How/Whether to complain about faulty PC/technical support after 2 years.

LittleAardvark

I'm just looking for advice about whether it's worth me even putting in a complaint, and if so how to do this effectively.

In January 2021 I purchased a Dell G5 5000 Desktop computer for £1200 directly from Dell.  At the end of March that same year I experienced a blue screen error.  The PC was unable to reboot, repeatedly blue screening.  I contacted Dell Technical Support on Whatsapp, and after various trouble shooting, I was advised to reinstall Windows: the PC appeared to work after this.  However, the blue screen errors kept occuring intermittently - 5 times over this first year.  I contacted Technical Support each time (and paid for an additional two years premium support which I still have until Jan 2024).  Each time they'd troubleshoot, the PC would get going again (never the same thing which seemed to fix it).  I repeatedly put to them that this wasn't fixing the problem, that it needed to be looked at, that I believed the PC had been sold to me in a faulty condition.  Finally in April 2022 after being more assertive, they sent an engineer round to replace the motherboard.  The blue screen errors persisted - albeit less frequently and less severely than before.  

I had another Blue Screen Error three weeks ago and could not get the PC to reboot.  After further troubleshooting with Dell, I was advised to reinstall Windows again.  A few days later the system crashed again.  After insisting they do something else, they sent an engineer round.  In the past two weeks, I've had 3 engineer visits.  They've replaced the hard drive, the motherboard (again) and then tried to reinstall the OS.  The PC is in a worse state than it was prior to this.  The last engineer told Dell they needed to collect it for repair.  It was finally taken away this morning.

I have asked Dell for a partial refund: it would be my preferred option and frankly would have been cheaper for Dell than the repeated engineers.  They have told me that as it is more than two years old I am not entitled to a refund. 

I am fed up of the saga.  I want a working computer.  I don't want a Dell computer given the past two and half years.  I have no faith that Dell will actually fix it, given past attempts at repairs have failed. I am also frustrated and unhappy at the support I have received and the sheer hours (days actually) I have spent trying to troubleshoot, reinstall, waiting around for engineers, etc... and so feel I want to formally complain both about the state of the PC sold to me and the response by Dell when I have repeatedly reported the problem, but am wondering if this will add to my frustrations.  As I said, ideally I would like a refund, even if it is partial.

My questions are:
Would I be entitled to any financial compensation/a refund given the timeframe?  
What happens if they aren't able to repair the PC?  I have asked Dell this repeatedly and they don't answer the question.  Are they/can they just say: 'sorry can't fix it, and you're not entitled to anything else'. 
Can I complain about the Technical Support from Dell?  How best do I do this?  It has felt to me like their default is it's an OS issue and to get them to try anything else is really, really difficult.  They don't answer questions (e.g. what happens next type questions).  When I ask about the complaint procedure they don't answer the question - am I unrealistic to expect a large multinational corporation to not have a formal complaint process? 

Yes, in hindsight I should have pushed things much harder earlier... that's my fault, although the intermittent nature of the fault and Dell's 'we'll just monitor it' approach also hasn't helped and I feel has timed me out on my consumer rights.  

Just in case it's important, I have kept all Whatsapp messages since the first error, which include photos and videos of the errors.  The blue screen error message is always the same, so I believe this is the same error which occurred within the first 6 months after purchase.
 

LightFlare

Have you tried a Google search if the blue screen error to see what the actual cause is ?

There are also forums around that may be able to advise (not sure if I can name them)

It could be that reinstalling is fixing the issue but something YOU are installing is the root cause

The exact nature of the error should point you in the right direction.

If it is an OS issue (unlikely) - have you tried a different OS ?

When reinstalling a new OS has this been done as a full/clean install or using some form of Dell recovery process ?

LittleAardvark

Thanks for your reply.

So firstly I'll say I am not very technically minded - which means I have often struggled with instructions from Dell.

