Branding David

So, it has almost been a month again since last I talked about my epic struggle to get my wife’s Dell laptop fixed. She has been talking to them more than I have, so I can’t really say too much, but here’s an update.

The laptop got sent back to Dell again to get fixed. Soon after, it was back and the screen was working fine. Unfortunately, they didn’t take any time to look at the other issues we’ve been complaining about since the start. It seems Dell can only fix one issue at a time, and have a one track mind. Despite the display issue apparently being fixed, they’ve ignored the other stuff.

I mean, my wife can now see as the computer automatically deletes text she’s written, and tries to print things out no matter what she touches. Or when she moves the mouse and the browser increases the text size, despite her not touching any of the keys. “But wait”, you’ll say, thinking that such settings can be configured within the operating system. I’ve turned off all the special features of the track pad, and not only that, what special feature makes it press the windows key at random times? Or highlight strings of text at random times?

At this point, my wife and I are now adamant. We want a replacement machine. We got a “lemon” and want a replacement of comparable features.

My wife is not able to use the machine to complete school work, and she is feeling very stressed, and frustrated. When paying thousands of dollars for school, the last thing we want is for her grades to drop over computer problems. I really don’t think I am crazy to be asking for a replacement at this point.

They want to send out a technician to look at the machine, but have pretty much stated that the issue they are still trying to help resolve is the screen issue. This isn’t the issue that is plaguing my wife now, and would be a waste of time for him to come out if he isn’t going to help with the main issue. There is something wrong with the hardware of the keyboard and palm rest area.

I don’t understand why Dell can’t be more helpful in these cases. I am not trying to screw them out of money or anything, and think that at this point, it would have been cheaper to send out a replacement machine. Even if they gave a slightly smaller or less capable machine, as long as it worked perfectly, reasonably quickly, and efficiently, I am sure my wife would be more than happy.

At this point, I am so angry that no matter the resolution, I probably won’t buy anything from Dell again, even third party products they sell, nor will I recommend them, solely based on the fact that anyone that buys from them will be out of luck when it comes to hardware support that may require more than one replacement. Shame really, as I still think the people that I’ve met that work there are good people, but how can they push out a message of change regarding Dell when I am living through the fact that they haven’t?

So, five more days have gone by, and due in part to my special circumstances of not having a home phone line, I haven’t been able to talk to the representative they’ve set up to help me with the problems my wife is having with the Dell laptop that I bought her.

I have since bought a cell phone, so that should help. And I’ve been contacting them as often as I can through Skype, but every time I call, Sunny is on another call.

I am getting more and more frustrated, and each time I talk to my wife, she mentions about how quickly the laptop is degrading. Now, the screen is dim most of the time, with it only going to a normal brightness when she presses on the frame near the hinge. She just told me today that we should send it back, and they’ll be able to see the issue no matter what this time but she forgets how narrow minded the technicians are at Dell. They’ll fix the cable for the back light display, but probably won’t look to fix whatever is shorting out on the wrist rest area or the other weird quirks that her laptop is quickly picking up.

I truly believe that we received a lemon for a Dell and that we should receive a replacement with the same features. The laptop isn’t very old, and so I assume they still have one sitting around. My wife wouldn’t even care if it had slightly less hard drive space, or was slightly slower, as long as it was mostly comparable. The goal of course is to get a machine that is built right and that will make her happy.

The longer this goes on, the more layers I am exposed to within Dell’s corporate structure, the more frustrated I get. I still believe that Dell has good products, but that they do sometimes have build quality issues that need to be resolved quickly. The reason why Dell gets so much bad press isn’t because their products suck, but instead because their support in dealing with products that don’t work is poor.

Had Dell been wise enough to vigorously test the laptop when we sent it the first time, I am sure they would have come across our issue and been able to fix or replace the components with issues. Then all of this fall out, and negative press that I am working so hard to write, would have never occurred, and I would have continued to sing their praises.

Skipping over that, if Dell had been wise enough to put me in touch with someone that could instantly just ship out a replacement unit of similar specs, and taken back the one that I had issues with, they could have reconditioned it, and sold it as a discount. Their loss on this exchange would have been noticeable, but the good will would have been huge.

Now, I am sitting here, frustrated that I still don’t have a working laptop for my wife, and she starts school in a week, and all of this goes back to Dell not being able to solve an issue that was brought to their attention more than a month ago.

If you couldn’t tell from my resurgence of posts on this blog, I have Internet access again at my new apartment.

I had to go with Eastlink, apparently a well know ISP in the east coast of Canada.

I was hoping to go with Rogers, but they don’t service this area, since it is too sparsely populated I assume. While the cost is fairly comparable, the speed is about half of what I am used to. The technicians came and set it up fairly quickly and were nice. The support personnel on the phone have also been very nice.

Honestly though, I am just glad to have Internet where I live again. Working from coffee shops and whatnot isn’t ideal.

If you live in Bruce County, Ontario and are looking for a decent ISP, check out Eastlink. So far they get my vote, despite the crummy install timeline.