Dell refuse to honor next business day repair for damage they caused

pilotg2 on 11/01/2016 - 20:35
Last edited 11/01/2016 - 20:46

I'll try keep this short and to the point.

I bought a new Dell monitor (2515H) and when plugging it into my Dell laptop via HDMI it would display lines and go blank frequently. It was determined my graphics card was at fault and a replacement motherboard was ordered. My laptap is 2.8 years old with an extended warranty.

This is when it's gets a little more interesting - i still find the situation somewhat unbelievable;

  • Visit 1, Engineer 1 arrives with a refurbished motherboard - it boots to the bios but there is no Windows Boot manager so the motherboard (MB) is deemed faulty and orders another after a long troubleshooting session with Dell tech on the phone.

  • Visit 2, E1 arrives with MB2 - it is DOA and E1 blows my laptop screen so that's dead too. Damages laptop, snapped plastic by ports, scratches (they don't use protective coverings) and hinges are loose due to opening with elbow whilst on phone repeatedly. Engineer orders a screen and another MB. I contact dell and they add damaged parts to the order.

  • Visit 3, Engineer 2 arrive with MB3, screen and to replace damage parts - MB DOA and he damages more parts, but the replacement screen is working! I contact Dell…

  • Visit 4, Engineer 2 arrives with MB4 and all the parts to replace damage - MB, same as MB1 and only booting to bios. I mention the first MB did exactly the same, could it be a software setting, would you mind calling Dell. He reluctantly does so, after 30min on the phone and getting no where they decide to send out another MB and harddrive(?). I'm Googling mb replacement and see it is common when replacing a MB you may have to manually point the boot record to the OS. Bingo in 1 min we are booting in Windows. It's now 4.30pm and E2 refuses to replace the broken parts he has laid out, says he has got to get home, it's late. Good part is the display problem on my new external monitor is sorted!

  • Visit 5, Engineer 3 arrives, a senior engineer who has been sent to fix all the problems. Says he has just been on a job fixing damaged caused by another engineer… There were the hinges to replace and screen surround from scratches (what E2 refused to fit). I thought simply. Engineer says he's all done and leaves. I notice the screen is twisted and not closing flush so quickly call him on his mobile. He comes back and tries to bend the screen back into place, he says you can bend these LCD screen back on them selves and he sure is going for it! It looks clear to me the hinge is incorrectly placed… he says the hinge is nonadjustable and that is the best i can do.

So once again i'm onto Dell send them pics and they admit the screen is twisted and offer a mail in service. They now refuse to send an engineer out and so my only option is to send the laptop to them for 7 - 14 business days maybe longer.

I should add i was offered a replacement laptop at visit 3 to only be called back 20min later to say as i bought the laptop in the UK (where i was living) they cannot help and i should call the UK, who can see the history and will probably issue you a replacement. I called the UK and they said all i needed to do was transfer the warranty to Aus and i would be fully covered. It made no difference as Malaysia/Aus Dell still refused to issue a replacement laptop after i transferred the warranty.

I'm peeved to say the least, it's my only laptop that i need for work, i have a next business day service which they are now not honoring due to damaged they caused.

Is there anything i can do?

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Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 11/01/2016 - 22:14
    +1

    I will tell you what to do. I had the same experience with Dell. Phone the office of fair trading (or what ever you have similar in your state). Ask how you can access a template letter to write to Dell demanding they replace your pc due to it being faulty and not fit for purpose. Send the letter attached in an email to the Dell complaints department explaining the list of problems you have had and that this is unacceptable and as the machine is faulty it is your right as a consumer to be issued a replacement or refund. You paid for a new machine and now you effectively have a "second hand refurbished machine that is faulty" (as the replacement parts are reburbished). Ask for a replacement product and they should contact you asap and ship it to your door. Good luck.

    • [Deactivated] on 11/01/2016 - 22:45

      IF they send you a replacement sell it on evilbay immediately so it becomes someone elses problem not yours anymore!

