Inspiron Quality

I recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 15R based upon my experience being a very satisified owner of 2 Inspiron 6000 devices for the last 4-5 years.  These old work horses worked well and withstood the rigors of daily use by my family and never missed a beat.  When it came tim to buy a new device with more horsepowere I immediatly turned to Dell and bought a new Inspiron 15R.  When I opened and box and got my hands on the device I immediatly knew that it was not the same as my old device.  It's flimsy, poor quality plastics did not give the same tactile feel as the old Inspiron 6000 - bottom line it was of inferior quality.

I called the returns group and sought to return the device and they were more than happy to accommodate but I would need to pay a $60 restocking fee.  I argued that this was in appropriate because why shoudl I have to pay to return a device that is of poor quality.  If the device had a technical flaw - no questions asked but poor quality - they indicated that my logic was flawed.  Needless to say i am very disappointed in Dell Customer service  Once a happy customer that recommended their equipment to my friends and IT colleagues - now soured by a poor experience over a $60 return fee. 

I must admit that the training of the Dell staff in returns department regarding policy adherence is top notch, but that is coming the the cust of customer service.  I am really disappointed with my experience with Dell and have spent hours of my time to return the device.  I'll end up paying the $60 to get out from under an inferior product but will I ever buy a Dell product again - not likely unless they make this right.

I hope that someone at Dell replies to my note and can give me some help with correcting this situation.  If others have an older Dell Inspiron and can compare them to the new devices tell me your honest opinion of you think the quality of the physical laptop is the same.  I think you will agree with me that Dell is making a technically very good product but putting it in a shell that is not up to the standards that we had come to expect.