Not happy with Dell laptops

You can purchase a Dell branded charger from many third party sellers for much less than Dell charges. You can also replace a laptop hard drive cheaply.

You could have purchased an extended warranty if you wanted coverage. The failure rate for laptops is very high, even in the first year, because of the conditions they see.

Most charger problems are due to improper handling of the DC power cord. Most hard drive failures are related to the laptop being dropped or roughly handled. If you drive your out of warranty car into a ditch, should the manufacturer fix it for you?

Tell me about it.

I was suckered into the extended warranty in Sept 09 for my Latitude 2100.  Now guess what, the battery stopped working.  Dell now tells me the battery is only covered for the first year and doesn't include the extended warranty.  This was miss sold to me at the time.  They now want me to pay £111 for a new battery.

In addition to the battery problem I need an opengl driver.  Only the manufacturer can supply this and it is suppose to be free.  Dells driver manager does not work on my system.  I tried to get tech support to help me but this is software and I need to pay extra for that support.  Even if I do decide to pay for what should be a free driver (and I still have another 2 years warranty for whatever good that is). I now lack the conviction that Dell has the will to do anything other than sell machines and warranties.  

As you found out JMelchio they do not have a complaints department.  All these problems are just figments of our imagination and if we just open our wallets wide enough we might wakeup from our self deluded nightmare. 

Anybody's comments on the above are most welcomed to.  If somebody has a positive comment to make about Dell tech support I would love to hear it.

You actually, on some models, CAN get a 3-year battery warranty - it costs about $150 additional, which not coincidentally is about what a replacement battery costs. Lenovo and Dell both offer this option.

NO ONE offers more than a 1-year battery warranty without that rider - not even with an extended warranty on the rest of the system.  Even Apple, which touts its "5-year" batteries, warrants the battery for one year -- even with the extra-cost 3-year AppleCare.

You're asking for a video driver for a specific application -- again, no vendor promises to provide all drivers for all possible uses for a system.  That doesn't mean you can't get one - you probably CAN, but you'll need to get it from the component maker - Intel, ATI, etc. - not Dell.

As for the "complaints" department, there IS an unsolved issues link at the bottom of the page.

The problem with support on systems is that it costs the manufacturers a lot of money - money consumers aren't willing to spend.  It's a case of the airlines -- now, you pay a low fare for the seat, and you pay for everything else additional - checked baggage (even carryon on some airlines), meals, changes, reservations, etc.  So too with computers - the base price gets you the hardware, a bare bones 1-year hardware warranty and 90 days of software support for ONLY what shipped with the system.  Anything else you want - added warranty, battery coverage, software support - you pay extra for.  And though it may not be much comfort, note that the situation applies not just to Dell - but to HP/Compaq, Acer/Gateway/eMachines, Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba, Apple, ASUS and every other manufacturer out there.

EVERY manufacturer is under the same pricing pressures - you'll find the situation no different elsewhere.

It used to be lifetime support came with every system. That was in 2000 and earlier, when the average selling price of a notebook was about $2,500.  Now, it's between $600 and $700 -- and no, you haven't really saved the $1800-1900.  If you want the same level of support and service, plan on spending another $300-400 in EACH of software and hardware support -- for a total outlay of perhaps $1,500. Still cheaper than the old model, but it's not as much cheaper as it appears on the surface.

Well scripted reply EJN63,

If only I was buying a plane ticket or a car.  But I didn't,  I bought a Dell.  One thing all three have in common,  they all take a customer on a ride.  The question is where is my destination and where do I want to go?  Now as for the other brands you mentioned.  That violates the terms & conditions of this Dell blog so I didn't go there.  About the big A and the HP.  I own both and I can assure you it has been a far more enjoyable experience then this.  I haven't had to blog about them because they solved the problems.  I know I can buy the battery Dell would sell me at £111 for 1/3 that new on the internet .  I can only imagine how much profit margin they make on solving my problems. I repeat I would not have purchased the extended warranty if that was mentioned at the time of purchase.

