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Fistandantilus
13 Posts
0
20525
December 16th, 2003 10:00
Dell's Warranty's??
I didn't know where to post this.Now I havean Inspiron 5100 that is doing the same as everyone elses,shutting down for no reason.I called Dell and they ran me though a few Diagnostics and everything was okay.I was than told to flash my Bios and than run Diagnostics and if anything was wrong to call back.So I updated my Bious from A02 to A22 to A23 to A25.Yes had to do each one as A23 and A25 didn;t recognize so had to to A22 first.
Now to my question.I know that I have the 4yr complete care warranty.When I told the Dell rep that my keyboard has 2 broken keys He said I would have to send my laptop back.I told him "Doesn't someone usually just come"?He than said he would just mail me a new keyboard.Now was this just a way for Dell to not send a tech to come and replace a keyboard that would take me about 5mins to replace myself?I am about 4hrs away from the closest major city.The only other town I can think that a tech might be in is about 45mins away.So I'm curious with the 4yr complete coverage shouldn't he have said he would send someone first?
The rep also said that it could be my motherboard but after reading the thread about the 5100's I know now it is the heating issue and design flaw.I'm really ticked that I got the run around like that.This is my second computer from Dell and thought they were pretty good till recently.I'm pretty ticked that I have spend about $2500 Canadian with them and have recommended them to about 6 people who have all bought from Dell in the past year.If I keep getting the run around like this I'll be sure to tell them where to stick their computers and not recommend to anyone to buy a Dell.After reading the 5100 thread http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_general&message.id=112325 I think Dell should just own up to it and replace the freakin things with another systemrather than just replacing it with the same system that will eventually do the same thing.
- Dell tech support classifies parts as either Field Replaceable Units (FRU's-requires the expertise of a technician to install e.g. LCD, Motherboard, Video Card, Processor,Chassis plastics etc.) or Customer Replaceable Units (CRU's-customers/owners may install the part on their own e.g. Hard drive, cdrom drive, ac adapter, battery etc). For instance, if you are to be sent a hard drive, a technician will not be installing it for you since you only have to remove the screws holding it down and then pull it out however, if its the lcd, motherboard or any other 'FRU' that needs to be replaced then the type of contract you have will come into place. If you signed up for an onsite service then the "FRU" part will be installed by an onsite tech or if you signed for return to depot service then you would be sending your system to the repair depot of dell so technicians there could fix it.
athlon2004
24 Posts
1187
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Posted December 17th, 2003 22:00
What happens if the system goes bad about every 6 month and you only have 1 year of warrenty? Does that mean I am out of luck after the warrenty period due to a "fairly hot" running computer?athlon2004
24 Posts
1187
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Posted December 18th, 2003 03:00
Message Edited by athlon2004 on 12-17-2003 11:40 PM
athlon2004
24 Posts
1187
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Posted December 18th, 2003 03:00
I ran diagnostic and my fans are running fine, but I still overheat.- not necessarily, you actually have an option of extending your contract for 2 to 4 more years. the maximum for contract duration is 5 years so you could apply for contract extension from customer service. regarding the systems problems, im sure that there is a specific component that's causing it, you just have to narrow down the problem if its hardware to that part and then have it replaced. for that heat problem, try running diagnostics on the system fan to determine if its working fine or not. if it passes then the system is working within normal heat guidelines. laptops really gets hot. as long as the plastic did not melt then its safe to assume that the heat is normal but the diagnostic result on the system fan will tell a lot.
Fistandantilus
13 Posts
1201
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Posted December 18th, 2003 18:00
Also if you look on the complete care document it states something like "If you are out of a area for onsite service you will have to send the unit in. They will not send a tech on a 2 hour drive to replace something.
Yes but I know people in this town that have had someone come and look at their PC's.I also Know that I have on site support because when I was getting my Laptop that's what the rep said.He said"If your keyboard breaks or anything minor a Tech will come directly to your house".I care less about the keyboard cause it takes all of 5 mins to install.
I also emailed Dell twice no,last time about 2 days ago,and still have had no response.Great support they have.Fistandantilus
13 Posts
482
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Posted December 18th, 2003 18:00
That and the fact that when I do call Tech Support I get someon who can barely speak or understand English.
JohnM025
2 Intern
•
877 Posts
1186
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Posted December 16th, 2003 14:00
A Complete Care does not mean that you have onsite service. You can have Complete Care with Onsite service or you can have it with return to depot service. The technician most likely has no idea how close you are to a major city so that really isn't a factor, but probabley sent the keyboard to you since it is fairly easy and so you wouldn't have to be without your system while it goes in for repair.
Just because some systems are having problems overheating doesn't mean that every Inspiron 5100 is having a problem overheating. As I have previously stated the Inspiron 5100, 5150, and the 1100 will all run fairly hot. Please don't jump to conclusions. Do what has been recommended by technical support when you contacted them and if that doesn't resolve the problem contact them again and get your system serviced.
Thank you for choosing Dell.