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Warning:

This article is more than 45 days old. Given the speed at which the technology world moves, this post is probably somewhat out of date. Please keep this in mind when reading the post. If this is a tutorial, please check whether you are using the same versions mentioned in the article.

My Dell was DOA

Dell had a great deal last week so I picked up a new Dimension to replace an aging GX260 as a secondary home PC. With free three day shipping, it arrived on Friday.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't boot. 6 beeps, no picture, no power to USB keyboard or mouse. I spent a few hours with hardware support reseating the memory, resetting the jumpers and so on (most of which I had already tried). They finally concluded that my "system board needs to be replaced" and they'll send out a technician - in 7-10 days!

This is absolutely ridiculous. Have they not heard of the implied warranty of merchantability? This shouldn't even be an issue of warranty... it arrived and simply did not work.

Unfortunately, there was no one I was able to speak with over the weekend who was able to give me any better options. I'm going to call tomorrow and unless they have something better I have a feeling I will be returning this system and taking my business elsewhere. I heard Apple's support is pretty good....

Only published comments... Jul 16 2006, 05:12 PM by Tim

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Ryan_Flood said:

I would have given Dell two options;
I send the system back and you send me a new one.
or
I send the system back and you return my money.

I have seen it too often. The come out with a system board, then find the hard drive does not work, and since they only brought a PSU, Mobo, ram, and CPU, you are screwed waiting again.

Talk only to a supervisor, if they claimm they are bussy give them one (1) chance to call you back within an hour. If they can do noot, call again and wait on hold. The front liners will ask you all sorts of questions, to which your reply should be I will only speak to a supervisor, I will not give any details except to a supervisor.
July 19, 2006 9:38 AM
   

Tim said:

I've been meaning to post a follow up but I've been tied up at work and with the upgrade to CS 2.1.

As I mentioned, this was at 2am on Sat morning, and I was initially on with Hardware Support. When I spoke with Customer Service on Mon, I told them I wasn't happy with the technician and gave them precisely those options: replace or return.

They are, in fact, shipping me a replacement unit (without peripherals). The only problem is that it will take an additional week - they expect it to ship either Sat or Mon with overnight shipping. Now I just need to arrange to be there to sign for it!

The delay is annoying, but it is certainly a better outcome than the technician. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the new machine actually works!

July 20, 2006 6:44 AM
 

Loosely Coupled // Tim Marman's Weblog said:

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I ordered a Dell and it was dead out of the box. My original discussion

August 2, 2006 6:39 AM

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