Laptop fault - under 2 yrs - manufacture won't fix for free - help!

Mx42

What is becoming even more annoying is yet another day has passed without a promised call back - I really do not want to go through their automated line and take 15 minutes to speak with a tech support person and then be put on hold again for 20 minutes to be told nobody is available they will call back.

In one conversation the tech support person said they did not have a manager or supervisor as they worked from home, and in another call another tech support person said that their were unable to email anyone to escalate to or call anyone!

The customer service is so bad I am tempted to name them!!!

outtatune

Why waste money paying a local repair shop? Just buy a replacement card and install it yourself.

400ixl

Yep, for many devices its a couple of screws to open it up then detach an aerial and slide across a clip to remove it. Its essentially like replacing a memory module.

If you tell us the model then we can likely find the service manual to see how easy it is to do and what module would be compatible.

Mx42

I can find the service manual and have done repairs/replacements previously so comfortable doing that if need be.

macman

I don't understand your reluctance to post the make and the model? Nothing you have posted can be considered as defamatory as long as it is truthful. I'm guessing Dell?

m0bov

Suspect it's dell. You can easily swap out the mini pci wifi card inside. Replacement is pretty cheap.

Gavin83

Mx42 said:

The customer service is so bad I am tempted to name them!!!

Well go ahead. I'm also not sure why you're so reluctant to name them. As long as you've been truthful here there's nothing they can do.

Agree with a lot of what the others have said. You'll likely need a report, would probably cost about £80. If this shows the fault existed when you bought it then the retailer will refund the cost. If the report doesn't show this then you'll have to pay it and won't get it fixed for free.

Personally given the cost of the part and how easy it is to fix I'd just buy a new card and do it myself. It's way less hassle and potentially less cost to do this, especially if you're comfortable doing so. Probably not the way it should be but sometimes you need to pick your battles.

Mx42

Perhaps I should have mentioned in the first post that the wi of card stopped working after the laptop updated to Windows 11 - the system message said it was supported and the upgrade was recommended by the manufacturers support software on the laptop.

I received an email saying they had tried to contact me - I was in a meeting so couldn't take the call - and so I phoned back using the details supplied in the email.  The caller was tech support and confused me quite a bit, especially saying that information I was quoting directly from their web site was wrong.  Insisted they could not put me through to their manager.  Then went on hold for a few minutes and gave me more info that was different from the initial info.  And then said that a manager would call me.

Of course I could be completely wrong about this and that I am liable to pay for the repair.

However the customer service is awful.  A call from a manager who can discuss things without using a script would have probably resolved this and made me a happy customer rather than an unhappy one.

Mx42

And just a note to say thank you to all you wonderful people who have taken the time to read my posts and comment.  I appreciate it and had basically decided to accept my fate pay the repair and move on with my life, however the awful customer service has made me what a double check as part of me is back to thinking that SAD FART applies and the company should repair for free.

born_again

Mx42 said:

Perhaps I should have mentioned in the first post that the wi of card stopped working after the laptop updated to Windows 11 - the system message said it was supported and the upgrade was recommended by the manufacturers support software on the laptop.

I received an email saying they had tried to contact me - I was in a meeting so couldn't take the call - and so I phoned back using the details supplied in the email.  The caller was tech support and confused me quite a bit, especially saying that information I was quoting directly from their web site was wrong.  Insisted they could not put me through to their manager.  Then went on hold for a few minutes and gave me more info that was different from the initial info.  And then said that a manager would call me.

Of course I could be completely wrong about this and that I am liable to pay for the repair.

However the customer service is awful.  A call from a manager who can discuss things without using a script would have probably resolved this and made me a happy customer rather than an unhappy one.

https://www.makeuseof.com/windows-11-missing-wi-fi-option/