Unbelieve treatment from DELL

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: Kjazlaw
apoppin: so is it to be assumed that there is no diagnosis fee because it's not "meticulously spelled out?"

It wasn't even slightly spelled out. Therefore no diagnosis fee, just as there isn't a fee for unpackaging the PC or fee for using a screwdriver or even on for wiping the tech ass with toilet paper.

KK

Agreed.

At this point - because of Dell's failure AND what amounts to 'kidnapping' (holding property for 'ransom') and treating a customer so badly - I'd say their best course would be just to repair the notebook as though 'under warranty'. This 'gesture' wouldn't really cost them and would generate good PR where there is currently much negative Dell publicity.

Then Dell needs to rethink their CSR and Tech Support policies and streamline (or even create) their "problem-solving" department.

Until then, I will not recommend Dell.



If I drop off my new car at the dealer (or ANY repair shop), they tell me what is covered by warranty or not. And before proceeding with any diagnosis, I am always informed if there is a fee or not.

When you go into CompUSA or Best Buy for repair, there is a BIG sign detailing repair pricing and you know if your product is covered or not when their CSR takes your product. (and) If it is (later found to be) not covered, you will get a call before any work (or diagnosis) is started so you have an OPTION to proceed - or not.

In this Case, Dell is clearly wrong.

 

[Kjazlaw]

apoppin: i agree. you're right, it's their mistake, they should pay. however, there are things the customer can do to protect themself from the agony involved in something like this. if this guy's dad did it all over again he would probably ASK the csr if there are going to be any fees involved, right?

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Kjazlaw
apoppin: i agree. you're right, it's their mistake, they should pay. however, there are things the customer can do to protect themself from the agony involved in something like this. if this guy's dad did it all over again he would probably ASK the csr if there are going to be any fees involved, right?

Hindsight is (almost) always 20/20.



IF I had it to do over in my Dell RMA, I would also have done things differently (I would have gone straight for a manager).

However, when you buy something from Best Buy - for example - you have a certain expectation of their lack of "service". After all they are "best buy" , which implies PRICE is number one (and service IS bare bones).

Dell advertises (evidently priding itself on) its SERVICE. And we (at least I) see that claim is a DIRTY LIE . . . now . . . (hey, I "fell" for their ads and cheap pricing and bought a Dell EXPECTING service).

EDIT: Where are all the "Dell Supporters"? Tired of bashing the customer or just nothing left to suppport your views?

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Kjazlaw
apoppin: i agree. you're right, it's their mistake, they should pay. however, there are things the customer can do to protect themself from the agony involved in something like this. if this guy's dad did it all over again he would probably ASK the csr if there are going to be any fees involved, right?

Hindsight is (almost) always 20/20.



IF I had it to do over in my Dell RMA, I would also have done things differently (I would have gone straight for a manager).

However, when you buy something from Best Buy - for example - you have a certain expectation of their lack of "service". After all they are "best buy" , which implies PRICE is number one (and service IS bare bones).

Dell advertises (evidently priding itself on) its SERVICE. And we (at least I) see that claim is a DIRTY LIE . . . now . . . (hey, I "fell" for their ads and cheap pricing and bought a Dell EXPECTING service).

EDIT: Where are all the "Dell Supporters"? Tired of bashing the customer or just nothing left to suppport your views?

In this day and age, do you really expect quality CS from any company though? There are probably fewer than 5% that really try to make the customer happy and the other percentage are just trying to survive any way they can and the best way is to screw the customer in the end.

KK

 

[apoppin]

In this day and age, do you really expect quality CS from any company though? There are probably fewer than 5% that really try to make the customer happy and the other percentage are just trying to survive any way they can and the best way is to screw the customer in the end.

Yes, those that advertise "SERVICE".

Let's take this example to the extreme: Let's say Dell calls Mr. dwilliu1 and tells him, "There's a $100-a-day "storage" fee for the notebook until you make up your mind what to do." And perhaps they can find a footnote on one of their web site (or hidden in the fine-print of their warranty) that details this.

So would this also be alright for Dell to do? Perhaps all business should make a practice of screwing the customer.

All this is but a more extreme example of Dell's extortion in this case. :disgust:

Edited: A "/" makes a big difference.

 

[KK]

Edited: A "/" makes a big difference.

Huh?

KK

 

[BooneRebel]

Okay, let's go with another example. Say someone fills my gas tank with sugar. I call the dealer because my car won't start. I know it's not covered under warranty but I take it in anyway. The dealer diagnoses the problem after taking apart the entire fuel injection system and engine and give me a quote.

Now, if I say, "No thanks, I'll repair it myself". Do you think they're going to give me my car back without charging anything for the diagnosis?

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: KK

Edited: A "/" makes a big difference.

