i lost it,i'm either crazy or they are!give me your opnion.please*UPDATE POST 14*

[mrFDNY]

hi all,
i just have about had it.i feel like calling them up and just telling them my mind,but if i do they will hang up on me for sure,cause it will not be very nice.ok i will explain.42 days ago i accepted delievery of a top of the line,brand spanking new dell computer desk top.now from day 1 i have had nothing but problems with this system.to date or 42 days later i have spent 75 hours(not straightl,but on and off)on the phone with tech support.the most being 12 hours in a single day straight.as of right now all i can do is dis,which btw thank god i can do that!!now in the last 2 weeks i have spoke with tech support 6 times,i enjoy being on hold for 60 minutes at a clip .i have booted and rebooted the computer 3 times,reformatted the hard drive twice and reinstalled windows and norton's anti security 6 times with no postive results. word and excell is still missing and won't load,the internet and loading is very slow.shut down of this system takes 40 minutes and i mean from when i press the shut down button it will take 40 mins to shut off.there alot of more issues going on with this pc but these are the majors ones.i could go on for pages.

when turned on,and i mean the computer it takes 25 mins to load windows alone.All spam,spywhere,virus's scans are negative.all 5 different tech'ss i spoke with agree that there is something wrong with the hardware part of the computer and is a problem(s) that won't and can't be fixed.i have a 5 year warrente with a computer that is 42 days old,but trying to get dell to give me a new system is easier said than done.even with this 5 year contract agreement to fix anything,trying to get them to give me a new system or send someone to my house to try to fix it,has taken me 5 days on the phone.btw i do have in house repair too.i have to do a double at the fire house tommorrow.the northeast district manager is suppossed to call me at 11 am.My luck i'll be on a job and miss the call.

Is it me?a system that is 42 days old and taken me a week of tech support and another week to try to get this fix or replaced.Am i being immpossible?this customer support thing only means untill you buy the system,then it's custome dissatisfaction!!i am really losing my temper very quick and thats not like me,but after two weeks of 8 hour phone talks.i feel like i'm trying to get a peace treaty signed between two nations,then just get a busted 42 day old computer fixed/repaired/replaced.i mean i work somedays 16 to 24 hours,i have a son and wife and a life.how long do they(dell)expect me to sit on the phone with them.one day last week the magic number was 10 hours,yes that's right a 10 hour phone call with tech support.still no results and a busted brand new computer.This guy tommorrow,better make things right.i just want a new unit,same model and system THAT WORKS nothing more or less.Is that too much too ask that i have to spend 1 week on the phone talking to everyone to try to get this busted one fixed or replace,even with a 5 year warrente in hand???btw did i mention thats it's only 42 days old?

 

[MsDisney23]

Sounds like you might have gotten a Lemon! I hope everything works out.

 

[DisneyLovingMama]

No, you are not crazy - they are!! Wish I had some intelligent words of advice. I've found that when I call a call center, I just keep asking to talk to a manager and go up through the layers until I feel I can get someone who understands me.

Did you purchase through a sales rep? Can you call him/her?

i've long stopped buying dells, after I was told to reformat my hard drive, causing me to lose all of my daughter's pictures. Later I found out it was a processer issue (or something) and the pics could have been saved.

 

[Disney_1derland]

Did you purchase complete care???? that's their highest level of warrantee. Even if you didn't you need to ask them in a nice way to escalate your call to the next level. That you want to return the system and have them send you a new one since this one has not worked right since you got it out of the box. Try calling VERY early in the morning as you are more likely to get someone in the US if you call between 2am and 5am. Tell them you've called X times. Tell them you've waisted X hours and tell them you are completely disatisfied and either want it replaced immediately or you want a full refund.

See where you get with that. Good luck. We've been there and done that and we had a hard time getting help and my dh worked there at the time.

