Laptop was purchased last May.

It is still under warrantry as applicable to New Zealand Sale Of Goods Act where all items sold within New Zealand must be of merchantable quality and guaranteed for parts and labour for a full 12 month.

Purchased via Credit Card.

To date I have had an email message stating that keyboards are not covered under warranty (which is false).  I have also recieved a phone number to contact which then required a four digit exentsion which has not been supplied which makes contact impossible.

This is the email message recieved:-

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Thank you for contacting Dell Online Technical Support.

Seen from the case logged, you have called our phone support and was informed about the warranty coverage. If you would like to talk to our customer care regarding this issue, you may reach them at 0800 775 771.

For your reference, your case number will be 1423456.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require additional assistance to resolve your issue.

Thank you & best regards,
Subaida Masoothu
Dell Services - Technical Support
SA & ANZ - Online Team

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I have contacted the person above but the phone keeps fading in and out and I have no real idea what she says so phone contact is out of the question.

This has been going on for four days now and as far as I'm concerned if this is the level of Dell service then they need to go back and learn how to do things properly - what a pathetic level of service from an international company that proports to be leaders in the field.

Regards ...

Hi Hagwalther

Let me state up front that I am not an attorney, nor do I purport to be an expert in consumer protection, so I'm going to relate what I would do about this, if I were you.

1. Every further contact to Dell on this issue should be documentable:  Do not make anymore telephone calls to Dell--they can log and record them (without providing you with a copy), while it's cumbersome at best for you to do so.
2. Look up the most-appropriate contact address in your user manual that came with your laptop and send a demand letter to Dell asserting that, since the laptop isn't servicable, you want a replacement.  State in your letter that if no reply is received within 10 days, that further action will be taken.  (IMO, the only basis Dell could use for excluding this problem would be customer misuse or abuse--spilled liquid, hard blows, laptop dropped.)  I would recommend using FEDEX or some other trackable courier for delivery of this letter.
3. Contact your credit card company, and see if a chargeback is possible.  If it is still possible, ask them to put a watch on the transaction.  (Depending on the type of card, you may also have an additional year of warranty on the computer.)
4. If New Zealand--or your locale--has a bureau of consumer affairs, immediately request the complaint forms, and have them ready, in case Dell stonewalls this.

Try the above, and keep us posted.

Regards, mooiss