Anyone had problems with Dell Laptops?

[timk]

Purchased a Dell Inspiron as a Home laptop in Nov 2010. From the get go it exhibited problems - crashes a lot with 'bluescreen' errors, unresponsive and infuriating touchpad and so on. After spending hours on the phone to tech support in India (chargeable phone line) they first reinstalled the drivers. This was supposed to cure it, and it didn't. Called them again and they arranged to call me back and reinstall the operating systems (meaning everything had to be removed from my machine and backed up). Reinstalling BIOS and operating systems, diagnostics etc took ages and was supposed to fix it....but guess what, it didn't.

As they never respond to emails (even the tech support email link on their site is a dead link), I phoned India again and asked for a refund or replacement as the machine is not of satisfactory quality as defined by Sale of Goods Act '79. They have standard scripted response that the refund period is 7 days from purchase (long expired) so they will simply carry on their seemingly unsuccesful repair and reinstallation attempts at my inconvenience.

Royally fed up with them, anyone else had issues?? I wish I'd bought an HP, this was a baaaaad mistake.

 

[gina2201]

You could contact Trading Standards ( I have once and they were very good). And they can advise on what steps to take, where you stand etc etc.

Did you buy it online or in a shop? If the latter could you not take it back and say you want your money back/a replacement? Did you pay by credit card? More come back if you did rather than debit/cash.

I bought a Dell laptop August 2009 and I (touch wood) have had no problems with it whatsoever! I am not someone who uses it for much really, word processing, photos, music and internet of course!

 

[br0ke]

I bought my daughter a Inspirion 1501 for Christmas last year, running Windows 7.

Haven't had a problem in 14 months even with all the stupid games and apps that she downloads. Windows Security Essentials seems to do the business and apart from the occassional reboot it seems very good for a cheap machine.

I have had 2 new Dells in work over the past 18 months and although OK I still get the Blue Screen of Death every so often. Personally I blame the corporate XP image and heaps of security crap.
Is yours running XP, Vista or 7?

 

[Colin_b]

Laptops are much of a muchness, really. My experience of Dell is they are pretty reliable.

Yours sounds broken, probably slightly dodgy memory, or similar. Persuade them to exchange it for one that works.

 

[timk]

You could contact Trading Standards ( I have once and they were very good). And they can advise on what steps to take, where you stand etc etc.

Did you buy it online or in a shop? If the latter could you not take it back and say you want your money back/a replacement? Did you pay by credit card? More come back if you did rather than debit/cash.

I bought a Dell laptop August 2009 and I (touch wood) have had no problems with it whatsoever! I am not someone who uses it for much really, word processing, photos, music and internet of course!

It was bought online via debit card sadly. Only contact I can elicit with Dell is speaking to India, which means getting one's opinion accross is very hard - they can't understand me fully and vice versa. Very frustrating.

I bought my daughter a Inspirion 1501 for Christmas last year, running Windows 7.

Haven't had a problem in 14 months even with all the stupid games and apps that she downloads. Windows Security Essentials seems to do the business and apart from the occassional reboot it seems very good for a cheap machine.

I have had 2 new Dells in work over the past 18 months and although OK I still get the Blue Screen of Death every so often. Personally I blame the corporate XP image and heaps of security crap.
Is yours running XP, Vista or 7?

It's running Windows 7.

 

[timk]

Laptops are much of a muchness, really. My experience of Dell is they are pretty reliable.

Yours sounds broken, probably slightly dodgy memory, or similar. Persuade them to exchange it for one that works.

That's the issue - they won't replace it even though it is less than 3 months old and has had the issues since very early on. Neither are they willing to refund - their solution is to take it apart, which means inconvenience to me, again. I have to be in for technicians to come and fiddle with it and so far have spent almost 5 hours on the phone to them having various bits reinstalled - for a new machine it's very poor IMO, and the customer service is far from satisfactory.

On a rant!!

 

[Piff]

Which debit card?
If it is a Visa branded one you have a chance of a refund

 

[greggster]

I know how frustrating it is, Dell customer support is barely English speaking and next to useless. Bad luck for me I've got 12 months left on my lease of 3 laptops! Trading standards is the best idea.

 

[timk]

I know how frustrating it is, Dell customer support is barely English speaking and next to useless. Bad luck for me I've got 12 months left on my lease of 3 laptops! Trading standards is the best idea.

Yep, frustrating is the word. Think I'll contact Trading Standards, although surprised to have to resort to that. Says a lot about Dell and their interest in customer service. Seems once they have your money they aren't really fussed about keeping people happy.

 

[219]

Ship it back to them recorded delivery , with a covering letter stating that you are rejecting it as being not of merchantable quality ,as required under the Sale of Goods Act ( their 'seven day rule' is irrelevant as consumer law overrides it ) .

Also state that you have been more than reasonable allowing them so many attempts to repair it , without affecting your statutory rights .

Keep copies of all correspondence , records of all telephone calls , all attempted repairs - detail same in letter of rejection .

Give them seven days to refund your money - if not refunded , raise an action in the small claims court . You will win .

 

[Colin_b]

Ship it back to them recorded delivery , with a covering letter stating that you are rejecting it as being not of merchantable quality ,as required under the Sale of Goods Act ( their 'seven day rule' is irrelevant as consumer law overrides it ) .

Also state that you have been more than reasonable allowing them so many attempts to repair it , without affecting your statutory rights .

Keep copies of all correspondence , records of all telephone calls , all attempted repairs - detail same in letter of rejection .

Give them seven days to refund your money - if not refunded , raise an action in the small claims court . You will win .

This is the way to go, assuming its a domestic rather than business purchase. Include the amount to have spent on phone calls to their helpline.

