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drewskisan
3 Posts
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September 22nd, 2004 15:00
Multiple Problems -- Had to return 8400
Just wondering if anyone else has had this type of experience with the Dell Dimension 8400. I ordered one and it was delivered in early August. It ran for about a week and a half and then had memory problems. The service tech installed new memory, power supply, etc and it ran for another week and a second problem which they couldn't fix with the software occured so a new system was sent out. That system ran great for about 2 weeks and then crashed. The service folks thought it was the hard drive so they sent a new hard drive. Installed that and original problem was still there plus a new problem associated with connecting to the internet (this is after the system was down for four days waiting for the new hard drive). Sent the system back today for money back. This was probably the worst experience I've ever had with the quality of a product. In addition to this the tech support line was not helpful and kept passing me around. I'll bet I spent 8 to 10 hours on the phone -- not counting the day and a half I had to take off work to meet the service tech. I tried everything to find someone in Dell who would help me but everytime I called I ended up with a new person who's role in life it seemed was to get me off the phone asap. I even tried calling the Kiosk at the Mall where I bought the system but the salesman wouldn't return my calls. I would have loved to see the 8400 run since I still think its the best system on the market when it's working. But I've lost confidence in Dell at this point. When I called customer service today they apologised and offered me a $75 coupon to start the whole process over and order a brand new system. I was flabergasted at the lack of customer care I've received from Dell. Have others experienced this same kind of quality issue and the lack of expertise of the Dell technical help team or did I just get a couple of lemons in a row????
Message Edited by drewskisan on 09-22-2004 12:06 PM
Message Edited by drewskisan on 09-22-2004 12:13 PM
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Posted September 22nd, 2004 19:00
i was thouroughly po'd when i called dell tech line, i couldnt understand them, all they did was pass me around also, and then since they couldn't help me they told me to come to these forums and figure it out for myself...434
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Posted September 30th, 2004 12:00
I had some of the same issues that you had. The first system arrived DOA (Dead on Arrival), the hard drive was bad. The technician support person who helped was reading from a book and come to find out it was the wrong department. Dell shipped me out a new system and forgot to send tags for the return. FYI, UPS does not guarantee home delivery times; whenever the driver shows up he shows up. Home versus business is like night and day. I finally got the new system up and running and the new hard drive goes south and everyone I talked too increased the time frame when the technician and hard drive would show up. I now have a heat problem (dimension 8400 w/256 Mbs ATI XT800) and they think the CPU fan is going out. The amount of hot air coming out will allow me to work this winter with the windows open.434
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Posted September 30th, 2004 19:00
to cool your case down a little try leaving the little flip door open in the front of your case, i think it lets air in the vents easier, at least with my 8300 anyway434
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Posted October 1st, 2004 12:00
I have tried that; the techncian came out today to change the CPU fan and I still ahve the same problem. I have added one of my external fan units to circulate air arounf the tower. I do not think the 8400 were designedto run with such a graphic's card (Xt800 ATI 256 Mbs). I am also looking into adding an on board fan card
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Posted October 1st, 2004 16:00
Fact is... like it or not... with Dell its take it or leave it. At this price you can't expect the world. I don't see anyone in the post going to competitor for their needs after a bad experience. Lets face it... if they were paying 10-20$ an hour to a tech working in USA to answer dumb qts that 90% for the people ask, you wouldn't be able to buy this cheap... in this case it seemed like Dell tried their best to replace parts/system over and over again... if you want someone to hold your hand when you computer crashes go buy it from BEST BUY!!
If I were running a company and after trying to replace pretty much all the components and the whole system if the client has a problem I would refund the money... Odds are the problem is the user or the user enviroment (software, temp, add-on components, etc)... As far as quality product goes... why don't you buy IBM... I am sure it will be superior to Dell... on top of that they offer you 75$... so whats the problem... I have been using 8400 for over 2 months without any problem and its an awesome machine.
