This is the last straw for me with Dell. With my less than 3 year old Dimension C521 system I've had to replace a graphics card, had memory card problems and most recently have had the monitor fail on me.
The system is not top of the line but pretty good. It's a compact system which only fits a 1/2 height graphics card that's not easy to find so I'm stuck with Dell for a replacement. The card was replaced by me after the meager 1 year warranty was up. I expected the system to last atleast 3-5 years without a problem which is why I didn't want to pay extra for their extended warranty.
Recently my 17" Dell Ultrasharp monitor (1707 FP) started to flicker. Within two days from the start of flickering it failed. The monitor shuts itself off and any attempt at turning it back on gets me a dark image for a few seconds, a frying noise inside the monitor and the monitor shutting itself off.
At first I suspected my graphics card but after plugging in a different monitor and finding no problem I'm sure it's my monitor. I currently have an old CRT monitor plugged in and am having no graphics/monitor problems.
After doing a short google search I found that the 17" Dell Ultrasharps have been reported to have a pretty high failure rate. The problem seems to be poor soldering and poor quality capacitors. It seems common enough that I'd think Dell is aware of the problem.
Not wanting to take the monitor apart myself and try to fix it without trying to see if Dell would help me out I called their toll free technical support line. Since I'm pretty sure the monitor problem was either poor quality parts and/or assembly I was hoping for some support beyond their stock one year disclaimer. Basing their stock support for a whole system on just a one year warranty is not reasonable to me as it is. During my on line search I found it's common for a second party seller to offer a 3 year parts and labour warranty. I was hoping Dell had something similar or would atleast agree to back their product in keeping with other retailers.
No such luck.
I explained my monitor problem and the person I was speaking to agreed that the monitor must be at fault. Of course they were also aware my system was no longer under warranty and, as a warranty sevice tech. Support person, couldn't do more for me than give me a case# and transfer me to the out of warranty dept.
After a brief wait to be transferred I was able to speak to an out of warranty technical support representative.
Since it was clear that I had diagnosed the problem for myself they didn't try to sell me on their diagnostic service. I explained that my monitor failed much sooner than what I felt was reasonable and, seeing other retailers offer a 3 year warranty on the same monitor, maybe Dell could help me out by either replacing the monitor outright or covering the cost of parts and service to have it fixed.
For over 10 minutes I was subjected to a repeating litany of 'your system is out of warranty, I can't help you beyond ordering a new monitor for you'. Basically, all I got was a sales pitch. When I said I'm not willing to spend full retail price for the equivalent replacement monitor I was given the option to purchase a less expensive down grade at full retail price. When I reiterated that I wasn't interested in buying a full priced replacement monitor, I was interested in having my poor quality monitor fixed or replaced the person told me they couldn't help me with that. After asking to be transferred to someone who might be able to help me I was put on hold for a brief period and the same phone person came back to tell me yet again that my system was out of warranty, maybe I might be interested in this priced monitor.
Continuing to point out that a monitor failing in less than 3 years is not reasonable to me and could Dell do something to help me replace or fix it at less than full retail had no affect. Vowing to never buy from Dell again because of their poor quality product, service and warranty had no affect. I was left with no other option but to buy a replacement monitor.
Because it was quite clear that I couldn't get beyond this operator to voice my concerns and grievance I am left with a failed monitor and no remedy other than to fix it myself. I am pretty sure the person I was speaking to wasn't even in North America. I have checked Dell's site to find if there is any way to contact a service manager and have my issue heard or resolved but no such luck. Apparantly Dell will only back its products during its limited warranty period or extended warranty period one must pay for at an additional cost.
I am left feeling unsupported and cheated by Dell. Their custom service has become untenable. Unless I pay extra they will not help me diagnose a problem outside of warranty and there is no way to get support for any of their poor quality products. To me DELL HAS TURNED INTO A BIG RIPOFF COMPANY and not only will I refuse to buy from them again but I'm going to tell as many people about how poor they are as I can. No offense to those who make an honest living at Dell but this company is earning it's loss of customer confidence and deserves to go under. It's bad enough that their product quality is poor. Not being able to find a remedy for poor product quality other than to buy new from them or pay for service and support outside of a very limited warranty is bordering crimminal, I think. The North American auto manufacturers are failing because of a similar attitude and practice.
Mrgnomer
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
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