An open letter to anyone at Dell

Dear Sir/Madam,

                I am writing this letter to you on a 6 year old, hand-me-down, Toshiba laptop. I am using this laptop because it still functions reliably, while the same cannot be said of my Dell XPS 630i desktop computer.

First, I will provide a bit of my background experience, so you may better understand my level of frustration at my unresolved technical support issue. I have several years of customer service experience, as a Service Advisor for both BMW and Honda. Additionally, I also worked for WorldCom, as a Network Control Technician (hardware troubleshooter), so I have experience in both end-user and technical support.

In February 2009, I purchased a Dell XPS 630i desktop, as it was regarded as one of the premier gaming/performance computers available. Its technical capabilities far exceeded my needs for a desktop computer, as I only planned to use it for general-purpose computing, and occasional gaming. However, I felt it was the best choice for me, as it was overbuilt for my use, and therefore would not require replacement for many years. I also liked the fact that the system architecture would allow for easy hardware upgrades, if ever they were needed.

The system ran virtually trouble-free, until 11/3/2011. At this time, the system crashed while in use, resulting in a frozen screen image, constant looping sound through the speakers, and unresponsive inputs through the mouse and keyboard. After attempting to correct the problem by updating the drivers and BIOS, the system crashed permanently, and would not boot; the BIOS screen did not even display after the system powered up.

I called Dell XPS technical support on 11/4/2011, and after reseating the RAM modules and both video cards with no effect, it was determined that the motherboard was faulty, and would require replacement. Parts were sent to a field technician on Monday, 11/7, and the technician arrived the following afternoon on 11/8, to replace the motherboard. Service request # 8  was created to resolve this issue.

After the motherboard was replaced, the system would not boot to Windows. Error message 2000-8010 appeared on the screen when the PSA test was run. The field technician contacted Dell XPS tech support, who advised him that reinstallation of Windows Vista was the only way the system would boot back up. However, I felt this was not a viable solution, as it would result in the loss of personally important data. The technician, after speaking to tech support for over 2 hours, advised me to contact tech support directly, to see if there were other options available to me. Before I called them, I input the search terms “Dell PSA 2000-8010” into the Google search engine, and found a post on the my630i.com support page that pertained to this latest issue. After pressing F9 to reset the BIOS to factory default settings, the system once again booted Windows Vista.

Sadly, my troubles did not end there. The system froze once again, after approximately 4 hours. Again, I called Dell XPS tech support, and was instructed to run hardware tests, first through BIOS, and then using the Dell Diagnostics software. No hardware errors were found. At this time, the tech support rep again advised me to reinstall Windows Vista, which I did, after backing up my important data.  I then reinstalled Windows Vista SP1, using the DVD that came with the system.

The following day, while reinstalling other software that was lost during the Windows reinstallation, the system crashed again. I called Dell XPS support yet again, and was given a new case number. However, I felt this was not the correct action, as the system crashes/freezes had started to occur prior to the replacement of the motherboard. I believe the new case number they gave me was . The solution that the rep suggested at this time (after running hardware diagnostics from BIOS again) was that Windows Vista should be reinstalled, yet again.

On 11/10, the system froze at 8:23pm, Eastern time.  Again, I called technical support, and spoke to a representative named “Robert.” He first suggested that the motherboard be replaced again, along with the hard drive. However, after consulting with his supervisor, and running more diagnostic tests, it was decided that I should instead remove 2 of the 4 RAM modules, to see if the system froze again. If it did, I was to remove one more module, and see if it froze with only 2GB of memory. I did this, and the system froze on both occasions, so I proceeded to test the 2 RAM modules I had removed, using a different memory slot. Each of the RAM cards failed when running individually, with uptimes ranging from 10 minutes to 1.5 hours.

Robert had indicated that he would call back in 2 days, to give me time to determine which RAM card was causing the system to fail. However, he said that if it failed prior to that, I should call back as soon as it did. My first available opportunity to call was on 11/11/11, at 5:32pm. The representative I spoke to connected to my computer via remote access, then began deleting my temporary internet files, as well as Internet Explorer cookies, and started to run a disk cleanup on my C: drive. He did not indicate what this would do, though he launched into it with certainty that it would solve the problem. However, the disk cleanup did not finish, as the system froze while it was in progress. As this rep seemed unwilling to listen to what I had to say regarding the results of our RAM test, I thanked him for his time, and decided to take a break from troubleshooting my computer.

