[NTLUG:Discuss] Dell nightmare

[Richard Humphrey]

Heres a good one. We have a Dell Poweredge server here that is out of
warranty. We had a problem with the backplane and needed to get it
replaced. After the 30 minutes confirming info to someone in India, I
was finally able to place the order for the replacement. I said that I
would like it overnighted, I confirmed that they had the part in stock,
but when I received my order confirmation via fax, the scheduled ship
date for the part was two weeks in advance. Fortunately I received the
part in about a week (The server was still working at the time so it
wasn't "critical") , but it turned out to be the incorrect part, so I
had to go through it all again and am still waiting for my backplane to
arrive. We have in the last year switched from buying Dell to buying IBM
which in my opinion is a much better machine. I have only had to call
IBM for support once and they were very easy to deal with compared to
Dell. Good thing I didn't need something truly overnighted from Dell.

-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at ntlug.org [mailto:discuss-bounces at ntlug.org] On
Behalf Of Paul Ingendorf
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2003 8:18 PM
To: NTLUG Discussion List
Subject: RE: [NTLUG:Discuss] Dell nightmare


Unfortunately I too have had such problems with the idiots wasting my
time because they are following a script written to prevent as many
repair orders as possible.  The problem is all vendors have to find ways
to be competitive.  Once the laptop is sold the only way they can
prevent the repair departments from being a cost center is to charge for
what used to be considered warranty work.  The flip side is to
underwrite the loss with an insurance agency who then pays them when a
unit breaks.  Many companies have already been bitten by this and a few
have even gone out of business because of it.  The next step to save
money is that they should move their support overseas were it doesn't
cost as much to "man the phones".  The logical conclusion for many in
that marketplace was India.  Why because most everyone there gets a
state sponsored degree.  Many may even have a masters or doctorate.
Find me a master graduate who will work for 10 dollars an hour in the
US.  The unspoken question that I think is being answered by folks such
as yourself Thomas is that their degrees aren't worth a crap.

You will sacrifice price for a quality company bottom line.  The
question is that will the marketplace bare companies who value their
customers.  Even companies that used to bend over backwards in areas of
support like Apple have succumb to the pressures of competition.


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