However the blue screen error message is always WHEA UNCORRECTABLE ERROR.   Yes, I had googled it...  

The error WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR"stands for Windows Hardware Error Architecture.  If you receive a blue screen error (also known as a stop code) with WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR, it means that a hardware issue has occurred on your computer. Issues could be related to such things as hard drives, processor, power supply, bad or corrupted memory (DRAM).  It also could be that the device drivers are outdated or corrupted.  Another reason could be voltage changes.

I'm not sure that really narrows it down, other than to suggest it's a hardware error.  Friends who I have spoken to, plus the Dell engineers thought (although they don't ultimately know) that it was a hardware issue - they certainly both thought that trying to reinstall the OS was not going to fix the problem.  Dell normally get me to go into Bios settings, and restore the default settings.  That sometimes works.  If it doesn't, they then normally get me to play around with the Boot Sequence.  Sometimes that works.  Sometime it doesn't.  Sometime it just seems to finally reboot on an attempt.  I've only had to reinstall Windows twice in the (about) 10 times I've had this issue.  Most of the time I've not needed to reinstall the OS to get it going again.  Doing a scan of the hardware bring up no faults.  Having said that the system often doesn't seem to log that there has even been a fault (the last engineer said there was nothing in the history under Bios, despite the fact it was repeatedly blue screening the moment it was switched on).

It doesn't occur in a similar way... most of the time it has occured I'm playing a game, but then that's what I do 90% of the time I'm on the PC.  The game it has crashed in has varied.  It has also crashed on just turning it on, and when I was doing nothing else other than playing a Podcast.  Because of the issues I regularly make sure it is updated (I aim for once a month, which is far more regularly than I've ever had to do with previous PCs!).  I never leave it on if I'm not using it, as I think this model has issues with over heating and I'm not really someone who games for hours and hours on end (I have a full time job and young family - so I really don't have the time!). 

No, I've never tried another OS - always Windows 10.  I'm not sure what the different is between a clean reinstall or the recovery process.  The first time I did it via a USB that had the OS downloaded on to it, the second via the Supportassist Recovery process.  The third time the engineer tried to do it from a USB, but it would crash the instant he tried to do this.  

Jumblebumble

LittleAardvark said:

Thanks for your reply.

So firstly I'll say I am not very technically minded - which means I have often struggled with instructions from Dell.

However the blue screen error message is always WHEA UNCORRECTABLE ERROR.   Yes, I had googled it...  

The error WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR"stands for Windows Hardware Error Architecture.  If you receive a blue screen error (also known as a stop code) with WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR, it means that a hardware issue has occurred on your computer. Issues could be related to such things as hard drives, processor, power supply, bad or corrupted memory (DRAM).  It also could be that the device drivers are outdated or corrupted.  Another reason could be voltage changes.

I'm not sure that really narrows it down, other than to suggest it's a hardware error.  Friends who I have spoken to, plus the Dell engineers thought (although they don't ultimately know) that it was a hardware issue - they certainly both thought that trying to reinstall the OS was not going to fix the problem.  Dell normally get me to go into Bios settings, and restore the default settings.  That sometimes works.  If it doesn't, they then normally get me to play around with the Boot Sequence.  Sometimes that works.  Sometime it doesn't.  Sometime it just seems to finally reboot on an attempt.  I've only had to reinstall Windows twice in the (about) 10 times I've had this issue.  Most of the time I've not needed to reinstall the OS to get it going again.  Doing a scan of the hardware bring up no faults.  Having said that the system often doesn't seem to log that there has even been a fault (the last engineer said there was nothing in the history under Bios, despite the fact it was repeatedly blue screening the moment it was switched on).

