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General discussion

Bill please help with our university students laptop

Jan 4, 2010 6:04AM PST

I too hope that Bill can assist us. We purchased a dell laptop back in June (model 1545 T6400 (2.0GHZ) CORE 2 DUO ) and have had nothing but problems with it since it was opened. We asked my daughter not to use it till school started back in September, that was a mistake. 1.The only thing she did prior to that was attempt to set up a password but as soon as she did she could not get in.....then after hours on the phone with dell and them telling me that it was a software issue that was not covered,,,they walked me through reinstalling all the drivers and software that came with the system.
2.Then she was able to successfuly use it for a short while until it continously shut down on her for no apparent reason...then once again after being changed over to many different people and hours on the phone they said it was a software issue but my daughter persisited and a tech from "geek squad" came over and replaced the mother board.
3. Guess what, started shutting down again shortly there after, my daughter attempted to call but could not spend the HOURS on the phone required to get any HELP. I tried in late November early December but was "disconnected" 4 times in a row. ANd finally gave up due to xmas et all!!
4. So today after almost 3 1/2 hours on the phone (between my daughter and I) they have set up an appt to re install all the drivers again (which took 6 hours the last time)and have made it very clear that this is not covered. They have diagnosed that it is not a hardware issue and I have confirmed that without running a diagnostic check on the laptop itself, they cannot know this.
5. So after many many hours we are at the beginning again, and we all know this will not get better. Even students at my daughters res know that this is an ongoing issue with Dell laptops.

I have never been so disgusted in a company before,,,they install the drivers themselves and then do not warranty them but will charge you to fix or reinstall them....there must be something illegal about that!! I would prefer to return this product and get my money back...but they will not budge?? What do I do??

Discussion is locked

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I hear you.
Jan 4, 2010 10:03AM PST

OS and driver issues are not covered in most cases. But since the unit has been so problematic it's time to pull the plug. Just call it a lemon and ask for a refund to try some other machine.

This won't change the story about software support. I can only share that we have to backup our stuff and if you can, backup the entire machine so you can restore it inside a hour.

My kids inspiron got to year 3 which is average. Replaced it with a sony nw240f which he says is super. Not saying support is any good, in fact I found sony software support to be worst of the bunch with Apple being among the best. Why? They supply the OS, drivers and machine.
Bob

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Thanks for the kind words!
Jan 4, 2010 10:01PM PST

Unfortunately getting a refund is not in the cards, not without trying of course. We had 30 days to do that in and it wasn't used till after that date. Have asked repeatedly for a replacement and they don't even acknowledge the question! Eventhough there are some people who are happy with their dell laptops, there are many many more who are not. I may have to bite the bullet and purchase a new computer for my daughter which means I just spent $700 for nothing!! What use is a laptop that won't stay on?? Customer service is not a priority with Dell, they should stand behind their product!! I am sorry to say this but if their customer service was here in Canada instead of abroad I truly believe I would have more support...they are trained to follow protocol and not to deviate!! I should not have to spend hours on the phone to get my computer fixed,, WILL NEVER BUY A DELL AGAIN AND WILL TELL EVERYONE I KNOW!!!!!!

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Surrounded by Dells.
Jan 4, 2010 11:12PM PST

At the office 9 out of 10 laptops or higher is a Dell. None have your issues but we are a tech bunch that know too well that we only lose what we don't backup. And given we write software the IT staff is not called on too often. Installing an OS is not taxing to us but I HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR that MSFT, Dell and all Windows based machines have yet to make it easy as making toast. But who said making toast was easy.

If it won't stay on, then keep it simple on the next call.

"My computer won't stay on. How should we get that fixed?" is the short and simple request. If they want you to ship it, get the shipping done and the ALL IMPORTANT TRACKING NUMBER with 700 bucks insurance so if it gets lost you get your money.

Keep the requests simple and follow directions. I know of a friend that flamed out over Dell but after listening to him I saw the problem. He didn't follow the directions and would not reload the OS which I knew would fail. But it's all part of the jumping through the hoops to get to the point where they'll fix it. I'm hope some day they'll stop using it for a door stop and let me call it in to get it fixed before the warranty ends.

Another owner had the usual failed to run on battery issue. They wanted dell to come to their home and fix it inside 10 minutes because "I can't do without it." The service they paid for was the send it to the repair depot so they are stuck too. Not a dell fault on that one.
Bob

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I would like to help with your Dell issue
Jan 7, 2010 10:29PM PST

I am so sorry for this inconvenience and frustration. I would like to try to help you. please find me on Twitter @LisaG_atDell and or on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/ylnhr94.

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THANK YOU SO MUCH
Jan 14, 2010 4:43AM PST

WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS HOW THANKFULL WE WILL BE TO HAVE THIS ISSUE RESOLVED...ANY HELP AT THIS POINT IS SO VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. SINCE THE LAPTOP IS WITH MY DAUGHTER I WILL DIRECT HER TO YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE AS I AM NOT SURE HOW TO REACH YOU VIA TWITTER.