SEND IT BACK NOW!!!! If you have only had it 3 days do not let them try to trouble shoot it!!!
This is my nightmare with DELL!
To make a super long story short...
1. December 22,1999 I received my Brand New Dell Computer I paid $2,431.72 for.
2. Beginning right away, December 23, 1999, my computer kept locking up and doing other mysterious things. Yes, this was in the 30 day Warranty period.
3. During my 30 day Warranty period I was assured by the Support Tech that the problem would be resolved. Reason for not returning my Dell Computer right away.
4. After numerous calls to Dell Support between January 10, 2000 thru today April 30, 2000, and after many visits to my home by Dell to replace the Motherboard, CPU, Memory, Power Supply and the Hard Drive, Dell conceded that I got a Lemon and was going to send me a new computer.
5. Friday, April 28, 2000 I received my new computer.
6. I set up my new computer and low and behold I saw a big tag on the box that said REFURBISHED.
I paid $2,431.72 for a NEW upgraded computer in December and now in April I have a $2,431.72 USED computer.
On your lockups, since you have just gotten the system, you may not have had time yet to optimize your resource situation. The deal is that when your software was installed, a whole lot of programs were configured to preload at startup, then stay available for you to access them from the quicklaunch tray, to the lower left on your taskbar.
Do this: go to Start | Programs | enter msconfig in the field you see there, and OK the run. Choose the Startup tab. See all these checked boxes? Each one represents a program loading at startup, and each one is reducing that part of your memory called resources, which will eventually cause an out of memory error, as you actively use other programming in addition to these quicklaunch programs. Make a list of all these entries and go to Denny Denham's Startup Webpage and you'll be able to see what you can safely uncheck of these items.
You need to reach a compromise between the convenience of all these quicklaunch apps and the ability to keep your system functional and stable by having enough resources for it to operate, OK?
On the Outlook Express buttons changing colors and behavbing oddly, I'm not certain what's causing that; oftentimes upgrading video drivers helps; possibly reducing the acceleration might help. Others probably have other ideas for this problem.
Your customer service site does not display the problems that I have had. This site does. Yes I am very unhappy with Dell right now as would anyone. I am only responding to those with like problems like me. I was very happy with the last Service Tech I had because he finally figured out my computer was junk! I am sorry but people need to know that the little guy needs to be heard. My problem started the day after I got my computer and Customer Service is why I kept it over my 30 Warranty because they were going to fix it. My new/used computer I got last Friday is locking up too, do you have an answer for that? Steve will know now that if by day 29 it's still locking up he needs to return it and don't let Dell talk over the problem to day 31 when it's too late.
I'm sorry this is a problem for you and I know it's not your fault. I think Dell should support their customers a little better and if by me speaking out helps 1 person I'm happy.
You have posted this exact post in I have no idea how many places in this conference. I understand you are angry with Dell. Please take this anger to the Customer Service forum. This forum is for solving problems by factual methods. Steve's system is not necessarily exhibiting hardware problems at all. For this reason, the solution to these problems will not necessarily be the same as what you experienced.
In the future, rather than copying and pasting your identical posts again and again, could you please just set a hyperlink to any one of the many identical posts you have already made? That way people who have already read your posts will not need to sift through them again. You could then be free to express any further opinions you have on the matter, and those of us trying to solve the system problems of others can do so more peacefully.
You are certainly entitled to express your opinion in this or any other forum. Please be aware, however, that out of the box, most systems used under normal circumstances will exhibit lockup problems, and those problems will be due entirely to software issues. In troubleshooting lockups, software issues are cleared first, and then hardware issues will be handled. We have time to do that here, and I am hoping that Steve will give us a few days to work on that with him prior to just returning the system. He has a beautiful system. It would be a shame to just walk away without ever knowing whether or not it was truly necessary to do so.
I have read some of your post and I realize you are upset. I agree that I would be unhappy too if I had experienced the same ordeal. That said, you should be made aware of a few things about the forum you are using to vent your anger.
