There are many ways to define “Dell Hell,” but Todd’s situation certainly is a perfect example. Every time Dell gets hold of his computer to repair it, things get worse. It began with a simple battery charging issue. When it came back to him, it wouldn’t accept half of his RAM. After another motherboard replacement, the fan went rogue and the keyboard wouldn’t light up. Dell sent Todd a refurbished replacement computer, which wouldn’t turn on at all. At this point, he probably wishes he only had trouble getting the battery to charge.

On or about February 5th, I called Dell technical support regarding a charging issue with my Inspiron 17r that was still under warranty. This is where my saga begins. I spent approximately 2 hours on the phone with a technical support agent who took control of my computer. I watched what she was doing and after clicking the same things at least 10-15 times she told me she would have to send out a technician to my house. As the technician was about to order a technician, the phone call gets disconnected. I will give her the benefit of the doubt and assume it was an accident. So I call back and after waiting 30 minutes on hold I get a new technician. This technician can find no record of my previous call and insists he must go through the trouble shooting steps again. After another hour he also decides a technician must come to my house. So we set up the appointment…

The technician arrives two days later to replace the motherboard of the computer. He replaces the motherboard and then turns the computer on. He gets a fatal error. It is then determined that my computer must be sent to Dell depot to get repaired. Frustrated, I agree. So fast forward two weeks. I get the computer back from Dell and I turn it on. After playing around with it I noticed it was a little slow. Maybe it was my imagination but I start doing some inspecting. I see that the computer has 4 gb of RAM when it is supposed to have 8. I call tech support, the technician has me open the computer and we figure out that the RAM port is not accepting one of the chips. I inquire as to how I could get my computer back from depot without them testing it, and he was as confused as I. So another technician is dispatched to my house.

Two days later the new technician arrives. He replaces the motherboard AGAIN. We turn the computer on and the fan is going out of control. It sounds like a bomb is about to go off. Along with that, my backlit keyboard will no longer work. So the technician calls Dell and after a long conversation he convinces them to send me a replacement computer. The man on the phone explains that since my computer is older than 3 months, that it will have to be a refurbished one. I reluctantly agree. So fast forward another week and today the refurbished computer arrives. I am confident my woes are over. I couldn’t be more wrong. I eagerly unwrap the new computer, plug it in, push the power button, and… NOTHING! The computer will not turn on. I try everything. So, another call to Dell. I am transferred 3 times. The final man gets me to a supervisor who tells me the best he can do is send a technician to my house to work on the refurbished computer and he even offers me a usb drive! I refuse and he says he can escalate me to the next level of customer care but that is all he is allowed to do. I agree and he informs me that I will have to wait 24-48 hours for them to call me back. So here I am. Over one month after my battery charging issue and I am still without a computer. I have spent over 24 hours of my time working with dell, waiting on hold, or waiting for technicians. Not to mention the one week that my computer was at depot. I have never experienced such horrible customer service in my life. My final words are this… DUDE, NEVER BUY A DELL!!!!!

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