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I have to say I am VERY disappointed with Dell Pro Support. I bought a laptop last year and paid extra for on site next business day service. Earlier this week the screen would flicker when I moved it so I called for support. They told me they would be there the next day. Late that afternoon I received a recorded message that they would NOT be there the next day but the day after. Arguing with a machine is useless so I waited another day and the tech finally shows up during lunch so I stop eating and take him to my office. He takes the laptop apart to replace a cable that feeds data to the screen via the hinge area. Then while reassembling it he breaks the LCD. Out of my laptop another night. Haven’t seen nor heard anything today and I NEED my laptop to work on some projects this weekend. This will most likely be my last dell PC / Laptop and very well may be the end of my buying Dell servers.

8 Spice ups
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Been there and moved on from dell went to Lenovo I have yet to have any problem with them and there tech.

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All brands are the same. They get guys who don’t know what they’re doing to be the “onsite technicians”, and never have any “spare” parts.

2 Spice ups
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Not endorsing the support you just received ,or didn’t receive, but all brands are similar when it comes to on-site service. Over the years I have used products from IBM, HP, Dell, Compaq and so on all use a third party support system. All will give next day response and all have exceptions to this that include parts availability. Check the fine print to see Dell’s exceptions list. The product/vendor used is a balance of hardware choice, support and personal experiences.

As an IT Admin I have learned to keep backups of my data and projects as well as a spare computer because it is not just our users that have computer failures.

5 Spice ups
5

I’ve worked for many years with Dell Pro NBD support and within the last couple of years have also worked with Lenovo’s Pro NBD support. Most of the time, with either brand, the NBD service was prompt and accurate, usually getting us back up within 24-28 hours. But there have been times where the tech (who is not a Dell employee, but a 3rd party Dell certified technician) was perhaps a little hasty in assembly/disassembly and breaks another part in the process. They’ve always taken care of it, though. Sure, your case seems a bit more severe OP, as now with a broken screen you really can’t do much. But my bet is that this may be a case of the exception, not the rule.

Anyway, hope you get back in working order soon. I know it sucks being in your shoes.

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You had a bad experience, yes, but that does not mean this won’t happen with another vendor. I have used Dell support for years and never had an issue, especially with Enterprise support. It is hardly a rational decision to stop buying Dell servers after a bad experience with a laptop repair. Yes, it is inconvenient, and I am sure it does not make you very happy, but if you sill have the laptop, just hook it up to an external monitor and do your work or keep an old laptop around as an emergency spare. What if your laptop’s drive died over the weekend while you are doing your projects?

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tagging @justin-dell to help with this.

3 Spice ups
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Ales I have no idea how you came by the knowledge that I am rational I concede your points but I have a lot of places to go this weekend and don’t really want to drag a monitor around with me to each place. And I do have a spare laptop set up for users but it doesn’t have most of the tools I need. Still it will be better than nothing. That being said my rant still stands. If a spare laptop or monitor is the perfect answer then I should save my money and not do the warranty. Honestly it’s not the downed equipment that I’m upset with as much as the lack of response from Dell. Zero communication. They won’t respond to my emails, won’t return my calls. Just the sounds of crickets. I never have issues like this with Pro Support Plus but Dell doesn’t offer the plus on workstations and laptops.

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Believe me, I get it. It is a giant pain in the ass when you have things to get done. Fully respect the frustration and the need for the rant (I have had a few of those about other vendors), just bringing up the point that the grass is not always greener on the other side that’s all. Vendors will always be hit and miss. I am sure there are a couple of Dell reps in this community that will set things right for you or at least help in whatever way they can. When Dell’s lack of support becomes a trend (which so far I have not personally seen to be the case), then you should probably dump them. Good luck.

1 Spice up
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@David Wiese,

Thank you for tagging me.

@Garnock12,

Sent you a private message. Let’s see what we can do here.

5 Spice ups
11

That has to be frustrating. It may be time to read through all the fine print in your agreement to see if you are getting what you paid for and discuss your findings with your representative. Perhaps you can get an understanding of their next steps for when a quoted deadline is missed to see how serious this is considered on the other side. Not that I would go looking for heads to roll but if these events directly caused you lost revenue then that detail needs to be brought up. If it was just a one time fluke that Dell can explain why in detail, perhaps forgiveness is the easiest thing at this point. I do hope for you it doesn’t come down to the “best effort within reason” spiel because I’ve seen that pulled on good customers way too often.

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Well, as a counter-point, I just had a new laptop with a a keyboard issue, the Dell techs were prompt and followed up with me if i didn’t reply to their voicemails. It took 2 trips, first to replace the motherboard, which didn’t fix the issue and the second to replace the palm rest, the first tech came with an extra keyboard and the motherboard, but the root issue was the palm rest, so it took an extra business day to resolve.

The tech’s supervisor followed up with me to make sure the issue was solved and I was satisfied.

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I’ve been working with Dell for Laptops, Desktops and Servers for better part of 20 years. I’ve only had one major issue with them and that was several years ago. My PowerEdge T410 server on-board NICs went bad. Took 3 three motherboards just over 12 hours to get fixed. Luckily, I had 4Hr response time or it could have been 3 days.

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we never pusrhase the on-site, save the money install your own parts. having said that, we are considering lenovo.

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I’ve been a Dell customer for a long time - in the late 80’s I was even a Dell reseller.

I’ve seen customer service vary over the years, but the on site service has always been very, very good. I have had a couple of times when the issue was not one the Tech had the right parts for. But they’ve never broken anything - although with the design of these laptops, I can see how it could happen if you are unlucky.

It sounds like the issue here is one of communication. If it had been me, I’d have been on the phone promptly the morning after they missed the first appointment. And again, I’d have been on the phone nano-seconds after the tech who broke the screen left. I’d have demanded to talk to someone empowered to help. I’d then follow it up daily till things are resolved.

Just remember, this sounds like a combination of some poor communication and very bad luck.

2 Spice ups
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We used Dell Pro Support at the university I used to work for.

The issue with timing may not be Dell, but the company they have contracted with to do the support work in your area.

It is not always a Dell employee that will do the work. They had contracted with another firm in our area to do the work for them. They were all Dell certified, but not Dell employees.

The issue we had several times was them being over booked and rushed. I had a next day take over a week because the tech kept being over booked. Since i am tech savvy and not scared of a screw driver, I would quite often just diagnose, call them and go this is happening. I have tried this, this, that, and the other thing to fix it, to no avail. I think it is this.

90% of the time, they would just ship me the part and I would have the system up the next day. Yes, that did include motherboards.

Dell’s consumer support line, however, is a completely different story. UGH!

2 Spice ups