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Jim's Laptop Update

Wednesday, June 10 - Laptop dies, approx 8am
Thursday, June 11 - no laptop, no Next Day Service that I purchased
Friday, June 12 - no laptop, switching to backup machine but it doesn't have all my software
Monday, June 15 - no laptop, replacement part arrives
Tuesday, June 16 - technician installs new part, laptop not working 1 hour later
Wednesday, June 17 - tech called and came out to try and fix laptop
Monday - June 22 - Dell laptop working.

Summary:

Next Day Service - very disappointed
Laptop Working - satisfied
Future Dell Customer? - unknown

Comments

NXTreme said…
It's working! Lets just hope it stays that way. If I where you I'd keep stepping on Dells toes to get at least a partial refund for lost hours. If you wait too long they won't do anything. I hope your able to finish your books soon now, can't wait!
Jun 23, 2009, 1:29:00 AM
Unknown said…
Thing about it: not too many years ago, it would've taken a month or more to fix your laptop. Now, with modern on-line support and in-home technitians, you have your laptop fixed in 12 days. That's not even two weeks.

Do you really have that much to grumble about? I will admit, a refund may be desireable, but all in all, Dell provided pretty snappy service.
Jun 23, 2009, 6:28:00 AM
James Floyd Kelly (Jim) said…
Think about this:

Today, a freelance writer can receive two writing/editing assignments from South Korea with a requested turnaround of 24 hours - payment on delivery.

Dell sells a Next Day Service repair option for those willing to pay for Next Day Service. I am one of those. Twelve days can often mean life or death to a small business. I had a backup PC for some work, but not all. I lost billable work.

Yes, I have something to grumble about. I don't even have my backup PC anymore because it's now running a CNC machine in Florida for testing.

If you consider this snappy service, you should not ever start a small business.
Jun 23, 2009, 6:33:00 AM
LEGOmom said…
I'm glad you got your PC fixed. If you paid for next day service repair option, you should get next day service repair. I'm assuming they refunded you the money for the next day repair option? Good luck on the billable hours...unless they gave some hard and fast guarantee of service, I don't see you getting very far.

Happy Writing,
LEGOmom
Jun 23, 2009, 10:42:00 PM
James Floyd Kelly (Jim) said…
No, there was no written guarantee - as with all things, the small print gets them out of actually having to provide next-day service... which makes it all the more aggravating because that's what they're selling... I wonder how many hours of labor have been lost due to people not getting their next-day service the ACTUAL next day.

I'm disappointed in Dell... been a long time customer - 3 Dell laptops in the past and many many desktops in a previous job.

I'll be posting a follow-up to this in a couple of weeks... I want to give Dell time to address this issue with me over the phone or via email... this blog has over 45,000 visitors per month and my experience with Dell may influence one or more of those readers to buy (or not buy) a Dell in the future... all I'm asking is that Dell make this right. I lost over 30 billable hours of time but made up about 10 of those... some of those billable hours will not come back my way because of deadlines that were missed for other small businesses. Most of my long-term clients understand and have been flexible, but many one-time-job clients may be gone forever.

Again, I'm going to wait and see how Dell handles this before I post a final follow-up in a few weeks.
Jun 23, 2009, 11:10:00 PM
SDC said…
I had a Dell. I dumped Dell and went the Apple was about a year ago. It's probably added a couple months to my life just in not having to wait for the fool thing to boot up alone.

Not a commercial, just a testimonial.
Jun 29, 2009, 12:43:00 AM
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