Dell Circling the Drain?

[Bottom_Feeder]

Jeez, what level of support from Dell are you guys paying for? I've only had one bad experience with Dell support in the eight years I've been with my company, and that's because their phone tech was a useless idiot, not because the support model in general was bad.


I've had more than one conversation with them (usually in chat) that was similar to this:

ME: "This part on this Dell machine is going bad. I've done this, this and this to troubleshoot it and nothing works. The Dell diagnostics have been run and it says this part has failed."

THEM: "Yeah, that sounds terminal. Where do you want us to send the replacement?"

Gold support rules.

 

[DragRace]

Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
Originally Posted By: DragRace
I wouldnt touch a Dell PC if it was handed to me for free.

JUNK

Really? We have more than 10,000 of them deployed and although we have issues with them, ALL PCs these days are commodities with many of the parts being made by the same companies for different OEMs. We have had HP, Dell, IBM, and Toshiba in the past 15 years and all of them have had their share of issues.

Note; I am not a Dell fanboy, just relating my experiences.


My brother and another co-worker both had hardware issues and dealing with DELL to get things fixed was a pain in the [censored] for both people.Me,I'll buy a custom built PC over a DELL or any other off the shelf PC.Heck my PC I'm using now,is a 300$ Emachine from Walmart,thats outlasted at least 2 Dell computer users that I know of.

 

[sxg6]

I've never understood the dell bashing myself, always had very good experiences with their machines. Sure they're not perfect, but neither are the other guys. My most recent tech support experience with dell was pretty quick and easy. Bought a vostro for my friends dad, and it started acting a little funky. Ran dells pre-boot assessment, it basically said the hard drive was bad (as confirmed by other testing utilities). I told the dell tech what I did, he asked for the pre-boot assessment error, and said he'd ship out a new drive asap.

Now epson on the other hand.. I love their printers, but after the past week I've had with their tech support I may be making the switch to canon.

 

[dishdude]

All my machines are Dell (including work) and always had good service from them. I can go download drivers for machines that are 15 years old, and the laptops come apart and go back together in a manner that makes sense. I can download service manuals that show me step by step how to disassemble and part of the machine.

This thread highlights more importantly how publicly owned companies are not competitive due to only looking a quarter or two out. Decisions are made on how we can make an immediate profit for the shareholders rather than long term growth strategies.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
I have a dell and I think it's a POS. Even though I set the screen to go blank after a few minutes it always goes back to staying on all the time. I've given up.


Happened to me a couple times.

Try a different wallpaper or screen saver. Also try investigating programs and/or updates running in the background.

My Dell Prof XP is 7 years old and I use it several hours per day. Still has the original keyboard and nothing has failed. It has never seen a service department.

 

[SLCraig]

Dell has been good to us at work.. We have a PowerEdge server, and Optiplex and Precision workstations, and Latitude laptops. Issues are rare and ProSupport is excellent.

As far as a business supplier goes, I hope they stick around. For home use I build my own custom gaming rig. No Dell for me outside of work.

 

[Danno]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL

It is no surprise that when you treat your business clients like they are idiots and subject them to people who can barely speak English, that they get frustrated and go elsewhere. Just one of the many reasons I will never use BELL Canada. I have better things to do than fight with some guy in India for an hour.


I called Bell Canada Mobility today and the guy was so laid back I think he said "dude". Definitely not India this time. PS Not a Bell fanboy either.

 

[simple_gifts]

Quote:

Jeez, what level of support from Dell are you guys paying for?


The highest. prepaid, plus 6 sometimes 7 figure purchases and the 7 figures are to the left of the decimal point. Hence the disappointment.

Quite honestly with those #'s there should be a guy on site with a compliment of spares....

A lot of time problems are linked specifically to specific model lines and that is why there is a huge spectrum of experience with Dell. Our servers are very solid, desktops, certain models, absolute dogs.

 

[kb01]

With Dell, I was always under the impression there was a huge disparity between the quality of support for their business vs. consumer sales.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: DragRace
Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
Originally Posted By: DragRace
I wouldnt touch a Dell PC if it was handed to me for free.

JUNK

Really? We have more than 10,000 of them deployed and although we have issues with them, ALL PCs these days are commodities with many of the parts being made by the same companies for different OEMs. We have had HP, Dell, IBM, and Toshiba in the past 15 years and all of them have had their share of issues.

