{"id":656,"date":"2006-01-27T14:34:14","date_gmt":"2006-01-27T19:34:14","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2015-09-14T08:07:48","modified_gmt":"2015-09-14T12:07:48","slug":"problems_with_dell_tech_support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pcin.net\/update\/2006\/01\/27\/problems_with_dell_tech_support\/","title":{"rendered":"Problems with Dell tech support – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is going to be a long one…<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that there was a thin dark horizontal line on my Dell Axim x30. Because it was so thin, it wasn\u2019t that much of annoyance, but it was definitely something wrong with the screen. It only was seen when the backlight came on. When the backlight went off, the line disappeared, even though I could still see what was on the screen. Obviously it was something wrong electronically with the screen, so I called up DELL support. <\/p>\n

Wednesday, January 11, 2006
\nI called our normal support number, but there was no option for Axims, so I chose the laptop option and was on hold for a couple of minutes. A woman answered and when I explained my problem, she said that I had to call a different number. I did so, and was on hold for over 20 minutes. I finally spoke with someone who was helpful, but also asked some stupid questions. I\u2019m sure it was just a checklist of things she was asking, but it is still annoying. She asked me if I had done a soft reset on the device. Of course I had. She asked if I had done a hard reset. Why would I do that? I\u2019d loose everything, and how would a hard reset resolve a bad screen? Thankfully she didn\u2019t insist that I do it. She arranged for a replacement.<\/p>\n

Friday, January 13, 2006
\nTwo days latter I had I had the replacement. I took the replacement home for the weekend, backed up my old one, and restored it to my new one.<\/p>\n

Tuesday, January 17, 2006
\nEverything seemed to be fine, so I packaged up the original one and shipped it back to Dell.<\/p>\n

Wednesday, January 18, 2006
\nThen the next day at lunch I went out for a lunch and expected to be able to listen to some music. Of course that was the only thing I hadn\u2019t tested on my replacement Axim, and the headphone jack was bad. I tried my headphones, and two different sets of speakers, and it would crackle in and out.<\/p>\n

Friday, January 20, 2006
\nI called back and tried to arrange for my replacement to be replaced. The person acknowledged that they had received the original one, but he said the replacement Axim still hadn\u2019t been switched over to my name, so there was nothing they could do. I complained, and the person said they\u2019d send off an email to that department, but there was still nothing they could do for me at that time.<\/p>\n

Monday, January 23, 2006
\nI called back and spoke to a tech named Janine. She said the same thing to me. She said that it still wasn\u2019t in my name, and until it was there was nothing that she could do to help me. I explained (as politely as I could) that there was a problem with their support system if there wasn\u2019t anything she could do. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and so she put me on hold. A second-level technician named Rob came on the line. I explained that I didn\u2019t need second-level support and that I wanted to give a complaint to a supervisor, and he said the supervisor was busy and that he could help me as much as the supervisor. Well, he was useless. He said that sometimes the switchover can take a day; sometimes it can take 6 days. He said again that there was nothing he could do about it, and that I\u2019d just have to call back again.<\/p>\n

Friday, January 27, 2006
\nI called and spoke to a tech named Barry. I explained the situation. He figured there was a problem, and put me through to Vicky in customer care. She told me what my service tag was supposed to be. They kept saying that I claim to have a different service tag. Hello! I have the thing in front of me. The tag you say I have and the tag I have are not the same!! Deal with it! You messed up! (I didn\u2019t really say that, but I sure did want to scream that at them). Vicky was very helpful, and after 30 minutes or so she said that I should talk to tech support again and they could arrange for a replacement. I explained I wanted a new one, and not a refurbished one, as I didn\u2019t want to go through this again. She agreed, and said the tech could arrange this. This seemed odd to me, but whatever. Unfortunately, I went back into the regular queue on the support line, and so had to be on hold for a while more. I then spoke with a tech named Mark. He kept putting me on hold while he worked with a different person in customer care trying to figure out how to handle my problem. He said that Vicky shouldn\u2019t have said what she said as their policy is to send our refurbished items. At the end of the conversion, Mark said he could arrange to send me out another Axim, but it would most likely be refurbished. If I was insisting on getting a new one, then I\u2019d have to talk to Eric, an escalation specialist. Eric was on another call, but would call me back in 15-20 minutes, tops.
\n2 hours later Eric called. He wasn\u2019t rude, but he also was not very pleasant. He barely apologized, didn\u2019t acknowledge flaws in their system, and said the terms of the support \u201ccontract\u201d were for a refurbished unit. That part really annoyed me. It was as if he was trying to tell me I was breaking a contact. Well, I think they broke the contract by sending me a cruddy product. If I was going to insist on getting a new one, then he\u2019d have to send it to someone else. I said not to bother, and we arranged for a replacement, that I\u2019m supposed to have on Monday. If it doesn\u2019t work, I will not be a happy camper!<\/p>\n

I’ll report back when I get the replacement…<\/p>\n

So, here are the problems\/complaints I have about Dell support:<\/p>\n