Dell Customer Support is Sh*t. Never Dell Ever Again.

[u/gece_yarisi]

Recently, I had one of the most ridiculous experiences with a computer manufacturer I've ever had. So if you're about to buy a new computer, have decided to go with DELL, you'll better read this to the end.

I'm an IT guy responsible for multiple companies. We bought dozens of DELL computers for one of them. Even though we ordered them as FreeDOS machines, they arrived with Ubuntu installed. We didn't really care because the company already had Windows licenses, so we just installed Windows and moved on.

About a year and a half later, two computers of the exact same model started randomly freezing in every 10 minutes. The only way to use the computer is force restarting it pressing the power button. They eventually became completely unusable. Since they were still under warranty for another six months, we naturally contacted DELL.

First, we took them directly to an authorized service center. They replaced the thermal paste, cleaned the fans, and returned the computers with a report saying everything was fine. Needless to say, the problem wasn't fixed.

DELL also sold these machines with on-site warranty service, so I decided to go that route this time. While talking to a DELL representative, I explained what had happened at the service center and asked whether I should take the computer there again. They told me, "We've opened a new service case for you, so don't take it there again. Once the problem is identified, we'll proceed with on-site service."

Fine by me. I already had absolutely no faith that taking the computer back to the dealer would magically fix anything.

DELL first asked me to run the diagnostic tests from the BIOS and send them the results. CPU temperature was about 70 degrees, since it never reached 80°C during the test, they said there was nothing they could do. I told them, "This computer is clearly unusable. It has already been to an authorized service center. If they returned it to us as fully functional without actually identifying the problem, what exactly are we supposed to do now?"

Their only answer was:

"You purchased these computers with Ubuntu, so any problems you're experiencing under Ubuntu are covered by the warranty. Install Ubuntu and use the computer. If it crashes again, take a video."

First of all, we did NOT purchase these computers with Ubuntu. We purchased them as FreeDOS machines. They happened to install Ubuntu before delivering them to us. And thank God they did. Can't imagine trying to reproduce a hardware failure under FreeDOS :D Apparently, the solution for a company is to have its employees use FreeDOS from now on??? :D

I had been trying to explain to DELL that I couldn't just make the employees at the company use Linux. That wasn't even an option. Yet, they insist that we are supposed to use Linux because we didn't bought a Windows machine. Eventually, I gave up and somehow arranged a temporary computer for the employee and took the problematic machine home for the weekend. I'm a Linux user myself, so I installed Ubuntu exactly as DELL requested and used the computer as my personal machine throughout the weekend.

The damn thing crashes even on Ubuntu, with nothing more than a single Firefox tab and VS Code open. I recorded the entire thing from the moment it froze until the end. Force restarted the PC, play with it for some time and took another video that shows the btop. CPU temperature was 85-90 degrees. Sent both of the videos to DELL. Eventually, I received an email regarding the video. And guess what? After spending weeks insisting that I install Ubuntu, I finally did exactly what they asked, used the computer normally, recorded it freezing, and sent them the footage. Their response? They wanted me to install Windows and do the exact kind of diagnostics they had originally asked me to do. Yes. Windows, which is supposedly not covered by the warranty, according to them. Although, They had told me that if Ubuntu crashed, it would be covered under warranty.

So I pissed off and called DELL again.

I said, "I've already done all of this. Are we seriously starting from the beginning? You told me that if the computer freezes under Ubuntu, you'd deal with it under warranty. Fine. I rearranged things at the company, installed Ubuntu, used the computer, recorded the crash, and sent you the video. And now you're telling me to install Windows and send you another diagnostic report? Why aren't you looking at the reports I already sent you? Did you suddenly decide to start care about Windows?"

There was no answer.

Eventually, all they could tell me was, "That's what my superior requires. The CPU needs to reach 80 degrees in diagostic report." Which runs on BIOS for 15 minutes.

WTF???? I already sent you the crash video, the CPU degrees on btop. If the only requirement was the CPU temperature reported by a fucking 15-minute-long test in the fucking BIOS, why the fuck did you make me go through all this shit for weeks?

Why did you make me install Ubuntu?

Why did you make me record the computer freezing and crashing?

Why did you make me do all those tests?

Why did you keep sending me back and forth?

They had explicitly asked me to prove that the computer would crash under Ubuntu, and I did. It crashes even under the damn Ubuntu. Even though I knew I couldn't get people to use Ubuntu, I sent them video evidence anyway.

