The Dell representatives listened to me before, but that didn't stop them from completely disregarding what I said and overlooking 3 other separate issues that they assured me they would look at - several times. Issues which now continue to haunt me.
Not only did they not resolve the issues, they in fact made everything WORSE. My laptop is constantly having problems that I've never experienced before, from network issues (that no other device on my network experiences), random restarts and freezes to black rings around the display, broken speaker, etc.
There is NO WAY I'm sending this laptop back to you unless you are sending me a refund check in return, because I know your service team with only exacerbate the issue further.
I called Dell in December and they were polite enough to inform me that my warranty expired the prior day (literally) and hung up on me. This is extremely frustrating as most of you who have had this issue know that it occurs gradually. At first you don't realize there is a problem until the trackpad is so far out of the PC it is comical.
So I've taken several paths now to report the issue and also have my claim covered by credit card:
- I filed a complaint with the consumer products safety commission. There is plenty of press on faulty lithium ion battery related fires, I wanted to bring another potentially hazardous device to their attention.
- I opened my bottom case and did verify it is indeed the battery. I have plenty of pictures of the swelling. Interestingly, when I removed the battery I can see that the trackpad is able to function normally again. The opening of the case is easily user-serviceable if you have a T5 and PH0 screwdrivers and is the same process if you were to upgrade memory or SSDs.
- I ran a battery report via the command prompt and confirmed I'm down to 70% capacity with significant drop-off seen weekly. This can be done by opening an admin command prompt (right-click the windows menu) and using the following command: powercfg /batteryreport /output "C:\battery_report.html" (you can alter the last part to a destination of choice).
- Finally, I've filed an extended warranty claim with American Express. They automatically provide an additional 1-year of warranty coverage on any purchases done via their card (this varies by AMEX card type I assume).
So it looks like a battery replacement will fix the issue for me with no lasting side effects. However it is frustrating that a premium laptop catastrophically burns through a battery in under a year. For any other early adopters who are now having similar issues I'd suggest you check with your CC company for any additional warranty coverage if you did not purchase such from Dell.
I also had the same "trackpad lifting" issue, 1 month after warranty expired. Based on all the red flags I have read while trying to address the problems with the TB15 dock, I should have extended the warranty.
Anyways, yes, it was the battery expanding. Both the battery and the trackpad were replaced, just shy of $300 (so others know what the investment to fix is, or to compare with getting a warranty). If you do send it in, make sure they have authorization for both the trackpad and battery. I found out they only pre-ordered the trackpad (even after I specifically stated that the battery was the cause) and then I had to call them to remove the hold on authorization to buy a replacement battery. No idea if they were about to call me, or I happened to check the status a few hours after the technician posted the "hold".
Little bit a venting, but hopefully some facts that well help lessen someone else's bad day.
American Express covered me for the in-home repair costs in my case. I should have my new battery next week. When I disassembled my device it appears that a battery replacement will remedy the whole issue in my particular instance.
The battery can be purchased for ~$110 if one wanted to go that route on their own first.
Also the CPSC followed up with stating they have forwarded my complaint to Dell. I'd encourage others to do the same, how do we know that this battery expansion issue won't result in a catastrophic battery failure in some cases.
Having the exact same issue; my machine is used only in a room that's 70F +/- 10F and I'm having the exact same touchpad issue. The TP never really worked for me so I use a mouse but the 1mm lifting of the TP at the front is extremely bothersome for a machine that's $2K. I paid a premium price expecting a premium product but that's obviously not the case. The machine is about 14-15mn old and I've yet to check if I purchased an add'l warranty. Even if it were covered there's a huge inconvenience factor but I assume it will not be covered. SD port hasn't worked for a long time either.
I'm adding my XPS 9550 as another unit having the trackpad issue. It has gotten worsen over the course of 3 weeks. Starting from trackpad can't be depressed to now the bottom area of the trackpad is above the surface.
While reading through the thread, I just realized the space-bar issue was also a common one. Obviously, I've got that too.
Thanks @HandsomeDan for sharing the cost of the battery. I also recently got quoted for an extended warranty for about $190. I think I'll definitely go for that.
Again, I'm still trying very hard to like Dell. Just to vent it out here a bit. I endured the torture of trying to make TB-15 work. At the end, it was time to call it quit. I called up our Dell Tech Support. At first, they gave the "my laptop is out of warranty", "can't find my service tag" go around. After a few minutes of putting on hold, the rep came back with a 180 change of tone. I was then offered a TB-16 as a no-cost replacement. TB-16 is definitely working better. However, my battery expanding+touchpad lifting problem might have something to do with my XPS 9550 was constantly plugged in to the new TB-16. Coincident!? possibly. But, perhaps when the laptop is plugged in most of the time, it put stress to the battery in ways that it would expand more so than others.