On 11/12, I missed the callback from Robert, but I attempted to call back as soon as I could, which was earlier this evening, 11/13, at approximately 6:30pm. At that time, I spoke to Raj, who had me power the machine off, unplug all the cords from the back, and then hold the power button down for 10 seconds (with the power cord disconnected from the power supply), to “clear the sleep power.” I did this, then we discussed the significance of 4 separate RAM cards apparently failing simultaneously.  He indicated that he would send 4 new RAM cards to me, but since his dispatch system was down, he could not generate the order at that time, but said I would receive an Email once he had done so.

After 2 hours, I had received neither the confirmation email nor a callback explaining its absence, so I called Dell XPS technical support again. This time, I spoke to a representative whose name I did not record, because her accent/speech made it almost impossible for me to understand what she was saying. She indicated that it was impossible that all 4 RAM cards would fail simultaneously, so the new cards would not be sent, as was previously promised. 

At this time, I mentioned to her that I had (as suggested by members of the my630i.com forum) removed one of the video cards from the system, along with the SLI bridge cable, to see if  the system would crash with only one GPU installed. I did this shortly after speaking with Raj.

At that time, the system had been up and running with one GPU for 2 hours. She suggested that I run the Dell Diagnostics video card test on both cards, separately, in the “Video Stress Test” mode. The tests would take approximately 15 minutes to complete per card, so she told me that she would call me back after 30 minutes, so that we both wouldn’t be stuck on hold with nothing to do. I ran the tests on both cards, as she instructed, and both cards passed the test without error.  However, the system still crashed, and did so regardless of which video card I had installed.

The last rep I spoke to (who told me to run the video card tests) had promised to call me back in 30 minutes. That call ended at 8:53pm local time. It has now been 3.5+ hours, and no callback has been received.  On its own, that represents bad customer service, but when viewed in context as the latest in a string of poor customer service interactions, it is inexcusable.

In summary:

Since 11/4, my computer has not performed to the level that it was designed for.  For 3-4 of those days, it was completely inoperative, and for the last 5 days, it has been unable to operate in a stable and reliable manner.

Since 11/4, the motherboard has been replaced, along with one of the nVidia GPUs. Windows Vista has been reinstalled, and countless hardware diagnostic tests have been performed. Not one of these steps has resulted in a computer that operates reliably, much less to the performance level that my Dell XPS 630i was advertised at.

Since 11/4/11, I have spent (according to the call timer function on my iPhone) 492 minutes (among 14 separate calls) on the phone with Dell XPS hardware support. That’s 8.2 hours. An average of 49 minutes per day, since my computer stopped functioning properly. This does not include the almost 3 hours that the on-site technician spent at my house, attempting to get my computer to reboot, after he had replaced the motherboard. He spent 2 of those hours on the phone with XPS tech support.

The overall level of customer service I have received from the XPS support team has been unacceptable at best. At worst, it has been abysmally poor. I have frequently been given incorrect advice, I have run the same hardware tests repeatedly, to no avail, and I still do not have a computer that functions in the way it was advertised. On several of my calls, I feel as if the technician has no interest in helping me solve my computer’s problem, and is simply reading from a script, or trying to just get me to call back later. Because this issue is the first instance of major trouble I have had with this system in over 2.5 years, I feel I have been extremely patient up to this point. However, everyone has their limitations, and my patience is quickly nearing its end.

I have attempted to find a means of escalating my concern through your website, but have found none that seem to be set up to address the sort of concern I am having. I have created an Email support ticket, case # , which references my original service ticket number. However, there appears to be no means of addressing the overall lack of proper service and attention I have received throughout these last 10 days, so I have drafted this letter, which I will send to as many recipients at Dell as I can find Email addresses for. If you’ve read this far, but are not the correct person to assist me in this matter, then I apologize for consuming so much of your time, and ask that you please forward it to a person of authority, who can help me resolve this issue.

At this time, I am no longer willing to deal with the XPS support staff through the usual telephone calls, as the language/cultural barrier seems to be partially responsible for the non-resolution of my concern. I understand that Dell is not the only large company to outsource their tech support to an offshore location, but I wish to speak to someone who is better equipped to help me, and I feel that I have given the offshore support staff more than enough of my time, without satisfactory resolution.