Hi

I just wanted to post my ongoing horrible experience with dell customer service which rather started off ok. My current system is under warranty. Here is a summary of events which has turned into a nightmare for me:

Date: July 13th:

* Called on July 13th to report high CPU fan noise. After debugging for sometime, the rep, processed a dispatch order to replace the mother board and fan.

Date: July 14th

* Dispatch order processed

Date: July 15th:

* Got call from Dell Technician to schedule an appointment to replace the part.

Date: July 16th:

* The Technician replaced the mother board and the fan. Also commented that the capacitors on the original MB were failing and that may be the cause as well. After replacing the part, the issue was not resolved same high fan noise. The technician called the dell tech support to report the problem. After placing the technician on hold for about 41 min, he hung up. The technician who came to replace the part was also frustrated. We waited for sometime just to make sure if Dell Tech rep would call back. No response. The technician left and asked me to report and contact the Dell Tech support again.

* Sent an e-mail to Dell Customer support reporting the problem and their one liner response was to me call and talk to Dell Tech support again.

* Called Dell Tech Support again to report the issue. After reviewing the case, the person, agreed to replace the CPU and the heat sync.

Date: July 17th

* The replacement part was dispatched.

Date: July 18th

* Got a call from Technician to replace the part. I scheduled for part change on July 19th.

Date: July 19th

* The technician replaced the CPU and the heat sync. Also the CPU was refurbished and the there some dirt sticking on the side of CPU which sits on the Mother Board. The technician cleaned and replaced the part.

* After replacing the noise level came down and everything seemed to be ok.

Date: July 20th

* First noticed problem where I am getting BSOD( Blue Screen of death when I reboot the system error code: C000021A). I never saw this issue with my previous processor.

Date: July 27th

* Since I was busy, I could not call till July 27th. This was beginning for my nightmares.

* I spent most of the day with the dell tech rep, trying to diagnose this problem. They asked me restore my system to factory default OS setting. I was asked to leave VM at an ext provided.

* After backing up the data, I called them back and left a VM. No response, so I called again, this time not dialing the ext. I tried the options dell tech suggested. This did not resolve the problem.

* Then I was asked to re-install the OS. Since this would take some time, I again asked to leave a VM after the install to get a callback. After re-installing the OS I did an windows update and I started seeing the problem. Called an left a VM at the ext. No response again.

* Called the dell tech support again without dialing ext.

* The problem this time was much worse, I get a BSOD every time I cold boot the system. Suspecting if this was related to windows update, the Dell tech support asked me to re-install the OS again.

* Since the install would take some time, the dell rep said he will call back in couple of hours.

* The problem was seen now immediately after the re-install. I did not install any other sw or did not do windows update.

* The rep. who was supposed to call back, did not call.

* By this time, I was very tired and also it was late in the evening. So I decided to call back the next day.

* I have spent most of the day trying to debug the issue and talking to at least 5-6 tech support persons with no resolution in sight.

Date: July 28th

* Came from office and called dell tech support. I explained the problem and also suggested could the issue be with the processor which was changed. They refused to accept that and tried to do all diagnostics. None of which were not showing any signs of fixing the issue.

* After spending 2 hrs, the person asked me to run some tools as it would take some time he said he will call back in couple of hrs.

* As usual no callback.

* Since it was late for me, I decided to call it a day.

Date: July 29th

* Came back from office and called tech support again. I had to explain the problem again, and no progress what so ever. Once the tech hung on me and did not call back.

* I called them again, this time I had to re-explain the issue. After listening to me, he said that he is going to investigate into this issue call back in 30-45 min max.

* As again no call back.

* Sent an e-mail to dell customer service reporting the problem and as usual the one liner response was to call dell tech support who seemed to act clueless when the problem was seen only after the CPU was changed and was obvious.

* Also submitted an e-mail via the dell support web page for unresolved issues. No response from them till date.

Date: July 30th

* I was trying to be patient to get this resolved. Call the Tech Rep again. This time, the call got connected to a person in Dell Small business tech support. I was not aware of this until the end of the call. The person on the other end seemed to understand my issue and was patient to resolve the issue. One thing to note is that this time, the person was not from india. All the rep's I had talked to so far were from India. After looking into the issue, she was able to point out that the problem was either with CPU, RAM or the hard-drive. She then tried to set up a dispatch order to replace the parts. It was then she realized that my system should be handled to another dept. She then entered her comments into the system (that’s what she mentioned) and then transferred my call to the Dell Home System dept, which you would have guessed where it was handled.

* We had a conference with Dell Tech rep from India and after explaining the issue she hung up.

* Now the dell tech rep. after listening to her, places me on hold and comes back and tell that this could be a software issue like others and wanted to debug further instead of honoring what the lady had just talked.

* I was so frustrated with how the issue was handled. After a long discussion me trying to explain that the problem was first seen after the CPU was changed, he said he had to call back and promised to call on July31 at 7:30 pm (pst).

Date: July 31st

* I decided not to call and waited. No call received. I waited till 9:00 pm and had to go out. As my luck would have it, it turned out, he called after I left. I came back and left a VM at the extension provided, to me call back any time. I also sent a

Reply to the e-mail I got from dell to call back. No callback/e-mail response.

Date: Aug. 1st( today )

* I was so frustrated with all that is happening and level of service, I sent an e-mail via the unresolved issues link from dell.

I feel like I am at the mercy of the dell representatives. For the past five days, I was talking to the reps almost everyday and could not do anything else. There were no signs of help or attempts to resolve the issue. There is no way for me to escalate the issue, it is useless sending mail to dell customer service, as they just direct to dell tech support instead of trying to see how the issue could be handled. No response from "unresolved issues" link (not referring to the one sent today, but sent on July 29th).

Looks like I am at a dead end and do not know how to get his fixed. I tried to see if I can talk to some one in USA but could not find any numbers to call. Is there any other forum or numbers where I can call and report the issue? Is there anything I can do?

I guess if the tech support is based in US, my issue would have been resolved earlier. Without the PC at home, it is impacting my work at home.