I have the on-site service warranty. A technician came today with a new battery and new touchpad. When I looked at the old battery, it has grown into something like a six-pack of sponge cake. The technician also mentioned this is very common.
If you do not have warranty, I think the battery is about $90 (non-dell). It takes a torx screwdrivers to open up the bottom to replace that. A fairly straight-forward task. I'd definitely suggest replace the battery the first sign your touchpad is not physically clickable.
Mine just gets worse by the day and given how much Dell charges (well over $2400 for me) paying to repair a safety related design flaw just feels unacceptable. Since they won't help I guess all I can do is an all out socialmedia youtube, FB, LinkedIN, Twitter and Instagram campaign to WARN others from buying anything Dell to include their stock? a satisfied customer tells all his friends and one taken advantage of by a company warns the worldwideweb.
I had the same problem, and thanks to this thread and another one I went on Ebay, got me a different battery, and fixed the problem. Thanks guys! (Not Dell, I am definitely not thanking Dell for this.)
I too have the same problem, just to keep it in record to this thread. I'm very unhappy with the amount of money I put into this product only to have it give me the middle finger after a year and a couple of months. I too while try the battery replacement fix because I can not afford to wait for Dell to respond with a solution. Thanks guys for the posts.
dazzen
16 Posts
0
January 6th, 2017 14:00
With all due respect, listening means nothing!
The Dell representatives listened to me before, but that didn't stop them from completely disregarding what I said and overlooking 3 other separate issues that they assured me they would look at - several times. Issues which now continue to haunt me.
Not only did they not resolve the issues, they in fact made everything WORSE. My laptop is constantly having problems that I've never experienced before, from network issues (that no other device on my network experiences), random restarts and freezes to black rings around the display, broken speaker, etc.
There is NO WAY I'm sending this laptop back to you unless you are sending me a refund check in return, because I know your service team with only exacerbate the issue further.
dazzen
16 Posts
0
January 10th, 2017 16:00
Today I got this response via. BBB: "Dell is reviewing our records."
My original submission date was 11/30/2016.
It takes 6 weeks to tell me that you're reviewing records?
Clearly these guys are jokesters just running out the clock.
HandsomeDan
11 Posts
0
February 5th, 2017 12:00
I called Dell in December and they were polite enough to inform me that my warranty expired the prior day (literally) and hung up on me. This is extremely frustrating as most of you who have had this issue know that it occurs gradually. At first you don't realize there is a problem until the trackpad is so far out of the PC it is comical.
So I've taken several paths now to report the issue and also have my claim covered by credit card:
- I filed a complaint with the consumer products safety commission. There is plenty of press on faulty lithium ion battery related fires, I wanted to bring another potentially hazardous device to their attention.
- I opened my bottom case and did verify it is indeed the battery. I have plenty of pictures of the swelling. Interestingly, when I removed the battery I can see that the trackpad is able to function normally again. The opening of the case is easily user-serviceable if you have a T5 and PH0 screwdrivers and is the same process if you were to upgrade memory or SSDs.
- I ran a battery report via the command prompt and confirmed I'm down to 70% capacity with significant drop-off seen weekly. This can be done by opening an admin command prompt (right-click the windows menu) and using the following command: powercfg /batteryreport /output "C:\battery_report.html" (you can alter the last part to a destination of choice).
- Finally, I've filed an extended warranty claim with American Express. They automatically provide an additional 1-year of warranty coverage on any purchases done via their card (this varies by AMEX card type I assume).
So it looks like a battery replacement will fix the issue for me with no lasting side effects. However it is frustrating that a premium laptop catastrophically burns through a battery in under a year. For any other early adopters who are now having similar issues I'd suggest you check with your CC company for any additional warranty coverage if you did not purchase such from Dell.
drbreitw
1 Message
1
February 15th, 2017 18:00
I also had the same "trackpad lifting" issue, 1 month after warranty expired. Based on all the red flags I have read while trying to address the problems with the TB15 dock, I should have extended the warranty.
Anyways, yes, it was the battery expanding. Both the battery and the trackpad were replaced, just shy of $300 (so others know what the investment to fix is, or to compare with getting a warranty). If you do send it in, make sure they have authorization for both the trackpad and battery. I found out they only pre-ordered the trackpad (even after I specifically stated that the battery was the cause) and then I had to call them to remove the hold on authorization to buy a replacement battery. No idea if they were about to call me, or I happened to check the status a few hours after the technician posted the "hold".
