# Dell Shock



## clannie (Aug 29, 2005)

I bought a new laptop from Dell about a month ago.After loading it up with favourite utilities etc. and uninstalling a lot of junk that came with the laptop, I noticed a plastic lever sticking out on the left hand side.When I tried to push it back in it would not locate and came straight back out.I phoned Dell and they had the laptop uplifted,now I have received an email from them to say that the motherboard has been physically damaged and not covered by the systems warranty therefore payment of £500 + vat is required.I just do not know what I can do now.The laptop cost was £430 paid on June 14th by Egg credit card.I will try and attach the said email.Please can anyone advise me on what to do next. Thank you.


----------



## Blink182 (Jul 9, 2006)

1. dont buy dell.
2. take it to em and shove it in their face, demand they refund.


----------



## clannie (Aug 29, 2005)

Forgot to say that this was my reply


----------



## Blink182 (Jul 9, 2006)

wow, that should work. DELL are so bad :down:


----------



## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

Hi clannie 

Sounds like a bad deal for you.
I'd suggest using the phone # on that first Dell email and having a calm talk with this Harvey guy and if that does not resolve it, ask to speak to his supervisor and see if you can find a more reasonable person to talk to.


good luck....


----------



## wacor (Feb 22, 2005)

Did you buy this using the Dell account or with a Visa or Mastercard ??

If Visa or Mastercard contact the charge company about filing a complain. There would be a form to send in and then typically they put the money in escrow until Dell responds and then they will judge from there.  

Then get the Dell presidents name and write him directly. I had a long drawn out battle on a rebate that i could never even get a response on until i wrote the president. Threaten that you will contact the state attourney generals office and filing a complaint with them


----------



## Clumbsy_Mage (Oct 21, 2004)

Well this just backs up my belief that Dell are incompetent...



> 1. dont buy dell.


----------



## screamoon (Jul 19, 2006)

Fact1) Dell is not a manufacturer
Fact2) Dell assembles parts from various other hardware vendors
Fact3) You can get a system replacement in this case. If you want more info on how to do that then feel free to message me anytime.

PS: I have worked with DELL for quite sometime.


----------



## Clumbsy_Mage (Oct 21, 2004)

The first and last time I've ever contacted Dell was via telephone and I spoke to a male person of Indian heritage judging by his voice, he repeatedly tried to sell me a certain product after I said no to him... Quite funny really.

"Well really you want to go with this product as it is much better and only costs £200 more"... Okay


----------



## clannie (Aug 29, 2005)

Well thanks for all replies I have pm'd screamoon,but as for Dell a new email apologising for tone of last email but still same message,if I want it fixed they want £500 even though the laptop is 4 weeks old.Uploading email if you want to be amused.Where to go from here?I just dont know,but I will not be asking Dell to repair it and I really regret having bought a Dell laptop now.


----------



## wacor (Feb 22, 2005)

Again, How did you pay for this??

If it was with a charge card then you may have some recourse.
Not with a Dell account though.

I would tell them to ship it back, that you refuse to have them repair it as you are convinced you did not cause damage. That you intend to take it to an independent repair center to verify the damage was not caused by negligence and that you will take every legal recourse at that point including contacting a lawyer and forwarding a complaint to the state attourney general.

if you are convinced you did not break it then you gotta threaten them. Including as i stated earler a letter to the president of Dell. Once they know you refuse to let them repair it then you may find they have a different attitude as to their being so convinced that you caused the damage. 

good luck


----------



## clannie (Aug 29, 2005)

Credit card bill is already paid so too late to get any recourse there.How does one get to contact the President of Dell address etc. I would like to let him know how incompetent his company is.


----------



## wacor (Feb 22, 2005)

clannie said:


> Credit card bill is already paid so too late to get any recourse there.How does one get to contact the President of Dell address etc. I would like to let him know how incompetent his company is.


you should be able to google to get the presidents name

and no it is not too late to contact the charge card company. there is a 60 or 90 day period after the transaction typically where you can challenge something like this.


----------



## wacor (Feb 22, 2005)

Michael Dell is the chairman of Dell

I believe that is who i wrote to when nothing else got a response.

no gurantees if you write him but i think if you tell them you want the computer back for a 2nd opinion and state your case they might reconsider


----------



## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

Another Dell laptop catches fire.
Pictures .................

LINK










Looks like Dell has some serious safety issues with their batteries.


----------



## kis1467 (Aug 7, 2006)

We have a Dell Inspiron 1000 and have the exact same problem a button on the left hand side sticks out. It happened within six weeks of buying it but is now 18 months old so I don't think there is anything wrong with the mother board! I would never buy Dell again as we have had nothing but problems with it.


----------



## clannie (Aug 29, 2005)

Yes ,mine worked fine too, but because it was new we felt it should be replaced.As I documented in my posts I had a lot of trouble.My daughter who works for a large IT company had to get involved and today 1 month later the laptop was delivered repaired free of charge.I did ask her how she managed it and all she said was "spoke to a few people" I would never ever deal with Dell again.


----------



## dr911 (Sep 21, 2005)

DALLAS (AP) - Dell Inc. said Monday it will recall 4.1 million notebook computer batteries made by Sony Corp. because they can overheat and catch fire.

Round Rock-based Dell negotiated conditions of the recall with the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, which called it the largest electronics-related recall ever involving the agency.

A Dell spokesman said the Sony batteries were placed in notebooks that were shipped between April 1, 2004, and July 18 of this year.

