Problems with Dell Tech Support

[don]

About 2 weeks ago I posted a question asking what would be the cause and
solution to fixing my Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop whose screen went suddenly
virtually black - with the icons only being able to be seen if I shined a
bright light on the screen - the suggested fixes were either the backlight
or the inverter - so I sent my laptop back to Dell and they charged me $450
for an entire screen replacement job and when I complained the Dell rep told
me "you can't just replace the backlight" - when I continued to argue with
him and asked him to send me an email stating exactly why they had to
replace my screen he told me that in a few days someone else will call me
to better explain the problem - this has been going on for about a week now
between emails and phone conversations and I still can't get anything in
writing from them - just very polite indians telling me to please hold on
and we will get back to you shortly? So once again, since I am not an
expert on laptop screeens is there any other reason why my screen would have
to be replaced given the fact that it was working perfectly. Is this a
fairly straight forward problem and fix?

 

[johns]

Their techs are told to do part swaps .. not troubleshoot.
Put yourself in the place of that lady in the Federal Govt
who was down 5 weeks with Dell Techs walking in and
out swapping parts, when the entire problem was a
Federal Security hack that locked her out because
she typed in the wrong passwd 3 times. They took
her hard drive with a million dollars worth of data on
it, and just shrugged their shoulders. Tough! Good
thing that hard drive didn't have a million federal
employees SS #s on it. Dell just lost their Federal
Contract too. It went back to IBM. On the other
hand, I'm a REAL computer tech. I walked in,
found nothing wrong with the hardware, recovered
her data, and figured out the hack, and the Feds
reset it for her. Took me all of about 45 minutes,
and I did it for free. Plus !!!!!! I work about 5 blocks
away from her office, and speak English.

johns

 

[ToolPackinMama]

I'm a REAL computer tech. I walked in,
found nothing wrong with the hardware, recovered
her data, and figured out the hack, and the Feds
reset it for her. Took me all of about 45 minutes,
and I did it for free. Plus !!!!!! I work about 5 blocks
away from her office, and speak English

::applause:: Hooray for you!

 

[Agent_C]

I'm a REAL computer tech. I walked in,
found nothing wrong with the hardware, recovered
her data, and figured out the hack, and the Feds
reset it for her. Took me all of about 45 minutes,
and I did it for free. Plus !!!!!! I work about 5 blocks
away from her office, and speak English

I'll also bet you'd never work for the paltry salary these 'techs' are
paid at Dell. That's the problem... Most OEM's are not willing to
invest in support.

A_C

 

[JAD]

Their techs are told to do part swaps .. not troubleshoot.
Put yourself in the place of that lady in the Federal Govt
who was down 5 weeks with Dell Techs walking in and

this story is beginning to sound like my grand dads mumblings of the war

out swapping parts, when the entire problem was a
Federal Security hack that locked her out because
she typed in the wrong passwd 3 times. They took
her hard drive with a million dollars worth of data on
it, and just shrugged their shoulders. Tough!

you were standing there? and who decided it was worth a million? let me
guess you. Should have made it 10 million

Good

thing that hard drive didn't have a million federal
employees SS #s on it. Dell just lost their Federal
Contract too. It went back to IBM. On the other
hand, I'm a REAL computer tech. I walked in,
found nothing wrong with the hardware, recovered
her data, and figured out the hack, and the Feds
reset it for her. Took me all of about 45 minutes,
and I did it for free. Plus !!!!!! I work about 5 blocks
away from her office, and speak English.

could you get this guy a medal?

 

[Sjouke Burry]

About 2 weeks ago I posted a question asking what would be the cause and
solution to fixing my Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop whose screen went suddenly
virtually black - with the icons only being able to be seen if I shined a
bright light on the screen - the suggested fixes were either the backlight
or the inverter - so I sent my laptop back to Dell and they charged me $450
for an entire screen replacement job and when I complained the Dell rep told
me "you can't just replace the backlight" - when I continued to argue with
him and asked him to send me an email stating exactly why they had to
replace my screen he told me that in a few days someone else will call me
to better explain the problem - this has been going on for about a week now
between emails and phone conversations and I still can't get anything in
writing from them - just very polite indians telling me to please hold on
and we will get back to you shortly? So once again, since I am not an
expert on laptop screeens is there any other reason why my screen would have
to be replaced given the fact that it was working perfectly. Is this a
fairly straight forward problem and fix?

Be glad they did not "restore" your harddisk....

 

[johns]

I'll also bet you'd never work for the paltry salary these 'techs' are
paid at Dell. That's the problem... Most OEM's are not willing to
invest in support.

True, but the cost of her downtime .. to all
of us ... was a heck of a lot more than I get
paid. The Feds would have made a profit
using my services.

johns

 

[johns]

you were standing there? and who decided it was worth a million? let me
guess you. Should have made it 10 million

I actually calculated it with her. It was a LOT
MORE than 10 mil to lose her data. And when
I asked about "backups?", she said that the
only backup was the crapped out image the
Dell techs were hauling in the door .. that
would not run until I figured out the hack.
The Feds did not even know their own hack
.... and it was a Win95 era lockout to DOS.
This thing was a joke.

johns

 

[saturnlee]

Replacing LCD backlight is not a easy job for some of the LCD panels.
Some of the backlights are locked inside the metal panel that hold
plastic LCD display(screen). To remove backlight , you have to remove
many screws and unlocked many tabs, and then remove the screen. The
screen is connected to couple ic by very thin, flat green cable. The
cable is very thin and you can break it easily if you are not careful.
Then remove the screws and replace the backlight. The most difficult
part is not to get any hair or dust on the screen and the transparent
plastic , otherwise you will see it when it turn it on. Of course this
is the worst case.
Some of the LCD panel's backlight is very easy to replace, but finding
replacement is a bit difficult and time-consuming. i don't think any
dell tech will do anything like this.
$450 seems crazy(but dell is not charity), you can buy 3~4 LCD panel
off ebay with this amount. If i were you, i 'd replace it myself.

It looks straight

 

[saturnlee]

Replacing LCD backlight is not a easy job for some of the LCD panels.
Some of the backlights are locked inside the metal panel that hold
plastic LCD display(screen). To remove backlight , you have to remove
many screws and unlocked many tabs, and then remove the screen. The
screen is connected to couple ic by very thin, flat green cable. The
cable is very thin and you can break it easily if you are not careful.
Then remove the screws and replace the backlight. The most difficult
part is not to get any hair or dust on the screen and the transparent
plastic , otherwise you will see it when it turn it on. Of course this
is the worst case.
Some of the LCD panel's backlight is very easy to replace, but finding
replacement is a bit difficult and time-consuming. i don't think any
dell tech will do anything like this.
$450 seems crazy(but dell is not charity), you can buy 3~4 LCD panel
off ebay with this amount. If i were you, i 'd replace it myself.