Being cheated by DELL

edrenalin

Hi people,

(This is a long story so bear with me an hear me out)

I'm an postgraduate student here in the UK. I bought a DELL Studio 15 series laptop (cost 640 pounds) in 2009 in India with my hard earned savings from when I was working as a systems engineer. The Studio series of laptops was quite popular at the time. My laptop was covered under warranty for 1 year during which time I found problems like the battery life reduced from 3+ hours to hardly an hour. I made sure all those problems were fixed before my warranty ran out, I even got the battery replaced. Everything was fine for another year (the battery life died out again within less than a year but I expected that and I could live with it). But in early 2011 there appeared a slight gap in the left edge of the back cover Bezel exactly like the one shown in the picture in the following forum thread:



I didnt worry about it much at the time but I took a precautionary step and taped the edge. But within a month that gap widened a little more and suddenly one day on opening up the screen lid, the edge completely cracked and the screen started to come apart. This was just before I was due to fly to the UK for my higher studies. I was a little tight on cash at that time as I was funding my studies here with the remainder of my savings and a loan. So, I decided to try to get it fixed instead of buying a new laptop. The people at Dell told me it would cost approximately 45 pounds to replace the cover and then tried to convince me to take an extended cover (Was eligible for it since my laptop was still just under 2 years old) for approximately 90 pounds. I was pretty sure the crack in the bezel was a design defect and this surety was compounded when at the customer service center I saw one of the service agents laptop (Same model as mine) was taped at the left edge (It wasn't cracked but it looked like a precautionary measure). I voiced my concern to the service agent who was attending to me and told him I'm worried that I would encounter the same problem later after getting it fixed this time because I thought it was a manufacturing or design defect. The agent assured me it was not and advised me to always lift the lid from the center and I would not have any problem. I was not entirely convinced but I took the extended warranty deal for 90 pounds just in case and got the laptop covered for another year.

Imagine my horror, when exactly 2 weeks after my extended warranty ran out, a gap opened up in the bezel in the EXACT same place. I ran a google search and found out that there were so MANY people out there with the exact same problem and many who had the same experience of it happening more than once. There is even a facebook page for this problem :eek:

This is a quote from one of the forums "(the) Entire hinge is held together by tiny screw going into a small plastic tube. How they expected a 17" screen to not put torque on that tiny ill-conceived design I do not know."

This is most definitely a basic design fault. But Dell wont cover it because my warranty ran out again and they say that it is a cosmetic fault caused by user damage. I always suspected that this problem would come up again so I made SURE I always lifted the lid from the middle and slowly (Always, Always!)

Please advise me on how to handle this case as I cant afford to spend another 50 pounds on a 3 year old laptop which has already cost me more than 100 pounds on repairs and replacements apart from its basic cost price of 650 pounds. I cant afford to buy a new laptop either because i'm financially constrained.

Any advice would me much appreciated

Thanks!

Hintza

Nothing to be done in the UK since you bought the laptop in India. I imagine your stuffed especially since the laptop is now in the UK and not India.

You can only call them and see if they will help with a goodwill gesture.

edrenalin

@Hintza, Thank you for your response.

Yes, I am really in a spot over here as I have to submit my dissertation in 2 weeks time and I cant cant even shutdown my laptop now and close the lid(Another story, a problem rising out of the bezel crack).

I cant seem to get a response from a Dell representative on the official DELL UK forum. And all contacts i pull up through google searches seem to be third party repair agencies.

Can someone give me a toll free number/email address I can use to contact a DELL customer care representative?

Guardsman

Most support questions can be answered with Dell's online problem-diagnosis tools and information resources. Online support is available free of charge 24 hours per day to all Dell customers at http://support.euro.dell.com

http://support.euro.dell.com/support/topics/topic.aspx/emea/shared/support/root/customer_faqs?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

Looksguywalker

I'd try and source the part and do a DIY repair if you don't get anywhere with Dell. Try ebay for the part.

edrenalin

Im not sure I can fix this on my own. Plus, i don't want to risk damaging it further when i'm so close to my dissertation submission date.

But, this is basically DELL misleading me into taking an extended warranty for providing a temporary fix for a problem that was actually a design fault at their end (right?). Can i take this case to small claims court?


I'm just so angry right now. I feel guilty because I even recommended DELL products to coupla of my friends who went ahead and purchased DELL laptops.

Looksguywalker

If its' a common problem you'll likely find an online video that shows a fix. Taking it to small claims isn't going to solve your immediate problem of your dissertation. Have you tried the contacts suggested by Guardsman?

edrenalin

I already looked up a DIY fix on YouTube and its really complex as it requires taking apart the whole laptop (because of the design of the laptop). Believe me, if I was even the least confident of doing it right I would have tried to do so already. I have repaired desktops before. As I said I am not risking damaging it further because of my submission deadline.

There is nothing I can do at the moment. But if I have to shell out more money to get this repaired, I am willing to wait till Next month after I'm done with my studies and then save up a little to take the necessary steps to file a small claims suit. But can someone please confirm that I can do so in UK even if the laptop was purchased in India?

mattyprice4004

The second reply tells you the answer to the small claims question, no you can't because you bought it in India.

edrenalin

@mattyprice404

Can you link me to some website which can confirm this? From what i see on the Dell website they don't specifically say that service is only possible in the country of purchase. Also, when I took the extended warranty, the people at the Dell service centre told me I am eligible for international support (else why would i purchase a complete cover before leaving the country?)

wealdroam

edrenalin wrote: »

But, this is basically DELL misleading me into taking an extended warranty for providing a temporary fix for a problem that was actually a design fault at their end (right?). Can i take this case to small claims court?

The only people you can 'take to the small claims court' is whoever sold the thing to you.

I cannot imagine the seller in India being that interested in what a UK court might decide, can you?
For example, even if the court were to decide in your favour, how do you get the seller to pay up?

I do not believe you can force Dell to do anything.
The extended warranty ran its term without you needing to claim on it.

In other words, I fear you will have to pay to get the thing repaired.