"In rare cases, a short-circuit could cause the battery to overheat, causing a risk of smoke and/or fire," said the spokesman, Ira Williams. "It happens in rare cases, but we opted to take this broad action immediately."

The battery packs were included in some models of Dell's Latitude, Inspiron, XPS and precision mobile workstation notebooks. Dell planned to launch a Web site overnight that would describe the affected models. Williams said the Web site would tell consumers how to get free replacement batteries from Dell.

Rick Clancy, a Sony spokesman, said the companies have studied problems with the battery packs intensely for more than a month, after getting reports of about a half-dozen fires or smoking laptops in the United States.

Lithium-ion batteries have been around for about a decade and are used in devices such as cell phones and digital music players. Clancy said tiny metallic particles sometimes short-circuit the battery cells, adding that configuration in an electronic device can contribute to problems.

"But it begins with the (battery) cell, and we acknowledge that," he said. "That's why we're supporting Dell in this recall."

Clancy said Sony would help Dell pay for the recall, but neither he nor Dell officials would estimate the campaign's price tag or say how the companies would divide the cost.

The larger potential cost for Dell is that such a huge recall could dampen future notebook sales.

Dell rival Hewlett-Packard Co. said it does not use Sony batteries and was not affected by the recall. Apple Computer Inc. is investigating whether its notebook batteries meet safety and performance standards, spokeswoman Lynn Fox said.

There have been numerous recent news reports about Dell laptops bursting into flames, and pictures of some of the charred machines have circulated on the Internet.

Dell, the world's largest maker of personal computers, confirmed that two weeks ago, one of its laptops caught fire in Illinois, and the owner dunked it in water to douse the flames. Other reports have surfaced from as far away as Japan and Singapore.

Monday's move was at least the third recall of Dell notebook batteries in the past five years.

Dell recalled 22,000 notebook computer batteries last December after symptoms that were similar to those that prompted Monday's recall. The company also recalled 284,000 batteries in 2001.

Consumers with affected laptops should only run the machines on a power cord, said Scott Wolfson, a spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The safety agency knows of 339 incidents in which lithium batteries used in laptops and cell phones -- not just Dell products -- overheated between 2003 and 2005, Wolfson said.

The list of incidents ranges from smoke and minor skin burns to actual injuries and property damage, Wolfson said.

Most of the incidents reported to the CPSC occurred around the home, but transportation-safety officials have become increasingly concerned about the threat of a laptop causing a catastrophic fire aboard a commercial jetliner.

For Dell, the recall comes as it battles other questions about quality and customer service. Last year, Dell absorbed a charge against earnings of $338 million to repair faulty computer components.

Dell's sales have grown this year, but less rapidly, causing shares in the company to lose nearly one-half their value in the past 52 weeks. The shares closed Monday -- before news of the recall -- at $21.24, up 17 cents on the Nasdaq Stock Market. They fell 24 cents in after-hours trading.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.asp?Symbol=US:DELL&Feed=AP&Date=20060814&ID=5946622


----------



## kis1467 (Aug 7, 2006)

Thanx for the info dr911 will look into it. We only ever run it through the power cord as the battery ain't any good anyway.


----------



## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

Unless it was a refurb you should have a minimum of a year warranty. I would start calling their sales people, warranty people, document everything, get names and numbers of everyone you talk to and keep calling. There is no reason they shouldn't foot the bill if it is still under warranty.


----------



## kis1467 (Aug 7, 2006)

Thanx for the advice but not really sure where we stand on this one. My father-in-law bought me it as a present when he lived in US not sure if they will entertain me now as I have taken it out of the country. Will have a look on their web site and see what they say about it anyway. Was thinking of getting a new one as I have had nothing but trouble with this one so if you have any advice there it would be appreciated


----------



## wacor (Feb 22, 2005)

It should not matter when or where you bought it. If it falls in with those that are recalled they should replace the battery. I imagine there are serial numbers or system numbers to verify that. Could be a busy website today for Dell!


----------



## kis1467 (Aug 7, 2006)

Thanx will check it out


----------



## kis1467 (Aug 7, 2006)

Ok went on the Dell website they have opened a special section for battery recalls, these are the computers affected: Latitude:
D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810 
Inspiron: 500M, 510M, 600M, 700M, 710M, 6000, 6400, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 9400, E1505, E1705 
Precision: M20, M60, M70, M90 
XPS: XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170, XPS M1710 

It also says that if the word 'DELL' and 'Made in Japan' or 'Made in China' or 'Battery Cell Made in Japan Assembled in China' are printed on the back then the battery has to be recalled. There is also a part number F5132 printed in the barcode of the battery. 
It's an Inspiron 1000 I have so it doesn't seem to be affected but I'm going to check the battery pack tonight when I switch off.
Thanks a lot for the heads up on this though, better to be sure :up:


----------



## wacor (Feb 22, 2005)

I forgot, how old is the battery? If less than a year it still is under warranty. No matter what.


----------



## kis1467 (Aug 7, 2006)

It's 18months old but they want them all back from April 2004 up until now so don't think the warranty matters.


----------



## Couriant (Mar 26, 2002)

OK, I saw 'the button on the left side'. From what the email said confirmed what I thought. It's the button to release the PCMCIA cards out of its slot. Now having said that, you would have to have pushed it in really hard to damage it.

As for the warranty, notebooks are generally only covered if its the fault of the notebook and since it was physical damage by the user, that would be considered not under warranty. Don't get me wrong, I'm not siding with Dell, I just know how it goes with that type of issues. Personally I would have tried to get the price down as a gesture to the customer... but this is Dell..


----------

