Optiplex not what was advertised

About a week ago I bought a computer from Dell Online. It is a refurbished Optiplex 7060. The journey has not been exactly smooth, in particular from the moment I received it.

 

The unit was supposed to come with an HDMI port, but today I found that it does not have one. I was surprised that it does not have a VGA port either. It came with two display ports only.

 

So to start with, either the information in the website is all mixed up, whether on purpose I cannot tell, or the actual specification sheet is confusing or simply misleading.

 

I chatted with a representative before buying and I was reassured that it did have an HDMI port. I also confirmed with the same representative that the unit allowed for an additional hard drive, as I planned to add an SSD after buying it. So after that confirming information I bought it.

 

That things happen is true, and to some extent understandable; however to be taking on a three hour trip to nonsense-land is not acceptable.

 

I called Dell and after several (too many) options I managed to be transferred to a human being. I explained that the unit was meant to have an HDMI port, but it did not have one and that it did not have any VGA or DV ports, so I needed to know what to do. I was transferred to sales to buy cables. After several such transfers to sales, back to customer service, back to sales to buy adapters, back to customer service to tell them I needed to sort the computer not to buy more stuff; back and forth, this is what I was told and retold:

 

That I need to buy an adapter cable from HDMI to VGA, to which I responded that such an adapter would not work because there is no port to connect it to in the unit. And I was transferred again to sales to buy the adapter that I just said it was useless.

 

Back to a customer service representative, this one very condescending and patronizing, who told me to send a picture of the back of the computer because he did not seem to believe what I was telling him. He got the picture and argued that the 9 pin male serial port was actually a female 15 pin VGA port, it took nearly 10 minutes to convince him that he was wrong, he transferred me to sales to buy adapters.

 

Another transfer to customer service. This one seemed a bit more knowledgeable, and after reviewing the specifications of my computer concluded that my unit has an HDMI port and I might have missed and asked me to look again. Now I have been using computers ever since the big IBMs 360 and programming since Assembler, so I can identify a port and I surely know when I do not see one. Again, I was told to get an adapter from VGA to HDMI, totally ignoring that there is no way to adapt what does not exist!

 

The last representative just hanged on me.

 

Summary of the above, the unit was offered with an HDMI port and it does not have one.

 

Also, since I asked if I could add a second hard drive and I was told yes, I assumed (It seems wrongly) that there was a bay for it and that the bay had a caddy on it. I found that it does not have the plastic caddy. I was surprised to find out that the 5.25 bay actually have a blue caddy on it but not the bay that one would actually use these days for an SSD. I asked a representative if I could buy one from Dell, and I was told that they don't have it. So, it seems I will probably have to order one from China.

 

I bought quite a few desktops, laptops and servers from Dell over the years, and I really enjoyed the quality and reliability. The units used to come with some extra cables and screws in case one would add some part. Not anymore, it seems. I need to add an M.2 Wlan card, but the screw is a size that is not normal and I have to order them from Amazon or somewhere.

 

That said, I had to buy today an adapter for the monitor, and I will have to buy more parts it seems. And in the process, I feel I was literally mocked.

 

The cherry would be yesterday, after sitting four hours waiting for FedEx to deliver, the tracking web changed suddenly from delivery by end of day to delivery schedule unavailable. When calling FedEx I was told the package was coming the day after and that I could now go to sleep.

 

I am not sure if I will keep this unit or not; but of one thing I am sure, this might be the last time ever that we buy a Dell computer.

 

Thanks

JC