What to do, found myself stuck in Dell Hell

Forums › Laptops and mobile computers › What to do, found myself stuck in Dell Hell

dragonx

49 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

Topic # 150603 28-Jul-2014 10:19

in 2012 i got a laptop for work, i ticked the touch screen option back then as i thought why not it might be handy you never know?

So the laptop duly arrived, all setup and ready to go, like others (i see via a few internet posts) there was the random ghost clicks on the touch screen, at the time i just turned off the touch screen thinking that its new and ill sort it later when there are better drivers etc.

So anyway i only used it for a few months then gave it to another staff member to use at home (they rarely ever used it so its back with me now).

I thought well ill try to sort the touch screen and get it going properly, reloaded from scratch and the touch screen is still doing the ghost clicks, call service and a tech is dispatched to replace the motherboard and lcd.. (its domain connected at the time so the tech couldnt log on and test it and besides i have the touch screen drivers turned off so he left a message saying that i should test it).

so i logon enable to drivers, the touch screen doesnt appear to be working at all, i think well maybe its a mainboard driver change issue so i reloaded it from scratch again, where i see that the touch screen is having what i will call a click party in the top left had corner of the screen.

i call service, they send a tech to replace the main board and lcd, after replacing it he reports that it is still not working and he will need more parts.

so i call service number 3, they are going to replace the lcd, lcd cables, cpu, mainboard and psu, the tech comes out replaces all of the above.

You guessed it the touch screen doesnt work, yeah i even did a fresh reload afterwards just to be sure (including turning the touch pad off to be sure it is not causing the problem as i had in the past).

so now i have called service and they are going to i guess replace the mainboard and the lcd. (i did ask for a replacement as well but this has been turned down)

As you can imagine i do feel a tad frustrated by all of this, at first it seemed comical and now when i hear dell are going to replace the motherboard and lcd i am left wondering what doing it a 4th time is going to fix that 3 others didnt? I have grown tired of reloading a laptop every time parts are changed to get the same result...... (well not the same, ghost clicks, party time clicks and no clicks, the common theme being it doesnt work....)

I could just turn the touch screen off as the laptop works fine without it, but i actually dont see why i should have to and it is under warranty anyway, i guess ill keep stimulating the local economy via the local tech getting called out....

I welcome your suggestions, does dell have a local address or?

dclegg

2619 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 605

Trusted

Reply # 1096981 28-Jul-2014 10:42

I've had a similar issue to yours with Dell (problem not solved by constant mainboard replacements). Upon advice of my brother who worked for Dell at the time, I emailed Michael Dell's email address. Within 24 hours a member of his executive team had reached out to me and offered a full laptop replacement.

As it turned out, in my case the new laptop (was a newer refresh of the same model) didn't solve my problem. It was due to an incompatibility with the GPUs display driver and Aero. But the moral here is that emailing Michael Dell finally got some movement on a support case that had been ongoing for well over 6 months.

xpd

Chief Trash Bandit
8910 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1318

Mod Emeritus

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1096983 28-Jul-2014 10:46

They will just have contracts with local techs to do service work, so no, probably noone directly Dell related. At work we use Dell, and my contact for them is in AU.

They wont give you a new laptop yet they've already replaced 90% of it anyway.... ask to speak to someone further up the chain.
It seems ridiculous that they cant just call it quits and give you a replacement - I suspect the reason theyre stalling on it tho, is that they no longer have that model in stock, and dont want to give you the most recent one for "nothing" as it were....

XPD / Gavin / DemiseNZ

For Free Games, Geekiness and Reviews, visit :

Home Of The Overrated Raccoons

Battlenet : XPD#11535 Origin/Steam/Epic/Uplay : xpdnz

dragonx

49 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

Reply # 1097005 28-Jul-2014 11:26

dclegg: I've had a similar issue to yours with Dell (problem not solved by constant mainboard replacements). Upon advice of my brother who worked for Dell at the time, I emailed Michael Dell's email address. Within 24 hours a member of his executive team had reached out to me and offered a full laptop replacement.

As it turned out, in my case the new laptop (was a newer refresh of the same model) didn't solve my problem. It was due to an incompatibility with the GPUs display driver and Aero. But the moral here is that emailing Michael Dell finally got some movement on a support case that had been ongoing for well over 6 months.

Thanks i know what you mean, its funny really all of our other Dells were purchased under the all of govt system and have outstanding pro support! but this sad little puppy has just the normal warranty

Well the 0800 number tells me the main board and LCD are going to be replaced to see if it fixes the problem (the 4th mainboard and screen), and that they cant transfew me to a supervisor as there is not one to transfew me to.

Im thinking i might just file in the disputes tribunal for a breach of the sales of goods act, seems like it might be faster and solve the problem, the issue with this is that i need an address for service and they dont have a local physical address....... might chat to the courts to see how to get around this.. (got it companies office has the details)

dragonx

49 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

Reply # 1097298 28-Jul-2014 18:26

xpd: They will just have contracts with local techs to do service work, so no, probably noone directly Dell related. At work we use Dell, and my contact for them is in AU.

They wont give you a new laptop yet they've already replaced 90% of it anyway.... ask to speak to someone further up the chain.
It seems ridiculous that they cant just call it quits and give you a replacement - I suspect the reason theyre stalling on it tho, is that they no longer have that model in stock, and dont want to give you the most recent one for "nothing" as it were....

Yeah i know they do, i have even been a Dell tech and an HP tech once upon a time ......
I know they dont want to give me another one, i did explain that i would be fine with another different refurb unit even. Just seems like it is going to eventually costless that way, as it genuinely seems like they are going to have to replace it anyway ..

they tell me they are waiting on one more part to arrive then the tech will come out and fix it..... ill be sure to let you all know

i have the disputes tribunal all filled out and ready to go as well and the address for service is C\- Simpson Grierson, seems like it is going to cost more to have them dealing with it but oh well.......

dragonx

49 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

Reply # 1098067 29-Jul-2014 18:16

well, after the screen, hinges etc were replaced today, and i reloaded win 7 x64 with dell drivers it still doesnt work as expected.
after answering such questions as what was the name of the driver that you loaded?, my reply "the one from your website, is the name really important ?!" (i even tried newer non dell N Trig drivers). and have you made sure that the PSU is plugged in and can you confirm that it is still not working...
they have decided and stated that i will get a full unit replacement (same system) in 2 -3 weeks, i did express a desire not to have the same lemon type machine (which seems to run really well other than the touch screen). I politely expressed my feelings about why it would take 2-3 weeks, that i hoped for everyone involved that any replacement works as expected...

https://www.google.co.nz/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1ASUM_enNZ500NZ500&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=dell+xps+l502x+touch+screen+not+working&revid=639896487

here was the error after it was fixed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7nBiNtaTJk
prior to that it was just random ghost clicks not so constant alas after the repairs it went really bad..

i had to decide between a toshiba portege and a dell today when buying a new laptop for someone at work and decided on the toshiba, mainly based on the great deal, but if it had been close i would not have picked the dell...

dragonx

49 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

Reply # 1098881 30-Jul-2014 22:14

in a weird turn of events Dell has confirmed that they are replacing the laptop with a new XPS 15... .. which greatly sates my angst, esp given i would have taken a refurb unit (just not the same model) and told them that a while ago...

cant really say im displeased to be honest.... but seems an overly expensive way to operate ?