Unbelieve treatment from DELL

[dwilliu1]

 

[dman]

As a person with some common sense you gotta know there's going to be a charge for non warranty work. And if you didn't discuss what was reasonable before hand you can't really go about saying it's unreasonable now. Well you can, but, you'll get no sympathy from me. OK, yes, you will--a little, but, only because it is expensive (but not overpriced) and because people (customers) make mistakes.

Best of luck in getting it resolved!

 

[Desslok]

How is that shady?

Did you think they were going to look at it for free? Did you even read the EUA??

 

[dwilliu1]

Thanks Rogue for some good advice

 

[Rudee]

Before your Father sent the laptop back to Dell, he should of asked how much charges would be to inspect the laptop for damages. You can't assume Dell will look at it for free, especially since it's been predetermined that the damages were not convered by warranty. Although the $250 fee is extremely high, it should be at least $100.

 

[dwilliu1]

You're damn right they should have done it for free.
If not then they shouldn't have the 'send it into us and we'll look at it for you' attitude.
And if they do have that attitude, then they should never fail to mention that it's gonna cost $260 for them to look at it.
That's ridiculous.
And I know a lot of you have hours of free time to search every possible place to fix a broken laptop, but most normal people don't.
It's a Dell Computer and the first place 99% of people will turn to get a broken Dell fixed is DELL.
Sure there's some fault for my father not asking what the price is up front, but like someone posted earlier, we all make mistakes- and this is just an example of a big company trying to have their way with customers who won't dispute the charge.
This seems like a trap that many many many customers could fall into, and for Dell to charge $260 is just fraudulent without making damn sure the customer knows what they are getting themselves into before committing to anything.
Like Rogue said that policy probably serves no good function other than getting a few hundred bucks from customers who can spare it.
The last place I would have expected to see such a policy is Dell or any other company that likes to flaunt their customer service.
It's inexcusable.

 

[ReiAyanami]

my friend took a laptop to a computer shop only to find out it'd cost $700 to fix, which was more than the laptop was worth so she paid the $75 diagnostic fee and took it. but $260 is steeep.

 

[bolido2000]

260 is steep. They probably state everything in the EUA. You'll have to pay them something. Besides a lot of companies charge for live CSRs.

 

[SherEPunjab]

I say you get 'em back by getting in on one of those Dell HOT DEALS that have been coming off and on. Rebate here, online coupon there, before you know it, you're getting something that cost them 400 for 300.

 

[vegetation]

Unless you signed something that states you owe them money just for sending in the laptop, then you owe them nothing. Many companies practice this type of service fee for looking at something even with no work done, but all of 'em require a signed form stating that you have been informed of the charge.

 

[Soybomb]

I think its your fathers fault and have no problems with dell. He spilled water on his laptop voiding the warrenty and sent it in to dell. Did he think they'd just look at it for free? Did he expect it to be cheap to repair a water damaged laptop? The price is a bit on the high side, but he should have known there would be a fee and asked how much.

 

[KK]

This is just a what if, but what if someone sent their computer to dell accidently to the same address and all. It wouldn't of course have an RMA number but would they charge 260 to get it back? I would have to say that if he did not agree to be charge 260 then they could not charge them. You don't get a plumber to come out to your house and go through a whole estimate and at the end tell you it's going to be 200 for the estimate after he gave you the repair estimate. They needed to get his credit card number prior to him sending this laptop to them, this would do two thing, make him aware that there would be a charge if there is one and also the company would be secure in knowing that they could bill 260. I think dell dropped the ball if the didn't verbally on the phone mentioned anyting about this charge. This EUA is only valid if the user has acknowledged and agreed to it. So anyone trying to saying that it is in writing, what if this guy was blind? I'd take them to small claims if they don't return it. It their burden to prove you were aware of the charge and that you agreed to it.

KK

 

[Ryan]

You should have got a Gateway

 

[T2T III]

What would make you think Dell was gonna do it for free if it was out of warrenty.

The laptop was not out of warranty. However, the damage it suffered was not covered by the warranty.

Rule #1: Dry out inside of laptop before sending it in for service.
Rule #2: Ask many questions regarding prices, costs, etc. when requesting warranty service.

