DELL Computers are hot (long rant)
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This is a bad week… First, France lost to Scotland at rugby on Sunday… if you live abroad, or worse in England, you tend to get the Mickey taken out of you in these cases, especially if you had been bragging about winning the Grand Slam for a whole month – as I unwisely did. But Monday my week was to turn for the worse. My Dell TM laptop did not start. No power, no green light, no nothing. No backup for some time and a very late project. My colleague has the same computer. I tried his charger and his battery but nothing. The computer is a year old but fortunately, we have an extended warranty. Next day service and all of that. So I confidently call the DELL technical support. I get through to Ralph. Ralph – probably not his real name – is a nice guy. He feels for my problem. He is trying to help with his English that’s as average as mine. I do everything he says, responding mechanically to all of his questions by “No… still no green light”. I mention that my colleague has the same computer. Ralph has a bright idea! Why not try my charger on my colleague’s DELL computer? Fantastic idea because we did find out what was causing the problem. My charger was dysfunctional – in a big way, the psycho-killer of all chargers! It burns out computers you use them with. So when I plugged my colleague’s computer, an acrid smell filled the room. A smell of burnt dreams and cremated deadlines. Needless to say I am livid… less than my colleague though… he feels murderous! Ralph the DELL guy is slightly embarrassed. He wants to speak to his supervisor. He leaves me on hold for 5 minutes for what I think must be some serious insight into what his career is going to be. Ralph picks the phone back up and says he will send someone tomorrow to our office to salvage our computers. I ask to speak to his supervisor as I expect something better than that. I make sure the supervisor – Arundel - was absolutely aware of what had happened. Arundel is very aware but unapologetic. His English is good and he is in a hurry. He tells me that Ralph had followed procedures (what?) and that I would get someone the next day to fix the machines. I tried to explain that the circumstances were out of the ordinary, for the least, and therefore I would be grateful if he could send someone right away – I actually beg him. He refuses – and asks me not to beg anymore, as it is embarrassing for him. I ask to speak to his supervisor. He promises I will receive a call from Customer Satisfaction right away. By then it is noon. I
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This is a bad week… First, France lost to Scotland at rugby on Sunday… if you live abroad, or worse in England, you tend to get the Mickey taken out of you in these cases, especially if you had been bragging about winning the Grand Slam for a whole month – as I unwisely did. But Monday my week was to turn for the worse. My Dell TM laptop did not start. No power, no green light, no nothing. No backup for some time and a very late project. My colleague has the same computer. I tried his charger and his battery but nothing. The computer is a year old but fortunately, we have an extended warranty. Next day service and all of that. So I confidently call the DELL technical support. I get through to Ralph. Ralph – probably not his real name – is a nice guy. He feels for my problem. He is trying to help with his English that’s as average as mine. I do everything he says, responding mechanically to all of his questions by “No… still no green light”. I mention that my colleague has the same computer. Ralph has a bright idea! Why not try my charger on my colleague’s DELL computer? Fantastic idea because we did find out what was causing the problem. My charger was dysfunctional – in a big way, the psycho-killer of all chargers! It burns out computers you use them with. So when I plugged my colleague’s computer, an acrid smell filled the room. A smell of burnt dreams and cremated deadlines. Needless to say I am livid… less than my colleague though… he feels murderous! Ralph the DELL guy is slightly embarrassed. He wants to speak to his supervisor. He leaves me on hold for 5 minutes for what I think must be some serious insight into what his career is going to be. Ralph picks the phone back up and says he will send someone tomorrow to our office to salvage our computers. I ask to speak to his supervisor as I expect something better than that. I make sure the supervisor – Arundel - was absolutely aware of what had happened. Arundel is very aware but unapologetic. His English is good and he is in a hurry. He tells me that Ralph had followed procedures (what?) and that I would get someone the next day to fix the machines. I tried to explain that the circumstances were out of the ordinary, for the least, and therefore I would be grateful if he could send someone right away – I actually beg him. He refuses – and asks me not to beg anymore, as it is embarrassing for him. I ask to speak to his supervisor. He promises I will receive a call from Customer Satisfaction right away. By then it is noon. I
My sympathies. :rose: That sort of pig-minded incompetance is exactly why I and my company will have nothing whatsoever to do with Dell. Anna :rose: Currently working mostly on: Visual Lint :cool: Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "Be yourself - not what others think you should be" - Marcia Graesch "Anna's just a sexy-looking lesbian tart" - A friend, trying to wind me up. It didn't work.