It doesn't occur in a similar way... most of the time it has occured I'm playing a game, but then that's what I do 90% of the time I'm on the PC.  The game it has crashed in has varied.  It has also crashed on just turning it on, and when I was doing nothing else other than playing a Podcast.  Because of the issues I regularly make sure it is updated (I aim for once a month, which is far more regularly than I've ever had to do with previous PCs!).  I never leave it on if I'm not using it, as I think this model has issues with over heating and I'm not really someone who games for hours and hours on end (I have a full time job and young family - so I really don't have the time!). 

No, I've never tried another OS - always Windows 10.  I'm not sure what the different is between a clean reinstall or the recovery process.  The first time I did it via a USB that had the OS downloaded on to it, the second via the Supportassist Recovery process.  The third time the engineer tried to do it from a USB, but it would crash the instant he tried to do this.  

Few Questions if I may
Is the install Dells iso or MIcrosofts iso that you are installing on USB?
Is the PC supported on windows 10 ?
Are you overclocking?
Has the RAM been changed?
Is the hardware diagnosis done via f12 bios or is it via supportassist or both?

Observations
Dell have had motherboard issues during pandemic and of course the replacements you are getting are very  likely to be refurbs that have already been faulty once in their lives
OS reinstalls very rarely make any difference what ever. It is just cheaper for Dell to insist that one tries
It could be a faulty  processor or ram causing this and the diagnoses sometimes cannot diagnose itself 
My experience is that If you make enough fuss they will replace the whole PC

born_again

From a consumer point of view.
To take it further given the age of the computer. You are going to need a 3rd party report.

From tech side "most of the time it has occured I'm playing a game" what game & is the game within PC specs, or maybe overtaxing the system & it's getting too hot, thus causing the shut down.

I would be looking at upgrading to Win 11, far better.

LittleAardvark

Jumblebumble said:

LittleAardvark said:

Thanks for your reply.

So firstly I'll say I am not very technically minded - which means I have often struggled with instructions from Dell.

However the blue screen error message is always WHEA UNCORRECTABLE ERROR.   Yes, I had googled it...  

The error WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR"stands for Windows Hardware Error Architecture.  If you receive a blue screen error (also known as a stop code) with WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR, it means that a hardware issue has occurred on your computer. Issues could be related to such things as hard drives, processor, power supply, bad or corrupted memory (DRAM).  It also could be that the device drivers are outdated or corrupted.  Another reason could be voltage changes.

I'm not sure that really narrows it down, other than to suggest it's a hardware error.  Friends who I have spoken to, plus the Dell engineers thought (although they don't ultimately know) that it was a hardware issue - they certainly both thought that trying to reinstall the OS was not going to fix the problem.  Dell normally get me to go into Bios settings, and restore the default settings.  That sometimes works.  If it doesn't, they then normally get me to play around with the Boot Sequence.  Sometimes that works.  Sometime it doesn't.  Sometime it just seems to finally reboot on an attempt.  I've only had to reinstall Windows twice in the (about) 10 times I've had this issue.  Most of the time I've not needed to reinstall the OS to get it going again.  Doing a scan of the hardware bring up no faults.  Having said that the system often doesn't seem to log that there has even been a fault (the last engineer said there was nothing in the history under Bios, despite the fact it was repeatedly blue screening the moment it was switched on).

It doesn't occur in a similar way... most of the time it has occured I'm playing a game, but then that's what I do 90% of the time I'm on the PC.  The game it has crashed in has varied.  It has also crashed on just turning it on, and when I was doing nothing else other than playing a Podcast.  Because of the issues I regularly make sure it is updated (I aim for once a month, which is far more regularly than I've ever had to do with previous PCs!).  I never leave it on if I'm not using it, as I think this model has issues with over heating and I'm not really someone who games for hours and hours on end (I have a full time job and young family - so I really don't have the time!). 

No, I've never tried another OS - always Windows 10.  I'm not sure what the different is between a clean reinstall or the recovery process.  The first time I did it via a USB that had the OS downloaded on to it, the second via the Supportassist Recovery process.  The third time the engineer tried to do it from a USB, but it would crash the instant he tried to do this.  