First of all, it is a USERS forum. Yes, it is provided and moderated by Dell personnel however, any post from them is identified as such by the Dell logo in their signature. The other 99 per cent of the responses here are from just regular folks who happen to enjoy sharing their knowledge and expertise to help those in need. Bob11 happens to be one of them and there are many others...none of which has any affiliation with Dell whatsoever.
Most of these people are very knowledgeable and have a broad base of expertise...from hardware to the finer points of software. Most will go to the ends of the earth to try and solve a problem for a fellow user...not for pay or reward but, for the simple satisfaction of helping.
Please consider this as you express your dissatisfaction. You have had a bad experience but, try to understand that for every person with a similar experience there are hundreds who have none. This very forum which you have chosen to vent your anger has been provided by Dell so we, plain ordinary people with real-world jobs, families, etc., have a place to communicate one-on-one and help each other.
As you may know, most computer problems have simple answers. It's finding the simple answer that's the trick. I don't think the "pack it up and send it back" advice before trying to trouble-shoot the problem is helpful or...realistic. I don't know about your problem and, have no reason to doubt you, as you said, "got a lemon". You should realize though, that an extraordianry number of computers, Dell included, are sold to essentially novice users and the obvious result is self-inflicted problems. I know in my case, they most certainly were.
The bottom line...please refrain from taking your frustration out on the folks who regularly post here. They are an extraordinary group...friends who have never met. They are not part of your problem, cannot fix your problem and did not cause your problem.
Sincere Best Wishes to you. I do hope your new *used* computer does not give you problems. Sounds like you had enough with the first one.
Lets see, in April, Dell replaced your four month old used PC and you're upset about it. It sounds like you have made your mind up to be unhappy and miserable, no matter what.
Nine of us work for Dell. We are just extremely satisfied Dell owners who are trying to help others with their problems, most of which are caused by Microsoft, not Dell. It is a shame that you did not come here for help when you were having problems. Oh excuse me; that would have been constructive.
I did not know about your site until now. I was too busy e-mailing with your techs online and talking to them by phone! What I am not happy with is that I bought a NEW computer in December that was broken from the day I got it and I am suppose to be satisfied with a USED computer because they could not solve my problems! How would you feel? Buy a new car and settle for a used car because the new car does not work!!!!!!!
Sorry you feel that way.... I am getting alot of response from people that feel the same way I feel. I am a housewife not a millionaire!
Thank you for your response and concern. Yes, I am very unhappy. Friday I got my new computer and it has started the same symptoms as my last one, locking up. If I can help 1 person that gets strung out by Dell Techs pass the 30 day Warranty I am happy. This forum is the forum that people are experiencing my problems at the beginning. I want to let them know what I went through. I am not Bashing Dell I'm just telling my story and that is for the customer to decide how they feel. I am just letting them know if it's pass the 30 day they are stuck!
It's good to know that Bob11 doesn't work for Dell because I'm sure Dell would not like to hear that their employees treat customers that way. E-mails are permanent!
My standard example....
You buy a new car to no avail it does not work.....
The dealer replaces it with a used car....
ARE YOU A HAPPY CUSTOMER AND ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP THE USED CAR?
The problem here exists not with Kimberly placing one post stating dissatisfaction with Dell and its policies, even though those policies were freely available for her to read before she bought her system. She chose not to read them, and now refuses to accept responsibility for that oversight. I say again, she is free to post her opinion once. What she is doing, however, and I do not know if this is stemming from anger or from lack of technical knowledge or what, but in every case where someone indicates the slightest difficulty with a system that might be remotely attributed to hardware failure, she cuts and pastes the exact same post, undercutting someone with the knowledge to possibly help solve a problem. She has an entire thread deeper in this conference devoted to this very post. That should have been enough.
Those of us attempting to help people solve their problems are having some difficulty reaching the people who have posted problems due to Kim's insistence on having this one post be seen by every person that enters here with a remotely hardware-related problem. While I realize she is trying to put a group together, this is not the best way to go about it. It would be preferable to place a post to this effect in the General area of the Customer Service Conference, or even a separate post up here, requesting people to e-mail or whatever. Just leave the technical threads alone.
The problem was not with Dell--they did hold up their legal end of the bargain, and she agreed to these terms, as did we all, when she bought her system.
