Used Laptops

In most cases when I create these type pages I talk about used laptops in general and give some advice on what to look for in a machine and what all the general terms mean.  But today I want to talk about the service I received from Dell.  I do not usually give any specific advice or suggestions when it comes to the actual manufacturer of the laptops.  But based on my experience from yesterday ( April 6, 2006 ) I can not help but give you the scoop.

A customer brought his laptop into our repair shop.  His machine would not turn on.  We tested the laptop and determined that the main system board was bad.  It took us all of 20 minutes to determine the problem.  This was a Dell Laptop.  The customer specifically said that the unit was not under warranty.  He had called Dell and they had confirmed the status of his machine NOT being under warranty.

We proceeded to find a system board for this laptop in that the customer wanted to fix the laptop as long as the cost of the parts were not overwhelming.  We called Dells customer CARE number and tried to find the price of the parts we needed.  They adamantly insisted that the laptop was under warranty and transferred me to their technical support number.

Now I just want to note that at no time were we talking to an American.  Everyone was speaking with an accent and were barely understandable.

After 45 minutes on the phone with tech support at Dell they determined that the main system board needed to be replaced. (Go Figure!)  We then proceeded to get a case number and after 20 minutes of giving this guy our address and spelling each of the names more than once we received a case number.

Now this is after 2.5 hours on the phone.  But we figured that since it was a warranty issue it was worth the time.  However our hopes and needs were dashed early on when after about 20 minutes we received a call from the Dell technician.  Our Laptop is no longer under warranty!  I went ballistic on the guy. 

Well I hung up on the guy and called the main customer care number and in about 20 minutes had the price of the system board with part number.

So my advice is NEVER buy a Dell computer or laptop.  No matter how good the price is.  Unless of course if you speak an Asian Indian Dialect or have time to spend on the phone with their inane phone system prompts.