Few Questions if I may
Is the install Dells iso or MIcrosofts iso that you are installing on USB?
Is the PC supported on windows 10 ?
Are you overclocking?
Has the RAM been changed?
Is the hardware diagnosis done via f12 bios or is it via supportassist or both?

Observations
Dell have had motherboard issues during pandemic and of course the replacements you are getting are very  likely to be refurbs that have already been faulty once in their lives
OS reinstalls very rarely make any difference what ever. It is just cheaper for Dell to insist that one tries
It could be a faulty  processor or ram causing this and the diagnoses sometimes cannot diagnose itself 
My experience is that If you make enough fuss they will replace the whole PC

Is the install Dells iso or MIcrosofts iso that you are installing on USB? - how would I tell?  
Is the PC supported on windows 10 ? - I've never thought about this.  I assumed so as it was the operating system that came with the PC.
Are you overclocking? I had to google this as I had no idea what overclocking is... but as it doesn't look like something I could do accidently, I think the answer is no.
Has the RAM been changed?  No.  I've not changed anything that came with the original PC.
Is the hardware diagnosis done via f12 bios or is it via supportassist or both? Both at various times. 

Thanks.  Your observations do make sense of why I have had the motherboard replaced twice!  I bought the PC during Lockdown, and I seem to remember that it was out of stock when I purchased, when there was stuff in the news about shortages of computer components (or it's what Dell told me about why it was out of stock, I can't remember) - I thought I was going to have to wait weeks for it, when suddenly it was back in stock and being dispatched far quicker than I anticipated.  I envisaged that just found a dusty one left in a cupboard somewhere!  

LittleAardvark

born_again said:

From a consumer point of view.
To take it further given the age of the computer. You are going to need a 3rd party report.

From tech side "most of the time it has occured I'm playing a game" what game & is the game within PC specs, or maybe overtaxing the system & it's getting too hot, thus causing the shut down.

I would be looking at upgrading to Win 11, far better.

That makes sense about the 3rd party report.  

So, my guilty embarrassing pleasure is Sims 4.  So yes, the PC specs are more than fine for this game - this would have been my priority when purchasing it.  And to be fair, apart from the crashes it is great.  It was labelled as a 'gaming PC', so if it can't do games it wouldn't really be fit for purpose... The other game I can remember it crashing on is Crusader Kings...  

If it was the games though, why doesn't it do it more frequently? The last one I had before this was in May... and it's not like the PC hasn't been used in 5 months.  I am aware that this model does have over heating issues (not great for a gaming PC), which is why I am really careful... It's unsual for me to game more than 3 hours - generally it's 1-2 hours in an evening.  The last crash that happened I had been on the PC less than 30 minutes before it crashed.  It's also crashed at points when I've not been gaming either (like just switching it on after it's been off for 12+ hours) - so there was nothing unsual about my use at the time it crashed.  

I think you're the first person I've heard compliment Windows 11... but then I've been burned in the past by upgrades making my laptop unusable :-) 

Jumblebumble

LittleAardvark said:

Jumblebumble said:

LittleAardvark said:

Thanks for your reply.

So firstly I'll say I am not very technically minded - which means I have often struggled with instructions from Dell.

However the blue screen error message is always WHEA UNCORRECTABLE ERROR.   Yes, I had googled it...  

The error WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR"stands for Windows Hardware Error Architecture.  If you receive a blue screen error (also known as a stop code) with WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR, it means that a hardware issue has occurred on your computer. Issues could be related to such things as hard drives, processor, power supply, bad or corrupted memory (DRAM).  It also could be that the device drivers are outdated or corrupted.  Another reason could be voltage changes.