As for the driver.  No I cannot  get the driver from Intel because of this model type I must get it from the manufacturer.  I have tried. Check it out for yourself before giving wrong advice. I am sure Dell will happily sell you a new Latitude to play with. By the way Opengl is not an obscure driver.  While you are comparing try to get the same type of driver for an HPs.  Their download manager is light years ahead of Dell's and will work. And the big A driver manager is even better.

In reality it is short term gain and long term loss.  What is the value of their brand.  Has my experienced strengthen or weaken that brand value?  Where will I buy my next pc and why?  I just told you the why but no one is listening.  When I have to replace the laptops for the sales force where will I buy? What's Dell's share price today? Eventually either Dell will listen/care or go the way of the Gateaway cow. Remind me what does IBM do now?  Someday people may think Dell the insurance company.  The really sad thing is when I the customer has a real problem, that is the real opportunity to to win them as a life long customer. Right now as far I am concerned there are no winners here only missed opportunities. 

As for the unresolved issues link.  Tech support knew it was unresolved at the time but they aren't paid to care at tinyurl.com  Remind me what do you get for the extended warranty? Does it cover accidentally throwing a laptop out a five story window?  In any case I always wanted a nice blue paperweight with a shiny logo on it. 

Now how about that good story on how Dell tech support fixed the problem with someone's laptop.  Where that extended warranty really paid off.

Well? ...

 There is no Forum rule against mentioning other computer makers.

Other things that you should know....

If you are having difficulty using Dell's download manager, download your drivers without using the manager.

And, like it or not, none of the makers mentioned would warrant a battery past one year, so implying they are better iin your particular issue is wrong.

An extended warranty is purchased to fix hardware issues after the standard warranty expires. If you sincerely were asking what it covers, all I can say is that was something you should have checked on before you bought it.

Also, for the record, Dell batteries and Dell compatible batteries can be had for a pretty low price from third party vendors online. If you'd like a recommendation, I am sure others and I can oblige.

The 3-year warranty/complete care pays off for us all the time - it covers all repairs, even accidental damage - and Dell is usually very quick with fixing.

As for the ones you mentioned, HP is overall - though of course any individual experience may vary - far, far worse than Dell.  And their overall policies are exactly the same as Dell's.  So too are Apple's policies - battery, hardware, software - all covered in the same way.

The problem isn't just in satisfying customers.  It's in doing so in such a way that you stay in business.  Given the margin on a new system - perhaps $50-60 on an average one - no one is going to go very far beyond the terms of the warranty.  Years ago IBM decided it would leave the business of selling PCs to Lenovo and bowed out.  HP makes essentially nothing on selling hardware - it makes all its money on services, paper and printer toner/ink.

You've made up your mind - others disagree.  I wouldn't touch or recommend HP with a ten-foot pole.

Dell isn't perfect.  But it sure as day is better than HP.

Yes but there is about promoting other products/manufacturers and with my above situation it is difficult not to. That isn't why I posted.

I can't figure out how to down load a driver without the driver manager from Dell and nether could Dell tech support I talked to. 

FYI I recieved a new battery from HP after 1.5 yrs after purchase, around 3 yrs ago because it kept rapidly losing its charge.  Maybe that was down to my Texan charm.

As for checking out the warranty before I bought.  Yes my fault for trusting the sells person at the time. Buyer beware. Lesson learned I will never trust anyone again or buy the warranty for a laptop again.  My home insurance is far more reliable anyway. I know I could probably buy that through Dell too.

I already said I could get a replacement battery 1/3 the price on the net.   Why is Dell over pricing it for someone who already bought the warranty hook line and sinker? It sounds like a lot more profit than what they make for selling a laptop in the first place.  If faults are so much more profitable what encourages them to make reliable machines in the first place?

On a lighter note my washing machine just broke the other day.  Thank god it was under warranty. I am still worried they, Hotpoint, will come back to me that my warranty is void because I used the wrong fabric softener.

