Choosing Dell was a mistake I am being made to regret since two months. I stay in Mumbai, India and it’s been 2 months since I purchased a brand new Dell Ultrabook (costing more than 70K INR) from the “The Dell Exclusive Store, Bandra West, Mumbai”– But yet to actually OWN it. At this point, there is nothing much I can do but wait for a long due replacement, but I feel it is my moral responsibility to write this review and inform others about my experience and help them avoid this kind of tragic experience. Below is the timeline summary of my sour experience with Dell.
Sequence of events:
10th March 2012: Placed the order of purchase for Dell Ultrabook (W560759IN9-New! Dell™ Inspiron 15z Touch) (https://dell.com/in/p/inspiron-15z-5523/pd?oc=w540753in8&model_id=inspiron-15z-5523)
13th March 2012: Received the faulty laptop which had a thick white line on the screen.
14th March 2012: Called Dell Premium Support Desk and registered a complain about the defective screen of the Brand New Ultrabook (Service Request No: 790508287876).
22nd March 2012: After waiting for the service for over 10 days I again contacted Dell Premium Support Desk. Due to some miscommunication my previous call was closed and I had to initiate a new service request!! (Service Request Number: 873446638).
*28th March**: The Dell engineer was supposed to come to repair my brand new Ultrabook but I got a call intimating that the new parts for replacement will come separately and unless they reach me, the engineer cannot come. (Weird process! Why can’t the parts be sent to the engineer and have him come with the parts. And why even after 8 days of re-registering the request, the parts could not reach me? )
*1st April**: Finally the parts reached me.
*2nd April**: A Dell engineer shows up. He dismantled my new unused laptop into pieces in a futile attempt to replace the defective screen but eventually informed me that the parts sent by dell are incompatible!! And I would have to send these parts back and make a request to send the correct compatible parts again. Height of carelessness and lack of professionalism. (A gentle reminder, it was close to a month since I purchased my laptop and had not been able to use it).
*3rd April:** After a relentless conversation with the Dell Premium Support desk, or so they like to call themselves, I was promised that my laptop will be replaced with a new one. However, this can only happen after the defective laptop is collected. I was told that this process of replacement will take a maximum of 20 days more!! A new service tag number for replacement was created. (Service tag number JQXTQT1)
*15th April**: It had been over ten days since the replacement was promised and despite various false assurances no one had still shown up to collect the defective laptop. Agitated with my inability to use my laptop and the due to evident sheer negligence I sent a mail to the Dell replacement team asking them to expedite the process.
*19th April**: Dell Replacement Team placed an order to MANUFACTURE(!!) a single piece of the same model. This would require Dell to manufacture a single piece of laptop of the corresponding model and configuration!! (Weirdly and unbelievably enough, it seems they could not send just another new laptop from one of their affiliated stores)
Well post the promised 20 days of replacement, I was told that the parts required to manufacture the new laptop, are not available with DELL INDIA and they are importing these parts from DELL MALAYSIA. And therefore, the process would take more time.
I was left with nothing but to wait endlessly. After a while, I again got impatient and enquired about the status, to which they responded saying that the laptop is being MANUFACTURED in MALAYSIA and will be shipped to me in 2 days. (Food for thought: If they were IMPORTING the unavailable parts from Malaysia as intimated to me before, how could it be true that the laptop was being manufactured in Malaysia as well!!? This clearly indicates, one of the concerned facts was just another lie told to me.)
*3rd May:** Since then, I have been getting frequent calls from the legendary Dell Replacement Team and the Dell Premium Support Desk, making false promises about the delivery of laptop in the next 2-3 days. It has been close to 2 Months since I purchased my laptop, and I am still, helplessly waiting at the mercy of Dell. It is still a mystery and an elegy whether or not I will ever receive a new laptop for which I paid 2 months ago. And if I am to receive it, then when? I will keep you all updated about further happenings.
Bottom line is, what I thought was a world class product with a customer care to match, has let me down immeasurably. I am deeply disappointed with this company – What is the point of owning a “fabulous” laptop (Can’t vouch for that either since I have not yet used it), if this is the kind of service you get. I even got an extended hardware warranty on this laptop – I can see that it is possibly going to be more convenient to simply get it repaired by a local repair shop.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me at serotonin005@gmail.com.