Note; I am not a Dell fanboy, just relating my experiences.


My brother and another co-worker both had hardware issues and dealing with DELL to get things fixed was a pain in the [censored] for both people.Me,I'll buy a custom built PC over a DELL or any other off the shelf PC.Heck my PC I'm using now,is a 300$ Emachine from Walmart,thats outlasted at least 2 Dell computer users that I know of.

The EMachines are, by and large, made of the same pieces the othe companies use, but they tended to skimp on power supplies. I learned my lesson and installed a GOOD (and quiet) supply in the cheap E Machine we use for the net and it has run for years.

 

[rjundi]

Get out the personal computer business like IBM and sell services, servers,software etc.

HP is floundering figuring out which end is up and still trying to sell personal computers.

IBM is doing beyond well leaving their PC and Thinkpad business behind.

 

[Mystic]

I have had three custom built Windows computers over the years and for Windows computers that is the only way I will go. Either build them yourself or have somebody who knows what they are doing build them for you. Get exactly what you need with quality computer parts from NewEgg.

1. You have exactly the machine you need. Exactly as powerful as you need for it to be with the possibility of making it even faster.

2. You have exactly the software that you need and no junk. Windows works much better without junk.

3. The computer will typically last longer. If you have quality components such as a good case you can just replace whatever parts need to be replaced. Cheaper in the long run.

4. You know the build quality of the computer with no surprises.

Some of the parts in my current computer are about six years old. The computer is still fast and if I decided to go with Windows 8 I would need to replace just a few parts (Windows 8 really should have a motherboard capable of supporting the various technology that Windows 8 supports, such as USB 3 and Windows 8 bootup technology).

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Dell Home support = India.

Dell larger biz support is mostly America.

I called them this week, North America support, this for a small biz.

Replacing an 8yr old Dell server with a new T420. Nice unit.

Optiplex Desktops have been solid.



No more Lenovo for me, they wouldn't fix a customer's screen for a 5 4 month old laptop that no one broke but Lenovo swears they did. Looks like the video took a dump, they put up the white flag, went and purchased an HP instead as they needed a decent unit immediately. They helped the customer right out the door to purchase another brand, GOOD JOB Lenovo!

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Originally Posted By: kb01
With Dell, I was always under the impression there was a huge disparity between the quality of support for their business vs. consumer sales.

There certainly is. I don't think you can even buy the higher-tier support for a consumer PC. Extended, but not better.

 

[BearZDefect]

Originally Posted By: ToyotaNSaturn


No more Lenovo for me, they wouldn't fix a customer's screen for a 5 4 month old laptop that no one broke but Lenovo swears they did. Looks like the video took a dump, they put up the white flag, went and purchased an HP instead as they needed a decent unit immediately. They helped the customer right out the door to purchase another brand, GOOD JOB Lenovo!

I witnessed their ThinkServ contractor in Tennessee do almost exactly the same thing with someone's nine month old ThinkPad x220 that had developed bright blotches on the otherwise beautiful screen. And this is their business support, Lenovo's consumer support is definitely overseas.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

oops, I mangled that "5 4 month" should read 4 month old laptop.

 

[mechtech2]

I just love the 'circle the drain' analogy!

 

[Mystic]

It is actually pretty sad that fewer and fewer personal computers are being made in the USA. More and more are being made in China or other countries.

Actually that is another good reason to just buy parts from NewEgg and build your own or have it built. Get the best parts you can afford and go with a custom built computer.

I am thinking about going to Windows 8. But in order to do the new technology in Windows 8 right I would need a new motherboard, processor, ram and graphics card. I really like some of the technology in Windows 8 but I also do not like totally the way Microsoft set up Windows 8. It could have done better.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

When Dell goes private, they're renaming the company FRAM COMPUTERS.

 

[JHZR2]

I use IT on what I believe is the largest private intranet in existence. HP bought out the contract, so we no longer get outfit with Dell, which was supplied by EDS previously.

The HP stuff is superior in my view.

But I'm seeing HP making inroads for IT from lots of people I know in different industries.

Dell quality IMO Is poor. If its coming to pass that this is reality, I don't doubt they are losing share.