What we who spend our free time here working out problems with people would like her to do is to stay out of these threads until she sees for certain that we have ruled out software errors and minor hardware issues. Most of us are quite aware of the 30-day return policy, even if Kim was not. We do everything we can to get problems resolved well before that time so that the computer owner has some time to get the arrangements made with Dell to return the system, if that is what they choose to do. Once we tell them it's time to call Dell Tech Support, then she can add whatever she feels necessary. Until then, she tends to frighten some people off, which is a shame. Her brand of protest exhibited in this forum harms others and helps no one, not even herself. While she's risking messing these people up in this conference, her behavior here will not change Dell's corporate policy. It's very unfortunate, but perhaps misery does love company. Believe me, I have had issues with Dell as a corporation. Those issues were settled to Dell's satisfaction, not mine. That has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on this forum as a whole or in any of its parts. If we could all try to remember that the tewchnical aspects of systems are what are to be covered in the technical conferences, that would be a good thing. Believe me, no one has dumped on Kimberley. If you think they have, you haven't been to a newsgroup lately. The arguments I have seen have all been on merit of statement alone. She is very fortunate to have posted here, rather than in a newsgroup. If so many disagree with her, perhaps it is because the premises of her logical argument are in error, resulting in a false conclusion.
kimbonick
53 Posts
0
May 1st, 2000 23:00
SEND IT BACK NOW!!!! If you have only had it 3 days do not let them try to trouble shoot it!!!
This is my nightmare with DELL!
To make a super long story short...
1. December 22,1999 I received my Brand New Dell Computer I paid $2,431.72 for.
2. Beginning right away, December 23, 1999, my computer kept locking up and doing other mysterious things. Yes, this was in the 30 day Warranty period.
3. During my 30 day Warranty period I was assured by the Support Tech that the problem would be resolved. Reason for not returning my Dell Computer right away.
4. After numerous calls to Dell Support between January 10, 2000 thru today April 30, 2000, and after many visits to my home by Dell to replace the Motherboard, CPU, Memory, Power Supply and the Hard Drive, Dell conceded that I got a Lemon and was going to send me a new computer.
5. Friday, April 28, 2000 I received my new computer.
6. I set up my new computer and low and behold I saw a big tag on the box that said REFURBISHED.
I paid $2,431.72 for a NEW upgraded computer in December and now in April I have a $2,431.72 USED computer.
KayH
1.1K Posts
0
May 1st, 2000 23:00
Hi Steve,
On your lockups, since you have just gotten the system, you may not have had time yet to optimize your resource situation. The deal is that when your software was installed, a whole lot of programs were configured to preload at startup, then stay available for you to access them from the quicklaunch tray, to the lower left on your taskbar.
Do this: go to Start | Programs | enter msconfig in the field you see there, and OK the run. Choose the Startup tab. See all these checked boxes? Each one represents a program loading at startup, and each one is reducing that part of your memory called resources, which will eventually cause an out of memory error, as you actively use other programming in addition to these quicklaunch programs. Make a list of all these entries and go to Denny Denham's Startup Webpage and you'll be able to see what you can safely uncheck of these items.
You need to reach a compromise between the convenience of all these quicklaunch apps and the ability to keep your system functional and stable by having enough resources for it to operate, OK?
On the Outlook Express buttons changing colors and behavbing oddly, I'm not certain what's causing that; oftentimes upgrading video drivers helps; possibly reducing the acceleration might help. Others probably have other ideas for this problem.
Good luck,
Kay
kimbonick
53 Posts
0
May 2nd, 2000 00:00
Your customer service site does not display the problems that I have had. This site does. Yes I am very unhappy with Dell right now as would anyone. I am only responding to those with like problems like me. I was very happy with the last Service Tech I had because he finally figured out my computer was junk! I am sorry but people need to know that the little guy needs to be heard. My problem started the day after I got my computer and Customer Service is why I kept it over my 30 Warranty because they were going to fix it. My new/used computer I got last Friday is locking up too, do you have an answer for that? Steve will know now that if by day 29 it's still locking up he needs to return it and don't let Dell talk over the problem to day 31 when it's too late.
