Awful Dell tech support, absolutely awful

My journey started with a PowerEdge 400SC rig my sister purchased under my advisement a while back. The problem with this machine is that it came with two IDE devices hooked up in the master positions of IDE 1 and IDE 2, and I wanted to add another HD.

A cinch right? No, if you connect up any IDE device as a slave the BIOS ignores it. If you disconnect the IDE cables from the motherboard, the BIOS still believes there are two devices hooked up in the master positions just that they aren't "recognized." As was hinted at on the dell forums from a professional technician/server admin who hit the same wall it turns out you have to reset the CMOS (via an undocumented jumper) and boot with the drives in position so that the BIOS can go through its auto-configuration run, and no you can't do this in the BIOS.

This is a stupid problem on a machine that was supposedly meant as a server, something which you would expect to have more hardware changes than on a normal user's machine. And I'm on the 10th (newest) edition of the BIOS, and this issue hasn't been caught yet?



This really made me start to wonder about the quality of dell machines in general if they let something like this slip past. After some searching I came up with some sites talking about absolutely hellish tech support, and quite a few of them. Here are some of them:



Two well written stories from the same person, with links to others.
http://replays.blogspot.com/

A looong list of consumer complaints.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/dell_svc.html

A not so well written, or organized site, but it does contain quite bit of information and many complaints.
http://www.computergripes.com/Dell.html




My god this is awful crap.

Gotta say it'll be a cold day in hell before I recommend dell to any family or friends who look to me for computer info.

In the BIOS IDE 1 slave spot - if you hit enter do you get an option to set it to Auto?

There is no excuse for those kinds of deficiencies.
That said servers don't usually use IDE devices.

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Originally Posted by Steve R Jones

In the BIOS IDE 1 slave spot - if you hit enter do you get an option to set it to Auto?

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No, there are practically no configuration options in the BIOS.





Was looking some more over the *edit* consumer affairs (not reports) *tide* website, and its a cool site. Has some general consumer info and a place to view and place complaints, if perhaps a bit of a pain to search and get used to.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/rogues.html

Dell is actually not that bad. (not like other company is any better.. )

I ordered a $1581 laptop from them and yesterday I called them and talked to a nice lady in Oregon and she gave a $200 credit on my bill. I was on the phone for about 10-12 minutes.

Alot of people say dell sucks.. tech support wise it might be if you don't know jack about PC.. I've never called them for tech support. but there regular customer service with orders cancel/status check/changes are pretty decent. other than than maybe some wait to get to a rep.

the last time I actually needed tech help was for a dead HD but I don't recall the phone call taking too long. I just told them I'm a tech and what I did and the rep sent a guy over next day.. he was at my house for 10 minutes and even gave me a extra SATA cable.

sometimes you have to talk to them nicely

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Originally Posted by Mancora

My journey started with a PowerEdge 400SC rig my sister purchased under my advisement a while back. The problem with this machine is that it came with two IDE devices hooked up in the master positions of IDE 1 and IDE 2, and I wanted to add another HD.
...
Gotta say it'll be a cold day in hell before I recommend dell to any family or friends who look to me for computer info.

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Odd and I sympathize, but running IDE on a PowerEdge doesn't make sense. Those PERC controllers are there for a reason.

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Hmm, I'm surprised that box carries a PE designation, I see that it's made for SATA and doesn't have even a single PERC, much less the duel PERC setup I'm used to.

The smallest PE I've run is a 2600 (2U)

I have to say, our Inspiron Laptops power brick went bad last week I called on Thursday at 5pm. Spoke to a guy who we'll call Achmed (indian call center dude obviously). And despite the huge language barrier explaining to him I needed a new AC adapter and was positive. He told me it could take a week to get it.

I had the adapter in hand at 3pm Friday. So while it really blows that they use non-native speakers to do their tech support. once they do resolve an issue they are really good about getting in gear to fix the problem.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mancora

This is a stupid problem on a machine that was supposedly meant as a server, something which you would expect to have more hardware changes than on a normal user's machine.

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While I agree that the IDE setup on that box is silly, the underlined part above is wrong. Servers aren't commonly upgraded, except an occasional RAM or disk upgrade. Most IT shops spec out a server to perform a specific purpose or run a particular application for a planned period of time (like 3 years or so), and give it enough horsepower to last that time without needing any changes. Slap it in the rack and forget about it until it's time to replace or upgrade the application. When that time comes, it's common to replace the server, too, for performance and support reasons.

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Originally Posted by GeForce255

, I'm surprised that box carries a PE designation, I see that it's made for SATA and doesn't have even a single PERC, much less the duel PERC setup I'm used to.

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It's a PowerEdge SC. Models in the SC line are Dell's low-end servers. Honestly, they have more in common with the Optiplex desktop line than the rest of the PowerEdge server lineup.

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Originally Posted by LiquidChaos

So while it really blows that they use non-native speakers to do their tech support. once they do resolve an issue they are really good about getting in gear to fix the problem.

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Support for their consumer lines (Dimension, Inspiron, etc.) is generally handled by overseas call centers. Support for business models (PowerEdge, Optiplex, Latitude) is normally handled in the U.S.

At one point, Dell planned on sending support for business models overseas. Dell reconsidered that move after receiving backlash from enterprise customers threatening to take their business elsewhere.

sorry to hear about your "technical" related problem. I can't comment on that since I never use it.

but I have to stand up for dell again here.. at least for their customer service department.

They just released a new line of XPS laptops. (the m1330) and the new line of Insprion laptops

the older m1210 I had I had it for over amonth (past their return period). I called them up and they let me return it for a full refund and even pay for the shipping.

I ordered online the new m1330 model the other day. $1984 with all the loaded options I want.

just earlier today I found out that give discount to university but in reality the "discount" is BS as they charge higher price than if you wait for a sale.

long story short, I called up and talked to another nice lady and complain about the pricing. and I was able to get another order in with same configuration as before AND
- with the color I really wanted
- free nylon bag
- 3 year warranty (as oppose to the 1 year of my previous orders)
- $1681.50 and no tax or shipping.

Funny thing is I don't even go school :) I just tell her I'm ordering it for my cousin who goes to some university in kansas. (I just googled up a random university name and look througth their website and found a student name :)

Moral of the Story:
With dell and probably a lot of other companies some of the things that a rep or tech can do for you are up to their digression

You just have to be nice and talk to them with respect, you'll be amaze how far it can get you.



ohh btw: I just go the acknowledgement email for that sham order. I hope they don't dig into the order and find out the student name doesn't have a dell university/pereimer account and possibilly cancel the sweet order:P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LiquidChaos

So while it really blows that they use non-native speakers to do their tech support. once they do resolve an issue they are really good about getting in gear to fix the problem.

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I find them pretty nice actually, the language accent is a pain. but most of them are courteous and get the job done.

here's a trick for fast customer service.
dell.com -> support the have a link for online chat with their reps. it's pretty quick and less painful than being on hold on the phone.