I've had some success in the past with a business-like, factual note sent to
michael@dell.com. At least for business they have a team that monitors that e-mail account. I'm not sure of the response with Inspiron since its a consumer not business model/line. Its worth a try.
Before you start tearing your hair out, please try doing what I did:
1. Open up an online chat with a Dell Wireless Specialist
2. When a technician answers, explain the problem, send them a link to this thread (be sure to point out that it's on Dell's website, since I think a lot of them just ignore links that are sent to them). Ask them to read it and tell them that you'll wait.
3. Ask for a NEW replacement motherboard to rememdy the problem.
When you ship your laptop back, print out this thread in its entirety. Also compose a polite note again explaining the problem (it may also help to point out that the V620 is officially supported by Dell). Explain why you have printed out the thread.
Hope this helps...
Message Edited by frogstein on 10-11-2005 12:24 PM
I agree with Frogstein. Eventually, that's how I did it. After three attempts and two MoBo replacements, I'm fixed now. It's not 3rd party for me. Although, I'm using the PC5740. I'm fine with it. Before, my symptoms were exactly those listed in this forum. When the correct Mobo was replaced, I stuck the card in (Verizon software already installed from before) and Windows detected it, installed it and I was online in minutes with it.
I'm extremely let down by Dell. They called us yesterday and left a message on our voicemail to see if our problem was resolved. I haven't called them back. And probably won't. I'm working now. That's the only tie I had with them, to get me resolved. They never apologized for lying to me or for the numerous times we were batted around their phone system.
I own a small business and have sold quite a few computers for Dell to other small businesses that I manage. Dell will get no more of my business.
No1Special,
For you, if you can get this resolved, may the luck be with you. However, since your return time is narrowing, if it were me, I'd send it back and demand a refund. Take your card to a store, make sure it works on a laptop of your choice and go with that. I like my Inspiron 6000D, but the customer service is not worth it to me anymore. I'm looking elsewhere for my next...
IBM Thinkpads are getting pretty good ratings lately.
Does anyone have a blog or other web presence they'd be willing to host this thread. As long it is on dell's non-googled site it will never get the wide spread notice it needs to help really fix the problem.
NO 1 Special..... IT's less than thirty days old..... YOU can ask for a FULL refund. If you have read this thread fron the beginning I am sure your time is worth something. TRUST me DELL will never fix this. They care less. they are selling the machines and don't give a !@#$. I had mine just over the 30 days and they would not refund my money but did go on to say if it was less than a month old that would be an option.
So I sold mine on e-bay took a $300.00 loss and was happy to get rid of it.
I would reccomend you gettting a full refund while you can.
Thanks for the support in the little time between posts I've made. However, this should be my last post in this forum. I finalized the call to Dell's "Customer Care" center yesterday asking for a refund.
It went something like this: "Since Dell has given up on fixing my laptop and has decided to impose hardships by increasing the costs associated with Dell product ownership on me, I've decided to return Dell's product... blah blah blah". The Customer Care rep stated that they were really sorry that the product wasn't to my liking (rep prolly didn't understand what I said) and that I was a prestigious customer (please). Here's the kicker - the rep stated that Dell would imposes a 15% restocking fee and I had to pay of course for shipping. I had to reiterate to them that their product was faulty since it DID NOT FUNCTION PROPERLY when I received it. More caring words from Dell's rep then she transferred me to the Customer Care Manager who asked if he could do anything further. I bit my tongue, swallowed more blood then I care for, and stated politely no.
Grand Summary: A few weeks back I ordered two identical Dell Inspiron 6000s along with Verizon Wireless v620 cards. One Dell installed perfectly and the other didn't. I came across this post and steadfastly told each Dell Tech that it was a motherboard issue and to look it up in their database. After many weeks and hours wasted solo and with Dell Techs, I was told that my problem was a 3rd party issue and that I needed to pay for support (because it was software related). This conclusion was unexpected but I had run out of time and patience. I needed a working laptop with broadband internet anywhere access. Besides, with the time I had already spent troubleshooting a brand new laptop, I could have bought a couple of new working ones. (I also had to cancel the Verizon internet services before the 15 day grace period which took 3 calls/disconnects and 4 hours of wait time but in this matter I really didn't mind.
Ex-Dell Customer
P.S. Yes those IBMs sure do look good. In fact, anything without Dell's logo on it looks fabulous!
Reading your last post, opened wounds I've been trying to heal and forget about. I just can't believe a company would do this. It's clearly not a software issue. I think I can say everything word for word that you said that would describe my experience in this situation. The only thing that saved me was my wife. I had made up my mind to sell my laptop on ebay and assured her I was buying a laptop from one of our local stores here. She pressed on with Dell and had me wait a little longer. By some miracle, Dell actually got the right motherboard to us. It had nothing to do with software. It had nothing to do with Verizon. It had everything to do with hardware on Dell's board.