I'm sorry this is a problem for you and I know it's not your fault. I think Dell should support their customers a little better and if by me speaking out helps 1 person I'm happy.
Have a nice Day!
Kimberly
Bob11
2 Intern
•
1.6K Posts
0
May 2nd, 2000 00:00
- Bob -
I was thinking, women should put pictures of missing husbands on beer cans.
7XDB8
KayH
1.1K Posts
0
May 2nd, 2000 00:00
Kim,
You have posted this exact post in I have no idea how many places in this conference. I understand you are angry with Dell. Please take this anger to the Customer Service forum. This forum is for solving problems by factual methods. Steve's system is not necessarily exhibiting hardware problems at all. For this reason, the solution to these problems will not necessarily be the same as what you experienced.
In the future, rather than copying and pasting your identical posts again and again, could you please just set a hyperlink to any one of the many identical posts you have already made? That way people who have already read your posts will not need to sift through them again. You could then be free to express any further opinions you have on the matter, and those of us trying to solve the system problems of others can do so more peacefully.
You are certainly entitled to express your opinion in this or any other forum. Please be aware, however, that out of the box, most systems used under normal circumstances will exhibit lockup problems, and those problems will be due entirely to software issues. In troubleshooting lockups, software issues are cleared first, and then hardware issues will be handled. We have time to do that here, and I am hoping that Steve will give us a few days to work on that with him prior to just returning the system. He has a beautiful system. It would be a shame to just walk away without ever knowing whether or not it was truly necessary to do so.
I do wish you luck in your situation.
Best wishes,
Kay
hotshot
27 Posts
0
May 2nd, 2000 00:00
Good luck Steve.
Mike
kimbonick
53 Posts
0
May 2nd, 2000 01:00
If you work for Dell this only goes to show what we are up against.
"I was thinking, women should put pictures of missing husbands on beer cans."
NICE RESPONSE!
Don't worry, I have passed this message on to other Dell personnel, not a problem. I have had too many other problems with Dell.
Dan Manley
1.4K Posts
0
May 2nd, 2000 01:00
I have read some of your post and I realize you are upset. I agree that I would be unhappy too if I had experienced the same ordeal. That said, you should be made aware of a few things about the forum you are using to vent your anger.
First of all, it is a USERS forum. Yes, it is provided and moderated by Dell personnel however, any post from them is identified as such by the Dell logo in their signature. The other 99 per cent of the responses here are from just regular folks who happen to enjoy sharing their knowledge and expertise to help those in need. Bob11 happens to be one of them and there are many others...none of which has any affiliation with Dell whatsoever.
Most of these people are very knowledgeable and have a broad base of expertise...from hardware to the finer points of software. Most will go to the ends of the earth to try and solve a problem for a fellow user...not for pay or reward but, for the simple satisfaction of helping.
Please consider this as you express your dissatisfaction. You have had a bad experience but, try to understand that for every person with a similar experience there are hundreds who have none. This very forum which you have chosen to vent your anger has been provided by Dell so we, plain ordinary people with real-world jobs, families, etc., have a place to communicate one-on-one and help each other.
As you may know, most computer problems have simple answers. It's finding the simple answer that's the trick. I don't think the "pack it up and send it back" advice before trying to trouble-shoot the problem is helpful or...realistic. I don't know about your problem and, have no reason to doubt you, as you said, "got a lemon". You should realize though, that an extraordianry number of computers, Dell included, are sold to essentially novice users and the obvious result is self-inflicted problems. I know in my case, they most certainly were.
The bottom line...please refrain from taking your frustration out on the folks who regularly post here. They are an extraordinary group...friends who have never met. They are not part of your problem, cannot fix your problem and did not cause your problem.
Sincere Best Wishes to you. I do hope your new *used* computer does not give you problems. Sounds like you had enough with the first one.
Dan
Erik1
837 Posts
0
May 2nd, 2000 01:00
Nine of us work for Dell. We are just extremely satisfied Dell owners who are trying to help others with their problems, most of which are caused by Microsoft, not Dell. It is a shame that you did not come here for help when you were having problems. Oh excuse me; that would have been constructive.