I'm not sure that really narrows it down, other than to suggest it's a hardware error.  Friends who I have spoken to, plus the Dell engineers thought (although they don't ultimately know) that it was a hardware issue - they certainly both thought that trying to reinstall the OS was not going to fix the problem.  Dell normally get me to go into Bios settings, and restore the default settings.  That sometimes works.  If it doesn't, they then normally get me to play around with the Boot Sequence.  Sometimes that works.  Sometime it doesn't.  Sometime it just seems to finally reboot on an attempt.  I've only had to reinstall Windows twice in the (about) 10 times I've had this issue.  Most of the time I've not needed to reinstall the OS to get it going again.  Doing a scan of the hardware bring up no faults.  Having said that the system often doesn't seem to log that there has even been a fault (the last engineer said there was nothing in the history under Bios, despite the fact it was repeatedly blue screening the moment it was switched on).

It doesn't occur in a similar way... most of the time it has occured I'm playing a game, but then that's what I do 90% of the time I'm on the PC.  The game it has crashed in has varied.  It has also crashed on just turning it on, and when I was doing nothing else other than playing a Podcast.  Because of the issues I regularly make sure it is updated (I aim for once a month, which is far more regularly than I've ever had to do with previous PCs!).  I never leave it on if I'm not using it, as I think this model has issues with over heating and I'm not really someone who games for hours and hours on end (I have a full time job and young family - so I really don't have the time!). 

No, I've never tried another OS - always Windows 10.  I'm not sure what the different is between a clean reinstall or the recovery process.  The first time I did it via a USB that had the OS downloaded on to it, the second via the Supportassist Recovery process.  The third time the engineer tried to do it from a USB, but it would crash the instant he tried to do this.  

Few Questions if I may
Is the install Dells iso or MIcrosofts iso that you are installing on USB?
Is the PC supported on windows 10 ?
Are you overclocking?
Has the RAM been changed?
Is the hardware diagnosis done via f12 bios or is it via supportassist or both?

Observations
Dell have had motherboard issues during pandemic and of course the replacements you are getting are very  likely to be refurbs that have already been faulty once in their lives
OS reinstalls very rarely make any difference what ever. It is just cheaper for Dell to insist that one tries
It could be a faulty  processor or ram causing this and the diagnoses sometimes cannot diagnose itself 
My experience is that If you make enough fuss they will replace the whole PC

Is the install Dells iso or MIcrosofts iso that you are installing on USB? - how would I tell?  
Is the PC supported on windows 10 ? - I've never thought about this.  I assumed so as it was the operating system that came with the PC.
Are you overclocking? I had to google this as I had no idea what overclocking is... but as it doesn't look like something I could do accidently, I think the answer is no.
Has the RAM been changed?  No.  I've not changed anything that came with the original PC.
Is the hardware diagnosis done via f12 bios or is it via supportassist or both? Both at various times. 

Thanks.  Your observations do make sense of why I have had the motherboard replaced twice!  I bought the PC during Lockdown, and I seem to remember that it was out of stock when I purchased, when there was stuff in the news about shortages of computer components (or it's what Dell told me about why it was out of stock, I can't remember) - I thought I was going to have to wait weeks for it, when suddenly it was back in stock and being dispatched far quicker than I anticipated.  I envisaged that just found a dusty one left in a cupboard somewhere!  

I always download the iso from Microsoft site and not from Dell as the Dell one may be way out of date
I burn to USB with Rufus
You may get disk not recognised but this is a trivial driver issue
I would keep on Dells case about this until they get fed up of changing the motherboards

LittleAardvark

Jumblebumble said:

LittleAardvark said:

Jumblebumble said:

LittleAardvark said:

Thanks for your reply.

So firstly I'll say I am not very technically minded - which means I have often struggled with instructions from Dell.

However the blue screen error message is always WHEA UNCORRECTABLE ERROR.   Yes, I had googled it...  

The error WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR"stands for Windows Hardware Error Architecture.  If you receive a blue screen error (also known as a stop code) with WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR, it means that a hardware issue has occurred on your computer. Issues could be related to such things as hard drives, processor, power supply, bad or corrupted memory (DRAM).  It also could be that the device drivers are outdated or corrupted.  Another reason could be voltage changes.

