I work in customer services - doing UNIX (AIX actually) support.... but I am a PC user...
Recently, I've had three PCs either die or become sick....
The first, was my Dell VOSTRO laptop - which is less than a year old, and under warranty... it wouldn't power up at all using the power brick.... and wouldn't charge the battery... Some self diagnosis suggested that it was likely the motherboard... so I contacted Dell via their on-line chat support (on another machine - as the laptop wouldn't boot).
They asked a few questions, which I was able to answer, and within 20 minutes an engineer was booked - and he would be with me the next business day, with a replacement motherboard, as well as a power brick "just in case".
He phoned to confirm when he would be arriving, turned up when he had predicted he would.... we re-checked everything, and he saw that it was the motherboard.... replaced it... we then booted the machine and everything seemed OK, so he left.
Later on, I was using the laptop as normal, and noticed that if put under heavy load that the fan would speed up.... just before the machine shutdown.... I could force this within about 5 minutes... so I called again.
By this time it was late afternoon, so the engineer came out "next day"... saw the problem, and whilst dismantling the machine determined that the heat sync wasn't quite seated correctly.
Since then (touch wood), the machine has worked fine....
Whilst it took two visits, which wasn't perfect, everyone at Dell was polite and listened to what I had to say - so I'd classify myself as happy.
The second problem was another DELL machine, this time a DIMENSION desktop which was out of warranty. I had performed all the tests, which suggested it was either a motherboard or a power supply.
Discussing this with the support line suggested that the power supply often fixed this sort of problem... but no guarantees... and I had to pay for the part.... However, if it turned out to be the motherboard, it would likely be easier and cheaper to replace the machine.
The power supply arrived the next day, I fitted it that evening, and everything is good. Dell customer support contacted me at least three times... to check that the part had arrived, and that the fix worked....
A very good experience.... the only downside being having to pay for the replacement... but that's the rules when it is out of warranty.
So, Dell customer support gets a big thumbs up from me... Anyone else had dealings with Dell?
The third machine is an NEC machine.... I'll describe my experiences with them in another thread...
Malcolm
Recently, I've had three PCs either die or become sick....
The first, was my Dell VOSTRO laptop - which is less than a year old, and under warranty... it wouldn't power up at all using the power brick.... and wouldn't charge the battery... Some self diagnosis suggested that it was likely the motherboard... so I contacted Dell via their on-line chat support (on another machine - as the laptop wouldn't boot).
They asked a few questions, which I was able to answer, and within 20 minutes an engineer was booked - and he would be with me the next business day, with a replacement motherboard, as well as a power brick "just in case".
He phoned to confirm when he would be arriving, turned up when he had predicted he would.... we re-checked everything, and he saw that it was the motherboard.... replaced it... we then booted the machine and everything seemed OK, so he left.
Later on, I was using the laptop as normal, and noticed that if put under heavy load that the fan would speed up.... just before the machine shutdown.... I could force this within about 5 minutes... so I called again.
By this time it was late afternoon, so the engineer came out "next day"... saw the problem, and whilst dismantling the machine determined that the heat sync wasn't quite seated correctly.
Since then (touch wood), the machine has worked fine....
Whilst it took two visits, which wasn't perfect, everyone at Dell was polite and listened to what I had to say - so I'd classify myself as happy.
The second problem was another DELL machine, this time a DIMENSION desktop which was out of warranty. I had performed all the tests, which suggested it was either a motherboard or a power supply.
Discussing this with the support line suggested that the power supply often fixed this sort of problem... but no guarantees... and I had to pay for the part.... However, if it turned out to be the motherboard, it would likely be easier and cheaper to replace the machine.
The power supply arrived the next day, I fitted it that evening, and everything is good. Dell customer support contacted me at least three times... to check that the part had arrived, and that the fix worked....
A very good experience.... the only downside being having to pay for the replacement... but that's the rules when it is out of warranty.
So, Dell customer support gets a big thumbs up from me... Anyone else had dealings with Dell?
The third machine is an NEC machine.... I'll describe my experiences with them in another thread...
Malcolm