In memory of you, I will never buy another laptop from Dell again. (O.K., actually I hadn't planned to after this anyway) And I will continue to urge my clients and friends to stay away from Dell.
I have contacts, phone numbers, and email addresses of who we escalated our issue with. I was going to hold out on posting them because I didn't want anyone going down a further path of emptiness. Just because we received resolution with these certain contacts, doesn't mean anyone else will. It's been my experience that Dell still plays "dumb" like they've never heard it before when I use somebody else's contacts.
Also, I wasn't going to call Dell back to give them the satisfaction of knowing that my problem is now solved. However, now knowing that others will be coming here looking for resolution, I will let Dell know that my problem has been solved so they can close their case on me and never have to speak to me again. But... I will give my case number so other's can use it for reference if needed and HOPEFULLY, somebody on Dell's end will read the final notes stating that the board replacement solved the problem. Will post case number in later post. (After calling Dell and STRESSING the fact that they notate that the mobo replacement was what fixed the problem).
Reading your last post, opened wounds I've been trying to heal and forget about. I just can't believe a company would do this. It's clearly not a software issue.
When I started this post,
I had no idea of the ____ it would take to get my computer fixed.
I had no idea of how wide spread the defect is. (every board before 5-20-05)
I had no idea of the angers that could arise in me when normally - I belive that I cannot control other people, places and things.
I had no idea of the inner peace in me would be violated.
I went thru this all, to be of service to those who would follow.
I had no idea of disturbed I would get reading everyones tribulations.
I had no idea that not one Dell moderator, after this post being viewed 1812 times, would not say a word.
I had no idea that they would try to call it a software issue, a reinstall issue, not our fault issue.
I had no idea a company that used to care, tells my fellow humans, the stuff that has appeared here in these posts.
A client of my gets a 50% rebate from a supplier for purchasing a dell.
You don't know how hard it was to order it
I had no idea, it would ever be that way.
7.1
This thread now has 100 messages. It's rare for threads on the Dell forum to even get into the double digits, let alone 100, You'd think
someone from Dell would show some interest (although I think part of the problem is that the default setup for this message board is to sort messages by original posting date, rather than by latest response, so most people aren't seeing this unless they search)...
Message Edited by frogstein on 10-13-2005 07:28 AM
By the way, turns out my Inspiron 6000/Verizon Card combination wored for just about a week with the new mother board, then back to the original problem. So once you get it working the saga may not be over.
GET_ER_DONE
9 Posts
0
October 11th, 2005 15:00
frogstein
24 Posts
0
October 11th, 2005 15:00
Before you start tearing your hair out, please try doing what I did:
1. Open up an online chat with a Dell Wireless Specialist
2. When a technician answers, explain the problem, send them a link to this thread (be sure to point out that it's on Dell's website, since I think a lot of them just ignore links that are sent to them). Ask them to read it and tell them that you'll wait.
3. Ask for a NEW replacement motherboard to rememdy the problem.
When you ship your laptop back, print out this thread in its entirety. Also compose a polite note again explaining the problem (it may also help to point out that the V620 is officially supported by Dell). Explain why you have printed out the thread.
Hope this helps...
Message Edited by frogstein on 10-11-2005 12:24 PM
BtrGoneThanJail
18 Posts
0
October 11th, 2005 17:00
I'm extremely let down by Dell. They called us yesterday and left a message on our voicemail to see if our problem was resolved. I haven't called them back. And probably won't. I'm working now. That's the only tie I had with them, to get me resolved. They never apologized for lying to me or for the numerous times we were batted around their phone system.
I own a small business and have sold quite a few computers for Dell to other small businesses that I manage. Dell will get no more of my business.
No1Special,
For you, if you can get this resolved, may the luck be with you. However, since your return time is narrowing, if it were me, I'd send it back and demand a refund. Take your card to a store, make sure it works on a laptop of your choice and go with that. I like my Inspiron 6000D, but the customer service is not worth it to me anymore. I'm looking elsewhere for my next...
IBM Thinkpads are getting pretty good ratings lately.
KevinAHalleran
7 Posts
0
October 11th, 2005 19:00
Does anyone have a blog or other web presence they'd be willing to host this thread. As long it is on dell's non-googled site it will never get the wide spread notice it needs to help really fix the problem.
Kevin
GET_ER_DONE
9 Posts
0
October 11th, 2005 20:00
BADCOMPANY
7 Posts
0
October 12th, 2005 01:00
NO 1 Special..... IT's less than thirty days old..... YOU can ask for a FULL refund. If you have read this thread fron the beginning I am sure your time is worth something. TRUST me DELL will never fix this. They care less. they are selling the machines and don't give a !@#$. I had mine just over the 30 days and they would not refund my money but did go on to say if it was less than a month old that would be an option.
So I sold mine on e-bay took a $300.00 loss and was happy to get rid of it.
I would reccomend you gettting a full refund while you can.
GL either way!
