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I personally have no recourse with Dell but I couldnt resist adding a note I read from a computer tech on another site.He basically rang to tell them the CD-Rom had failed and if they posted one out he would replace it himself being in the trade and all.The level one tech on the end of the line kept insisting he try using the recovery CD to cure the problem :D
On the brite side, people don't exactly have to call for support every day...If you do need support, I recommend doing it via email when possible...
Its pretty nice to exchange a couple of emails on a Monday morning and have someone show and replace a lappy mobo before lunch the next day...Then theres the pleasant surprised when a replacement hard drive comes preloaded just like from the factory and it only takes three minutes to get backup and running.
I would venture to guess that the majority of support issue for the big pc makers are similar to the type of issues sites like VirtualDr gets -> User Errors:)
I agree. The problem often lies between the front of the monitor and the back of the chair. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve R Jones
What type of errors are you calling user errors? I don't think that most errors fall into this category. So many of Microsoft's error messages do not provide factual information as to the type of problem or its possible cause. Their website is also not very helpful for a user trying to figure out what is really going on.
But this is also how Dell built the company by providing both top quality hardware and tech support. Home users and small business customers have chosen Dell because of its past reputation for high quality tech support and the reliability of its hardware. However, if Dell does not provide the quality tech support, then Dell's customer base is going to shrink.
If a user gets a BSOD and goes to the event log. The event log says that the error is occurring with the network adapter. You call Dell and Dell says to run the short version of their diagnostics. The user runs both the short version and the long version and everything comes up clean.
If Dell were really hiring or outsourcing to very knowledgeable tech support people, then the correct answer to the user would be to check all of the software, which has been installed prior to the start of the BSOD problem. It seems to be fairly common knowledge among tech support experts that most (95%) of BSODs are caused by software applications.
The problem here is not user error but the quality of the tech support being provided.
Based on the scripts that are used by the Indian outsourced tech support, if you have a problem that does not generate an error via the NIC or other diagnostics, then Dell tells the customer that their OS must be corrupted and they need to re-install. Never mind, that they don't have any supporting evidence to indicate that this is the problem.
If I spend $500 extra per computer for premium "next business day" support, then I expect to get "next business day support". When you are purchasing the computer, Dell does not provide any information as to how they have redefined what "next business day" support means.
So it is no wonder that customers get outraged, when their warranty support is non-existent.
Is it an user error in Outlook Express, when there is a popup message that says that you are running out of hard drive space or memory. If the user says but I have 32 GB of free hard disk space and 1 GB RAM, so they ignore the message. The problem here is a less than helpful popup message.
VDR is such a good tech support forum because we have lots of experts here, who can quickly spot the problem, which is frequently outside the box from the user's point of view.
In the 90's, Dell used to provide a very high-quality tech support, which was based in Round Rock, Texas. But if Dell is hiring warm bodies to read from a script and with no reall technical knowledge, then Dell is being very deceptive in advertising that they provide technical support.
For the last 4 years, Dell has posted unbelievable gains in their net profits, which were always in the range of 25 - 30% increase over the same quarter the previous year. IMO, Dell was able to post these absurdly high increases in their profits by cheating their customers.
Now, they are feeling the heat in the marketplace because their customers have gotten wise to Dell's games and have sworn off ever buying another Dell computer. No one likes to be cheated, so these irate customers have blogged about their problems with Dell and Dell still doesn't have a clue.
Cheers,
Linda
"To check all of the software which has been stalled......."Quote:
Originally Posted by LindaHewitt
That's an example of a user error per se. The pc hardware and or pc maker software didn't cause the problem. Some other software from God knows where did...In theory, the user should call "that" company, don't ya think :confused:
A BSOD error is not a user error.
A BSOD is generated by the operating system. A BSOD can be caused by malfuncting hardware, dlls, operating system or application software. When an error is generated by the operating system, then I think part of the function of tech support is to point the user in the right direction. For instance, if the problem started on May 1, then tech support should advise the user to look at all of the software that they installed 60 days prior to the first occurrence of the problem.
I would advise the user to do a Google search on each of these programs with the format, "program name version no problem" and see if there are any reported BSOD problems.
However, if nothing shows up here, then I would advise that all freeware programs be uninstalled, if they were installed in the 60 days window, prior to the first occurrence of the problem. Then see if the problem continues.
When a user buys a computer the vendor also covers the OS as part of the warranty.
Linda
I understand what BSOD are. The point was, if the user had NOT installed the application that started the problem, they wouldn't need support. Course that isn't real world.
I'd be more inclined to say that the OS "reports" the error message and isn't caused by it..
The OS reports the error message but causes the BSOD to occur.
Using your logic, why would anyone ever buy a computer from a vendor with this level of support. This is especially true, if you are talking about home users. How is a home user supposed to know whether the hardware on their computer is malfunctioning, it is a dll issue or the operating system? All of those items are definitely covered by the vendor's warranty's program. It only makes sense to me that if the hardware passes all of the diagnostic tests, then the tech support should advise the user where to look next.
If a home user needs to hire tech support company every time that they encounter a problem that they cannot solve, then Dell is going to lose a lot more customers. After all, users can build their own systems and save at least $1,000 - $1,500 on a top of the line system. If they don't feel up to building their own, then they can get a family member or friend, who is an expert to build it for them.
Linda
If it keeps going on the track it's on now,,Dell will be down the crapper shortly anyhow(and good riddance imo :rolleyes: )
http://www.computergripes.com/Dell.html
So the user should no install any new software Yhat makes sense that way we could all use a 30 day trial of everthing that Dell loads on their machines. What happens after the 30 days are up just buy a new computer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve R Jones
Ridgerunr,
I agree with you. I don't think Dell has any real intention of changing how they are doing things. If they had any real intention of making major improvements, then they wouldn't put a PR - Marketing person in charge of their new blog. Their new $100 million customer service upgrade is all smoke and mirrors. They may make a few changes around the edges but they aren't really going to make the changes that need to be made that would result in substantial improvement.