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Posted October 1st, 2004 21:00
@chrislangdon wrote:
to cool your case down a little try leaving the little flip door open in the front of your case, i think it lets air in the vents easier, at least with my 8300 anyway
Neat little trick there. It worked on my 8400 and dropped temps from 44c to 41c. Not that it was running hot anyway but every little bit helps to prolong component life.Message Edited by rdaxx on 10-01-2004 05:07 PM
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Posted October 4th, 2004 16:00
prabalshah -- I agree that with Dell "it's take it or leave it". If more people would choose to leave it due to the poor quality of the product and the poor service, maybe Dell would care. I for one left. I just bought an HP. What a world of difference!! More features at a comparable price. The HP is far superior. The main reason I bought a Dell in the first place was because of the product support they supposedly offered. I have learned from the Dell experience that 1) Dell quality is terrible and 2) technical support is incompetent at best. I would never buy a computer based on claims of 24 hour technical support since the technical support one gets when calling the help number is only capable of solving the simplest of problems. In my case I experienced huge language barriers. I'm sure that technical support from HP will probably be the same but at least the HP works! My advice is to dump the Dell and go with a system that has better quality and figure out a way to get a competent person to help if you have a problem. Don't depend on the call centers for help. My dog "spot" could probably help you more!
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Posted October 4th, 2004 17:00
I would have stayed with Dell if the second computer they sent me had worked. It did not. Therefore, I can only assume that the quality of the mfg process is bad. Second, the techs I worked with on the phone couldn't figure out the problem. As I said, I spent 8 to 10 hours on the phone and had three visits from the guy who changes parts. By the way, the guy who changes parts doesn't care if the part fixes the problem or not. He just replaces the part and leaves -- his job is to get in and out as quickly as possible. I would have expected him to at least stay long enough to verify the problem was fixed and to take some action if it was not. My experience taught me that Dell support is next to useless. I would pay a premium for technical support that can actually help me. As they say, you get what you pay for, and in the case of Dell you may pay less for the system but I would rather pay more and get good service and good quality. I am much happier with the HP and I don't ever see myself considering a Dell again unless the technical support is significantly improved. Bottom line is that when I make a major purchase like a computer I expect to get a functioning system. If the system doesn't work then I at least expect the company I purchased it from to make it good. In the case of the Dell, they could not. Sure, they gave me my money back but this was after I spent all that time trying to make their product work -- I was never compensated for that time nor for the frustration I faced. It doesn't matter how many "replacement" computers they send me -- I just want what I bought in the first place. In this case Dell couldn't supply a working computer or technical support that could fix the problem so I was forced to take my money and go elsewhere. I just hope Dell figures out that what they are doing is not working and fixes their problems. I believe Dell was once a great company built on a quality product and I would like to see them return to that. However, right now, my experience says they are on a downward spiral.434
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Posted October 4th, 2004 17:00
drewskisan - I understand the fustration. I was one of the first ones who tried to reinstall OS on my new machine and it didn't recognize the HDD! Turned out that if you don't have a floppy drive, only way to reinstall the OS was to change the BIOS setting for HDD to raid/ata. It wasn't documentation anywhere and at one point I was tempted to call dell. I knew instead of spending hours with them I might as well try to find the solution myself and I did. Thing is they don't really have a serious competion. You usually get the most bang for your buck with dell... especially if you use the coupons from different websites. For eg I got 8400 two months back with 3.4Ghz prescott, 1gb DDR2 533Mhz RAM, ati x800 xt 256MB video card, 17" flat panel, etc... for less than 2000$. I checked hp but they weren't offering the cutting edge machines... same thing with IBM... alienware was too expensive, building a computer was out of qts since they didn't have mobo with the latest chipset in the market (none I could find anyways)... also it would be time consuming... I understand that Dell tech support is not much help but come on... they did replace pretty much all of the major components and then the whole system. For them instead of hiring experience technicians to help everyone they rather replace the system that has problem which will be 1 in a million. I doubt you will have better experience with any company 'cause it doesn't seem like a problem that tech could solve. After replacing this much hardware they can't possibly do anything else. If I were you I would have used that 75$ to get the same system online which must be cheaper right now. Anyways... good luck but don't dis the tech's 'cause they speak with a funny accent. Dell is the one that came to them.
rickmktg
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11898 Posts
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Posted September 22nd, 2004 17:00
Message Edited by rickmktg on 09-22-2004 02:31 PM