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This is a bad week… First, France lost to Scotland at rugby on Sunday… if you live abroad, or worse in England, you tend to get the Mickey taken out of you in these cases, especially if you had been bragging about winning the Grand Slam for a whole month – as I unwisely did. But Monday my week was to turn for the worse. My Dell TM laptop did not start. No power, no green light, no nothing. No backup for some time and a very late project. My colleague has the same computer. I tried his charger and his battery but nothing. The computer is a year old but fortunately, we have an extended warranty. Next day service and all of that. So I confidently call the DELL technical support. I get through to Ralph. Ralph – probably not his real name – is a nice guy. He feels for my problem. He is trying to help with his English that’s as average as mine. I do everything he says, responding mechanically to all of his questions by “No… still no green light”. I mention that my colleague has the same computer. Ralph has a bright idea! Why not try my charger on my colleague’s DELL computer? Fantastic idea because we did find out what was causing the problem. My charger was dysfunctional – in a big way, the psycho-killer of all chargers! It burns out computers you use them with. So when I plugged my colleague’s computer, an acrid smell filled the room. A smell of burnt dreams and cremated deadlines. Needless to say I am livid… less than my colleague though… he feels murderous! Ralph the DELL guy is slightly embarrassed. He wants to speak to his supervisor. He leaves me on hold for 5 minutes for what I think must be some serious insight into what his career is going to be. Ralph picks the phone back up and says he will send someone tomorrow to our office to salvage our computers. I ask to speak to his supervisor as I expect something better than that. I make sure the supervisor – Arundel - was absolutely aware of what had happened. Arundel is very aware but unapologetic. His English is good and he is in a hurry. He tells me that Ralph had followed procedures (what?) and that I would get someone the next day to fix the machines. I tried to explain that the circumstances were out of the ordinary, for the least, and therefore I would be grateful if he could send someone right away – I actually beg him. He refuses – and asks me not to beg anymore, as it is embarrassing for him. I ask to speak to his supervisor. He promises I will receive a call from Customer Satisfaction right away. By then it is noon. I
I feel for you. I tried to order a new laptop for my wife last week. I knew exactly what I wanted but this wasn't good enough for 'Sanjit'. He spent 5+ minutes (I'm paying for this call on an 0870 number) trying to talk me into a different spec. But I stuck to my guns and, finally, we had a sale. "I'll mail you some documents. Once you've read them, conform that you want to proceed and then the machine will be ordered. Delivery in 7 to 10 working days". "Excellent" I replied. I'm still waiting for the mail. When I emailed Customer Services I just got an out of office reply. So Sunday I trotted off to PC World and bought a Toshiba. Lovely little machine. I'll never use Dell again. Bunch of *******.
turning the other cheek just gets you slapped twice
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This is a bad week… First, France lost to Scotland at rugby on Sunday… if you live abroad, or worse in England, you tend to get the Mickey taken out of you in these cases, especially if you had been bragging about winning the Grand Slam for a whole month – as I unwisely did. But Monday my week was to turn for the worse. My Dell TM laptop did not start. No power, no green light, no nothing. No backup for some time and a very late project. My colleague has the same computer. I tried his charger and his battery but nothing. The computer is a year old but fortunately, we have an extended warranty. Next day service and all of that. So I confidently call the DELL technical support. I get through to Ralph. Ralph – probably not his real name – is a nice guy. He feels for my problem. He is trying to help with his English that’s as average as mine. I do everything he says, responding mechanically to all of his questions by “No… still no green light”. I mention that my colleague has the same computer. Ralph has a bright idea! Why not try my charger on my colleague’s DELL computer? Fantastic idea because we did find out what was causing the problem. My charger was dysfunctional – in a big way, the psycho-killer of all chargers! It burns out computers you use them with. So when I plugged my colleague’s computer, an acrid smell filled the room. A smell of burnt dreams and cremated deadlines. Needless to say I am livid… less than my colleague though… he feels murderous! Ralph the DELL guy is slightly embarrassed. He wants to speak to his supervisor. He leaves me on hold for 5 minutes for what I think must be some serious insight into what his career is going to be. Ralph picks the phone back up and says he will send someone tomorrow to our office to salvage our computers. I ask to speak to his supervisor as I expect something better than that. I make sure the supervisor – Arundel - was absolutely aware of what had happened. Arundel is very aware but unapologetic. His English is good and he is in a hurry. He tells me that Ralph had followed procedures (what?) and that I would get someone the next day to fix the machines. I tried to explain that the circumstances were out of the ordinary, for the least, and therefore I would be grateful if he could send someone right away – I actually beg him. He refuses – and asks me not to beg anymore, as it is embarrassing for him. I ask to speak to his supervisor. He promises I will receive a call from Customer Satisfaction right away. By then it is noon. I
You know, I've just never had problems with Dell, and I'm on my 4th laptop with them. Having said that, I was going to tell you that there is no *way* Ralph's real name is Ralph, etc. - you can tell by his accent. I then started laughing at myself - I have a Frenchman, some blokes from India, and an all-wise American (sarcasm). The best part of my last service call - actually, I was trying to buy something - was when Suzie helped me. Now, Suzie had such a heavy Indian accent that it was comical, and I kept laughing everytime she spoke.... In fairness to Dell, their checklists are based on what they have seen in terms of systems failures. However, the dumbass did not follow procedure, telling you to plug in an unknown power adapter into someone else's laptop. No way. Sadly, Dell is starting to collapse under it's own weight. The problem I have is that they produce the only affordable laptop with large format high resolution screens. I'm hooked. Sorry to hear about the smoke test.