 

[MercFanUk]

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[Noodle-Pulp]

Maybe try ringing during 9am-5pm and you wont get through to useless india.

Dell Customer Service
Number You Call: 01344 860456

Dell Head Office in Bracknell
Number You Call: 01344 860456

Dell Business Support
Number They Give: 0870 9080500
Number You Call: 01344 373196

Dell Public Sector Sales
Number You Call: 01344 860456

Walsh Western UK Ltd - UK Head office switchboard. Used by Dell.
Number You Call: 02476 602142

UK general manager: Josh Claman
UK VP & General manager Pim Dale
UK president: David Marmonti
UK VP & manager: Aongus Hegarty

 

[timk]

Thanks Noodle-pulp, seen those on Moneysavingexpert.com, but sadly all those UK numbers (Bracknell STD code) simply re-direct to the Mumbai call centre.

It seems to be a fairly deliberate effort to ensure you can't contact anyone in the UK about complaints or tech issues. They also removed their customer forum section on the website where people could post about reviews of their products and issues. Apparently it was so negative and damning it had to be taken down.

Looking at the possibility of investigating a Visa card chargeback with my bank, not that it seems straightforward....

 

[dokalj]

Hi timk,

Sorry to hear about your dell problems.

Did Dell not say that your laptop needs to go to their repair station?

Regards

dokalj

 

[flango]

Purchased a Dell Inspiron as a Home laptop in Nov 2010. From the get go it exhibited problems - crashes a lot with 'bluescreen' errors, unresponsive and infuriating touchpad and so on. After spending hours on the phone to tech support in India (chargeable phone line) they first reinstalled the drivers. This was supposed to cure it, and it didn't. Called them again and they arranged to call me back and reinstall the operating systems (meaning everything had to be removed from my machine and backed up). Reinstalling BIOS and operating systems, diagnostics etc took ages and was supposed to fix it....but guess what, it didn't.

As they never respond to emails (even the tech support email link on their site is a dead link), I phoned India again and asked for a refund or replacement as the machine is not of satisfactory quality as defined by Sale of Goods Act '79. They have standard scripted response that the refund period is 7 days from purchase (long expired) so they will simply carry on their seemingly unsuccesful repair and reinstallation attempts at my inconvenience.

Royally fed up with them, anyone else had issues?? I wish I'd bought an HP, this was a baaaaad mistake.

All our laptops are Dell and Tech support is fantastic including on my daughters Inspiron, your problem is don't deal with Dell in India deal with them in the UK 01344 860456 and they will put you through to an engineer. Better still in the first instance go to the website type in the service tag and download all the updated drivers and BIOS that will eliminate all those problems. LINKY Theres loads of info on there about blue screen erros and how to fix them along with a host of other issue and fixes.

If you are still having issues then ring Dell tech support in the UK. They will even remote connect to your machine and sort it for you.

You also need to check you don't have one of the machines that was shipped with faulty processors if you have then they will just swap it out straight away most of these machines were sold in the last 3 months of 2010 but they will tell you from serial number and service tag.

hope that helps

 

[MD5]

It's a pity to read this, as I'm fed up with my HP laptop (W7), and was considering buying another Dell. I find that HPs and Compaqs (HP) tend to overheat, but I have older Dell laptops and desktops for work (all XP), and I don't want to tempt fate about what good workhorses they've been.

 

[corned]

It appears to be a generic problem with most IT kit recently, not just laptops, and not just Dell.

I believe that it is due to the price-driven nature of the market. Manufacturers have been obliged to cut more and more corners, and this is the natural (and predictable) result.

I have had Dell kit in the past for many years, but the recent kit (laptop and printer/fax) have been crap and no end of trouble. Put simply, they have been very poor quality - the inevitable consequence of building down to a price.

Now - where have I heard that before?

 

[timk]

All our laptops are Dell and Tech support is fantastic including on my daughters Inspiron, your problem is don't deal with Dell in India deal with them in the UK 01344 860456 and they will put you through to an engineer. Better still in the first instance go to the website type in the service tag and download all the updated drivers and BIOS that will eliminate all those problems. LINKY Theres loads of info on there about blue screen erros and how to fix them along with a host of other issue and fixes.

If you are still having issues then ring Dell tech support in the UK. They will even remote connect to your machine and sort it for you.

You also need to check you don't have one of the machines that was shipped with faulty processors if you have then they will just swap it out straight away most of these machines were sold in the last 3 months of 2010 but they will tell you from serial number and service tag.

hope that helps

I've tried calling the UK Bracknell numbers, but they re-direct you to Mumbai. Not sure how you managed to get through to a UK person but if you have any ideas let me know??

Also tried calling Paul Harrison, Dell UK MD (his mobile number is on moneysavingexpert.com) but no answer as yet.

Re Drivers and BIOS updates, machine is 2 months old and had everything re-installed including the operating systems and all drivers, already. There are no updates available for the machine.
Can't believe how unprofessional Dell are! Called their UK no. again this morning, put through to India and passed between various depts. who simply want to put me through to someone else. Then got cut off. They simply don't want to deal with complaints and there is no escalation method other than being put through to endless supervisors who reel off the same drivel.

 

[timk]

Result. Spent 30 mins arguing the finer points of the Sale of Goods Act with their 'legal' team in Mumbai. Bent their ear about having given them reasonable opportunity to correct the issues, and they eventually gave in.

I am now getting a refund but need another machine pronto - any recommendations for a good machine for home use around the £400 mark??

This one has 320GB HD, 4MB RAM and an Intel Pentium 2.4GHz processor. Just need something with a similarly decent spec on it. And not another Dell.