An hour with Dell...

[NickT]

So my lovely Alienware m17x came in after I came back from San Fran. I was all "" and immediately went to installing my games.

The first "D:" I had came when I installed Civ IV: Beyond the Sword. Everything was going smoothly until I tried running it a second time (the first time I set the intro to the original. That song is badass). The driver started clicking like crazy and it took maybe 10 minutes for me to get the CD out. I nervously put in Oblivion, and it worked like a charm.

That is...until I tried it again after taking out the CD (keep in mind I have a carrying case for my CDs. I don't just leave them lying around). It wouldn't read. I tried putting in Bioshock (which had previously run smoothly). Same result.

So I go to Dell's website as I can tell my beautiful optical drive was about to go kaput. Since they don't have a live support chat system for Alienware products (since they're so awesome) I had no choice but to call their Alienware-specific number.

Automated voice: "Talk to FUN people! Call (number) *click*"
Me: o_o; wut

After that...interesting...experience, I decided to go ahead and call Dell's normal support number. This time I got a living...not so suggestive being. FIVE TRANSFERS LATER, I FINALLY got to someone who actually knew how to deal with Alienware issues. Interestingly enough, we found out it could run DVDs just fine. Game CDs though? THE DEVIL'S INVENTION. Unfortunately, even after a bunch of tinkering, he threw in the towel and told me a replacement driver was on its way as mine was pretty much beyond repair. D: We said our thanks and goodbyes and ended the call at one hour, ten minutes.

I know I should be annoyed or even pissed...but I still can't help but rofl at all that's happened. I told the Dell people about the first number I called and their reactions were basically the same, "...Fun.......people?...........o_O;"

Anyone else have oh-so-fun technical support experiences to share?

[george678]

Yeah I have spent hours on the phone to Dell and to be honest there so funny, mainly because they lie and then you prove them wrong and they just go "oh" and it's like yeah!


Well usually you wait an hour and ten minutes, before you can speak to somebody!

[Swamp56]

I bought a brand new HP laptop about 1.5 months ago. I had customized it and ordered it from HP directly. Upon setting up Windows, I went to take a look at my Windows performance score (in Control Panel > System) and realized it was strangely low for the graphics section. I had originally customized it with a Radeon 5470, which is a mid-range model.

I went into the DirectX Diagnostic Tool to check out the video card and realized they had sent me the wrong laptop. Instead of a Radeon 5470, there was an Intel HD integrated video card >: ( . For anyone who doesn't know about video cards, the Radeon 5470 is like a new Toyota whereas the Intel HD is like a 1985 Pontiac.

I immediately contacted HP and was transferred to a customer service representative. Not only could they not speak English well, but the sound quality of their phone was horrible. I could not understand half of what she was saying. She actually asked me if I wanted to keep the laptop they sent me (which is cheaper than the one I ordered). So instead of spending the effort to try and send it back to HP and wait another 3 weeks for a new one to ship, I just refunded it.

Oh, and the representative put me on hold for about 15-20 minutes in total while trying to "process" my return.

[george678]

Oh, and the representative put me on hold for about 15-20 minutes in total while trying to "process" my return.

lol In order words they'll try get bored do something else , realise somebody's on the phone and try again.

Dell's original name was not dell but hell for the way they treat their customers now you see

[Gambit]

I bought a Dell XPS a couple of months ago. Two weeks later the motherboard burnt. I called Dell support center. I had the same experience as you, my call was transferred to 5 different departments before reaching the XPS deparment. I wasted a hour of my time on that. They told me they will send a tech to replace my motherboard in 2 to 4 days. I had to wait a month before getting my motherboard replaced! I called them many times, they will always connect me to thr wrong deparment. It was frustrating. A couple of weeks ago my laptop speakes burnt. I called Dell's support. Again I had to wait 1 hour until i got connected to the right deparment. Now i have to send my laptop to Dells support center in Houston to get it fixed. I hope they wont take a month to fix it.

Dont get a Dell computer or laptop! They suck!

[Revan]

When will people realize: DELL SUCKS...

[Kenko]

Originally Posted by Swamp56

I bought a brand new HP laptop about 1.5 months ago. I had customized it and ordered it from HP directly. Upon setting up Windows, I went to take a look at my Windows performance score (in Control Panel > System) and realized it was strangely low for the graphics section. I had originally customized it with a Radeon 5470, which is a mid-range model.

I went into the DirectX Diagnostic Tool to check out the video card and realized they had sent me the wrong laptop. Instead of a Radeon 5470, there was an Intel HD integrated video card >: ( . For anyone who doesn't know about video cards, the Radeon 5470 is like a new Toyota whereas the Intel HD is like a 1985 Pontiac.

I immediately contacted HP and was transferred to a customer service representative. Not only could they not speak English well, but the sound quality of their phone was horrible. I could not understand half of what she was saying. She actually asked me if I wanted to keep the laptop they sent me (which is cheaper than the one I ordered). So instead of spending the effort to try and send it back to HP and wait another 3 weeks for a new one to ship, I just refunded it.

Oh, and the representative put me on hold for about 15-20 minutes in total while trying to "process" my return.

I've more or less started ignoring HP completely.

HP and nVidia sold defective junk that they don't want to claim responsibility for: http://hplies.com causing thousands of users to not be able to use computers they paid for.

Further, HP overloads their computers with the biggest load of junkware I have ever seen. A brand new Core i7 laptop taking over 5 minutes to boot and become usable. Unbelievable. With my HP laptop (3 year old model) the Norton trial is preinstalled (preinfected) on the machine, doubling boot time even when it isn't active!

Intel graphics is more like a tricycle (not of the motorized nature!) with missing back wheels. Intel Garbage Media Adapters also plays a huge role in the "Vista capable" debacle because they had warehouses full of non-Aero capable i910/915 cards that they wanted to foist on unsuspecting users, so they strongarmed Microsoft into allowing non-WDDM video cards to still be "Vista Capable"