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This is a bad week… First, France lost to Scotland at rugby on Sunday… if you live abroad, or worse in England, you tend to get the Mickey taken out of you in these cases, especially if you had been bragging about winning the Grand Slam for a whole month – as I unwisely did. But Monday my week was to turn for the worse. My Dell TM laptop did not start. No power, no green light, no nothing. No backup for some time and a very late project. My colleague has the same computer. I tried his charger and his battery but nothing. The computer is a year old but fortunately, we have an extended warranty. Next day service and all of that. So I confidently call the DELL technical support. I get through to Ralph. Ralph – probably not his real name – is a nice guy. He feels for my problem. He is trying to help with his English that’s as average as mine. I do everything he says, responding mechanically to all of his questions by “No… still no green light”. I mention that my colleague has the same computer. Ralph has a bright idea! Why not try my charger on my colleague’s DELL computer? Fantastic idea because we did find out what was causing the problem. My charger was dysfunctional – in a big way, the psycho-killer of all chargers! It burns out computers you use them with. So when I plugged my colleague’s computer, an acrid smell filled the room. A smell of burnt dreams and cremated deadlines. Needless to say I am livid… less than my colleague though… he feels murderous! Ralph the DELL guy is slightly embarrassed. He wants to speak to his supervisor. He leaves me on hold for 5 minutes for what I think must be some serious insight into what his career is going to be. Ralph picks the phone back up and says he will send someone tomorrow to our office to salvage our computers. I ask to speak to his supervisor as I expect something better than that. I make sure the supervisor – Arundel - was absolutely aware of what had happened. Arundel is very aware but unapologetic. His English is good and he is in a hurry. He tells me that Ralph had followed procedures (what?) and that I would get someone the next day to fix the machines. I tried to explain that the circumstances were out of the ordinary, for the least, and therefore I would be grateful if he could send someone right away – I actually beg him. He refuses – and asks me not to beg anymore, as it is embarrassing for him. I ask to speak to his supervisor. He promises I will receive a call from Customer Satisfaction right away. By then it is noon. I
It's an acronym: Doesn't Ever Last Long! Oh! ... and Scotland deserved to win! (I'm English). Sorry! I shouldn't really be rubbing in salt. You have my sympathy. I wish you well (with Dell, not against Ireland ;))
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This is a bad week… First, France lost to Scotland at rugby on Sunday… if you live abroad, or worse in England, you tend to get the Mickey taken out of you in these cases, especially if you had been bragging about winning the Grand Slam for a whole month – as I unwisely did. But Monday my week was to turn for the worse. My Dell TM laptop did not start. No power, no green light, no nothing. No backup for some time and a very late project. My colleague has the same computer. I tried his charger and his battery but nothing. The computer is a year old but fortunately, we have an extended warranty. Next day service and all of that. So I confidently call the DELL technical support. I get through to Ralph. Ralph – probably not his real name – is a nice guy. He feels for my problem. He is trying to help with his English that’s as average as mine. I do everything he says, responding mechanically to all of his questions by “No… still no green light”. I mention that my colleague has the same computer. Ralph has a bright idea! Why not try my charger on my colleague’s DELL computer? Fantastic idea because we did find out what was causing the problem. My charger was dysfunctional – in a big way, the psycho-killer of all chargers! It burns out computers you use them with. So when I plugged my colleague’s computer, an acrid smell filled the room. A smell of burnt dreams and cremated deadlines. Needless to say I am livid… less than my colleague though… he feels murderous! Ralph the DELL guy is slightly embarrassed. He wants to speak to his supervisor. He leaves me on hold for 5 minutes for what I think must be some serious insight into what his career is going to be. Ralph picks the phone back up and says he will send someone tomorrow to our office to salvage our computers. I ask to speak to his supervisor as I expect something better than that. I make sure the supervisor – Arundel - was absolutely aware of what had happened. Arundel is very aware but unapologetic. His English is good and he is in a hurry. He tells me that Ralph had followed procedures (what?) and that I would get someone the next day to fix the machines. I tried to explain that the circumstances were out of the ordinary, for the least, and therefore I would be grateful if he could send someone right away – I actually beg him. He refuses – and asks me not to beg anymore, as it is embarrassing for him. I ask to speak to his supervisor. He promises I will receive a call from Customer Satisfaction right away. By then it is noon. I
BadJerry wrote:
Next week, we are playing Ireland. Could it go worse?
