Dell finally caved on a replacement... - Page 6

One last update,


After the misinformant about getting another 7800go in my system, I recieved a ati x1400 instead. I clear it up with a "case manager" and got him to expediate my order. Additionally, I have him giving me a $100 coupon to compensate for my lost time and such. I did not think it worth it, but I am glade what I can get and finish with Dell. Thanks all!!!

I'll try to be patient by letting them do what they want... but if they don't do their call backs on time I think I'll be calling them back. I'm supposed to hear from the Field Tech by 2pm tomorrow to schedule up my replacements, and at 215pm tomorrow I have a feeling I'll be calling Dell. =/

They said they'd call me back in 30min once and I fell asleep waiting for them and woke up to their phone call 4hours overdue. I was pretty groggy then and just said "yea, yea, ok, uh huh, yep, alright". And at the end of each call they ask if they feel I'm satisfied with the level of service. I keep telling them to deliver on their word and fix my problem and I'll be satisfied. I can't be satisifed until their done, why they want to ask so damn much?!?!

Hey All, just so you know I'm really not feeling short changed in my exchange, Dell did treat me quite poorly in the customer service end, but this E1505 Blows my 8600 away as far as performance, and they seem to be going out of their way to make sure any adjustments to my currents specs are made to make me happy, so I am slowly regaining my trust in them, but I really like this Laptop, and as far as a gaming goes the X1400 will perform much better than my old 5650FxGo ever did ,And the new WSXGA+ Ultra sharp True life screen is by far more vibrant than my old WSXGA+ on my 8600, so in the end I gained on every level....Very happy with the laptop... And once again congrats to everyone on their replacements, Enjoy.....Also don't worry about my gaming experience because my primary computer which is my desktop has the X2 4400+ Dual core ,as well as a X1900Xt 512Mb Video card with 2Gigs RAM and a 20.1" Widescreen....It is my killer system for games......

Well it's less than 2 hours until Dell passes their "promised" 48 hour callback deadline for the Field Tech. I have a feeling I'll be calling them in 2hours asking for an explanation and update again. =/

I don't even want to be in this vicious circle of pending replacement doom. I just want them to replace my overheating video card... not go thru all these other things trying to eliminate so-called problems. If they'd replace the source of the heat problem tyhe CPU wouldn't get erros due to excessive heat instability.

OMG... you guys were not kidding about the bullshit one must endure.

So Bantech (Field Technician Service) never called by the 48hour deadline of 2pm, so I called them. They ask for my Dispatch Number - "sorry, we don't show that number in our system". What?!?! So I remembered Krayzie's screenshots from the My Account pages and I go look under there. There I find 2 numbers, and the 2nd one shows up for them.

They transfer me to the Field Technician the Service Call is assigned to and he informs me that he got my Call passed to him from the Technician that actually handles my area because he thought he could fit it in today. Well turned out he couldn't and was available until Monday now. But I leave on Saturday for work (I'm an Appraiser and travel around the state a few times a month). He tells me the original Technician is available tomorrow and will pass the Call back to him. I asked to speak to the Technician and he said I will hear from him tomorrow and he isn't reachable the rest of the day.

I ask him why there was a delay and if he was out in the field today why couldn't I be seen. He tells me that the parts didn't come in until after 10am today and it was too late to add to the routes. Ok, why were my parts late. He said they just got the Service Call last night. WTF?!?! Last night? That's 36 hours after the Tech Rep that said they were taking "ownership" of my case said he had made the Service Call. I go look at those different Dispatch Numbers and sure enough one is dated for 4 hours after i spoke with Mr Ownership and the other is dated yesterday at 9pm. And the earlier one shows as cancelled.

But wait, something else doesn't look right. I was told I was having a CPU, Mobo, and Fan replaced - the Open ticket shows only a Fan and Heatsink/ThermalPad. Where is the CPU and Mobo?!?! Ok, this is enough... time to call Dell. (I should've gone to the dentist and asked for teeth pulled without morphine instead)

Alright, so I was called by Dell after an Online Chat... so I never called them. This means the number I had was the number that showed up in my phone - lets call that. It puts me through to a generic Dell Sales queue, not a good start. I get to a person and they recycle me to the Tech Support phone menu. The menu asks me if I'm calling about the recall. It instructs me to say Yes or No. I say No. "I'm sorry I did not understand your reply, please try again". Let's say I got very intimate with that single prompt and went thru it about 10 times - and then I give up.

I go look on Dell.com and pull up the Technical Support number. I call it and press 3 for Technical Support. ACK, it's the battery recall prompt again!!! This time I try saying No in 10 different languages (thank you Google) and then I finally break down and cuss at it and say No in a very pissed off tone. "Thank you." Wait, what?! It worked? Nope... it then gave me 2 minute long recorded message about how to get a replacement battery - then hung up on me. There was no getting thru this way. After over an hour of trying to get thru the Dell phone system I finally said screw it and entered the Sales queue - what did you know, their shit worked.

So I get to a person and ask for Inspiron Hardware Warranty Support or a Voodoo doll in the shape of Michael Dell, whichever was easy for them to get me to. They gave me a direct line and extension, and then transferred me. Boy, I really should've gone for the Voodoo doll. I ended up in the worst call queue India has. Up until now I have only spoken with reps in Malaysia and the US - both great at conversation at the english language - but not this time. Instead I entered the land of "I can't believe it's not english" Creamy Spread with Fabio as the poster boy. "At er aim fur peas" is actually "What is your full name please" in this episode of the Twilight Zone. But I was nice and said I put up with it. Give my name, and they say something that I think meant "what is your case number" and I give my case number. I hear "ok" and then silence.... more silence.... hello? *Click* WTF!?! Oh hell no. I call back. I give my name, I begin to give my Case Number and then *Click*. SOB... someone is going to die - is what I thought at that moment.