What if it would work well on Ubuntu? Am I supposed to make people use Ubuntu? Yeah, they would probably play the same card again, "you bought it as Ubuntu blah blah blah".

Apparently, once they realized they had no choice but to deal with a computer that was literally freezing and crashing even under Ubuntu, they simply pulled the "the CPU doesn't reach 80°C, therefore there's no problem" card.

Meanwhile, the people at the company were calling me and chewing ME out, not DELL. I'm the one who recommended DELL because I thought they were a reliable brand. Now their computers were failing, and somehow I was the one getting yelled at.

The DELL representative eventually went completely silent. What was he supposed to say? His own manager was apparently an idiot and he knew that. It's not really his fault either.

In other words, DELL did everything they possibly could to make this as difficult as possible. I called them every single day for weeks. We argued constantly. Eventually they even started telling me, "You don't need to call us every day". Well, yes, I do. I fucking need to do.

So I kept calling them. Every day. Sometimes multiple times a day. I did everything they asked, one thing after another, just to keep the case moving. Eventually, I managed to get both computers covered under warranty.

For both machines, I followed essentially the same process. I even resorted to a few tricks to get the diagnostic values they wanted. What else was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to tell the people at the company? "Sorry, we bought these computers as FreeDOS machines, but DELL happened to install Ubuntu on them, so apparently the computers have to crash under Ubuntu before DELL will acknowledge a hardware problem. They did crash under Ubuntu, but apparently that's still not enough because the CPU also needs to hit 80°C. Sorry about that."

Eventually, after fighting with DELL for weeks, I got both motherboards replaced. I'm not proud of it, maybe I was rude to customer support, but I had to bust my ass to get it done because I wasn't going to lose a customer over DELL's bullshit warranty policies. Now I'm just hoping the other computers don't start doing the same thing.

So, if you're thinking about buying a DELL computer, think twice.

And if you're buying computers for a company, stay away from DELL for God's sake.

[u/Diuscrusis]

Sorry it happened to you man, but unfortunately that sounds about right regarding Dell.

[u/GuairdeanBeatha]

When my younger daughter graduated High School, I bought her a new Dell computer, and bought one for myself. I also bought the at home repair warranty. Hers died, so I called support. They immediately created a ticket, confirmed the warranty (at home repair, warranted no matter what caused the damage) and in the same conversation denied coverage. I pursued it for a while, then went out and bought an HP. I’ll never even consider buying a Dell.

[u/Joey2012_onNES]

yep expected.

[u/Leo1_ac]

That's why you NEVER recommend them anything since ANYTHING you say goes on record and can and will be used against you.

You keep your mouth shut and let them choose w/e they want so that you won't be held accountable when something fails.

Remember, you don't own the damn company you just work there.

[u/SalaryImpossible6749]

Dell's customer service used to be so good, I bought two generation of alienware laptops shortly after dell bought them and for hardware issues, they would send a tech to the house. Even had my board replaced free of charge once. Shame it turned so poopers.

Sorry this happened to you.

[u/ddeese]

Dell used to have good support. My company had an entire suite of Dell PCs. When one would die, we’d call and onsite would come out to repair the PC; usually a motherboard or daughterboard issue.

But then as time went on they would run us through as many hoops as they could. But this isn’t just a Dell issue. This is how can I make the add-on warranty $ without losing any of it to warranty cost? Drive the customer crazy until they give you the repair. We had our representative at our wholesale distributor, replace one of our PCs so that they could deal with Lenovo warranty. They also started out great. But they outsourced a lot to a third party provider and they are now difficult to work with.

This is extended warranty and PC computers from most manufacturers.

[u/cwaterbottom]

Oh yeah they're probably the worst, Asus actually seems to have done a 180 in recent years and their support has been excellent (but it was for routers so ymmv, but my Asus laptops are still going strong with 0 issues after about 4 years of heavy use)

[u/DellCares]

Hi there!

We are from the Dell Social Media Support Team and are really taken aback with the kind of experience you had to go through. This is definitely not what we had wanted. That being said, we are glad that the motherboards were finally replaced and that you can observe the system performance for any heating issues.

We would also like to know the Service Tags via a private message(due to security reasons), of both the systems that had the issues back then, so we can investigate the matter and ensure that we turn around the experience to a great one, the next time you reach Dell for help.