Thank you Hrova

I've now gotten my driver finally yeah!. Dell's driver manager doesn't like Google Chrome.  Old explorer did the trick.

If you can't tell I'm a very uncommon person and uncommon things happen to me regularly and I wouldn't want it any other way.

You are a real asset to Dell.

Cheers

To download without using the Donload Manager, read this thread and utilize the technique stated in the Verified Answer:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3513/p/19338567/19720324.aspx#19720324

A screen shot can be seen here:

http://en.community.dell.com/dell-blogs/Direct2Dell/b/direct2dell/archive/2009/07/07/dell-driver-download-manager-is-optional.aspx

If HP gave a battery out of warranty, that is noce for you. I doubt that is a common occurrence....

EJN63

You shouldn't pretend to be someone you aren't.  With 71,000 post the only thing that pays off is your employer Dell as your salary not their warranty. I am glad you have pride in your employer but it didn't help me with my problem.

Fabman1

Where did the stickers go?  Could they have a room just covered in them to pay homage to Bill.  Maybe they trade them like baseball cards. They only use I could think of is to somehow not pay Microsoft for their software on other laptops they would use the stickers on?  Maybe there is a black market for them. I think you should email Microsoft and ask.  

As for your hard drive I hope you had it all backed up.  It makes you wonder if the problem is the hard drive at all.  Good luck with that.

My posting got pulled.  I guess the truth hurt somebodys feelings.

I wonder if the hard drive was bad myself.  It would have been nice if they would have had the customer in mind when they sent it back unchecked.

Hi Fabman,

Interesting your post got deleted.  As far as I can remember it didn't violate the terms of this forum.  I would actually take it as a good sign.  Maybe Dell is going to investigate your sticker complaint and didn't want your post to tip them (those friendly people with sticker fetish off).  If that is true then they will delete this as well.

It kind of reminds me of the Stephen Hawkins experiment to see if time travel was ever to be possible.  He wrote an invitation for a time traveller to meet him for a party only he didn't post the invite until afterwards.  Needless to say I decided not to go..uhmm I mean no one turned up.  Any time travellers  that read this please let us know the ultimate fate of Dell, the universe and everything.

Back to your laptop problem.  I once had a laptop that did a similar thing. After the frustration of trying to get it working I finally just gave it to an IT friend to keep if he could fix it.  In my case it was down to my habit of keeping the laptop on the arm of the sofa while I cruised the net and watched TV.  The laptop couldn't ventilate properly and overheated.  In that case the IT guy had to replace some things on the board with some high level skills in soldering.  On a positive note here.  The Latitude 2100 for all my battery complaints does pass my sofa test and barely gets warm to the touch.

I am still waiting for that good news testimony of Dells support and the value of the extended warantee from someone other than a Dell employee.

I keep my laptop on a cooling unit when I'm using it, so it shouldn't have overheated.  I received the box to return it back for repair. 

Hopefully it'll return as good as new, and who knows, maybe they'll replace MY stickers.  I guess I should have just taken it back to BestBuy since I purchased their extended warranty.

I'll drop you a line when I get it back in a few weeks

As far as kingsblade's post is concerned, he/she couldn't be more wrong.  I don't work for Dell, but I do work WITH Dells daily - along with hardware from just about everyone else. 

Is Dell perfect? Far from it.

Are they the best in hardware and support?  Nope.  That'd go to Apple.

Are they the worst?  Not at all - HP/Compaq takes that crown - with Acer/Gateway/eMachines not far behind.

What kingsblade (and most others) don't realize is that ALL notebooks are made by a handful of the same companies - six or seven - all based in Taiwan.  They all have the same price/design constraints, they all buy CPUs, hard drives, screen, and other components from a small pool of the same vendors - and all the hardware is basically the same inside.

There is one - and ONLY one - company that still designs its own hardware.  See above for the best at that.