Dissapointed: Dell's warranty parts are refurbished

If you read the warranty statement, they DO tell you that they use refurbished parts - so too does every other computer vendor.  Read the terms of your washing machine or car warranty -- same deal there as well.  It's standard practice in just about every industry.

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/policy/en/policy?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~section=012

Almost every warranty repair uses refurbished parts.  I work in desktop warranty repair, and it's refurbished.  But I can garantee you they are tested to the extent they can, vs the ammount of others computers that come in for repair.

It's in the fine print that no one bothers to read, or a salesman lies about (as I personally entountered).  ;)

Texas has INVENTORY TAX on all items that are "new" So every part that comes out is "Refirbished"

Sec. 23.12 (a) of the Texas State Property Tax Code states that the market value or assessed value of inventory “is the price for which it would sell as a unit to a purchaser who would continue the business.”  The Tax is every year.

Items that are refurbished lose status as real property to be inventoried and taxed.

They aren't trying to cheat anyone.

Texas Tax Code Section 151.101 imposes use tax on the storage, use or other consumption of a taxable item, including tangible personal property, purchased for storage, use or other consumption in Texas. Tax Code Section 151.104 provides that a sale of a taxable item for Texas delivery is presumed to be a sale for the storage, use or other consumption of the taxable item in Texas. Further, Tax Code Section 151.102 imposes liability for the use tax on the person storing, using or consuming the taxable item.

I am very angry that 9 months after having spent my hard saved cash on a fairly high spec 'Brand New' Vostro 410 with upgrades etc the Monitor back light packed up...I am from the UK and so expect UK rights of replacement as new...instead I took delivery of a refurbished old dusty monitor covered in finger prints over the screen and case....

This is VERY POOR SERVICE IMO....what happened to my consumer rights? how long will it last before this old used monitor packs up? It must be a Dell Con to get people to buy extended warranties as Dell cannot guarantee any of its kit to last 12 months let alone years....perhaps I should have bought a £300PC and threw it away every year rather than a better more expensive PC which I would have expected to last longer without faults or at least to have monitor replaced with new monitor.

By comparison, I did not buy a new car to expect it to just last a year and if the car had a fault such as a engine noise the garage would not replace it with an old worn out but working engine rather than a brand new one with lots of life left to run...same thing applies....it does not matter one jot about small print....I have bought about 20 Dell PC's for home/work and this has opened my eyes and will make me think twice about parting with my hard earned cash to Dell again....

Buyers beware!!

E. Montero,

I would not let the use of refurbished components concern you. I have been in Network Administration for 26 years and to that end I have deployed thousands of systems and Servers. It has been my experience that regardless if it is a Desktop by Dell, HP, etc., or a $30,000 Datacenter-Class Server I have found it not uncommon for the manufacturer - whomever it may be - to use refurbished components for repair.

As long as the component is warranteed does it really matter?

Certainly not worth losing any sleep over.  :emotion-1:

LGLDSR

Re the engine analogy...well put. It is at their sole discretion.

In my situation, the XPS9000 is brand new and I got a noisy fan for the ATI Radeon 8570 graphic card. I called DELL the next I received the system and I got a refurbished replacement which have the same problem.

If the system is brand new, I expect to receive a brand new one.

I'm currently thinking to return the system. Fortunately I'm in my 30 days period.

Thank you to let me known about it.

I'm not sure about the law in Canada and especially in Quebec province because we have a consumer protection.

Anyway  what a stupid solution from Dell. It will cost more to them to get a new one and I will have to wait one months again. And this is not a guarantee that the new one will be ok.

As a customer, I'm very disapointed.

The return period is 21 days from shipment - not 30.  If you are within that time, you can return the system for a new, not refurbished, replacement.

Well I can understand refurbished parts but also when You pay a premium warranty they should atleast make sure the parts will work tested yes but in anything refurbished is not a true use line in a months time for instance one hard drive, two graphic cards,one mother board and two fans still next is another mother board and a power unit so all in all is it better to sell no waranty and just make them throw away?  I am sure all are trying to do a good job and YES it is frustrating and would I reccommend that we buy more dells? well would any other company do different?  So it is a case of I have a warranty now parts are being replaced that last less than a month so do i toss it and just buy a new PC and chalk it up to experience and not ever take a warranty again? but LOL was funny first support tried to sell me a warranty then shoved me off I figure was a coffee break coming on :) Life is Life and regardless are some good ones trying to help in that barrel of apples it is just when You get a rotten one with a worm You want to Scream..........................

You're out of luck if you want a notebook where new parts will be used for repair in case of failure - ALL manufacturers use refurbished repair parts.  If you build your own desktop, even then if you have to ship a mainboard for replacement, the replacement part will more than likely be refurbished.

As for notebook vendors, there are some with better reputations than Dell, and others with much worse reputations - Dell is about even with Apple as far as hardware reliability - better than most, not as good as a couple of others.

HP is the largest seller of notebooks and by far the worst when it comes to reliability, service and support.

Therein lies the answer.  $799 in 1976 translates to $3,109 today -- see

http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.htm

Even accounting for improvements in hardware, that differential means you get less support today than in 1976 - basically, in 2010 the price of a new computer is lower up front than it was in 1976, dollar for dollar.  You pay for the differential in inflated dollars in the fact that in owning a computer, the hardware is just the beginning of the cost.

I must say I never thought that refurbished parts are used in repairs of laptops.

What does worry me is how they get these refurbished parts. It must mean part taken out of a faulty computer and repaired. How do you repair HD with some internal fault? How do you repair main board which had failed? Some soldering, replacing some capacitors, or other elements? What is the guarantee that fault was corrected?

As far as car repairs is concerned, when some part, like spring, shock absorber or similar break down it is certainly replaced by the new ones? At least by a good car dealer. And yes, if they use refurbished or not original parts, then they offer you these parts at reduced price. And you have a choice of getting cheap, replacement part from China or Japan or original, new one.

For me a computer is a personal thing. I threat it well, and when it breaks down it is a bit like your favourite pet that got sick. That why replacing parts with ones coming from others computers, maybe treated badly (some posts about dirty and physically damaged replacement screens) sounds bad to me.

Well, looks like not much we can do about it. Maybe convert ourselves to cheap, through away computers.

Repair parts can come from spare stock (be new) or from returned computers - they should be tested for functionality before they're shipped. 

Car manufacturers can and do use rebuilt/refurbished parts for warranty repair - if your Chevy or Honda has a cracked engine block under warranty, you will get a rebuilt engine as a replacement.  If your alternator fails, the warranty repair will be done with a rebuilt part.  Dealers generally use only OEM parts - not third party though.  Where the part comes from is another matter - at one point GM was putting NEW engines from China into the Chevy Equinox it builds in Canada.  And the massive heated-wiper recall was over a NEW Chinese-made part - so country of origin is now meaningless.  There are plenty of "American" Ford and GM products with far more foreign content than many "import" Subarus, Toyotas, Hondas, etc.

Effectively, notebooks are becoming throwaways.  With average prices hovering around $700 and major components like mainboards or screens costing 30-50% of that before labor, in case of a major component failure, the systems are now a write-off.