 

[Sleepy]

It would take the length of a novel to tell you everything I dealt with after buying my piece of crap Sony NIGHTMARE system....aka Dream system. Exactly 1 year from the day I bought it the DVD player decided to stop accepting DVDs and refused to eject what was in it. I sent it to their crappy "authorized" repair center 3 times. Was lied to by Sony more times than I can count. Moved out of the country with the same broken DVD player. Took it to another "authorized" repair shop. They "repaired" it twice and Sony finally agreed to have me send it directly to them to be fixed. I never got it back. They sent it to the wrong address and it was gone forever. Oh, and at that point it had been 1-1/2 years of fighting to get the darn thing fixed. So, Sony had no choice but to replace it. Tried to give me someone elses piece of crap that had been refurbished. After fighting that issue and being offered a new one and being lied to more, I found out I should have been offered a new one to begin with. Employee was reprimanded for lying to me. Well, in the end, they did not follow my instructions. System was left on my mothers front doorstep all day with nobody to accept delivery. I had specific instructions to not do that. (oh, and in this box was an invoice for the old one that was supposedly shipped to my address, but the kicker was the invoice said....DELIVERED UNREPAIRED). After getting the new system home, I had it for 3 months and this NEW UPGRADED system did the same thing my old system did. It is obviously a manufacturers defect. Hubby solved the problem. he gave it a few good bangs with his fist and it has not been a problem since.

 

[Morganpics]

If none of the above suggestions help, how about contacting a local TV station? We have one here that will take on the "challenge" if all other avenues have been exhausted, and it sure sounds in your case that they have. Good luck! I feel your pain-I had a bad motherboard in mine (Gateway)which had to be replaced after 6 months. I spent quite a few hours on the phone with them (nowhere near as much as you, though)

 

[escape]

Demand to speak to a manager! Tell him/her that you've spent hours on the phone already and you want to resolve this now! You bought this Dell on good faith and you expect them to live up to their warranty. Geez! The trouble you have to go through sometimes!

Good luck! I hope you are able to get this resolved soon.

 

[msdznyduck]

If none of the above suggestions help, how about contacting a local TV station? We have one here that will take on the "challenge" if all other avenues have been exhausted, and it sure sounds in your case that they have.

I think you need '7 on your side'. I think CBS and NBC also have this. Let us know when you'll be on, so we can see it.

 

[luv2nascar]

Dude that's why I tell everyone NOT to buy a Dell. Good luck. Starting screaming and demand a higher up. Don't stop until you get satisfaction.

 

[Mom2Angels]

I remember your post from when you got it and how excited you were on how fast it was, I guess that didn't last long.

I also got a new Dell the same time you did, and I love it haven't had any problems, just one minor one when I installed the anti-viruses software and called Dell and was told I had to purchase some plan before they would help me, I told them no way, I should be able to get to the internet with an anti-viruses installed (I just had the protection thingy to high).

Also, I work in the Information Systems department at a hospital, so the guys I work with are so helpful and told me not to buy anything from them cause they can fix anything.

Anyway, I think you should receive a new computer, that is a bunch of bull what you are having to go through.

Debbie

 

[LMC]

Well from all the posts lately about Dell, I guess I'll be going ThinkPad when I get a laptop!
Did you put this on a credit card? Perhaps you can dispute the charge that way to get your money back then return their system. I would at least tell them that was what I am going to do to see if it will scare them into sending you a NEW system and a pre-paid return shipping label so you can return the POC one that you have. I can't believe they won't send a new replacement with a system that's only a few days used and had that many problems! (well I guess I can believe it from reading all the recent posts)

 

[Evil Genius]

I would start with a customer service rep, requesting that they replace this computer. When you are told no, request a supervisor and keep going up the line repeating the story you have told us. Remain very calm (that unnerves them the most) I would also contact the better business bureau and any other local groups that monitor these types of situations.

Good Luck

 

[MoniqueU]

Dude that's why I tell everyone NOT to buy a Dell. Good luck. Starting screaming and demand a higher up. Don't stop until you get satisfaction.

Yup. I totally agree. All I had to do was read the word Dell and I knew where this was going. I am currently dealing with them now over a computer they have fixed and replaced about oh 6 times now. The latest repair was out of warranty and 479 bucks out of my pocket. They fixed the motherboard and then the same exact problem started up again not 2 weeks later. The dang thing won't power on. So countless hours at tech support and out of warranty service and they will supposedly fix the computer. But for how long this time. I will never again buy another dell. Their products except for they few are crap, their service sucks and I can't understand or relate to their tech support people half the time. I do not like to have to go over problems by check sheet. Man I hate dell with a firey passion.

