Dell – Your Customer Support Has Failed Me Big Time

Posted by | 05/04/2009 | 27 Comments

As I mentioned last week, I had to send my Dell Latitude XT in for repair due to a faulty N-Trig digitizer driver install. A series of  installs had messed up the firmware on the digitizer so badly that the system no longer recognized it. Fortunately, the XT is still under warranty, so all I had to do was call Dell and have them replace the digitizer. That took several phone calls, running diagnostics over the phone, etc. I had one support rep tell me that my Latitude XT was not a real PC. I had another rep tell me that the diagnostics was taking too long to run, so I needed to call them back when it was finished.

I was finally able to get a decent support rep who expedited my issue. Dell sent a box over the next day and I promptly shipped the Latitude XT off to them. A week later, I received the Latitude XT and imagine my disappointment to find that they did NOT fix the system at all. The digitizer still did not work, and from what I could tell, they didn’t touch anything on my Latitude XT. Frustrated, I called Dell again. They arranged a second pickup. The box came the next day, and I promptly shipped the system back to them. Another week later, my Latitude XT finally came back to me repaired. That’s two weeks with no PC, 3 to 4 hours on the phone, dealing with something that should have only taken 1 phone call and 1 shipment.

This morning I was doing some digging around Windows 7 RC and noticed that the system properties on the XT was reporting only 1 GB of RAM. I knew I had sent the Latitude XT in to the repair facility with 3 GB. So, just to make sure Windows 7 wasn’t flaking out on me, I popped the memory panel open off the back of the XT and sure enough the DIMM B slot was missing my 2 GB DIMM. Beyond frustrated, I called Dell yet again to find out what happened to my missing memory. I just finished spending 30 minutes on the phone with their repair facility going over this issue. They told me that they will try to locate my missing RAM, and if they can’t find it, that they would ship me a replacement 2 GB next day.

Dell, your technical support and repair facility has been an utter failure for me and has left me being one very disappointed Dell customer. This latest mishap, coupled with my overall experience with the Latitude XT, has me looking at anything but Dell when it comes to buying new systems for myself and my small business clients.

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Category: Editorials, Hardware

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As the Founding Editor for GottaBeMobile.com, Rob oversaw the growth and overall direction for content, advertising, and management of the site. Keep up with Rob at RobBushway.com Send email to Rob
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  • http://www.gottabemobile.com Rob Bushway

    thanks for that correction, Charles. I appreciate the encouragement, too.

    I changed the title

  • harv

    Rob,

    This is as disappointing as it is expected. I remember when Sierra had to wait 42 days for HP to find (yes, they lost her tablet) and repair her 2710p. I’ve always had the quality of Dell’s service thrown at me by IT admins as the reason they won’t entertain any other brand. But I’ve always had an experience similar to yours, bad.
    And yet, I’ve been continuously hearing that Fujitsu has always been the top perfromer when it comes to service, because they have been the supplier of choice to UPS and FEDEX for years and have had those accounts to fund/lubricate/exercise their service network.

  • Ben

    i can’t believe they actually stole your RAM. it’s so bad it’s kinda funny. when i sent my x61t in for the pealing bezel issue, i was scared something like that would happen to me too. i thought about putting the original memory back in, but didn’t. fortunately, lenovo didn’t steal my ram. but they didn’t actually fix my bezel either, that i can see.

  • Mike

    Sorry to hear about your trouble Rob. I can tell you that I’ve been through MUCH MUCH worse through HP though. Everything from HP charging my credit card erroneously to having them blame me for their mistakes and never apologizing after they realized it. I must have spent at least 15 hours in total on the phone getting everything fixed, and I went through 3 different monitors before keeping a 4th one. It would take me a few pages to explain everything. My understanding is that Apple has the best customer support but even they aren’t immune to mistakes. Unfortunately, these tech companies are really cut throat in profits and customer support is one of the spots where corners get cut.

  • ChrisBatDell

    Rob:

    Sorry to hear of the problems you had with technical support. While we strive to provide the best support possible for our customers, sometimes issues slip through the cracks.

    Was the memory originally purchased with the system, or did you purchase it from a 3rd party?

    The reason I ask, is if a motherboard was replaced on the computer, they may have replaced and installed memory as shown from the original configuration.

