Dell Sent Me to Hell. …Twice. Suggestions?
I’ve had my current computer, a Dell Dimension 4700, for about two years now, which means it’s time for me to renew my warranty coverage if I want to continue receiving technical support.
Overall, their technical support — the few times I’ve needed it, always right around the warranty expiration date — has been passably good, and my current computer is working fine. At least, it’s worked fine since I put the pieces back together (at my expense, since it was a rush) after my hard drive died last November.
So I tried calling 877-896-5427, the phone number the technician had given me yesterday me for warranty renewals. At the prompt, I entered my customer number and order number, at which point I was transferred to a mailbox — and then the line was disconnected before prompting me to leave any message.
No problem. The tech support guy I spoke to last week just happened to provide me with an alternate number (800-247-4618 x1 x7262189) for renewing my warranty.
This number worked great … until I pressed the number corresponding to my “business size” (less than 400 employees), was transferred to a mailbox that was “currently full,” then routed to “the attendant for this mailbox,” then informed that “no attendant has been specified for this mailbox” — and then informed that “this session is about to end,” which is apparently a new euphemism for I’m about to hang up on you.
Did I mention I was trying to give Dell money? If it’s this hard to buy an extended warranty, maybe I should reconsider my strategy.
Typically, after two years, the new generation of computers is so much faster, and cheaper, that it’s time to just buy a new computer anyway. So I looked at the Dell web site to see how their new computers look.
None of the computers I looked at in my price range ($1K or less) seemed to represent a significant improvement over my current system, which is a 3GHz Pentium 4 Processor with 1GB dual channel SDRAM and 160GB hard drive. Plus, Dell seems not to offer the option of sticking with Windows XP instead of becoming an unwitting in-home beta-tester for Windows Vista.
All this raises the prospect that perhaps I should either (a) keep my Dell a little longer despite having no warranty coverage or technical support, or (b) buy a computer from someone besides Dell — for the first time in probably ten years.
Anyone have suggestions for a good place to buy a $1K (or less) computer that would represent a significant upgrade from what I currently have? Good customer support would be a plus, too, of course.
An iMac would be an excellent choice, and you can get them for close to $1,000.
For Windows machines, various Costco bundled offerings are a good value. They usually have some HP desktops with LCD displays. I would go with HP, since as you and so many others have mentioned, Dell’s service has tanked.
Thanks for the recommendations, Joe.
And I’m glad somebody out there hears my pain and has responded with a suggestion. *sniff*
An iMac is probably in my future, but for now I’ve seen too many times when Kathy (who loves her Mac) has to e-mail an attachment to me or to her PC laptop first, for redirection, before the recipient can open it successfully.
So as a primary business instrument, I’ll be sticking with a PC for now.
We don’t have a Costco membership but we belong to Sam’s Club, so I’ll see what they have there in the way of HP desktops.
Thanks again.
I’ve been reading in many forums about the late failure of Dell to help purchasers. Many people have complained about it, a number have simply bought new computers from another firm (or nerds who build them for you). I know that a few years ago, my Wild Thing spent almost four hours on the phone with a Dell Tech who got her computer straightened out. And there was no charge, either. Good Luck, whatever you do.