Some companies make their warranty policy quite clear. Look at Planar for example. They have a 3-year customer first warranty where the terms are quite clear. Unfortunately, the situation with Dell is that it appears the policy regarding a diagnosis on a laptop or computer don't seem very clear. A customer should not be "surprised" with a bill of $260. Sure, Dell deserves to get some money for performing a dignosis, but "surprising" a customer with a $260 bill seems rediculous to me. One would think that when you call into them for warranty service, they would read you a simple disclaimer indicating that if the problem is one that is not covered by the warranty, you will be subject to a fee of $#.## to cover the time spent by the technician. At this point, the owner would then have a choice as to whether they wanted to proceed with sending the laptop or computer to Dell at that point.

 

[earthman]

Dell has enough money, buy from somebody else next time.

 

[CraigRT]

hahahah, hate companies like that..
that's why i'd never in my life buy a computer like that.. (which is why i will never own a notebook)

 

[Ylen13]

eather call better business burea and request them to get involved or just pay up. Not sure if disputing with credit card will work. If u have a friend who is a lawyer see if he would write a small letter for u and fax it to them threatening legall action if they don't return it for free immedetially.Sotimes this will work sometimes it will not goodl luck.

 

[Toxic]

I understand them charging something for taking their time to look at it, BUT $260? I seriously doubt they looked at it for more than an hour - esp. if you dad told them what happened.

Then again, they SHOULD have told him up front what he was in for as far as ANY charges that might apply. I think this could be won in court, personally.

Something to think about.....IF he decided to sue, and decided to do it in small claims court, Dell would probably NOT send someone to represent them, and he would win by default (You don't show, you lose [in this state anyway]).

 

[hamburglar]

wouldn't you think estimates aren't free unless explicitly stated? That's why places advertise free estimates!

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: hamburglar
wouldn't you think estimates aren't free unless explicitly stated? That's why places advertise free estimates!

Yes, but, the laptop appears to have been sent in on the belief that the repair would be covered under the warranty. However, it was later determined the repair was not covered by the warranty. This information should have been clearly relayed by Dell before the laptop was sent in for service.

When you take your car to get serviced, they will not do any work until you have signed a work order. If my car has a basic problem, I might get hit with a $39.95 "diagnostic" fee. The people at the service center are very clear about this fee, too. I just think Dell should be more forward with what they tell consumers. If you are calling them to arrange for service, then they should tell you that there will be a minimum fee of $#.## for the diagnostic work if the actual repair does not fall under the warranty.

 

[Rogue]

It's plain old piss poor customer relations on this issue, no matter how you look at it. A policy somewhere needs to be changed. Dell, as a service provider, would do themselves a great service to have the agents state up front that his issue would require a diganostic fee of some kind. I've worked in call centers for going on 8 years now and everytime something like this has happened, it's caused a change in the way we service the customers. Listen to someone with experience here. I used to do Compaq tech support and we had several issues like this until they finally decided it would be better to let the customer know up front that they may be charged for the services. I can tell you first hand that every single time a customer disputed the charges with enough fervor, they won. It's a general rule of thumb in the service business that a customer who has a good experience may tell 2-3 people about it, but a customer who has a bad experience with a company tells 10-12 people about it and no company likes those odds, especially in the age of global communications where $50 spent on setting up a website about your negative experience puts a very, very sharp thorn in the company's side. Call back, demand to speak to management and DO NOT give in. Make sure you reiterate how this experience has negatively impacted your view as well as that of your friends and family and all in all be brutally honest about how you feel ambushed by it all. Don't threaten legal action, as that will only make the technician's job easier because they can then pawn you off on another technician that is trained to deal in "legalese". Be polite, be firm, be persistent and never cede your point. This is nearly 8 years of experience talking here, trust me. I've been a phone rep, manager, trainer and now systems admin in a call center, take my advice.

 

[Lucky]

Yes, but, the laptop appears to have been sent in on the belief that the repair would be covered under the warranty.

From the orginal post:

About a week ago the notebook was damaged by water leaking onto it, and the notebook was non-functional. This type of damage is not covered by Dell's warranty.

Obviously not the case here.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: dwilliu1
I'd love to hear what you all think of this.