It would upset the bonus system that the top executives are receiving. To make substantive changes, they have to change their business model and their business practices, many of which are very deceptive and misleading.
Yep, this is a company that is going down the drain.
Linda
Let me start off by making it known, I am no computer wizard. I am an office manager of a small business, 4 employees about to buy 2 computers for our office. I had a computer "expert" come in to recommend a computer for our office, nothing fancy, they just need to interact with one another with a small client scheduler for appts and be able to be hooked up to the fax and printer.
I thought I was all set to purchase these computers and then I saw this posting about Dell. You see, the computer guy we had come to the office to recommend equipment to us recommended the Dell Optiplex or Dimension Series Desktop... Im a little hesitant now knowing all of this that Ive read on this site. I do not want to buy a bunch of crap that needs repairing all of the time...
Based on our need, he recommended we get one of these Dell computers with
2.8 Mhz P4 Processor
1Gb 533 Mhz Ram
80Gb HD
Windows XP Professional
DVD-RW
Floppy Drive
and a HP Office Jet 7210 xi w/ethernet port for our printer...
Does anybody know of a good alternative besides going with Dell? We have a client scheduler program on the system and other than that, we need to be able to use the internet and need to be able to type a few documents here and there.
Any Help would be highly appreciated!
Hi pamela1b, welcome to Virtual Dr :)
We should be clear about one thing, the vast majority of Dell PCs are going to work perfectly well throughout their lives without breaking down or requiring service. It would be wrong to say that they are a load of crap hardware-wise, they are as well made as any of the big name brands. The real cause of complaint seems to be the customer service that you'll get if things do go wrong, and on that only you can decide if you want to take the chance.
My biggest complaint about Dell PCs is that the power supplies that they fit are the absolute barest minimum rating that they can get away with, and that they come with vast amounts of junk software pre-installed.
Other brands that you could look at are HP-Compaq, and Fujitsu-Siemens, both are popular in corporate or office settings.
FWIW, our company has roughly 30-40 Dells. About a year ago the oldest one, (a 3-4 year old Dell Dimension 1.4GHz w/512MB ECC RAM running Windows XP Pro), was the last one to have a hardware problem. Dell was there the next day to install a new hard drive. (Had a full backup, which is done every weekend).
Another one, maybe 1.5-2 years old, had the CD-RW drive up and quit. Once again, Dell was there the next day to swap out the drive.
Now that I think about it, there was another one ... maybe 5 years ago? It was found dead on a Friday morning. No beep, no noise, no nothing. Dell was there Monday and replaced the power supply and motherboard.
(Fairly easy repairs too. Most everything is simply snapped/clipped together).
Pamela,
I think that if you purchase one of Dell's high-end workstations, such as the Optiplex, you are less likely to have hardware problems. I have a Optiplex GX400, which I purchased in 2002 and I have not had a problem with the hardware. The benefit of getting the Optiplex is that it comes with 2 hard drives, so you can do better planning for disaster recovery.
Here are some questions that you might find helpful in deciding on Dell or continuing with your current consultant. Has your consultant talked to you about any of the following topics? These questions may or may not be pertinent to you in terms of how your business operates. But at the very least, you need to be able to evaluate whether this is a pertinent issue or not.
1. backup solutions -- per workstation and/or server
2. the need for a XP Pro OS CD instead of a restore CD
3. Security issues -- Do your employees send or receive email messages?
4. Alternatives to Dell
5. Hardware - OS Configuration
6. Server alternatives such as Microsoft Small Business Server 2003
1. Backup Solutions:
If you were to lose a hard drive on one of your workstations, what would be your losses in terms of time, data, hiring consultants, etc.? Does your company have a backup strategy for your office and for each workstation?
2. Microsoft no longer requires OEMs to provide their customer with a CD copy of the operating system. If you or one of your employees has problems, where you need to reinstall XP Pro, you will not be able to do so with just a restoral CD. There is another thread here on VDR about this issue, see
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...hlight=restore
Dell send all of their computers with a bunch of junkware apps, which are really crippled trialware. I would recommend that you have the consultant re-install XP Pro, so that when the computer is delivered, it only contains the software that you want to have on the computer.
3. Security Information:
There are lots of security issues, which the VDR conference below identifies the issues and recommended practices. Are all of your computers set up to automatically download the Windows updated at a scheduled time like 2 AM? If not, have you gone to the current computers to see if your employees have been downloading the updates on a regular basis?
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/forumdisplay.php?f=72
4. Alternatives to Dell:
In my business environment, I have some high-quality local OEMs that I can call on to build computers for my clients. Typically, the cost is also lower. However, this may not be a viable option for you, if you do not have a long-term working relationship with your consultant. If that is the situation, then I would probably go with Dell or another hardware vendor.
5. Hardware - OS Configuration:
If you purchase a computer with two hard drives, then the C: hard drive (first hard drive) can contain the OS and backup copies of your 2nd hard drive. The 2nd hard drive can contain a partition for data and another for programs. The 2nd hard drive can also contain backups for the OS.
IMO, Acronis True Image is an excellent backup software solution. http://www.acronis.com/.
6. Small Business Server 2003:
Either now or sometime in the future, you may want to evaluate this as a viable option. The server would provide a backup for all of your documents.
Virtual DR (VDR) is the top tech support forum IMO. It also has excellent search capabilities. If you want to do a search, go to starts with "User CP" without the quotes of quotes of course. Then go down the tool bar until you get to the search menu item. Click on Search, then select advanced search.
Please post back and let us know what you decide to do?
Cheers,
Linda