ejin63 - Thank you for pointing out what I should have done - foolish me, I should have known that Dell was selling a piece of  for 2K and I should have bought the extended warranty.  However the fact remains that Dell knows they created a dog and passed it along to an unsuspecting horde of buyers. I don't know how long you've been working for Dell but you should mention your affiliation with them as an attachment to your posts.

ps - Dell has just agreed to ship a replacement system - Dell stepped up to the plate on this, has admitted their deficiencies, and I truly believe that their intentions are to make everything right with any products that they have a problem with. It may take a while, but it happens. My faith is restored. Good company you keep, ejin63 !

Funny thing, my two year 9100 still runs like a top.  No problems.  My biggest problem is how much my back hurts if I try to haul it anywhere.  Never knew I had a lemon, go figure.

 

I am sorry to hear you had problems, and I am glad you got a replacement, but your problems do not make the system a lemon.  Many of us are very happy with our 9100s.

 

And yes, I have read the forums.  Nothing there to change the fact that mine runs great.

 

 

I really hope you are checking back on this forum, because I could sure use your help.  Your description and timeline of problems with your 9100 is EXACTLY what I have gone through although my hard drive hasn't crashed YET.  I bought it in October of 04 and in November of 05 my problems began.  Everything you describe has happened, with the addition of my power supply cable melting into the back of my laptop this past weekend.  Now it's just a boat anchor.  Please tell me who you contacted (name or department or phone number) about this to eventually get the replacement.  Was it the out of warrenty department or somewhere else?  I am trying to get to somebody that isn't just reading from a script when I call, but no luck as of yet.  They just offer to replace the harddrive and power supply for $500+ but offer no guarantee that this isn't going to happen again or any resolution if it does.

 

Originally, I thought I just had gotten a Lemon, but after reading your tale and others on the net, it's pretty clear that this is a design flaw and that Dell (to some degree) knows it. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My suggestion...take notes of every conversation and be sure to include the name and badge # for each person and ask for the same information fro their supervisor.   I'm convinced that I was lied to twice just to get me off of the phone.  Here is my saga...

 

:smileysad: 1st person(cust. service): They said "Sorry, you are out of warranty and we can't help you.  you will have to call the 'Out of Warranty' repair department."

 

:smileysad: 2nd person(Out of Warranty repair dept): They said I could spend $199 to send the 9100 to the repair depot and that would cover all costs except a LCD screen or a motherboard, those would be an additional $299 ea if necessary.  I told them I wasn't interested in that and they said they have no authority to any other solution and I would have to call Cust Serv.

 

:smileyindifferent: 3rd person(Cust Service) (LIE #1) : Told them a repair didn't do me any good because at best that gave me a 90 day warranty and I believed that the motherboard would burn up again in 6 months and I'd be in the same spot. That's not a very good deal for another $500 on top of the original purchase price when this model of laptop obviously has a design flaw regarding the heat and power.  He then told me that EVEN THOUGH I WAS OUT OF WARRANTY, I could buy an Extended Warranty and then send the laptop in for a free repair under warranty.  I asked him (3 times!!!) to make sure I understood him, because I frankly didn't beleive him.  I mean, why would a company allow someone to buy an ext warranty after the fact?  That's like buying auto insurance after the wreck.  He assured me that this was possible and they do it all the time.  He gave me the number to the Extended Warranty dept and told me to call them.  I asked if he could transfer me and stay on the line...He sais they were having phone problems and I would have to hang up and dial.  Still skeptical, I asked for his name and cust rep #.  He said his name was Al and gave me my case # and said he could be found through that. So a reluctantly hung up to call for an Ext Warranty...

 

:smileymad: 4th person(Ext Warranty dept):  SURPRISE! They told me I couldn't but an extended warranty because I was already out of warranty.  I told him that I never thought I could but that AL from cust service assured me that I could.  He said they get that call all of the time.  It turns out that the extended warranty dept is a 3rd party company (no surprise there) and they don't work for Dell.  He said that he would love to sell me a warranty, but just the fact that I had a case # meant he couldn't even pull up my computer information.  He was very helpful and said Dell Customer service is the only department that had any freedom to help someone in my situation.

 

:smileymad: 5th person(Cust Service): (Lie #2) I called back and talked to someone named Alex. He couldn't find "Al".  I explained to him how I felt Al had lied to me earlier about an extended warranty, just to get me off of the phone. He assured me that it must have been a misunderstanding.  He then read up on my case # and proceeded to tell me that he beleived Al was correct and that I should be able to buy an Etended Warranty.  I couldn't beleive what I  was hearing.  I reiterated that I was out of warranty and he said that shouldn't matter.  He then put me on hold to look into it.  When he came back he said "Al was correct, you can buy an extended Warranty..." :smileymad: (this is where I about lost it) "However, since you are out of warranty already, you are NOT eliegible"  (DUH!!!)  It took all of my strength to not throw the phone across the room.  I said "you have got to be kidding me!  You and Al knew that  I was out of warranty!!!"