My father recently purchased a refurbished Dell Inspiron 8100 notebook, about 5 months ago or so. About a week ago the notebook was damaged by water leaking onto it, and the notebook was non-functional. This type of damage is not covered by Dell's warranty. My father contacted Dell about the problem, and they told him to send it in for recovery/repair. Dell's diagnosis was that the Inspiron's motherboard has been fried, and repair for such a thing would cost
about $900.

My father opted to have the laptop sent back to him, without having Dell repair any part of
it. $900 is ridiculous and he could almost purchase a new system for that price. Plus it would be much cheaper for him to have it repaired some place else, but obviously he needs his notebook back for business etc.

This is where things get shady...

Upon informing the customer service representative of this, he was told that it would cost him $260 just for Dell to send the computer back, unrepaired!

He was never aware of this policy prior to sending the notebook to Dell, and he was unaware of any obligation to pay such a steep fee for getting what is essentially a repair estimate. If he had known this I'm sure he would never have sent his Inspiron to Dell in the first place, yet they want to charge him $260 to ship his own laptop back to him???

To make it worse, the customer service representative then stated that if he were to purchase a new notebook from Dell, then they would credit his account with the $260.

I'm no lawyer, but isn't that blackmail?

We've bought many Dells in the past and I know many of you people do too, but doesn't that story make you a little uneasy about Dell?
:disgust:

Dell is one of the worst companies to deal with if you arent a giant corporate customer with 25 or more systems at your site. they will screw over normal people at a moments notice. they can not hold your system for $260 without having told you before hand. I know HP and compaq from my experience, they will just send back your system if you dont want to spend the money for the spare parts overnight mail no less(spare parts are expensive, especially on older systems such as the 8100, $900 for amotherboard is kinda of exorbitant though, usually its in the $350-400 range). they should clearly tell you when you get an RMA about any extra charges. this is just ridiculous.

anyways, my dad hates them both personally and professionally, as they once put him on hold for an hour and a half just to say we are sorry we cannot uncancel your order that we canceled randomly.

he says on a professional level, since he works in the industry at an OEM, that they are super demanding, think they are god, and want your company to basically suck their ass and do it at a loss.

the one time i ordered a system from them (on the $70 lets make sure dell loses money deal) they charged my fedex account for the wrong shipping, and wouldnt reply to my emails after replying to the first one with a reply of "its your fault, that we shipped it the wrong way, call fedex".

they also basically bribe pc mag and pc world to get good reviews, since they are the highest paying ad customer. they buy the back page fold out glossy ad, costs a lot, pc mag and pcworld treat them like god.
anyways, that is my dell rant, and it is all so true.





anyways, outside of my rant, i'd do the credit card thing. i for sure would want the laptop back as its optical drives, hard drives , memory and screen and video card are surely working. whati'd personally do, is go to www.teamexcess.com and for $99 get a dell inspiron 8000 / c800 motherboard. this will not work with your CPU , but it will work with allthe other parts. then buy a new CPU on ebay.

sell the old CPU on ebay, toss your old mobo. i dont know how comfortable you are with rebuilding a laptop, but i've done it, and its not THAT difficult. thats just my suggestion anyways. i have an intricate knowledge of compaq and hp support policies (as i used to work at the company that handles their service) and well, they would never charge you for a "inspection" fee. compaq and hp go as far as "escalating" your case, to keep you a customer, sometime they'd even give you a brand new machine (at least for desktops, their laptop service is also very good).

 

[stev0]

as many people have already said here, it is normal for a company to charge the customer to take a peek at what is wrong, especially if the computer is out of warrenty, or the damage done to it is not covered by warrenty. i am almost positive that if you went to dell's site and started to read their policies, this would be covered in there somewhere. ignorance isn't an excuse, have your pops give DELL his cc # and move on.

 

[Doggiedog]

Stuff like that is why I don't buy Dell. They pulled something like that on me too and a manager even had the nerve to tell me I was wrong and hung up on me. They shipped me the wrong order and when I told them they said no I was wrong. When I told them to take it back because I didn't want it, they said fine but I had to pay for shipping.

They also did the same thing to my friend but fortunately he was a Harvard Law graduate at a big law firm and after many threatening letters he was able to get his money back but even he had a hard time dealing with them.

Dell sucks.