You could lose to Wales as well? ;)
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra three years in a geriatric ward.
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This is a bad week… First, France lost to Scotland at rugby on Sunday… if you live abroad, or worse in England, you tend to get the Mickey taken out of you in these cases, especially if you had been bragging about winning the Grand Slam for a whole month – as I unwisely did. But Monday my week was to turn for the worse. My Dell TM laptop did not start. No power, no green light, no nothing. No backup for some time and a very late project. My colleague has the same computer. I tried his charger and his battery but nothing. The computer is a year old but fortunately, we have an extended warranty. Next day service and all of that. So I confidently call the DELL technical support. I get through to Ralph. Ralph – probably not his real name – is a nice guy. He feels for my problem. He is trying to help with his English that’s as average as mine. I do everything he says, responding mechanically to all of his questions by “No… still no green light”. I mention that my colleague has the same computer. Ralph has a bright idea! Why not try my charger on my colleague’s DELL computer? Fantastic idea because we did find out what was causing the problem. My charger was dysfunctional – in a big way, the psycho-killer of all chargers! It burns out computers you use them with. So when I plugged my colleague’s computer, an acrid smell filled the room. A smell of burnt dreams and cremated deadlines. Needless to say I am livid… less than my colleague though… he feels murderous! Ralph the DELL guy is slightly embarrassed. He wants to speak to his supervisor. He leaves me on hold for 5 minutes for what I think must be some serious insight into what his career is going to be. Ralph picks the phone back up and says he will send someone tomorrow to our office to salvage our computers. I ask to speak to his supervisor as I expect something better than that. I make sure the supervisor – Arundel - was absolutely aware of what had happened. Arundel is very aware but unapologetic. His English is good and he is in a hurry. He tells me that Ralph had followed procedures (what?) and that I would get someone the next day to fix the machines. I tried to explain that the circumstances were out of the ordinary, for the least, and therefore I would be grateful if he could send someone right away – I actually beg him. He refuses – and asks me not to beg anymore, as it is embarrassing for him. I ask to speak to his supervisor. He promises I will receive a call from Customer Satisfaction right away. By then it is noon. I
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You know, I've just never had problems with Dell, and I'm on my 4th laptop with them. Having said that, I was going to tell you that there is no *way* Ralph's real name is Ralph, etc. - you can tell by his accent. I then started laughing at myself - I have a Frenchman, some blokes from India, and an all-wise American (sarcasm). The best part of my last service call - actually, I was trying to buy something - was when Suzie helped me. Now, Suzie had such a heavy Indian accent that it was comical, and I kept laughing everytime she spoke.... In fairness to Dell, their checklists are based on what they have seen in terms of systems failures. However, the dumbass did not follow procedure, telling you to plug in an unknown power adapter into someone else's laptop. No way. Sadly, Dell is starting to collapse under it's own weight. The problem I have is that they produce the only affordable laptop with large format high resolution screens. I'm hooked. Sorry to hear about the smoke test.
I completly agree. Dell is becomming too big. Its support is awful. I tried to buy a computer for my wife for Christmas and lets just say I came closer to speaking whatever they speak in India than I did getting any help. What my wife wanted was an Apple and I then reluctantly agreed. Apple's support was great. Instead of "Dial 1 for this, Dial 2 for that" they had a real person to direct my call. I never had to write down a phone number vs. Dell where I had a whole page in my day planner full of stuff. The sad part is I used to love Dell computers. I've always had Dell for like 10 yrs now. Programming on a Dell is like working with an old friend. But I think I need to find new friends. E=mc2 -> BOOM
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BadJerry wrote:
Next week, we are playing Ireland. Could it go worse?
You could lose to Wales as well? ;)
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra three years in a geriatric ward.
