Add me to the list of 4600 owners whose PSU failed (model HP-P2507FW, made in Thailand).  The machine was new in September 2003, so I got more life out of it than some (21 months).  But I have owned more computers than I can remember - including two 4600 C's currently - and I have never had a PSU fail.  I sent a note to support referring to the comments on this forum and got the incredible response that " there are no such known issues with the units that were shipped at that time."  When I followed up with a note expressing my annoyance with that statement in light of all the posts on this forum, I got a follow up note from a supervisor again stating " this is certainly not a known issue, though few people may have issue with the power supply of their system.  The forums should not be taken as a generalized opinion and they represent the issue with only a few systems."

 

I replaced the failed unit with a $69.99 Antec TruePower 330 Watt/ATX12V.  First time I ever did anything more than add memory to a computer.  Ordinarily, my instinct would be to replace such a unit only with the Dell replacement part to be absolutely certain of compatibility.  But I bought the replacement at a CompUSA store and deliberately not from Dell because of the response I got from support and the posts here.  While at it, I bought a PNY 512 MB memory card, also for $69.99.

 

Some free advice for Dell.  Dell, if you are listening, people who take the time to participate in your Community Forum are by definition among the most loyal customers you have.  You are making a terrible economic choice when you alienate us with flat denials rather than acknowledging the problem and giving a credit for the failed units - for example, a credit towards the next purchase of a new Dell system.  The actual cost of such a credit when put in the context of the profit from the sale of a new system is miniscule in comparison to the goodwill you would generate.  The cost of such a credit is considerably less, I'm sure, than the many forms of promotion that you regularly offer.  And if you tied the credit to the purchase of a replacement Dell PSU, I would bet that the cost of the credit would be offset by the profit on the new PSU.  So you would probably have a "no-cost" way of responding to your loyal customers... and I am sure you could do it with appropriate language that would meet your lawyers' concerns of not admitting any legal responsibility for these units.  In contrast, you are writing back to loyal customers with the wholly insulting statement that "there are no known issues" when it is demonstrably true by reading the posts.  You are missing a very significant and essentially cost-free opportunity to generate enormous goodwill with your loyal customers.  You are in the marketing business and you are failing to recognize a fundamental opportunity for building goodwill rather than destroying it.  And you know well that the type of people who participate in forums such as these are the very same people that are sought out for advice on computers when their less technologically-engaged friends need help in deciding what to buy.  There is a significant ripple effect to alienating these people... who then write posts to the community forum expressing their strong negative feelings for all to see.  Someone is making a very big mistake.

 

So, because of an unwillingness to acknowledge problems with failed PSUs, you get a very disappointed loyal customer (I currently own 3 Dells at home and have used 2 in the past at work... and I will be buying 2 more computers for home use within the next 12 months, and I am responsible for buying 12 to 15 new computers in my office within the next 2 months.  And I spent $140 on parts at CompUSA that would have been spent at Dell had you acknowledged some kind of "responsibility".

 

The plain fact is, rational or not, this single experience undermines my confidence in Dell and it will indeed make me wonder whether I should go elsewhere the next time I buy a computer.  It is not the question of quality control.  Rather it is the lack of treating this matter with appropriate responsibility and honesty at the technical support level.

 

Sincerely,

 

Deeply Disappointed Dell Customer

No Longer Automatically Looking to Dell For My Next Computer Purchase