Eating my own words on Dell Service

A few posts back I made a comment about the excellent service I got from Dell for my notebook having international warranty since it was purchased in the USA. In that case it was a laptop adapter that got replaced the next day.

However, I now have to eat my words about the Dell service - especially their so called "Complete Cover International Warranty". My notebook suddenly decided that it will not use any of the video out ports anymore - VGA, DVI or S-Video. So I am unable to use the notebook to project using a projector or TV. I tried all the ports, and even went ahead and formatted the system and reinstalled the default drivers - all to no avail.

Finally, I called up the XPS tech support line and told them about the problem. They immediately told me that the motherboard would need replacement - however since India does not sell the model of notebook I have they are unwilling to ship the motherboard to me. I reminded them that I have an international complete cover warranty and therefore it shouldn't matter whether the country in which I currently am in sells the model or not - I need to have it supported as this is critical. After a lot of checking by the tech, she came back to me and said that there is no way that they can support it. I even gave them a few options - ship the motherboard to me and I'll replace it myself at my own risk or ship it to Dell India and have a XPS technician install it for me. I even said I don't care about the next-business day clause - even if it takes them a month to get the part, to do so and ship it so that at least I can use it a little later. None of this was acceptable to them and even though I paid extra for getting international support from Dell, it is of no use to me - and this is for a high end notebook that costs more the $3,500!

I'm sad to say I take back the good stuff I said about Dell support and keep this as a warning to others who might want to rely on international support for high end models around the world. They should have at least given a list of countries where there is full support and called it Limited international warranty instead doing this.


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Categories: Gadgets | Rant

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May 20. 2008 15:33

Adnan

You think Dell read your post and decided that all of its customers should get the same level of support?

Adnan

May 21. 2008 05:40

dell-larry_r

Vinod, I just found your blog and wanted to see if I could be of any help in getting your system working again. I am one of Dell's Online Outreach Liaisons (aka Customer Advocates) here at Dell headquarters in Texas.

From what you have written, it sounds like you purchased the Complete Care accidental damage coverage, in addition to getting the International warranty support. Unfortunately, the exact type of warranty support available to our customers varies based on the specific model of Dell having the problem as well as the country where the services is needed.

If you are interested, I will be more than happy to work with you to find out what options are available and to get you in touch with the correct group to get things taken care of. Assuming you would be interested I went ahead and contacted someone in our Indian Tech Support department to find out the options available for an M1710 in India.

If you have any questions for me about the system I'll be happy to answer them for you (while I don't officially work tech support anymore, I've got 15 years of experience with it).

dell-larry_r

June 5. 2008 19:11

BASIL M KALLUNGAL

Hi... Thanks to give this details
My cousin is coming form USA next month. He is ready to bring me a DELL laptop (Inspiron series 1525) from there. Can I get all the features of limited warranty (USA) offering by DELL here in INDIA? I mean One year free servicing and replacement.

If not, what should I need to do to get the same?
Please advice me what will be better,
a) Buy a laptop form USA
b) Buy a laptop form INDIA

Please advice me ... thanks in advance for your reply.

BASIL M KALLUNGAL

July 5. 2008 08:41

Habeeb

DELL is just a horrible company. They always charged a hefty premium but I didnt mind since they offered great tech support. Thats no longer the case. I won't even go into how for literally 2 months my order for a 4 thousand dollar system was in limbo, or how they accidentally opened a second line of credit which I had to contact the attorney general to get them to close! Just thinking of Dell gets my heart racing. I HATE U DELL.

Habeeb

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