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Dell xps 15 9550-swollen battery
For a couple of months, my XPS 15 9550 had been showing signs of a swollen battery( touchpad popping up due to the pressure of battery). After some online research, I found out that this is a really common problem due to batteries being faulty and Dell was changing these batteries free of charge globally even if they are out of warranty. And after that, I even learned that my brother who also had an XPS 15 9550 had the same problem and received a replacement battery free of charge(even when it was out of warranty) in the UK. After seeing my touchpad became impossible to use and the battery was looking scary and knowing it will be a free operation I sent my XPS to service.
Unfortunately, I live in Turkey where Dell outsources its support operations to a Turkish firm. And that Turkish firm refused to change my battery free of charge because I was out of warranty. I told them that this was globally being done free of charge, even giving them the reference number(QNA44171) regarding this issue. They still insisted they won't do it free of charge and asked me to pay 90$.
After that I wanted to contact someone who had more power and maybe could listen to me and asked for the supervisor, they gave me the phone number of a supervisor and when I talked to him he said he asked his supervisor about the issue and it was denied by his supervisor and gave me the email address of his supervisor.
Now, I mail this last supervisor( who is the 4th person I am contacting about the issue), I tell him about my problem and at least ask for an explanation. He responds with an email which contains only a single sentence saying "I asked the related unit about the issue and they declined your request because your warranty is over". After that I ask for the phone number or the mail address for the related unit, he just sends me a phone number without telling me who I should be talking etc.
I call the number and to my surprise, I find out the number he gave me is the call center of the firm, basically, I'm back to the first step of the cycle. It was this same number I called at the first place and got the mail address of the supervisor after contacting 3 different people.
Now I end up with my laptop in the service, they ask for 90$ for the battery which should be changed free of charge and the supervisor who should be handling the situation is just trying to get rid of me instead of handling it or at least giving a proper response.
The worst part is that I can't find any place to fill a complaint about this issue and I will probably spend months with Consumer court if my problem doesn't get resolved.
Mary G
4 Operator
4 Operator
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20.1K Posts
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January 24th, 2019 08:00
The replacement policy has expired since that model computer is 4 years old now and even non defective batteries can swell when they reach the end of life after 18 months-2 yrs. Dell did not make the batteries. The same thing happened to other computer and phone makers with the same model batteries. Check online for info about recalled batteries.
It is dangerous to keep the battery in the computer. Remove it carefully and dispose of it safely at your local hazmat site. The swollen battery seems to have damaged the computer so buying replacement battery-if you can even find one--is not recommended. It would be a waste of $90. See if the laptop works using just the adapter.
Read-- https://www.dell.com/community/Inspiron/Battery-Swelling/td-p/6084119
larrybyndon
2 Posts
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January 24th, 2019 09:00
Thanks Mary, that's a better reply than what I got from the official Dell Support of Turkey in the last week.
But, even if the model is 4 years old my laptop is just a little over 2 years old. And I can understand some swelling on an old battery but a swelling which pops up the touchpad and makes the battery look like a huge black plastic bag is obviously defective and not swollen because it has reached its end of life.
And as long as Dell uses those parts in their products, it shouldn't matter who is producing them, the Dell has the responsibility since they are making money by using those defective parts in their products and they should be handling my situation. And actually they do it, I've never seen anyone contacting Intel for a replacement of faulty processor, everyone seems to be going for the laptop manufacturer and they seem to be changing them etc.
And if the swollen -defective- battery caused some damage in my laptop the situation seems even more dire. I can't be held responsible for some damage the product caused itself. This is the very definition of "defective product" and Dell should be giving me spare parts with the battery if they are needed.
And lastly, it is unfair and unexplainable by Dell if they have stopped the battery policy since I know they were continuing it at least as recent as September and it doesn't make sense to not support something just because it's an old problem. It's still Dell's responsibility and I really feel like I'm being ripped off by the Turkish support firm.
Hope some official Dell support employees will touch on the matter and help me.
Bougti
10 Posts
0
January 24th, 2019 13:00
If you're not seeing any distortions, then you should be able to wait the extra 2-4 weeks. And if they're coming to you, no downtime from mailing it in and waiting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGngCTaUMAc
It's not terribly difficult to do, but you want the matching screwdriver heads or its pretty easy to strip the bits, and it's a bit of finesse getting it opened and closer without any cosmetic concerns.
roiik16
1 Message
0
January 27th, 2019 11:00
I am also in the same situation as you.
I bought the laptop from Germany with DELL extended EU warranty. I was in Malta when I encountered an issue with my laptop. p.s Few months old, not even a year. I contacted DELL in regards my issue and they tried to help me by email, FB messenger chat but no one could understand the issue and was told to hand it in at a DELL authorized repairer in Malta. My issue was that the laptop was switching on automatically when I switch it off completely and it was becoming extremely hot in my bag while also draining my battery. When I explained my problem to them they asked me to leave my laptop there and pay a fee of 60 euros for them to start examining the laptop. I have asked why I have to pay when the laptop is still under warranty and I got a response that they are simply authorized DELL repairers and they are not paid by DELL to repair laptops which are not bought directly from them, yet when you search for the nearest repair center on DELL website it shows on their page. I did not have any options but to pay the fee and get my laptop to a working condition. 3 Motherboards were changed including the palm rest and the track pad as they couldn't find the issue.
That was fixed but few months ago I have encounter another problem.
I was travelling from Berlin to Malta and I was using my laptop as I normally do but for some reason my track pad did not want to click. The battery was swallowing so bad that the track pad was literally out of its slot. I got so scared that I decided to close the laptop but this was getting worse as the track pad was pushing upwards. I contacted DELL, explained the issue as I was not aware of this problem and they didn't even care what they were going to cause with one of their laptops. They simply replied that the recall of batteries was stopped. How can you stop something that is so dangerous?
Shame on you DELL, was a true fan with your laptops and technology, two problems were I was left stranded on a 2k euro laptop. Well done and way to go in supporting your customers.
RajKM
2 Posts
0
March 6th, 2019 21:00
I have been experiencing same problem with my laptop now. i talked to Dell last week, and outcome wasn't good. they blame the battery lifetime which again littler over 2yrs. shame on you Dell, using cheap battery on a expensive laptops. though i'm seeing so many raised this complaints Dell is not calling off the battery on this region (USA). very bad! I never going to buy a Dell laptop again. they lost my trust.
NarayananR
2 Posts
0
July 15th, 2020 05:00
Vote in change.org against Dell for Defective Batteries