 

[mrFDNY]

**UPDATE**
Hi All,
well here's the update.so yesterday the district manager was supposed to call me at 11am,by 1 pm i was pissed to say the least!b y 2pm and no call thats it.It was on,i was going to war with dell.i call and explain and give my case number and they have the right phone number and even see the note to have this guy call me at 11 am,he is in work and should have called.the rep on the phone has no idea why he did not.so she calls him,puts me on hold and comes back and says he can't right now.he and i quote"is on a coffee break" so was this coffee break from 11 am?no use in yelling at the poor rep it's not her fault,so i explain to her that i expect a call within the hour from this guy!
So i'm at the fire house ranting and really upset.the chief ask's me,why don't you give so and so a call at headquters?why would i do that.cause he is in charge of technoligy and improvement and computer installation and repair and trouble shooting within the fire dept.I explain,no good i spoke to like 10 different people they all agree it's hardware related.the chief says,no he's also the guy that got dell the half of million dollar contract with the fdny.maybe he knows or has a contact at dell that can help.so the chief calls him and gives him all the details and he talks to me for a little.this is the guy that when you call 911 in nyc he makes sure the system within the computer works and is albe to dispatch calls.the computer finds the closes fire house or unit and tells the dispatcher who to send.he explained when you sign a half million dollar contract you get your own tech support there for you and just you 24/7 as well as a very high up within dell to call 24/7 just in case of anything.he took my nunber and called this guy.22 minutes later our fire house phone rings and it's for me.
This was the FDNY's go to man at dell. A very high up at dell.he told me that the guy at headquters called him and explained everything to him and this issue has made the new york city fire dept question thier brand new half of million dollar contract with dell. he took my case number and gave me a dispatch number,i had no idea what that was since it was a 16 digit number and asked.that was a number to track my brand new computer allready being shipped to my house. so it should be here in 2-4 days and when i get it ,he told me to just take the old one and put it in the box and return it.He also said that a gift card would be mailed out monday for 3 free computer games from best buy that i could have,for all my troubles.he asked if he could do anything more.Yes you can and i explained how the person who was supposed to call me at 11 am still had not 5 hours later.When i called to ask i was told he was on a coffee break.He said he would call that office and speak to his boss about that problem,but promised he would not be fired.(i felt bad to have anyone fired)
So see the little guy,just won! but that is the beatiful thing about the FDNY or the brotherhood,we all stick together and help one and another out any way possible.It did not really matter that this guy at FDNY headquters did not really know me so well.I was a brother. i called my contact back at FDNY headquters and thank him and asked what the heck he said that had this guy scared.He told me he explained that the FDNY contract was only 4 weeks old and had a clause for any reason that the FDNY could cancel the whole deal for not being happy with the company with no penatlies at all and just paying for the systems they have allready taken delievery of and how dell was allready 25 computer late.how seeing first handley by or thru me how they do bussiness got the FDNY scared and they were thinking about ending the contract going to a different company to supply them. i guess if you were the guy at dell would you want to be responsible for losing a half of million dollar contract?the guy at headquters explained that the man at dell would have sent me 5 free new computer if i told him i was still unhappy.but i'm not like that i just want what i paid for and what i feel is right since the system is under 50 days old no more no less.i let you all now when the new system gets here and hopfully it work's fine.
have a good night all!
mrFDNY

 

[Poohbear123]

My DH just bought a new Dell and it works great! In fact, he gave me his old "tower" we up graded it and it works great also. DELL is a good company, in my opinion, hope you change your mind about it, as it sounds like the Tekkies couldn't help you too much.

 

[Disney Ella]

Good thing your chief knew the right person. If not, you'd probably still be on the phone with the tech support line. I got a Dell at work recently and have had problems with it, which you wouldn't expect from a brand new computer. Fortunately, Dell was able to fix my problems, but this is the first time I've ever had a problem with a new computer. I hope the new one works with no problem!

 

[chyam]

Glad that it worked out for you! I have a Dell and have had no problems at all.........had a Gateway and pretty much went through what you went through,it was defineately a lemon! Anyways the problem talking with tech support at most of those companies, is 9/10ths of them don't speak English very well and perhaps don't understand most of it! Then if you have to call another time, you have to go through the same song and dance with the next person and on and on and on...........but glad you got it resolved. Chances are the guy your guy talked to is probably over here not in some other country!

 

[DisneyLovingMama]

OMG - that's a hilarious update! Thanks for sharing. Gotta love brotherhood!