Little bit a venting, but hopefully some facts that well help lessen someone else's bad day.
HandsomeDan
11 Posts
0
February 18th, 2017 09:00
American Express covered me for the in-home repair costs in my case. I should have my new battery next week. When I disassembled my device it appears that a battery replacement will remedy the whole issue in my particular instance.
The battery can be purchased for ~$110 if one wanted to go that route on their own first.
Also the CPSC followed up with stating they have forwarded my complaint to Dell. I'd encourage others to do the same, how do we know that this battery expansion issue won't result in a catastrophic battery failure in some cases.
resqav8r
2 Posts
0
April 7th, 2017 19:00
Having the exact same issue; my machine is used only in a room that's 70F +/- 10F and I'm having the exact same touchpad issue. The TP never really worked for me so I use a mouse but the 1mm lifting of the TP at the front is extremely bothersome for a machine that's $2K. I paid a premium price expecting a premium product but that's obviously not the case. The machine is about 14-15mn old and I've yet to check if I purchased an add'l warranty. Even if it were covered there's a huge inconvenience factor but I assume it will not be covered. SD port hasn't worked for a long time either.
KC Sham
1 Rookie
•
14 Posts
0
April 24th, 2017 23:00
I'm adding my XPS 9550 as another unit having the trackpad issue. It has gotten worsen over the course of 3 weeks. Starting from trackpad can't be depressed to now the bottom area of the trackpad is above the surface.
While reading through the thread, I just realized the space-bar issue was also a common one. Obviously, I've got that too.
Thanks @HandsomeDan for sharing the cost of the battery. I also recently got quoted for an extended warranty for about $190. I think I'll definitely go for that.
Again, I'm still trying very hard to like Dell. Just to vent it out here a bit. I endured the torture of trying to make TB-15 work. At the end, it was time to call it quit. I called up our Dell Tech Support. At first, they gave the "my laptop is out of warranty", "can't find my service tag" go around. After a few minutes of putting on hold, the rep came back with a 180 change of tone. I was then offered a TB-16 as a no-cost replacement. TB-16 is definitely working better. However, my battery expanding+touchpad lifting problem might have something to do with my XPS 9550 was constantly plugged in to the new TB-16. Coincident!? possibly. But, perhaps when the laptop is plugged in most of the time, it put stress to the battery in ways that it would expand more so than others.
KC Sham
1 Rookie
•
14 Posts
1
April 26th, 2017 14:00
I have the on-site service warranty. A technician came today with a new battery and new touchpad. When I looked at the old battery, it has grown into something like a six-pack of sponge cake. The technician also mentioned this is very common.
If you do not have warranty, I think the battery is about $90 (non-dell). It takes a torx screwdrivers to open up the bottom to replace that. A fairly straight-forward task. I'd definitely suggest replace the battery the first sign your touchpad is not physically clickable.
c.chooper
144 Posts
0
April 26th, 2017 16:00
Is an known issue, the support agent can search this in their knowledge base.
Maybe also the palm rest (includes the touchpad) must be replaced.
resqav8r
2 Posts
0
May 2nd, 2017 20:00
Mine just gets worse by the day and given how much Dell charges (well over $2400 for me) paying to repair a safety related design flaw just feels unacceptable. Since they won't help I guess all I can do is an all out socialmedia youtube, FB, LinkedIN, Twitter and Instagram campaign to WARN others from buying anything Dell to include their stock? a satisfied customer tells all his friends and one taken advantage of by a company warns the worldwideweb.
tfairchild
2 Posts
0
May 19th, 2017 10:00
I had the same problem, and thanks to this thread and another one I went on Ebay, got me a different battery, and fixed the problem. Thanks guys! (Not Dell, I am definitely not thanking Dell for this.)
http://imgur.com/gallery/Onq5k
htike
2 Posts
0
May 29th, 2017 19:00
@tfairchild
Where did you get the replacement battery on ebay mate?
I've been looking for one and the websites selling it seems like not trustworthy.
Fusion_com
1 Message
0
June 24th, 2017 05:00
I too have the same problem, just to keep it in record to this thread. I'm very unhappy with the amount of money I put into this product only to have it give me the middle finger after a year and a couple of months. I too while try the battery replacement fix because I can not afford to wait for Dell to respond with a solution. Thanks guys for the posts.
hawkpic123lee
1 Message
0
August 10th, 2017 03:00
A lot of users are complaining of a battery defect.
Dude54321
5 Posts
0
September 3rd, 2017 14:00
I have the same problem, but my laptop is out of warranty. Suggestions?