September 17, 2010
This is a saga but I am going to try for the short version. At the 2 ½ year mark my Dell laptop XPS 1530 died suddenly. I mean you got no error message and it would not boot up. Well, after a two hour phone conversation with Anne, a helpful technician at Dell, it was determined that my motherboard and hard drive would be replaced. Luckily I had purchased the 3 year hardware warranty with in home service.
In a timely fashion Luis, Dell technician extraordinaire, arrived at my house with the replacement parts and completed the installation. I can not complement his expertise and professionalism enough. He even left the hard drive with me so that I could get a copy of it made within 10 days before mailing it (the old hard drive) back to Dell. After Luis’s work was completed it took about one hour for the files to expand and the computer to be ready for use. Except for one little, tiny detail I could not connect to the internet. Now I ask you of what use is a computer which does not connect to the internet.
Next thing I did was call Verizon, my DSL provider, and explain my problem. After resetting the modem and router and with my Dell desktop having no internet connection issue it was determined by the Verizon tech that a software problem existed with Cisco, the maker of the router and that for a fee Verizon would resolve it – thanks but no thanks. My next step was to call Dell and see if they could facilitate my ability to connect to the internet, This is where the tale gets rather ugly.
The first tech I spoke to, Reese, informed me that it was a software issue and that again for a fee that could resolve it. I asked to speak to a supervisor as it was my belief that since they had repaired my computer at the very least, they should turn it over to me in the same working condition I had previously enjoyed – namely a viable internet connection. Reese dragged his feet and remained on the line hoping I would agree to the fee for resolving my problem or simply go away. I asked again to speak to a supervisor and Reese responds with he’s making his way down here.
Then Peter, floor supervisor from Hell, gets on the line. He was a broken record if there ever was one. At least six times he stated his mantra – this is a software issue and your warranty only covers hardware problems. He was condescending in the manner in which he kept repeating himself as though I didn’t 'understand' what he was saying the first time. It gets better since I have a Dell desktop and printer he offered me a one year contract for $239 to resolve this and any future software issues on all three Dell products. I repeated my concern that my computer should be working, including an internet capability, after their tech had worked on it. After some back and forth now Peter tells me that he has the authority as a manager to give me a deal of $99 for the same service contract which was $239 mere minutes ago. Talk about a snake-oil salesman. This went a long way toward my losing much respect for the Dell brand. When I declined his 'deal' he informed me that if I didn’t take it and called back later it would not be available. Now we are getting into the area of a threat. I would not be intimidated and ended the call hearing the usual words “thank you for choosing Dell”. Thank you for nothing!
I decided again to troubleshoot the problem myself. It was very important for me to be able to resolve this internet connection issue as I wanted to reinstall my security program from Trend Micro at their website. After about another hour and much frustration I unchecked a box, located in the connections area of my computer. It was for Trend Micro driver and that program was not even on the new hard drive. Well low and behold my connection went from limited to full internet connection – hurrah!!! A simple unchecked box and not $239 solved my problem.
I called Trend Micro for assistance in downloading the security program. The first tech said that after I download the program it would run. Well it didn’t and the message was that it was 'on the computer'already – not this new hard drive. After the second tech had me delete certain files it still would not run the security program. James said he would send me a tool in an e mail to uninstall any previous Trend Micro files and then the new program should run. Well, thank you James as that was the solution. So, now I have internet access and a security program on my computer.
So, the better part of three days was spend getting my computer 'humming again'. I won’t get into the hours spent reinstalling Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop Premiere and Elements, Adobe Reader etc. etc. There you have it. Working computers are a thing of beauty. The other kind not so much…
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