touchpad) now, I tried to email the Dell customer service agent who is looking into my case but I got no response even after a couple of days.

Defective Dell replacement parts

On contacting Dell after over a month of troubles, they just would not do anything except for reminding me about company policies and other irrelevant stuff. After already scheduling four appointments and wasting a ton of my time, the Dell only informs me that I need to send it in for mail-in service. On explaining to them the circumstances that I cannot work without the laptop for ~10 days, they said that they simply can't help otherwise. I tried to explain the story and the inconvenience it had caused even to their customer service supervisor. On requesting a product replacement on grounds of Dell manufacturing fault and multiple failed repair attempts, they said that they are requesting a replacement with their internal team but it cannot be guaranteed. I was amazed to see how Dell was dealing with such a small issue. The simple screen flickering issue finally took this shape. Seems like Dell has no liability/responsibility for the product it sells or the onsite services it undertakes.

I hope that Dell strives to improve their customer service experience by actually engaging in the case and understanding the customer expectations and not just simply pass on the complaints to various internal teams. I expect that Dell customer service team will act more maturely and responsibly in dealing with such issues.