Additional warranty, no battery coverage

Are you under the care of a guardian?  Otherwise, you are responsible for understanding what you are purchasing.

Hello axb777,

You stated:   "All I want from dell is an answer from a responsible person but since most of the calls are outsourced the support representative did not even seem to care about the issue here."

When an employee of Dell takes your call, it is because they are the "responsible person" and they give you a scripted reply, which has been approved by their supervisor and managers of Dell Corp.  The Tech and Customer Support people are doing their job and to deviate from that would result in them not having a job, so you have recieved an answer from a responsible person.  If you do not like the answer, and trust me Michael Dell is not going to personally take your call on replacing a battery, then contact unresolved issues found at the bottom of every Dell page.

However, its a battery, get a new one and get on with life.

Best,

Darrell WV

This is the second time he posted this - he erased all the earlier answers.  Basically, he didn't understand what he was buying.

The warrenty of the battery may be covered thru the manufacturer of the battery and if you got a extended warranty you have a seperate order number for that item. Go to MY ACCOUNTS and bring up your purchase for the laptop and the warrenty item. your battery should be covered for 1 yr then the extended warrenty kicks in.

There are several problems with your claim. First, you will have to call the tech as a witness,do you have her name?  Are you going to be able to serve her, to get her to testify? Will she testify that you said "I am buying this warranty only because it will cover the battery"? Probably not. 

I too am unhappy that customer service is less personal that it used to be. But Dell is a worldwide company - can you imagine the volume?

My comment was harsh, and I apologize. I just get sick and tired of everyone complaining - the complaints about the FREE Windows upgrade are really grating. Dell is trying to survive in a very harsh business environment; it is not trying to drive customers away.

Did you charge the warranty? You may be able to dispute the charge with your credit card company.  But credit card companies are so jumpy right now, you might be best off just racking it up to experience. If you go online, you may be able to find a less expensive battery. But a battery is like tires on your car - they get a lot of wear, and consequently no extended warranty covers a flat.

The DTPA mentions this: The failure to disclose information concerning goods or services known at the time of the transaction and was used to induce the consumer into a transaction whom otherwise would not have entered had the information been disclosed. (violates DTPA)

Well, the rep who sold me, first mentioned that the general warranty would not cover the battery and then offered me to buy the Complete Care relating it to the battery but did not mention that even Complete Care would not cover it. When i was not even thinking about the battery while extending the warranty, the fact that she brought this to me and offered me to buy additional warranty without  disclosing the proper facts, I was misled there. By mentioning the battery and then offering me for the Complete Care she induced me to the transaction if not i would never have purchased the complete care.

The DTPA provides that "false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are hereby declared unlawful."

And one who thinks that i am under a guarardian, let me tell you this, not everyone is born smart as you are, and the sales rep are trained enough to make better sales. When you buy something its the sales people's responsibility to provide you with enough information not to mislead you just to get your money.

Also, I have read a lot of comments here about the customer service of dell. So everyone knows how good dell is at customer service. All i wanted is an answer from a responsible person does not mean I had to talk to 10 different operators who did not know what went wrong here. I do not think people working out there are familiar with existing laws. And whomever you talk to, wherever you get transferred you are connected to a tech person who have no concern with customer service. If you want to try, call dell and see if they have a customer service department other than sales, tech and warranty.

I am not sure if dell offered warranty on batteries when i bought it, but if you have time to check, go check the extended warranty information at dell.com now, they do offer extended warranty for battery now.

dlr356, nice post. I agree on many levels - and also with your post in your other thread (Great Custoimer Service).

axeb777,

You said, "When you buy something its the sales people's responsibility to provide you with enough information not to mislead you just to get your money."

Previously, you implied they MADE you buy the extended warranty.

I do not mean this rudely, but you should participate a little more in your purchasing decisions. Yes, it is a little bit of work, but the internet has made things easy to find, and it will prevent things like this fom happening in the future.

Good luck. By the way, I have used Pacific Battey and had good luck there, but I have also heard good things about Level 8 Technology for replacement batteries. I am sure there are dozens of other good companies out there... I preferred Pacific Battery because they carry genuine Dell batteries, where many others have Dell compatible batteries. I'd avoid eBay for fear of either dead battery or exploding battery...

If they've offered you a refund on the warranty, take it - that will more than cover the cost of the battery.  Problem solved.