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You know, I've just never had problems with Dell, and I'm on my 4th laptop with them. Having said that, I was going to tell you that there is no *way* Ralph's real name is Ralph, etc. - you can tell by his accent. I then started laughing at myself - I have a Frenchman, some blokes from India, and an all-wise American (sarcasm). The best part of my last service call - actually, I was trying to buy something - was when Suzie helped me. Now, Suzie had such a heavy Indian accent that it was comical, and I kept laughing everytime she spoke.... In fairness to Dell, their checklists are based on what they have seen in terms of systems failures. However, the dumbass did not follow procedure, telling you to plug in an unknown power adapter into someone else's laptop. No way. Sadly, Dell is starting to collapse under it's own weight. The problem I have is that they produce the only affordable laptop with large format high resolution screens. I'm hooked. Sorry to hear about the smoke test.
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This is a bad week… First, France lost to Scotland at rugby on Sunday… if you live abroad, or worse in England, you tend to get the Mickey taken out of you in these cases, especially if you had been bragging about winning the Grand Slam for a whole month – as I unwisely did. But Monday my week was to turn for the worse. My Dell TM laptop did not start. No power, no green light, no nothing. No backup for some time and a very late project. My colleague has the same computer. I tried his charger and his battery but nothing. The computer is a year old but fortunately, we have an extended warranty. Next day service and all of that. So I confidently call the DELL technical support. I get through to Ralph. Ralph – probably not his real name – is a nice guy. He feels for my problem. He is trying to help with his English that’s as average as mine. I do everything he says, responding mechanically to all of his questions by “No… still no green light”. I mention that my colleague has the same computer. Ralph has a bright idea! Why not try my charger on my colleague’s DELL computer? Fantastic idea because we did find out what was causing the problem. My charger was dysfunctional – in a big way, the psycho-killer of all chargers! It burns out computers you use them with. So when I plugged my colleague’s computer, an acrid smell filled the room. A smell of burnt dreams and cremated deadlines. Needless to say I am livid… less than my colleague though… he feels murderous! Ralph the DELL guy is slightly embarrassed. He wants to speak to his supervisor. He leaves me on hold for 5 minutes for what I think must be some serious insight into what his career is going to be. Ralph picks the phone back up and says he will send someone tomorrow to our office to salvage our computers. I ask to speak to his supervisor as I expect something better than that. I make sure the supervisor – Arundel - was absolutely aware of what had happened. Arundel is very aware but unapologetic. His English is good and he is in a hurry. He tells me that Ralph had followed procedures (what?) and that I would get someone the next day to fix the machines. I tried to explain that the circumstances were out of the ordinary, for the least, and therefore I would be grateful if he could send someone right away – I actually beg him. He refuses – and asks me not to beg anymore, as it is embarrassing for him. I ask to speak to his supervisor. He promises I will receive a call from Customer Satisfaction right away. By then it is noon. I
Sabrina (definitely not her real name) from DELL called. Very business like… oh boy… was she unfriendly! She is the general manager of Customer Relationship for the UK and England (that’s how she described it)… strong accent but I got used to that now! Here is a abbreviated transcript of our conversation: - From here, I cannot do anything! - From where? I ask No response. - If you cannot do anything, can someone do anything? - No - What can I do if I want to escalate this call to your boss? - You cannot! Your only possibility is to contact our legal services… Not happy about DELL services? Their advice: “Sue us!” Where is my axe? I am on my way!