No1Special
2 Posts
0
October 12th, 2005 14:00
Thanks for the support in the little time between posts I've made. However, this should be my last post in this forum. I finalized the call to Dell's "Customer Care" center yesterday asking for a refund.
It went something like this: "Since Dell has given up on fixing my laptop and has decided to impose hardships by increasing the costs associated with Dell product ownership on me, I've decided to return Dell's product... blah blah blah". The Customer Care rep stated that they were really sorry that the product wasn't to my liking (rep prolly didn't understand what I said) and that I was a prestigious customer (please). Here's the kicker - the rep stated that Dell would imposes a 15% restocking fee and I had to pay of course for shipping. I had to reiterate to them that their product was faulty since it DID NOT FUNCTION PROPERLY when I received it. More caring words from Dell's rep then she transferred me to the Customer Care Manager who asked if he could do anything further. I bit my tongue, swallowed more blood then I care for, and stated politely no.
Grand Summary: A few weeks back I ordered two identical Dell Inspiron 6000s along with Verizon Wireless v620 cards. One Dell installed perfectly and the other didn't. I came across this post and steadfastly told each Dell Tech that it was a motherboard issue and to look it up in their database. After many weeks and hours wasted solo and with Dell Techs, I was told that my problem was a 3rd party issue and that I needed to pay for support (because it was software related). This conclusion was unexpected but I had run out of time and patience. I needed a working laptop with broadband internet anywhere access. Besides, with the time I had already spent troubleshooting a brand new laptop, I could have bought a couple of new working ones. (I also had to cancel the Verizon internet services before the 15 day grace period which took 3 calls/disconnects and 4 hours of wait time but in this matter I really didn't mind.
Ex-Dell Customer
P.S. Yes those IBMs sure do look good. In fact, anything without Dell's logo on it looks fabulous!
BtrGoneThanJail
18 Posts
0
October 12th, 2005 15:00
Reading your last post, opened wounds I've been trying to heal and forget about. I just can't believe a company would do this. It's clearly not a software issue. I think I can say everything word for word that you said that would describe my experience in this situation. The only thing that saved me was my wife. I had made up my mind to sell my laptop on ebay and assured her I was buying a laptop from one of our local stores here. She pressed on with Dell and had me wait a little longer. By some miracle, Dell actually got the right motherboard to us. It had nothing to do with software. It had nothing to do with Verizon. It had everything to do with hardware on Dell's board.
In memory of you, I will never buy another laptop from Dell again. (O.K., actually I hadn't planned to after this anyway) And I will continue to urge my clients and friends to stay away from Dell.
I have contacts, phone numbers, and email addresses of who we escalated our issue with. I was going to hold out on posting them because I didn't want anyone going down a further path of emptiness. Just because we received resolution with these certain contacts, doesn't mean anyone else will. It's been my experience that Dell still plays "dumb" like they've never heard it before when I use somebody else's contacts.
Also, I wasn't going to call Dell back to give them the satisfaction of knowing that my problem is now solved. However, now knowing that others will be coming here looking for resolution, I will let Dell know that my problem has been solved so they can close their case on me and never have to speak to me again. But... I will give my case number so other's can use it for reference if needed and HOPEFULLY, somebody on Dell's end will read the final notes stating that the board replacement solved the problem. Will post case number in later post. (After calling Dell and STRESSING the fact that they notate that the mobo replacement was what fixed the problem).
Sevenpointone
32 Posts
0
October 13th, 2005 07:00
When I started this post,
I had no idea of the ____ it would take to get my computer fixed.
I had no idea of how wide spread the defect is. (every board before 5-20-05)
I had no idea of the angers that could arise in me when normally - I belive that I cannot control other people, places and things.
I had no idea of the inner peace in me would be violated.
I went thru this all, to be of service to those who would follow.
I had no idea of disturbed I would get reading everyones tribulations.
I had no idea that not one Dell moderator, after this post being viewed 1812 times, would not say a word.
I had no idea that they would try to call it a software issue, a reinstall issue, not our fault issue.
I had no idea a company that used to care, tells my fellow humans, the stuff that has appeared here in these posts.
A client of my gets a 50% rebate from a supplier for purchasing a dell.
You don't know how hard it was to order it
I had no idea, it would ever be that way.
7.1
frogstein
24 Posts
0
October 13th, 2005 10:00
This thread now has 100 messages. It's rare for threads on the Dell forum to even get into the double digits, let alone 100, You'd think someone from Dell would show some interest (although I think part of the problem is that the default setup for this message board is to sort messages by original posting date, rather than by latest response, so most people aren't seeing this unless they search)...
Message Edited by frogstein on 10-13-2005 07:28 AM
KevinAHalleran
7 Posts
0
October 13th, 2005 12:00
By the way, turns out my Inspiron 6000/Verizon Card combination wored for just about a week with the new mother board, then back to the original problem. So once you get it working the saga may not be over.
Kevin