Next time, read the terms before buying.

dlr356- I am not here talking about testimonies, all i meant is the unethical business practice that Dell used on me which might have been the case to many other people. . And I never said I bought the warranty because the rep told the Complete Care would cover the battery. The thing is the rep mislead me to think that, which is totally unethical and you should know that being a lawyer. As I mentioned earlier the DTPA clearly mentions that misleading a cutomer to get the transaction violates the act. And as far as getting my money back is concerned, I am sure you know about Time Value of Money. I did not spend my money at that time just to get to this situation and get it back. However they offered me to cancel the warranty and refund my money, which I do not want because they would not do that if I was wrong. And also, its not just about a battery, I can buy that anywhere I know but the way they are ignoring my complaint being very irresponsible like they do not care about customer service at all is what people should know. I bought a laptop from dell expecting service, but this is not what I wanted from them when i have a issue and they don't have anyone to listen to me.By the way, a flat tire is covered by road hazard warranty to let you know. :) thanks.

They are not ignoring your complaint. The people you have spoken to have read Dell's policy about battery replacement under warranty and are responding appropriately. There is nothing they can say or do to get you a free battery. They are offering a warranty refund perhaps not because they feel they are wrong, but as a customer service gesture.

I think your best bet is as ejn said, take them up on the refund offer and buy a battery. Of course, since laptops have a high failure rate, you may want to keep the warranty and buy a battery separately.

Bottom line - the written policies (their battery warranty - which is similar to any other laptop maker) take precedence over anything you may have been told. I know that is not pleasant if you were told differently, but you really have no recourse.

A tire would be warranted for road hazards only if you purchased a road hazard warranty, and that road hazard warranty would not cover normal wear and tear causing the tire to need to be replaced, which is presumably the case with your battery.

"I got an extended warranty on that one, and my daughter spilled Snaple on it, and they denied coverage."

So, you bought the HP warranty without knowing what it covered, and made the SAME mistake with the Dell?

What's that in baseball - three strikes, you're out?

Next time, read before you sign or pay.

axb777-I was not meaning to get into a debate about how to prove your case, just suggesting that the burden of proof would be impossible to meet.  Unless the rep actually told you the battery was covered, it is hard to prove you were misled.  I'm sure the Dell rep read off a script as to what was covered by the warranty.  You mentioned filing suit for fraud - I was just indicating what you would need to do to prove the case that you were mislead.  It is all about what you can prove.

It is difficult to accept that sometimes no one is responsible for bad stuff - it just happens.   I work for a large company, and I can tell you no one is deliberately trying to mislead you.   Even though it seems to be a big, impersonal corporation, it is made of individuals, who are trying to do the best they can for their customers and their shareholders.  They need to please both in order to survive.

Please do not assume becase they offerred to cancel the warranty, they believe they were wrong.  They offerred to cancel the warranty because if you are this difficult to deal with when you don't have a warranty claim, it will probably be worse if you actually have a warranty claim. 

I had an extended warranty on my last computer (HP) and determined it was worthless.  The mother board had to be replaced within the warrantly period, but it took forever, and then they had to give me a new computer anyway.  I got an extended warranty on that one, and my daughter spilled Snaple on it, and they denied coverage.  I had a fit, and appealed the decision, and was sent pictures showing the fried MB.  So I decided to be responsible for my own repairs.  That way I can get it repaired faster, or decide to junk it myself.  By the way, my daughter can't use my computer anymore. 

The extended warrenty was free, as this was a replacement computer.  The original computer also had an extended warranty, also free.  You get what you pay for! 
I knew it didn't cover a fried mother board - since the computer worked for a couple weeks after that, I thought it might be something else.

I did not get an extended warranty for my Dell - I did not like the lack of control I experienced with the HP extended warranty.  I want to be able to decide myself whether to wait while the computer is fixed or just buy a new one.  That is why I now back up every week.

I found something even better than an extended warranty.  I just don't let my daughter use my computer.  She now has her own (another HP with a free extended warranty, that we used this week to get a new charger).

I always read everything before I sign it - much to my daughter's dismay, when she asked me last night to sign a blank book report.  Unless it doesn't make sense to read it.  For example, my mortgage.  My husband was appalled when I didn't read it - I said we couldn't make any changes, so what was the point?  Just make sure the amount and interest rate is correct.