XPS 630 Tech Support Nightmare

Hello Logical1,

I can not say that I have had your experience, although I have has system issues that required several calls to Tech Support and the required personal time to run the Dell Diagnostic program.  Yes, it is time consuming, but Tech Support did call me back several times to see how I was progressing and to see if I needed help with the diagnostic.  We conversed by e-mail, keeping track of what was going on, so it was okay with me.

The Dell engineer was able to fix my problem, replace the H2C unit and the processor in 30 minutes and have be back on line, and I have not BSOD since, and it is now two weeks.

You have started the correct procedure by contacting unresolved issues, that is your best solution.   From what I have seen posted here in the forums and elsewhere, this is your best method of dealing with a complex issue.

I know you are frustrated, I know that I would be as well, but hang in there and see what the unresolved issue people do for you. 

Keep us posted as to your progress.

Darrell WV

Darrell WV, thank you for replying!

"John" the supervisor left me a message on Saturday saying that he needed another 24-48 hours and he would get back to me and curiously.. not to talk to anyone else at Dell about the conversation we had on Friday, to contact him directly as he did not want me to have to repeat what we had discussed.  What I find curious about that is that on many of my calls to tech support last week I had to provide the same information over and over again and no one seemed to care.  Also John and I talked for a max of about 3 minutes, a very brief talk outlined above.

I pulled my phone records and counted the minutes spent with Dell.... 518.  Yes 518 minutes in 5 days!

No one has contacted me from Dell since Saturday afternoon and I STILL have a computer that won't start!

Stay tuned...

Good Evening Logical1,

Thanks for keeping me posted as to what is going on with your unit.  Once a supervisor has taken over a case, I would imagine that he would want to make sure it is handled correctly, so I see nothing odd about his suggestion of not speaking with another Tech Support or Unresolved Issue person.  Most of the time, as my limited understanding, the supervisor will have some sort of computer based record which your case number will bring up on the screen, so that they will know who you spoke with and what was discussed.  When I spoke with MyTechTeam personel, they always read the notes on my case number to confirm what I was saying, so I would guess that is standard protcol.

Hopefully there will be a good resolution to this situation for you soon.

Again, hang in there,

Darrell WV

Hello Darrell,

Thanks again for replying!

I think I now know why "John" didn't want me to talk to anyone at Dell... I got a call today from unresolved issues and the gentelman I spoke with said my case was not handled properly and that there would be "follow-up".

Anyway, he's convinced the hard drive is the problem and has been all along...

Astonishingly, he said he would arrange for on site tech to replace the hard drive on Friday.. about 2 minutes after he confirmed that I had written that I could not take any more time off from work!!!!  I asked if I could install the hard drive, he agreed.

He sent out a replacement and guaranteed me that if this does not solve the issue, he will send me a replacement computer.   Let's see what happens...

Anyone else out there with tech support horror stories?

P.S. Darrell,

What kind of XPS do you have and how do you rate it?

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19255490.aspx

See my own HORRIBLE experience with Dell as well..

Hey Logical1,

Sorry, I missed this post before,

I have XPS 420, Q6600, nvidia 9800, Aegia PhysX, vista HP 32 bit, 3 GB RAM (workhorse, one of the best for office and some gaming, use it at my office, bought it for my home and moved it, great at multitasking)

XPS 630i, Q9650, GTX 260 OC, Vista Ultimate 64 bit, 8 GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 (1066 MHZ), Dell 22" monitor (great for gaming, video and fun)

XPS 730 H2C, QX 9650 OC, dual GTX 260 OC in SLI, Vista Ultimate 64 bit, 8 GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 (1800 MHz), Dell 24" monitor (one great machine, awesome graphics and game play)  I love my 730, if anyone can love an inanimate object.

Darrell WV

I have a similiar problem , but not as bad posted  as XPS 730 BSOD Freeze ups, Darrell WV game me some advice , but i am leary of adding anything to my machine that may void my warranty.

Currently, the tech support is trying to get me to format my HD and reinstall Vista thru my discs that came with the XPS 730.

I am starting to beleive that my whole problem is Vista, never had this kinda BSOD and freezes with XP. I wish I knew who to call and complain to to get this machine back to Dell and my money back.

Also I would love to speak to tech support in my own time zone. My last few calls from tech came to me at work.

Has anyone been forced to format there hardrive by tech support? And if so did it work?

So tired of this XPS, only posting because it just froze up on me again, and tech thinks its fixed and that I'm just a complainer.

