Originally posted by: dwilliu1
To answer a few questions-
The shipping issue:
He called Dell, Dell gave him a return number, airborne express came to our house and picked up the notebook and sent it out to Dell. The $269 supposedly includes that cost to send the notebook to them- he did not pay up front for the shipping cost, neither did Dell, but they are now including that charge in the $269. The fact that he did not have to pay anything up front combined with how Dell handled everything led my father believe that they were paying for the shipping fees. And before the assumptions start again, he was not made aware of the fact that he might have to pay for the shipping.
How it got wet:
He left the notebook open on the couch... it either rained or snowed that night, and water leaked onto the notebook creating the damage.
Weirdness I know. I guess the lesson here is don't leave your notebook open under a leaky ceiling.
Thank-you.
Now if the above is true, Dell is guilty of extortion.
If the CSR had any brains, he'd say, "I'm sorry Mr. dwillu1 Sr., but your notebook's being exposed to water is not covered by Dell's Warranty. If you want to send it in for repairs, you must pay shipping to Dell and there may be a 'diagnosic fee'."
Then it would be up to the customer to ask further questions. It is just shocking that the Dell CSR was so clueless. (Maybe 'not really', since so many of the Dell CSRs I met - either New Delhi or USA-based - seemed unaware of even basic Dell policies and most took terrible case "notes").
Unfortunately - in this case - the customer was led by the Dell CSR to believe that this was just an ordinary RMA and the repairs might be 'covered'. I doubt that he would imagine there might be an additional "hidden" fee just to give a repair estimate.