Huh?

KK

If you had seen my unedited post, you'd know. I left the "/" off the [ /Q], so there was a quote within a quote within a quote . . .

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
Okay, let's go with another example. Say someone fills my gas tank with sugar. I call the dealer because my car won't start. I know it's not covered under warranty but I take it in anyway. The dealer diagnoses the problem after taking apart the entire fuel injection system and engine and give me a quote.

Now, if I say, "No thanks, I'll repair it myself". Do you think they're going to give me my car back without charging anything for the diagnosis?

If they didn't say anything about a fee up front, then they shouldn't charge. But in most cases like the one you pointed out, they would definately tell you that up front.

KK

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
Okay, let's go with another example. Say someone fills my gas tank with sugar. I call the dealer because my car won't start. I know it's not covered under warranty but I take it in anyway. The dealer diagnoses the problem after taking apart the entire fuel injection system and engine and give me a quote.

Now, if I say, "No thanks, I'll repair it myself". Do you think they're going to give me my car back without charging anything for the diagnosis?

non sequitur. Bad example. And completely UNrelated to [/b]dwilliu1[/b]'s issue.

 

[SnoopCat]

imo getting the $260 credit upon returning a water damaged laptop is a hot deal.

 

[BooneRebel]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
Okay, let's go with another example. Say someone fills my gas tank with sugar. I call the dealer because my car won't start. I know it's not covered under warranty but I take it in anyway. The dealer diagnoses the problem after taking apart the entire fuel injection system and engine and give me a quote.

Now, if I say, "No thanks, I'll repair it myself". Do you think they're going to give me my car back without charging anything for the diagnosis?

non sequitur. Bad example. And completely UNrelated to [/b]dwilliu1[/b]'s issue.

Too specific for you? I think it's related. But let's generalize it a little more: Damage occurs to a consumer item. Said damage is outside of the scope of the warranty. Item is returned to manufacturer for service. Guess What? They work on it and want money to fix it. Without approval to fix the item, manufacturer asks for a lesser amount for diagnosis. Is this so hard to swallow? $260 does sound a little steep for PC repair, but if you've ever had to do component-level repair on a laptop you'll know what a pain it is to get the suckers apart.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: BooneRebel

Too specific for you?

No. Too ridiculous to be called a "example".

I think it's related.

In your mind, only.

But let's generalize it a little more: Damage occurs to a consumer item. Said damage is outside of the scope of the warranty. Item is returned to manufacturer for service.

But the CSR does not mention that there is a fee to diagnosis it and the customer is not sure it is not covered.

Guess What? They work on it and want money to fix it. Without approval to fix the item, manufacturer asks for a lesser amount for diagnosis. Is this so hard to swallow?

Absolutely. You are so "flip" since it's not YOUR money and Dell did not get the customer's approval to charge for the diagnosis.

$260 does sound a little steep for PC repair . . .

What REPAIR? $260 is for a "diagnosis" A "little steep"? . . . The word is "extortion".

 

[apoppin]

Ok, now that the "Dell Defenders" are silent, I have a question for dwilliu1 :

DID you pay your OWN SHIPPING CHARGES to send your notebook in to Dell for repair?

If Dell PREpaid shipping ("Airborne" - as they usually do for warranty-covered repairs) , it could well indicate that the repair might be covered. If they asked you to pay to ship it, might indicate otherwise.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: apoppin
Ok, now that the "Dell Defenders" are silent, I have a question for dwilliu1 :

DID you pay your OWN SHIPPING CHARGES to send your notebook in to Dell for repair?

If Dell PREpaid shipping ("Airborne" - as they usually do for warranty-covered repairs) , it could well indicate that the repair might be covered. If they asked you to pay to ship it, might indicate otherwise.

[*]Obviously dwilliu's father paid the freight charge to Dell for non-warranty service
[*]A Dell tech diagnosed the problem and called the customer with the estimate
[*]Now the customer is refusing to have it fixed, and refusing to pay the tech time to diagnose the issue

I will agree that a 260.00 "estimate" sounds a little unreasonable, but I seriously doubt we have the full story here....

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: apoppin
Ok, now that the "Dell Defenders" are silent, I have a question for dwilliu1 :

DID you pay your OWN SHIPPING CHARGES to send your notebook in to Dell for repair?

If Dell PREpaid shipping ("Airborne" - as they usually do for warranty-covered repairs) , it could well indicate that the repair might be covered. If they asked you to pay to ship it, might indicate otherwise.

[*]Obviously dwilliu's father paid the freight charge to Dell for non-warranty service
[*]A Dell tech diagnosed the problem and called the customer with the estimate
[*]Now the customer is refusing to have it fixed, and refusing to pay the tech time to diagnose the issue

I will agree that a 260.00 "estimate" sounds a little unreasonable, but I seriously doubt we have the full story here....