As of today my company will no longer represent or do any sort of warranty work/repair for Dell.  I went to a simple install of a Brand New desktop that was right out of the box.  This was a total Virgin machine.  After the install the machine failed on the boot screen.  On the monitor I saw a nice bright red screen, not the blue screen of death, but rather a red screen that told me the machine failed on every boot device.  After a few moments a large FAIL appeared to fill the entire screen (still red mind you).  So I called Dell to let them know the machine that was bought on the 9th of Feb. had major problems out of the box and needs to go back for warranty diagnostic and repair.  Well I got the "run around"  I got into a yelling match with the Tech support over an error code.  He was asking me to read off the error code and then told me I was wrong when I gave him the code.  I was then told to reload the driver disk.  Now how is the driver disk going to work when the machine fails on the device screen?  I did the CMOS thing as instructed.  I even ran a DFT even though it was pointless.  The tech then told me since the HDD passed the quick DFT that the machine was fine. 

You would think that Dell knowing how many machine are produced in a single day would realize that a small portion of them would have errors.  You would also think that knowing this they would be more than happy to fix the problem.  QC cant check every machine, and Dell wont even admit a single machine may have issues.  I was also transfered 5 times before I got tired of it and demanded a supervisor.  I gave him plenty of time to give me the address to send the machine back for the repairs.  This is a 1500 dollar machine.  This is now a 1500 dollar refund.  the customers are now taking the machine back and then coming to my shop to have a custom computer built. 

SO, not only will I not work with Dell.  But every company that we have a service contract with I will have them remove all of their Dell computers for our custom built ones.  Every workstation that is a Dell in all of my contract companies will now be replaced.  So down in Naples FL dell just lost a 1500 dollar sell and about 50,000 dollars in business computers.

And while typing this I had to ask myself; why is 70% of computers in my shop a dell that is just out of warranty.  Kinda makes me wonder.

and here is a link to the same post.   http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19257826/19428603.aspx#19428603

I have also been having a completely miserable "XPS experience" since acquiring a 630i in March.  Within a few hours of starting the new system, I received the BSOD reporting a "hardware malfunction" with no associated error code/stop code.  Chalking it up to the idiosyncrasies of a young system, I pressed on and continued to try and use the computer for my home office.  Two months later, I'm still receiving the BSOD several times a day and almost always while I'm doing something important.  I have spent countless hours on the phone with Dell Technical Support, have run countless hardware diagnostics, and even reinstalled the OS, all to no avail.  Finally, I decided I could not justify sacrificing any more of my personal time to try and fix the defective unit.  I called Dell to pursue a replacement/refund, got the 3-hour run-around in which I was passed between tech support and "customer care" (oh, the irony!) multiple times, and was finally told they would not replace/refund the unit because it was outside their 21-day return policy  -- even though the computer was defective when I received it and I had a tech support log extending all the way back to shortly after I received the computer!  I was finally able to get an order for an on-site tech visit to replace my video card, which is hopefully the cause of the problem, although no one knows for sure.  Still waiting for the on-site tech to call... 

After this "XPS experience", I will not buy another Dell computer and will reccomend to all my friends and family that they don't either.

My 630i tales of woe incorporate all of the same issues listed above. I purchased the machine in October of 2008 and the BSOD attack began immediately. Of course I contacted the dell support people several times withing the 21 days and was EXTREMELY ready of my refund but they always wanted to go all the way through the same redundant tests, with the same redundant results. Please feast your eyes on this list of parts replaced (none of which fixed the problem, some made it worse):

3 motherboards

4 hard drives

24 1gb ram cards

2 GForce video cards

The shotgun approach seems to be Dell's only approach. Mind you I have spent numerous hours on the phone with techs that know less about computers (and english) than I do. I constantly requested my replacement. It was ALWAYS refused. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but even a blind monkey could see we were going no where with this system and that it should have been replaced in October 2008. Oh yes, they really do love to reformat hard drives, like it was the magic cure-all, mainly because it gets that particular tech off the hook.

Finally today, June 24, 2009, the latest round of motherboard and ram replacement left the system completely dead with only a constant beeping at a frequency of 1/sec. The on-site tech requested a system replacement. After they had him jump through even more hoops, and long after rigormortis set in, they finally agreed to a system replacement....only 9 MONTHS after I purchased the machine.

One would think that all is well and that finally this tale of woes  has a happy ending.... not so fast. My machine, even though it says Vista on the outside is, as ordered, an XP Pro machine. I also have a 1tb drive. Dell finally agreed to send me a Vista machine with a 750 gb drive..... DOES IT EVER STOP??  Round 2 of my battle with Dell is about to start.

I am so disgusted I could puke. Last Dell product for me and my company! By the way, is everyone in India named "Bob"

Stay tuned for more of "As the Worm Turns" or "Watch Dell's reputation go down the drain"