Erik
B3JR9, UKMBH & 07C0D
kimbonick
53 Posts
0
May 2nd, 2000 02:00
Sorry you feel that way.... I am getting alot of response from people that feel the same way I feel. I am a housewife not a millionaire!
Kimberly
steve2525
2 Posts
0
May 2nd, 2000 02:00
kimbonick
53 Posts
0
May 2nd, 2000 02:00
Thank you for your response and concern. Yes, I am very unhappy. Friday I got my new computer and it has started the same symptoms as my last one, locking up. If I can help 1 person that gets strung out by Dell Techs pass the 30 day Warranty I am happy. This forum is the forum that people are experiencing my problems at the beginning. I want to let them know what I went through. I am not Bashing Dell I'm just telling my story and that is for the customer to decide how they feel. I am just letting them know if it's pass the 30 day they are stuck!
It's good to know that Bob11 doesn't work for Dell because I'm sure Dell would not like to hear that their employees treat customers that way. E-mails are permanent!
My standard example....
You buy a new car to no avail it does not work.....
The dealer replaces it with a used car....
ARE YOU A HAPPY CUSTOMER AND ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP THE USED CAR?
Kimberly
Elmer_Fudd
20 Posts
0
May 2nd, 2000 14:00
Sounds like a VIRUS. There's one good thing about it, you ignore this one and it will go away eventually.
Happy Dell Customer in Oregon
Bob11
2 Intern
•
1.6K Posts
0
May 2nd, 2000 15:00
- Bob -
I was thinking, women should put pictures of missing husbands on beer cans.
7XDB8
KayH
1.1K Posts
0
May 2nd, 2000 18:00
Theman,
The problem here exists not with Kimberly placing one post stating dissatisfaction with Dell and its policies, even though those policies were freely available for her to read before she bought her system. She chose not to read them, and now refuses to accept responsibility for that oversight. I say again, she is free to post her opinion once. What she is doing, however, and I do not know if this is stemming from anger or from lack of technical knowledge or what, but in every case where someone indicates the slightest difficulty with a system that might be remotely attributed to hardware failure, she cuts and pastes the exact same post, undercutting someone with the knowledge to possibly help solve a problem. She has an entire thread deeper in this conference devoted to this very post. That should have been enough.
Those of us attempting to help people solve their problems are having some difficulty reaching the people who have posted problems due to Kim's insistence on having this one post be seen by every person that enters here with a remotely hardware-related problem. While I realize she is trying to put a group together, this is not the best way to go about it. It would be preferable to place a post to this effect in the General area of the Customer Service Conference, or even a separate post up here, requesting people to e-mail or whatever. Just leave the technical threads alone.
The problem was not with Dell--they did hold up their legal end of the bargain, and she agreed to these terms, as did we all, when she bought her system.
What we who spend our free time here working out problems with people would like her to do is to stay out of these threads until she sees for certain that we have ruled out software errors and minor hardware issues. Most of us are quite aware of the 30-day return policy, even if Kim was not. We do everything we can to get problems resolved well before that time so that the computer owner has some time to get the arrangements made with Dell to return the system, if that is what they choose to do. Once we tell them it's time to call Dell Tech Support, then she can add whatever she feels necessary. Until then, she tends to frighten some people off, which is a shame. Her brand of protest exhibited in this forum harms others and helps no one, not even herself. While she's risking messing these people up in this conference, her behavior here will not change Dell's corporate policy. It's very unfortunate, but perhaps misery does love company. Believe me, I have had issues with Dell as a corporation. Those issues were settled to Dell's satisfaction, not mine. That has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on this forum as a whole or in any of its parts. If we could all try to remember that the tewchnical aspects of systems are what are to be covered in the technical conferences, that would be a good thing. Believe me, no one has dumped on Kimberley. If you think they have, you haven't been to a newsgroup lately. The arguments I have seen have all been on merit of statement alone. She is very fortunate to have posted here, rather than in a newsgroup. If so many disagree with her, perhaps it is because the premises of her logical argument are in error, resulting in a false conclusion.
Kay