Dell Vostro incident

Trust me, I love dell, just I like Air Asia - because it is cheap and friendly. I have dell as my laptop, dell as my sister laptop, dell as my pc, and dell for my sis pc. Basically like a dell house.

Until recently, my sis's dell pc exploded on me.

The story went back to few weeks ago, her couldnt turn on the pc and at her usual, she asked me to fix it. So I called up dell, give them the service tag id, and they identified me, and the model im using - Vostro 200, and quote me the Power Supply Unit (PSU in short) direct with DELL. Efficient I must said.

Most impressing, the part delivered in shorter amount of time I could expect. Happily remove the cover the first thing I got home, and assemble/replace the faulty part, plug in and BAM! Sparks (Or fire?? I couldnt remember as it is so bright!) flare out from the PSU where the cable is connected. I shouted and backed off, and my mom screamed (as the explosion was so loud) but wisely reminded me to turn on the switch. We lucky that nobody got injured, and nothing aside was burned.

But the story didnt ends here. It is disappointing when I call Dell to lodge the complain and request for judgement. First time, the Malay lady answered and collected some info like, did I switch to other voltage and is anyone there to witness the situation. Craps - the PSU they shipped has no switch, clearly their product info is limited. Secondly about the second question, well, the first impression I have is they want to know if I am telling lies. And the question was asked after she putted me on hold and checked with her management.

After the basic info check, she politely responded that Dell will do the refund for PSU, and reverted me with a reference number, and informed that she will send me an email as record while checking with her management to perform the investigation. As a consumer, I think this arrangement is satisfactory.

Somehow on the second day, the same Malay lady called back. This time, she is prepared, as if someone is listening and guiding from beside. She politely asked the same questions again, and request my confirmation. Again, as if she would want to record down my response. Then, she informed that Dell will send an engineer over and replace the part. Of course, as a human, being asked the same question twice, with the same person, I feel uneasy and so question her back. Where is the email she promised to send? Most importantly, where is the refund? That moment, I lost trust to Dell, and not confidence to their product. So I told the lady, I will not use the set anymore even though they repair it. I want them to compensate my lost. In view with my decision, the Malay lady request to collect the pc instead of fixing it, for investigation purpose. Of course I refuse, cause that I will loose all the evidence with no defense point.

Day 3. As the previous conversation is not a happy ending, Dell sent another agent to handle my case (I guess..). This round it's a Chinese lady. Same story, they insist to have engineer onsite to collect the machine for investigation. I told them they can investigate, but no collect. I was already very disappointed with their action, a glimpse of mind came through - why they kept trying to collect the part back?

Arranged in 3 days later after the call, the engineer finally came to my house with a brand new PSU unit and a motherboard. My face turned red, or even black. I asked the engineer, what are you going to do on the pc? He told me Dell instructed him to fix and replace the faulty part. OMG what is going on here? Am I not clear enough over the phone (or they are too persistent trying to cover this up so I could keep quiet?) I decided to call Dell, and the engineer is kind enough and helped me to do so, using my house phone. After a few briefing session, the engineer passed the phone to me and I talk to this lady, very well trained in handling difficult customer, and good in manners too. She helped me to follow up the case, and coordinated with the engineer to verify the part number, model, brand. Then told me that she will get the previous agent - Malay lady to process my request on compensation.

The engineer left without doing any real work, pity him wasted time for a visit and story temporary ends here. But from the above, I captured few points. Dell is not stupid, why on earth they keep requesting the replacement when I keep telling them I don't want to, and I wont use it anymore even they fix it - as I am not sure when it will blow up on me again. Secondly, why the Malay lady promised to refund and email me the case, but end up turning the promise, and acted as if she is under control?

Anyhow, as for my conclusion, I will not buy Dell anymore. For I who are damn afraid with their great quality product and professional service!