    Having said that, support should have made note of the additional hardware added and replaced before shipping back.

    Let me know if you run into any other issues moving forward, I’ll be happy to assist as needed.

    Regards,

    Chris Byrd
    Dell Digital Life Evangelist

  • http://www.gottabemobile.com Rob Bushway

    thank you, Chris. The unit I sent in, I believe, was originally ordered with 3 gb of RAM. It’s been a while, so I’m not sure. Regardless, whether it was OEM install or third-party, the RAM should have been put back in. I’m not sure if they replaced the motherboard or not, but wouldn’t be surprised if they did.

    Thanks for following up and posting. It is good to know that we are not all talking in an echo chamber.

  • Dayanim

    Whats really gotten to me lately is my realisation that the XT (the Ntrig digitiser specifically) dont support pen pressure functionality in corel or adobe suites, GIMP and other software. This seems like a big hole in the “tightness” of this product. While it is to a major part an N-trig issue, Dell should have started dealing with this the first time they heard about it.

    I must say, immediately after buying the XT, I was very impressed with Dell. I really love the XT. It had its issues but overall it was a great experience. I assumed the issues would slowly be dealt with. Problem was they were’nt, the same issues kept cropping up and support was not fantastic, especially being the first tablet the company released.

    Ive had to reduce my recommendations of Dell because they have dropped off in customer service, of that theres no doubt.

  • XT_Guy

    Heard rumors on the HP Touchsmart board that N-trig may be developing a wintab driver for their pen. As much as MSFT likes to push their standard USB HID, I guess Corel and Adobe are still stuck with their Win 95 Vintage Wintab drivers…

  • Nick

    Sadly I feel that lately Lenovo support has been falling as well. I have sent my x61 Tablet in twice already for a screen issue and twice I have gotten it back with the exact same issue. One time it took me 2 weeks to get my laptop again. Frustrated I called again and I have to ship it off again….Its ridiculous that here I pay money for a service and do not receive what I have paid for. If my laptop comes back to me after a 3rd time of sending it in for the same repair, I am pretty sure I am going take action to get the money I have paid for said service back. They even disconnected my fingerprint reader and didnt reattach it!!

  • Sara Fauzia

    Lenovo On-Site Warranty, with Accident Damage Protection (for four years) is absolutely THE best. I sent a message to Lenovo via an online form, and I was receiving a call back in less than ten minutes. Because a holiday was around the corner (I can’t remember which one, maybe it was Christmas), they couldn’t come right there and then, but the gentleman came soon enough. I had spilled some type of fruit juice on my screen that had created some completely non-removable stain (I’d already tried Shwamee, which I purchased on Gottabemobile’s recommendation), so my screen was replaced. He did a very neat and professional job. He accidentally (I can swear he double-checked everything, so I don’t blame him in the least) set the cover over the screen slightly incorrectly, so that the downwards navigational dial didn’t work. He came back in, I think a day or two later (very promptly after I called in), and fixed it. Lenovo hadn’t understood my complaint correctly though, because he came in thinking he had to replace the whole handrest, and had the parts on hand. He fixed the navigational dial, and everything has been peachy. Lenovo’s truly the best!

    Now I have no regrets over not buying an XT for my mother (now)–I had been tempted by its capacitative touch, but I love Lenovo’s attention to design–and it’s customer service :). I’m truly sorry… how much longer does your warranty last? I’d hate for anything worse to happen once it’s over!

  • Sara Fauzia

    However, I should add, as much as I like Lenovo, I’m hesitant about purchasing any warranty that entails me sending a machine back to the company (including Lenovo). I’ve read too many scary stories of what happens–and yours is only the latest. And I can’t go without my computer for even a day, as I rely on it for school. Luckily, the on-site warranty was discounted the day I purchased my tablet. Would you say that you’re not comfortable with depot repairs at all, or only ones with Dell (thus far)?

  • http://www.gottabemobile.com Rob Bushway

    On the whole I’d have to say that Depot repairs have not dealt me a good hand regardless of OEM. I much prefer on site repair, but even that can be a little questionable – they only fix the issue for what the part has been delivered for – they never go outside the box if the problem was originally misdiagnosed.

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