To warn anyone buying a computer

dontbuyadell · 2023-12-04T20:55:12+00:00

To not buy a Dell! Their customer service stinks! Bought a new Dell laptop 3 months ago. The battery unit has failed. Known fault. Failed on a Friday night - no customer service over the weekend. Contacted tech support on the Monday morning. Said they would send tech engineer next day - fine Tuesday - answerphone message (phone never rang) to say call cancelled due to part not arriving. Rebooked for next day by Dell. Wednesday - same thing Thursday -same again. Contact Dell support again promised it would be fixed next day. Friday - cancelled again. Lots of back and forth with Dell. Who escalate things and firm promise for today it being fixed. Once again today they cancelled. Each time it's just an automated message. All phone lines are robots. All chats are robots. Even social media is robots. All give me word for word answers. Absolutely no way of escalating it further. I'm now posting all over social media in an effort to get someone to help fix it. I'm losing business and money now as a result. I don't have a spare computer. I live alone. So please if anyone is thinking of buying a Dell computer please reconsider. Or you could end up being me. Am I being unreasonable to think we deserve better from large companies?

Catsmere · 04/12/2023 22:29

I’d never buy Dell. I remember a bloke in a computer sales/repair shop saying wryly, “Oh, we love them. People bring them back for repairs a week after they bought them!” That was twenty or more years ago and they haven’t improved…

OhwhyOY · 04/12/2023 23:13

Did you buy with a credit card? If so do a section 75 chargeback and buy a new computer. I did this with Dell years ago who sold me a duff product, sais they'd collect the laptop for refund but then refused to refund me. They suddenly were on the phone to me as quick as lightning.

Museum10661 · 04/12/2023 23:15

if its got a battery and its a laptop, usually you can unlock the battery slide it out and then use the mains adapter to power it without the battery ?
ive used similar method on the hp mini laptop

ThinWomansBrain · 04/12/2023 23:21

I had a non critical problem a couple of years ago with my Dell - had to send it back to them for repair, just at the end of the guarantee period.
I purchased a CODA laptop as a backup, which has been brilliant - it was about £110 which included one years MS Office subscription. I primarily use the Dell for business, and the coda primarily for home - storage space is limited but I use a USB stick. I also like that it's super light for travelling.

If you can't find a friend that has a spare backup laptop that you can use in the interim, would thoroughly recommend.

Original poster

dontbuyadell · 04/12/2023 23:30

OhwhyOY · 04/12/2023 23:13

Did you buy with a credit card? If so do a section 75 chargeback and buy a new computer. I did this with Dell years ago who sold me a duff product, sais they'd collect the laptop for refund but then refused to refund me. They suddenly were on the phone to me as quick as lightning.

No stupidly I bought it with my business debit card. I don't have credit cards.

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Original poster

dontbuyadell · 04/12/2023 23:32

Museum10661 · 04/12/2023 23:15

if its got a battery and its a laptop, usually you can unlock the battery slide it out and then use the mains adapter to power it without the battery ?
ive used similar method on the hp mini laptop

No because funnily enough I bought a laptop because I need it to be mobile. Just because it could function in a much more limited capacity doesn't absolve Dell from their responsibilities to fix it.
It's 3 months old and is not fit for purpose

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Original poster

dontbuyadell · 04/12/2023 23:33

ThinWomansBrain · 04/12/2023 23:21

I had a non critical problem a couple of years ago with my Dell - had to send it back to them for repair, just at the end of the guarantee period.
I purchased a CODA laptop as a backup, which has been brilliant - it was about £110 which included one years MS Office subscription. I primarily use the Dell for business, and the coda primarily for home - storage space is limited but I use a USB stick. I also like that it's super light for travelling.

If you can't find a friend that has a spare backup laptop that you can use in the interim, would thoroughly recommend.

I don't have any funds to buy another computer. I had to borrow to fund this one and am still paying that back!

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maltesersarethedevil · 04/12/2023 23:35

@Museum10661 and others are trying to
Help you! You are being very snotty toward them. I understand you're frustrated but they are only trying to help you.

WineIsMyMainVice · 04/12/2023 23:36

Find out the name of the CEO (try LinkedIn for this) and message them directly. List everything that has happened.
good luck op

Iloveanicegarden · 04/12/2023 23:38

I've had my Dell for over 11 yrs and apart from a new battery it's worked fine.

Original poster

dontbuyadell · 04/12/2023 23:42

maltesersarethedevil · 04/12/2023 23:35

@Museum10661 and others are trying to
Help you! You are being very snotty toward them. I understand you're frustrated but they are only trying to help you.

Huh? no I'm not being snotty I'm being factual!

Not being able to be used unless plugged in is not in normal working order. And not acceptable for a laptop of less than 3 months old. And anyway even when it's plugged in it doesn't function correctly and randomly switches off and takes along time to reboot afterwards.

Would you be happy having spent nearly £500 for your computer to not function correctly 3 months later? Really?

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PickAChew · 04/12/2023 23:42

I've just replaced my 8 year old Dell with another Dell. Usually buy from the outlet but that doesn't seem to save so much these days.

Original poster

dontbuyadell · 04/12/2023 23:44

Iloveanicegarden · 04/12/2023 23:38

I've had my Dell for over 11 yrs and apart from a new battery it's worked fine.

My family have been buying Dells for decades. All the computers we had at home as a child were Dells.
I deliberately set out to buy a Dell because I thought they were a good reliable brand. But apparently not.