I'd really like to hear from dwilliu1 . What is so "obvious" to you might not be true and would certainly contradict your "conclusions".

EDIT: Why don't you give this thread a read to see what I left out of MY "full story" with Dell:

Dell Service )**Final UPDATE** (Bad, really Bad . . . but they're Workin' on it)

 

[NeoPTLD]

I make it a habit of recording coversation on tape whenever I talk to customer service. $1 60min tape sure saves a lot of trouble. Luckily my answering machine can do 2-way recording and it makes beeps every few seconds as required by FCC and this usually deters them from saying non sense.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: NeoPTLD
I make it a habit of recording coversation on tape whenever I talk to customer service. $1 60min tape sure saves a lot of trouble. Luckily my answering machine can do 2-way recording and it makes beeps every few seconds as required by FCC and this usually deters them from saying non sense.

Now we know "procedure" when calling Dell.



It shouldn't have to be that way.

 

[ReiAyanami]

d00d! he's like that skinny paranoid neighbor guy on king of the hill

[which BTW sux compared to family guy]

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: ReiAyanami
d00d! he's like that skinny paranoid neighbor guy on king of the hill

[which BTW sux compared to family guy]

Was that guys name dell?

KK

edit: dale was the name, wasn't it?

 

[Lucky]

OK, I'll buy that. However, if it was clearly stated up front what the issues were, Dell should have then still stated what the minimum fees would be. Getting notice of a $260 *surprise* a few days later is not too fun.

Seems to me like his father told the rep: I need to send it in for repair, I need it back for business, please fix it. Upon being told the price, he backed out. Sounds like the original rep never spoke the words "it will be $260 if you decline the repair because his father didn't say "I'd like it to have an estimate", he said "i want it repaired".

Nothing seems amiss to me except the father's brain for not getting the costs spelled out beforehand.

 

[Toxic]

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to pay something for Dell to look at the notebook. As I said earlier, I do think $260 is a bit on the high side.

With that said, why can Dell keep his notebook if he refuses to pay? Call it a lien until payment is made. That would be legal.

After thinking about this, IF this notebook is really used for a buisness, then take the offer for a new one with the discount and write it off as a buisness expense.

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: Toxic
I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to pay something for Dell to look at the notebook. As I said earlier, I do think $260 is a bit on the high side.

With that said, why can Dell keep his notebook if he refuses to pay? Call it a lien until payment is made. That would be legal.

After thinking about this, IF this notebook is really used for a buisness, then take the offer for a new one with the discount and write it off as a buisness expense.

From what the original poster said, he was never aware that there was a charge for looking at it and dell never actually said there was. When I did an RMA on my DC4800 kodak camera last year I believe they wanted a credit card number up front just in case the damage to the camera was not under warrantee. In this case I was aware that there would be a charge. Had they not said anything I would not have expected to be billed for this. If what the original poster said was in fact the whole story, then I don't see why his laptop should be held.

KK

 

[Koing]

BooneRebel that is bs.

By your reasoning your get something off your mate then HE decides to charge you for it. You are p!ssed at it because HE didnt' tell you the price. Now you think its fair for him charge you?

I think its BS that Dell didn't say that their was going to be a *fee* for inspection. If they had then they could say an average fee say between $50-$200 so the customer knows what they are expecting. But for them to NOT say so is unfair.

I've delt with getting my Sony MD in for repairs. The customer service person said that their "would" be a fee of £50 if it was not covered in warrenty, but if it was covered then no fee if I had a valid warrenty. THAT is how it SHOULD have been. Dell tell the guy that their would be $xx.xx fee before getting the guy to send it in.

On another note I guess his dad could have asked.

I've had lots of people get told that their was a *fee* for inspection though at various shops........

Hope you get the problem sorted out.

<--- not going to get a Dell, don't perticularly like their products and I live in the UK and their prices over here are not good.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Lucky

OK, I'll buy that. However, if it was clearly stated up front what the issues were, Dell should have then still stated what the minimum fees would be. Getting notice of a $260 *surprise* a few days later is not too fun.

Seems to me like his father told the rep: I need to send it in for repair, I need it back for business, please fix it. Upon being told the price, he backed out. Sounds like the original rep never spoke the words "it will be $260 if you decline the repair because his father didn't say "I'd like it to have an estimate", he said "i want it repaired".

Nothing seems amiss to me except the father's brain for not getting the costs spelled out beforehand.

"Seems like" & "Sounds like" your IDLE speculation to me. UNLESS we hear from dwilliu1 again, we'll never know.

The one thing we DO know is that Dell's "Service" is NOT (or is no longer) as advertised.

caveat emptor