Deep breaths, contemplating over a cigarette I try to strategize my way aroundt his hurdle. So, take 1 step back to move 2 steps forward was my idea. I'm at the 2 hour mark and I call back seeing if I can get another number and extension for Hardware Warranty Support. This time I'm given just a number and they say they'll transfer me. "Welcome to Dell Canada blah blah blah" and then it repeats in French. OMFGWTFBBQ?!!? Is this a joke? So I think maybe they keyed in the transfer wrong and I'm glad they gave me the number first. Hang up and call the number - "Welcome to Dell Canada....". Wow... gg uninstall Dell. At this point I'm feeling suicidal.

Back to calling the main line - this time New Purchase Sales is my target. Uh oh... I got what sounds like an american chick. I feel this sigh of relief and ask her if she is an automated phone system that can't understand my replies. She laughs and says no. I told her I didn't understand her answer and ask her to try again. She says huh? And I say that's what happens when I press 3 for Technical Support. She laughs really hard then. I ask her if she could please find a way to send me to an Inspiron Hardware Warranty Team in the US and save me from the evil thoughts. She takes pity on me after I explain all I went thru just today alone and gives me a direct extension for the US Inspiron queue - YAY. After asking her if she'll have my babies she transfers me over.

At the 2.5 hours mark the transfer tone is ended with an obviously american sounded kid named Travis. Hmmm, Travis... never hear that one used as Abu Dahli's nickname. He asks for my Case Number and our conversation starts off slowly. I make alot of stops to say "you there?" and explain that after 1min with a person was the longest a call has lastest for me without being dropped. I explain all the above issues and that I feel ignored, mislead, and forgot by Dell's "award winning support". He apologies and says that things are in order and that if this doesn't fix my issues, including the heat problems, that they'll get everything fixed - whatever it takes. He also explains that the time frames quoted to me are not written in stone and that update calls should've been made when the Dispatches were cancelled and reissued to keep me updated. I then asked Travis is he and his team would take over "ownership" of my Case Number and inform the other team to no longer contact me. He was happy to do so and has scheduled a call to the Field Technician tomorrow to remind them I'm a priority order and has scheduled for someone from his team's evening shift to call me at 6-8pm tomorrow to see if things were done or if we'd have to make other arrangements.

I went thru hell today, but in the end I think I might have gotten a Rep worthy dealing with that will look out for satisfaction over just reading from a procedure book - definately the biggest thing lacking from outsourced phone workers.

So this is a big F-U to Dell support and their phone system, and a thank you to Travis, I hope his team and I can get this resolved sooner than later.

omfg, what a nightmare! sounds like some cigarettes, flirting and a good sense of humor pulled you through.
I also posted in your thread about my experiences getting an upgrade from an overheating 7800go to a 7900gs (though i had to send mine in... baby's been gone 2 days and i've already got the sweats!)
good luck with Travis. Don't know if it's a good sign, but Travis is also the name of a pretty cool band...

Saw your other post, and thanks. It's funny but I know they blew smoke up your ass about the upgrade thing. They can send out a replacement of any type they want and allow the customer to upgrade it as long as there is a Dell Service Manual that covers the process available for the customer to reference.

I think it all depends on what reps you get as to the results you have.

I hear ya...

Hi there, I am feeling you man. I went through the same exact loop. Just stay cool, have some patiences (I know that is easy to say then done). The Dell tech reps are required to go through certain procedures about hardware stuff. Just stay cool and let them replace which part they want and build a case. Keep in mind they are limited to replace your part like for like. Thus, they can't replace your video card right away. You will have to build you case, then refer to "Customer Care" and explain everything and your case to get them to send you a 7900gs. The important thing here is to stay professional!! I know that is hard to do, but you will get more out of it if you do. About the phone numbers, I will provide them to you to save youtroubles: (these only applies in the US) Tech support: 1-800-822-8965 ext: 7240444 Customer care: 1-800-822-9965 ext 7266408 Customer service 1-888-987-3355 (there is no direct ext, or I might have forgot) I hope everything turns your way. The Dell tech reps are limited to only replace like for like parts, and they really do try to help you, but they are very restricted. Good Luck!!!

I recently address the Horrible experience I had with customer care to a top senior manager at customer service. Apparently, my concerns have been forwarded to a Dell "International Service" person. I will keep you all updated if there are any results!!!

Communist... the numbers I got for the US Inspiron Support Team were different and so is their extension. But I'm sure others will find those numbers you posted useful.

I'll admit, when I was talking to Travis I was almost hysterical and breaking down. The Dell system does nothing to satisfy customers anymore - it's all about frustrating people and hoping they'll stop trying to get help now.

Looks like Travis got the Tech to come out today after the Tech said I couldn't be seen until Tuesday (later than the original Tech). Now my motherboard is replaced - I never witnessed another CPU in the box - so I'm suspicious on that one - and my CPU Fan Assembly is replaced.

The system is already warm at idle still, so I'm sadly confident the system will get warm and freeze up again. Hopefully there won't be BSOD's anymore though.