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This is a bad week… First, France lost to Scotland at rugby on Sunday… if you live abroad, or worse in England, you tend to get the Mickey taken out of you in these cases, especially if you had been bragging about winning the Grand Slam for a whole month – as I unwisely did. But Monday my week was to turn for the worse. My Dell TM laptop did not start. No power, no green light, no nothing. No backup for some time and a very late project. My colleague has the same computer. I tried his charger and his battery but nothing. The computer is a year old but fortunately, we have an extended warranty. Next day service and all of that. So I confidently call the DELL technical support. I get through to Ralph. Ralph – probably not his real name – is a nice guy. He feels for my problem. He is trying to help with his English that’s as average as mine. I do everything he says, responding mechanically to all of his questions by “No… still no green light”. I mention that my colleague has the same computer. Ralph has a bright idea! Why not try my charger on my colleague’s DELL computer? Fantastic idea because we did find out what was causing the problem. My charger was dysfunctional – in a big way, the psycho-killer of all chargers! It burns out computers you use them with. So when I plugged my colleague’s computer, an acrid smell filled the room. A smell of burnt dreams and cremated deadlines. Needless to say I am livid… less than my colleague though… he feels murderous! Ralph the DELL guy is slightly embarrassed. He wants to speak to his supervisor. He leaves me on hold for 5 minutes for what I think must be some serious insight into what his career is going to be. Ralph picks the phone back up and says he will send someone tomorrow to our office to salvage our computers. I ask to speak to his supervisor as I expect something better than that. I make sure the supervisor – Arundel - was absolutely aware of what had happened. Arundel is very aware but unapologetic. His English is good and he is in a hurry. He tells me that Ralph had followed procedures (what?) and that I would get someone the next day to fix the machines. I tried to explain that the circumstances were out of the ordinary, for the least, and therefore I would be grateful if he could send someone right away – I actually beg him. He refuses – and asks me not to beg anymore, as it is embarrassing for him. I ask to speak to his supervisor. He promises I will receive a call from Customer Satisfaction right away. By then it is noon. I
Sometimes cusotmer service is a two way street...unreasonable demands will always get poor service in the eyes of the demanding party. "Art doesn't want to be familiar. It wants to astonish us. Or, in some cases, to enrage us. It wants to move us. To touch us. Not accommodate us, make us comfortable." -- Jamake Highwater Toasty0.com My Grandkids
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This is a bad week… First, France lost to Scotland at rugby on Sunday… if you live abroad, or worse in England, you tend to get the Mickey taken out of you in these cases, especially if you had been bragging about winning the Grand Slam for a whole month – as I unwisely did. But Monday my week was to turn for the worse. My Dell TM laptop did not start. No power, no green light, no nothing. No backup for some time and a very late project. My colleague has the same computer. I tried his charger and his battery but nothing. The computer is a year old but fortunately, we have an extended warranty. Next day service and all of that. So I confidently call the DELL technical support. I get through to Ralph. Ralph – probably not his real name – is a nice guy. He feels for my problem. He is trying to help with his English that’s as average as mine. I do everything he says, responding mechanically to all of his questions by “No… still no green light”. I mention that my colleague has the same computer. Ralph has a bright idea! Why not try my charger on my colleague’s DELL computer? Fantastic idea because we did find out what was causing the problem. My charger was dysfunctional – in a big way, the psycho-killer of all chargers! It burns out computers you use them with. So when I plugged my colleague’s computer, an acrid smell filled the room. A smell of burnt dreams and cremated deadlines. Needless to say I am livid… less than my colleague though… he feels murderous! Ralph the DELL guy is slightly embarrassed. He wants to speak to his supervisor. He leaves me on hold for 5 minutes for what I think must be some serious insight into what his career is going to be. Ralph picks the phone back up and says he will send someone tomorrow to our office to salvage our computers. I ask to speak to his supervisor as I expect something better than that. I make sure the supervisor – Arundel - was absolutely aware of what had happened. Arundel is very aware but unapologetic. His English is good and he is in a hurry. He tells me that Ralph had followed procedures (what?) and that I would get someone the next day to fix the machines. I tried to explain that the circumstances were out of the ordinary, for the least, and therefore I would be grateful if he could send someone right away – I actually beg him. He refuses – and asks me not to beg anymore, as it is embarrassing for him. I ask to speak to his supervisor. He promises I will receive a call from Customer Satisfaction right away. By then it is noon. I