    • bb_hunter on 11/01/2016 - 23:20

      Unless Op has international warranty I'm not sure it will be covered by Aust Consumer Law.

      • fruit on 12/01/2016 - 10:29
        -3

        Downvoted you because you are incorrect, let me explain:
        It will not be covered under ACL because it was not purchased within Australia*
        However it is covered used UK laws which are just as good if not better than Aussie ones.

        *Within is interesting and it is possible that overseas sites are covered under this if purchased within Australia, however enforcement is harder

        • bb_hunter on 12/01/2016 - 11:18
          +1

          I'm confused by your comment. How are you going to enforce UK consumer law in Aust?

      • pilotg2 on 12/01/2016 - 12:02

        Yes, it's an international warranty with Dell.

        Dell have a warranty transfer service to either a new owner or country which i have done. Yet they still say they cannot issue a replacement due to the fact i bought the laptop in the UK.

        When drafting the letter i don't know if i should go with Aus or the UK due to the above transfer.

        I will contact UK Dell again tonight and see what they say. I'm in contact with a manager here but no contact in the UK.

    • t_c on 12/01/2016 - 09:13
      +1

      "You paid for a new machine and now you effectively have a "second hand refurbished machine that is faulty"

      But OP bought it 2.8 years ago

      • fruit on 12/01/2016 - 10:30

        Downvoted, because a computer should last longer than 2.8 years.
        Apple does power usage forecasts over 5 years for their laptops.

        • t_c on 12/01/2016 - 13:15
          +1

          I agree, but what's wrong with using refurbished parts on a 2.8 year old laptop?

  • xseta on 12/01/2016 - 10:05
    +1

    Classic Hell.

    • humdingaling on 12/01/2016 - 10:34
      -2

      i think you replaced the D with H

  • xseta on 18/01/2016 - 09:10

    Any resolution on this?
    I just had a classic Dell service moment yesterday, RMA'd a laptop they send it back with no HDD… >_>

    Almost as bad as when they initially hooked up two racks; they didn't connect one of the 4 UPS' that had been delivered that were already installed… .__.

    servicelyfe

    • pilotg2 on 29/01/2016 - 15:14
      +1

      Nope, they are refusing to budge so i'm left with a laptop damaged by their techs. They couldn't seem to careless.

      Just tried the social media route, see where that gets me…

    • Roman Sandstorm on 29/01/2016 - 18:28

      It does seem you have been unlucky, and perhaps have fallen into a somewhat murky crack in the law.

      First, let's look at the consumer law side of things.

      Australian Consumer Law applies to items purchased in Australia, and items purchased from overseas and delivered to Australia, (Even though enforcing this situation would be epically difficult with some countries, I imagine.)

      ACL does not apply to items purchased overseas, not intended for shipping to Australia.

      Again, not yet considering the Dell warranty situation, I imagine you would have some claims under British consumer laws. If you were actually in the UK. As to whether British laws would still apply outside the UK, I have no idea. But again, i imagine it would be difficult to enforce.

      Now… Dell have an international warranty, and you have applied, and transferred, etc. This is good. But, again, this is not Australian law. It is a nice little bonus offered up by Dell, but ACL does not enforce individual company warranties; only statutory warranties guaranteed under our laws.

      Yes, you may have some possible case in common law for damages against Dell, for not honouring their warranty, but as to how you would contest that and under what jurisdiction; wow… that would be complicated.

      Further, Dell have really, really tried hard to resolve your issue. Five visits, many replacement parts, plus an offer of a replacement computer (although it seems their own bureaucracy has stymied this…)

      It seems to me that Dell Australia, and Dell UK are both probably scratching their heads as to who should pay for your total repair/replacement. And knowing that it would be almost impossible for you to 'force' them to do so, and knowing they have already spent many $$$ trying to fix you, then they may have put it in 'too hard' category.

      I suggest sticking with social media, being polite and definite about what you want done. I'd write to Dell UK, and Dell Australia management, detailing what you have described here.

      Perhaps, in a show of goodwill, you may strike a sympathetic ear at some point. It likely does not help that your machine is pretty old (by notebook standards), and Dell have already thrown a bucket of $$$ at it.