I'm not sure that really narrows it down, other than to suggest it's a hardware error.  Friends who I have spoken to, plus the Dell engineers thought (although they don't ultimately know) that it was a hardware issue - they certainly both thought that trying to reinstall the OS was not going to fix the problem.  Dell normally get me to go into Bios settings, and restore the default settings.  That sometimes works.  If it doesn't, they then normally get me to play around with the Boot Sequence.  Sometimes that works.  Sometime it doesn't.  Sometime it just seems to finally reboot on an attempt.  I've only had to reinstall Windows twice in the (about) 10 times I've had this issue.  Most of the time I've not needed to reinstall the OS to get it going again.  Doing a scan of the hardware bring up no faults.  Having said that the system often doesn't seem to log that there has even been a fault (the last engineer said there was nothing in the history under Bios, despite the fact it was repeatedly blue screening the moment it was switched on).

It doesn't occur in a similar way... most of the time it has occured I'm playing a game, but then that's what I do 90% of the time I'm on the PC.  The game it has crashed in has varied.  It has also crashed on just turning it on, and when I was doing nothing else other than playing a Podcast.  Because of the issues I regularly make sure it is updated (I aim for once a month, which is far more regularly than I've ever had to do with previous PCs!).  I never leave it on if I'm not using it, as I think this model has issues with over heating and I'm not really someone who games for hours and hours on end (I have a full time job and young family - so I really don't have the time!). 

No, I've never tried another OS - always Windows 10.  I'm not sure what the different is between a clean reinstall or the recovery process.  The first time I did it via a USB that had the OS downloaded on to it, the second via the Supportassist Recovery process.  The third time the engineer tried to do it from a USB, but it would crash the instant he tried to do this.  

Few Questions if I may
Is the install Dells iso or MIcrosofts iso that you are installing on USB?
Is the PC supported on windows 10 ?
Are you overclocking?
Has the RAM been changed?
Is the hardware diagnosis done via f12 bios or is it via supportassist or both?

Observations
Dell have had motherboard issues during pandemic and of course the replacements you are getting are very  likely to be refurbs that have already been faulty once in their lives
OS reinstalls very rarely make any difference what ever. It is just cheaper for Dell to insist that one tries
It could be a faulty  processor or ram causing this and the diagnoses sometimes cannot diagnose itself 
My experience is that If you make enough fuss they will replace the whole PC

Is the install Dells iso or MIcrosofts iso that you are installing on USB? - how would I tell?  
Is the PC supported on windows 10 ? - I've never thought about this.  I assumed so as it was the operating system that came with the PC.
Are you overclocking? I had to google this as I had no idea what overclocking is... but as it doesn't look like something I could do accidently, I think the answer is no.
Has the RAM been changed?  No.  I've not changed anything that came with the original PC.
Is the hardware diagnosis done via f12 bios or is it via supportassist or both? Both at various times. 

Thanks.  Your observations do make sense of why I have had the motherboard replaced twice!  I bought the PC during Lockdown, and I seem to remember that it was out of stock when I purchased, when there was stuff in the news about shortages of computer components (or it's what Dell told me about why it was out of stock, I can't remember) - I thought I was going to have to wait weeks for it, when suddenly it was back in stock and being dispatched far quicker than I anticipated.  I envisaged that just found a dusty one left in a cupboard somewhere!  

I always download the iso from Microsoft site and not from Dell as the Dell one may be way out of date
I burn to USB with Rufus
You may get disk not recognised but this is a trivial driver issue
I would keep on Dells case about this until they get fed up of changing the motherboards

Ok... I think the time I did it from the USB I would have downloaded it from their website.  

It was returned to me yesterday.  I have no idea what they did with it the week they had - they don't seem to know either.  As far as I can tell all they have done is reinstalled the OS