We recently had a failure with one of two identical laptops from alienware. Seemed like a SATA controller issue (no drives recognized at all, no sata bios even displayed), but you still have to prove it even if you already know it. We were asked to swap disks, I refused one of the two swaps for obvious reasons: 1) if the problem is with the drives it can be checked by moving the drives from the bad laptop over to the good. Although there is risk it is minimal. 2) if the problem is with the controller you run the risk of damaging a new set of drives in moving the good drives over to the bad computer, and if you did step 1, you haven't learned anything new. 3) if the problme is anything other than drives, it is non-user servicable. So it must be sent back for service no matter what the issue actually is. So test #1 is sufficient to know if an RMA needs to be generated, or new hard-drives fed-exed out. But the only reason alienware even suggested it (I hope) was because we bought two laptops of identical specifications (down to the last point), in my opinion that is the only, only time to ever make a swap. Same batch, same maker, same model, and same owner. No tech support should ever ask you to test something with another computer. However even as above, they will ask just because it is on the checklist, I simply refused what seemed logical. After explaining this, alienware accepted the one test as prove of need of service, I ruled out disk damage (or their term: user mistreatment). I will test a relatively passive device, like a disk, or memory, that receives its power externally. but I won't move something known good to an actively powered device such as a controller or powersupply unless we have many spares. _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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We recently had a failure with one of two identical laptops from alienware. Seemed like a SATA controller issue (no drives recognized at all, no sata bios even displayed), but you still have to prove it even if you already know it. We were asked to swap disks, I refused one of the two swaps for obvious reasons: 1) if the problem is with the drives it can be checked by moving the drives from the bad laptop over to the good. Although there is risk it is minimal. 2) if the problem is with the controller you run the risk of damaging a new set of drives in moving the good drives over to the bad computer, and if you did step 1, you haven't learned anything new. 3) if the problme is anything other than drives, it is non-user servicable. So it must be sent back for service no matter what the issue actually is. So test #1 is sufficient to know if an RMA needs to be generated, or new hard-drives fed-exed out. But the only reason alienware even suggested it (I hope) was because we bought two laptops of identical specifications (down to the last point), in my opinion that is the only, only time to ever make a swap. Same batch, same maker, same model, and same owner. No tech support should ever ask you to test something with another computer. However even as above, they will ask just because it is on the checklist, I simply refused what seemed logical. After explaining this, alienware accepted the one test as prove of need of service, I ruled out disk damage (or their term: user mistreatment). I will test a relatively passive device, like a disk, or memory, that receives its power externally. but I won't move something known good to an actively powered device such as a controller or powersupply unless we have many spares. _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
I've always had good experiences with AW's tech support. Come to think of it, I really haven't had any bad experiences with AW at all. :)
If dreams are like movies Then memories are films about ghosts You can never escape You can only move south down the coast
Hey Mrs. Potter, don't cry...
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This is a bad week… First, France lost to Scotland at rugby on Sunday… if you live abroad, or worse in England, you tend to get the Mickey taken out of you in these cases, especially if you had been bragging about winning the Grand Slam for a whole month – as I unwisely did. But Monday my week was to turn for the worse. My Dell TM laptop did not start. No power, no green light, no nothing. No backup for some time and a very late project. My colleague has the same computer. I tried his charger and his battery but nothing. The computer is a year old but fortunately, we have an extended warranty. Next day service and all of that. So I confidently call the DELL technical support. I get through to Ralph. Ralph – probably not his real name – is a nice guy. He feels for my problem. He is trying to help with his English that’s as average as mine. I do everything he says, responding mechanically to all of his questions by “No… still no green light”. I mention that my colleague has the same computer. Ralph has a bright idea! Why not try my charger on my colleague’s DELL computer? Fantastic idea because we did find out what was causing the problem. My charger was dysfunctional – in a big way, the psycho-killer of all chargers! It burns out computers you use them with. So when I plugged my colleague’s computer, an acrid smell filled the room. A smell of burnt dreams and cremated deadlines. Needless to say I am livid… less than my colleague though… he feels murderous! Ralph the DELL guy is slightly embarrassed. He wants to speak to his supervisor. He leaves me on hold for 5 minutes for what I think must be some serious insight into what his career is going to be. Ralph picks the phone back up and says he will send someone tomorrow to our office to salvage our computers. I ask to speak to his supervisor as I expect something better than that. I make sure the supervisor – Arundel - was absolutely aware of what had happened. Arundel is very aware but unapologetic. His English is good and he is in a hurry. He tells me that Ralph had followed procedures (what?) and that I would get someone the next day to fix the machines. I tried to explain that the circumstances were out of the ordinary, for the least, and therefore I would be grateful if he could send someone right away – I actually beg him. He refuses – and asks me not to beg anymore, as it is embarrassing for him. I ask to speak to his supervisor. He promises I will receive a call from Customer Satisfaction right away. By then it is noon. I
Did you think about putting your HD in your colleauges PC to retrieve the data?
using System.Beer;
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Did you think about putting your HD in your colleauges PC to retrieve the data?