 

I asked to speak to his supervisor...he put me on hold.  He came back and turned into a used car saleman. He started apologizing for the "miscommunication" and my "unfortunate situation".  He was saying things like "I hope that we can work this out", "I want to make you happy" and "I'd ilike to be your friend" and other riduculous things like that.  He put me on hold a couple more times and finally came back and said .."let's meet halfway"  I said "what are you talking about."  He said I should send my laptop in for the repair and pay the $199 labor cost.  Once they get the laptop, if it needs other repair, they would call customer service and they would buy the replacement part or if that couldn't be done, they would credit me for the parts after it was repaired.  This sounded fishy to me... if they were willing to pay for the parts, then just do it.  Why should I have to pay up front and hope to get reimbursed later.  I can only imaging how easy that process would be...NOT!  Again, I had him try to explain the logic behind this several times and he again said that they do this all the time (I had heard that before).  He kept telling me his supervisor was busy.  If what he was saying was true, then I might consider it.  A working laptop for $199 instead of $498...pretty good deal since at that time, I didn't have a working laptop.  I asked for some type of confirmation in writing.  He told me he was sending me an e-mail that would have all of the instructions and that after I send my laptop in and they tell me I need a motherboard I should reply to his email and he would take it from there.  I asked him when I would receive the email & he said we was sending it in the next five minutes and I would have it very soon.  I asked him to transfer me and stay on the line with the repair depot.  He also said they were having phone problems and I would have to hang up and dial my self.  He gave me his name and badge ID # and his supervisor's name...I reluctantly hung up the phone.  

 

Surprise...24 hours later NO email from my new good buddy Alex. 

 

:smileymad: 6th person(Cust. Service):  Called back and tried to find Alex...the person I talked to said the badge ID wasn't pulling anything up on the system.  She said she had his first and last name from the case file, but that wasn't finding anythign either.  She put me on hold.  I was cutoff.

 

:smileymad: 7th person(Cust Service): Called back and explained my story again.  They couldn't find this "Alex" either.  I told them what he told me about refunding me for the $299 motherboard cost.  She said that wasn't possible.  They have strict rules and there was no way that customer service could pay for a repair or parts.  This converstaion went on for several minutes  I asked for her supervisor.  She put me on hold and came back a couple times to talk about my options.  The third time she said she could give me $100 credit for my trouble.  I asked her how that was possible?!?! She just told me that they couldn't do that.  She said "Well, it's actually a coupon for $100".  I asked "You mean a coupon for a future Dell purchase??!!?!?!?!!!  You've got to be kidding if you think that I'm going to buy another Dell if this fiasco isn't straightened out.  And if I don't get a satisfactory resolution to this, neither is my company or family and I'll make sure that my friends hear my story about Dell."  She put me on hold and came back and said that they could put it toward my repair.  Again, I was incredulous... I asked, "So first, Alex says I'll get $299 for the repair, but noone can find him, then you tell me that you can't do that; but now you are offering $100?"  I demanded to speak to her supervisor.

 

:smileymad: 8th Person (Supervisor): She explained that there was nothing they could do and that all she was allowed to authorize was $100.  I told her I needed to speak to her supervisor or someone not reading from a script.  Someone who wasn't limited to $100.  She said there was noone else that I could talk to and that at this point she would have to take my number and have someone call me back from the "Escalation Team" within 24 hours.  After resigning to the fact that she wasn't going to transfer me to anyone else, I again reluctantly hung up, fully expecting not to hear from Dell for several days, if ever.

 

:smileyhappy: 9th person (Escalation Team):  To my pleasant surprise, the lady from the escalation team actually called me the next morning, but I wasn't near my phone and she left a message for me to check my e-mail and reply back with a better time or number to reach me.

 

I checked my email and I about passed out from shock.  She first apologized for all of my troubles and the fact that I felt misled and for all of the miscommunication about the options I had. She then confirmed that there was no way they could pay for a repair or credit me for a repair after the fact and that all she could do was send me a refurbished replacement system at no cost to me and she hoped that would resolve the situation."  :smileyvery-happy:

 

I couldn't beleve what I was reading.  I replied that was certainly an acceptable resolution as long as the refurbished unit wasn't another 9100.  She said it was not the 9100 and would be the direct upgrade from it.

 

END OF SAGA:  As painful as it was along the way, I think that Dell wants everyone to be happy and will do the right thing.  It just their customer service system that stinks.  I suppose most people would have given up sooner, but I knew I had found several people online that had gotten another system (so there had to be many more out there that hadn't posted online about it) and refused to give up.  5 days after the e-mail I received a beautiful 9400. :smileyvery-happy: It's bigger and faster than my old one and weighs about 5 lbs less.  I couldn't be happier.  Go Dell!  It also came with a 2 year warranty.  I think Dell's computers are great and they just goofed with some of the 9100s .  As long as I know a company will stand behind their product and make it right, I'll keep buying. 

 

The key is to get to the escalation team   :smileywink:...so it sound like your daughter is on the right track.  Good luck!

 

I've posted twice as to how I finally was able to navigate the hoops at Dell Customer Service and both times my posts were deleted by Dell/Moderators. It contained no offensive language, wasn't slanderous or libelous in any way shape or form, and met with the forums TOA. Still, they were deleted. There are a number of web sites that publish some of the telephone numbers that I used to finally reach someone in authority and he fully agreed that my 9100 should have been replaced, no questions asked. BTW - names and badge #'s are bogus, most supervisors also give out bogus names. Seems that calling certain Dell executives on their cell phones or calling them at home on their personal phone numbers seems to cut through the nonsense real quick.

Corporations are made up of people, and for the most part, most reputable people want to do the right thing. Get past the suits and the corporate facade, and have your voice heard by "real" people, and I believe most companies will side with the consumer if your complaint is legitimate. The problem is getting your problem noticed by those who have the real authority to do something about it. The $2.00 per hour customer service rep in India is being paid to deflect your complaint and to solve your problem at the least possible cost to the company - kind of like a insurance adjuster. Eliminate this un-needed layer in your complaint process and I think you'll find that most Dell execs are truly concerned in keeping their customers satisfied.