Just wanted to let you know about this really bad experience I had with Dell’s so called "prized" customtakeouter service.
My laptop, an Inpiron 1520 model broke down. It wouldn’t start and would show a white screen which eventually fades to black or gray. I called up Dell customtakeouter care, they asked me about my system details, and when they came to know that it was out of warrant, they asked me to call back after 2 hrs or so. This happened 2-3 times. (I can try understanding this attiMr_customtakeouter..
After all the people who have a warranty should be given the 1st preference) At last I got through to the tech support guy who after doing some "remote diagnosis" told me that the problem is with the LCD and it needs to be replaced. Since I was out of warranty, he informed me that I would have to take a "Break Fix Warranty" which would cost 16k. I agreed to this and I took the warranty. Now I had to wait for about 4 days for it to be reflected in their system. The rest of the story is as follows:
14 Oct 2010: Problem 1st reported Problem was diagnosed as LCD malfunction and I needed to take a break-fix warranty.
15 Oct 2010: Break fix warranty quotation received and purchased.
16 Oct 2010 – 19 Oct 2010: Waiting for the purchase to be reflected in the system.
20 Oct 2010: The wait is finally over. The information is updated in Dell systems databases and a shipment of LCD, cable was received and was replaced. problem persisted. Information was updated to Dell by the on site engineer (took around 45 mins) and I was informed that the problem is with the motherboard which will be shipped next.
22 Oct 2010: Motherboard received. Onsite Engineer replaced it.problem persisted. Information was updated to Dell by on site engineer (took more than 1 hr) and I was informed that all parts will be replaced next time.
25 Oct 2010: LCD, cable, 1 GB RAM (the actual config was 2 GB), processor, graphics card was received and replaced. problem persisted. The on site engineer updated Dell regarding the issue the next day and I was informed that LCD and graphics card will be replaced. (Point to be noted is that these are parts which were already replaced by Dell. Obviously the parts replaced were defective)
27 Oct 2010: Graphics card and LCD was shipped. LCD and cable was replaced. Problem persists. Graphics card couldn’t be replaced because an incompatible part was shipped) the on site engineer informed me that Dell will be updated with this information
and the needful will be done.
29 Oct 2010: Since I hadn’t received any call or information after the last service, I called up Dell but they weren’t yet aware of the above development. After which the tech support executive called up the on site engineer and got back to me informing me that the parts will be delivered on 30 Oct 2010 at the latest and an engineer will replace the parts on 1 Nov 2010. (a call which lasted 45 mins)
1 Nov 2010: Since the parts weren’t delivered and no one had called/mailed me reg the issue, I called up Dell and explaining the issue to 3 different customtakeouter service executives and waiting for more than 20 mins, was transferred to the status department. I was informed that the parts will arrive on 1 Nov 2010 and an engineer will visit and replace the required parts on 2 Nov 2010. When I told the executive that I was informed that the part was supposed to be shipped on 30 Oct 2010 and an engineer was supposed to replace it on 1 Nov 2010 she told me that the case was last logged on 30 Oct 2010 and the next business day is 1 Nov 2010. On further inquiry I was asked to send a mail to ts_escalation@dell.com
I had even sent a mail to dell regarding the same issue on 27 Oct 2010 and I got an acknowledgement mail on 28 Oct 2010 informing that a case ID has been generated and that Dell will revert back within the next working day. I’m still waiting for that.
Anyways I sent a mail to ts_escalation as the representative asked. No reply.
3 Nov 2010: The graphics card was replaced my the on-site engineer. The laptop is working now.
This is the worst experience I’ve ever had with Dell customtakeouter care. I’ve dealt with them before and was quite satisfied. But this experience has got me seriously thinking whether my next laptop should be from Dell.