It's not the fact that the computer doesn't work properly that's an issue. That could happen with any company. It's the shocking lack of customer service which is not acceptable.

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Blanketpolicy · 04/12/2023 23:45

We had this when buying ds's upgraded laptop for starting engineering at uni last year. It was a pain, but he had his old laptop in the interim.

First delivery was delayed by one day and got a £50 refund. It arrived and wouldnt power up, they gave me another credit and sent a replacement which had faulty pixels on the screen, they gave me another credit and sent another. They arranged couriers to pick up the other two (on different dates) and later 3 wireless mice (free with laptop so they sent one for each laptop!) arrived.

Took about a month and a half to sort out and I ended up with about £250 cash back and they told me I could keep the 3 wireless mice.

I've had a few Dells, they are good when they are up and running and any i've had have lasted years but I always seem to have teething problems with them too.

Original poster

dontbuyadell · 04/12/2023 23:47

Blanketpolicy · 04/12/2023 23:45

We had this when buying ds's upgraded laptop for starting engineering at uni last year. It was a pain, but he had his old laptop in the interim.

First delivery was delayed by one day and got a £50 refund. It arrived and wouldnt power up, they gave me another credit and sent a replacement which had faulty pixels on the screen, they gave me another credit and sent another. They arranged couriers to pick up the other two (on different dates) and later 3 wireless mice (free with laptop so they sent one for each laptop!) arrived.

Took about a month and a half to sort out and I ended up with about £250 cash back and they told me I could keep the 3 wireless mice.

I've had a few Dells, they are good when they are up and running and any i've had have lasted years but I always seem to have teething problems with them too.

Did you manage to speak to a human? I haven't been able to actually speak to anyone and it's driving me nuts!
Glad you managed to get it sorted in the end

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Legoroses · 04/12/2023 23:54

Hi OP. This is a straightforward breach of the law on their part if they don't offer to repair it, which they're effectively not doing by failing to attend. Keep records of that, and if they continue to not attend, sue them for the cost of the laptop in the small claims court. You just fill in the forms on gov.uk. Or you could take it to a local repair service and claim for repair - worth checking whether you need a few quotes for that type of claim.

ApplePayMe · 04/12/2023 23:55

It sounds like a straightforward thing to solve if you were connected to an actual person instead of the automated system. They have an online forum which you could potentially use to connect to someone?

Museum10661 · 04/12/2023 23:59

dontbuyadell · 04/12/2023 23:32

No because funnily enough I bought a laptop because I need it to be mobile. Just because it could function in a much more limited capacity doesn't absolve Dell from their responsibilities to fix it.
It's 3 months old and is not fit for purpose

Show quote history

in that perspective i agree, however i made the comment as a temp solution until a fix is available

Blanketpolicy · 04/12/2023 23:59

Yes spoke to people several times, cant remember how/the number but can remember having my notepad with dates/times of my saga and recounting it to several different people and being pushed around departments in circles a lot - sales/technical /return and long calls as they didnt know what to do . Although it wasn't quick they were helpful and apologetic. I didnt insist or come down heavy on them they just offered cash back each time as a apology.

Thinking about it they might have given me a number to call over the online chat.

Original poster

dontbuyadell · 05/12/2023 00:14

ApplePayMe · 04/12/2023 23:55

It sounds like a straightforward thing to solve if you were connected to an actual person instead of the automated system. They have an online forum which you could potentially use to connect to someone?

Ridiculously it could be as simple as a faulty power lead which they could have sent out by post a week ago to at least rule it out!

I've tried the online forum and I believe I was still just talking to robots.

God help us if the future of customer services is going to be dominated by AI

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Original poster

dontbuyadell · 05/12/2023 00:15

Legoroses · 04/12/2023 23:54

Hi OP. This is a straightforward breach of the law on their part if they don't offer to repair it, which they're effectively not doing by failing to attend. Keep records of that, and if they continue to not attend, sue them for the cost of the laptop in the small claims court. You just fill in the forms on gov.uk. Or you could take it to a local repair service and claim for repair - worth checking whether you need a few quotes for that type of claim.

That's what I'm planning on doing. It's just frustrating to have to spend more money to be able to get it back!

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RandomButtons · 05/12/2023 00:16

YANBU. Worst customer service I’ve ever encountered.

alwaystroubleonmn · 05/12/2023 00:21

I have had similar problems with a HP laptop - I opened a dispute with my Credit card company who refunded the cost of my computer and dealt with HP - I just had to send the laptop back and I bought another one - not HP! Had to do the same with Bose - which was possibly the worst customer service - got a refund from credit card company and let them resolve the issue.

CompSc4542 · 05/12/2023 00:22

dontbuyadell · 04/12/2023 23:42

Huh? no I'm not being snotty I'm being factual!

Not being able to be used unless plugged in is not in normal working order. And not acceptable for a laptop of less than 3 months old. And anyway even when it's plugged in it doesn't function correctly and randomly switches off and takes along time to reboot afterwards.

Would you be happy having spent nearly £500 for your computer to not function correctly 3 months later? Really?

Show quote history

Yes but as work around until your issue is resolved it is a good suggestion.

I understand your frustrated but don't attack people who are trying to help you.

Original poster

dontbuyadell · 05/12/2023 00:28

@CompSc4542 it doesn't work as a work around because 90% of my work using it is done remotely with clients. Often in settings without always having access to power.

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