      Sometimes, luck and circumstances align, and things work out OK. And sometimes they don't. You may just have fallen into the latter category, sadly, not through fault or malice.

  • Vyviel on 22/01/2016 - 09:24

    Sounds like service has gone bad these days.

    I had issues about 5 years ago and even out of warranty by a few months the guy came over to replace the blown up mobo in my desktop with no issues. Fixed a laptop too. My next machine hasn't had an issue in the last 6 yrs so no need to try use the warranty again.

  • El Grande on 28/01/2016 - 23:49

    This is my story dealing with Dell for the last 2 months.

    I purchased a Dell Inspiron 15 7000 from this deal https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/222514

    After install the internet stopped working 15 seconds into using my laptop. I thought let me try restarting the laptop again it stopped working about 10 seconds in. I thought no worries let me get the drivers for the intel wifi card. I jumped onto the old computer downloaded the drivers put them on a USB drive only to find the USB ports were not working on the new machine too.

    I quickly called Dell support and the guy asked me to factory restore the computer to first install setting and try again. If I still had a problem I should drop him an email and he would call me back. After reinstall the same thing happened.

    I got a call back from the tech and he blamed one of my programs. I explained to him that the internet and USB stop working 10 seconds after install and there is no way I can get anything on there that quick which gave me an idea.

    I connected the USB and restarted the computer only to fail as the laptop tried to boot from USB.

    I removed the USB then reconnected it once windows started to boot and got the the login screen.

    As soon as the computer booted I clicked on the USB and copied the file before the port stopped working (Worked on second try)

    Then I tried installing the new driver only to find it would give an error during install. At this point the technician suggested a replacement unit to be sent as we were going nowhere.

    A few days later.

    In the middle of the night I got an Idea. The reason the install was failing was because the WiFi card would disappear from device manager. So when the windows tried to apply the drivers there would be nothing present to receive the new drivers.

    I turned on the computer and opened the device manager and uninstalled the Wifi device before it could disappear. It failed a couple of times before I finally managed to get it to uninstall. Now using the new driver that I had copied on my desktop (from the day I got the computer) I reinstalled the WiFi card. The USB, WiFi, Blue screen of death when shutting down and Driver_crash_error were all gone.

    Now the "new computer" arrived

    It had a problem of its own. The track pad was wobbly and I called dell straight away. They sent the tech in who said I should learn to live with it as replacing it might make it worse. I was like are you kidding me? Seeing I looked unhappy he went ahead with the repair. The tech had ordered a new palm rest and track pad. Replacing those parts actually made it worse. Not only that I started getting the dreaded ghost touch in the bottom left corner.

    I asked dell keep my old unit. They said it had already been booked for return and they couldn't cancel it but they could send me a third unit.

    So they requested a third unit yesterday and today I got an email saying the replacement had been rejected and they offered me a refund instead.

    All this happened over 2 months and has left a bad taste in my mouth. The problem is I loved the touch screen and I had the computer finally going.

    • agam2104 on 09/05/2017 - 03:14

      Hi,bro I need some suggestions.I brought​ a DFO unit from Dell which have 12 month warranty.Now I found there is a problem with the speaker and battery.Can you suggest what would be the faster way to solve this problem,like how to contact dell and force them to refund my money.

      • El Grande on 09/05/2017 - 17:14

        Dell offer 30 days no questions asked returns. I am not sure if this extends to DFO. Don't tell them you are having problems if you do they will send you to service and insist the computer should be repaired. Ask if they have the same offer on DFO units. If they do then say you changed your mind. Outside this period they will only offer service until warranty ends.

  • thors_hammer on 21/11/2017 - 00:52

    I also am having problems with getting DELL to honour their warranty on a 9 month old XPS13 (9360). One hinge is loose and they claim it's "damaged" and refuse warranty. The laptop is otherwise undamaged, never dropped, never mishandled.

    Once the "escalation team" refuse you it seems the only way forward is Consumer Affairs.

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