using System.Beer;
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This is a bad week… First, France lost to Scotland at rugby on Sunday… if you live abroad, or worse in England, you tend to get the Mickey taken out of you in these cases, especially if you had been bragging about winning the Grand Slam for a whole month – as I unwisely did. But Monday my week was to turn for the worse. My Dell TM laptop did not start. No power, no green light, no nothing. No backup for some time and a very late project. My colleague has the same computer. I tried his charger and his battery but nothing. The computer is a year old but fortunately, we have an extended warranty. Next day service and all of that. So I confidently call the DELL technical support. I get through to Ralph. Ralph – probably not his real name – is a nice guy. He feels for my problem. He is trying to help with his English that’s as average as mine. I do everything he says, responding mechanically to all of his questions by “No… still no green light”. I mention that my colleague has the same computer. Ralph has a bright idea! Why not try my charger on my colleague’s DELL computer? Fantastic idea because we did find out what was causing the problem. My charger was dysfunctional – in a big way, the psycho-killer of all chargers! It burns out computers you use them with. So when I plugged my colleague’s computer, an acrid smell filled the room. A smell of burnt dreams and cremated deadlines. Needless to say I am livid… less than my colleague though… he feels murderous! Ralph the DELL guy is slightly embarrassed. He wants to speak to his supervisor. He leaves me on hold for 5 minutes for what I think must be some serious insight into what his career is going to be. Ralph picks the phone back up and says he will send someone tomorrow to our office to salvage our computers. I ask to speak to his supervisor as I expect something better than that. I make sure the supervisor – Arundel - was absolutely aware of what had happened. Arundel is very aware but unapologetic. His English is good and he is in a hurry. He tells me that Ralph had followed procedures (what?) and that I would get someone the next day to fix the machines. I tried to explain that the circumstances were out of the ordinary, for the least, and therefore I would be grateful if he could send someone right away – I actually beg him. He refuses – and asks me not to beg anymore, as it is embarrassing for him. I ask to speak to his supervisor. He promises I will receive a call from Customer Satisfaction right away. By then it is noon. I
I seriously don't understand people here ranting on about some mail order pc they bought not coming with good service, of course it doesn't! If service is important buy your hardware from a local computer store that you have checked out to ensure they have good service. They are often cheaper, we've never had any significant problems with them and they can swap a part in minutes. If you want to save a few bucks then by all means mail order from a conglomerate, just dont' expect to get service any better than the 9,999 other people who have complained about that company loudly and publicly for years here and everywhere else. People bitch about the crappy service that they receive at Walmart and then go right back in the next time and buy something else. Let's all just get our heads out of the sand and admit that when you try to save more money than the company selling the product can reasonably sell and also pay for good staff and service and support programs you *are* going to get crappy service. It's not a possibility, it's a certainty. People have these wild expectations that are just not possible to fulfil in the business world or any plane of reality that I know of. Suck it up or shop elsewhere.
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I seriously don't understand people here ranting on about some mail order pc they bought not coming with good service, of course it doesn't! If service is important buy your hardware from a local computer store that you have checked out to ensure they have good service. They are often cheaper, we've never had any significant problems with them and they can swap a part in minutes. If you want to save a few bucks then by all means mail order from a conglomerate, just dont' expect to get service any better than the 9,999 other people who have complained about that company loudly and publicly for years here and everywhere else. People bitch about the crappy service that they receive at Walmart and then go right back in the next time and buy something else. Let's all just get our heads out of the sand and admit that when you try to save more money than the company selling the product can reasonably sell and also pay for good staff and service and support programs you *are* going to get crappy service. It's not a possibility, it's a certainty. People have these wild expectations that are just not possible to fulfil in the business world or any plane of reality that I know of. Suck it up or shop elsewhere.
Thanks for your support brother ;P - point well made and eloquently! And yes, more often than not, on a techies forum, you will get guys whining about their hardware (and it is not like they can talk about their sexual life here in the Lounge with Chris's kid sister reading and everything. What sexual life anyway? We're techies!) I buy the concept of the local shop for a butcher or groceries but up to now, I did not think it would be relevant for computers. For any large applicance, a car, for instance, you would have it fixed by the manufacturer. Unless you have that great little artist of a garage next door(let us stop the metaphore there). And if they said they would fix your car for the next day, you would want it the next day. Does not seem to be a *wild expectation*... I did not think that mail order had to go with bad service quality... I honestly thought that dell was a safe business choice! Wrong! I 'll suck it up (and whine some more though)
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I've always had good experiences with AW's tech support. Come to think of it, I really haven't had any bad experiences with AW at all. :)
If dreams are like movies Then memories are films about ghosts You can never escape You can only move south down the coast
Hey Mrs. Potter, don't cry...
David Stone wrote:
I've always had good experiences with AW's tech support. Come to think of it, I really haven't had any bad experiences with AW at all.
I have but it is rare. The primary reason that they wanted me to test the drives is because drive damage is listed as user-damage and not covered. This is where alienware tech support under rare circumstances has failed. If a drive fails, it is because you mistreated the laptop even if it was DOA. It is up to you to prove that it was not caused by user mistreatment before they will talk to you about it. A few people have had that issue, but drive failure is rare enough that the vast majority do not so overall AW's tech ratings are high. I am waiting for the new Centrino Duo's so I can finally run my software on a lighter laptop. :doh: _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
