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Ann Arbor, MI "Take your DELL to WALMART"

I didn't know you fixed computers ?? Yes those are the very words I heard yesterday at 6:30 A.M.

I woke up at 2:30 to let my dogs, all four of them out to do their business. Of course I being so obsessive went to check my email.

The computer was frozen, so I re-booted and got the blue screen.

Yikes..........

Re-booted again.

Now I have a black screen........

I'm outta here. I had paid for Dell Connect so called them up. (Opps, gotta let the dogs in........)

Got a really nice guy, Kevin. Very patient, he couldn't get it fixed after 2 ½ hours. It is now 6:00 A.M. He transfers me to the physical hardware dept. He says she will tell me how to take my computer case apart and see if anything is loose.

I am fairly good with software; not so much with hardware.

He says he will document everything he has done.

He did, but she is asking me the same questions and going through the same steps. I politely tell her, " I was being transferred to you, so you could check the hardware inside the computer to see if it was loose, Kevin already did all this."

She tells me that since I have been on the phone with him for 3 hours I had better take it to a service center.

"Oh, where is the DELL Service Center ?"

"You, don't have one in Ann Arbor, Michigan"?

Where should I take it?

She told me "To a WALMART"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I lost it, my husband came running and took over the phone.

What is this? I ordered the new Mother-board. I can't get it until the 18^th of December.

I'm going to look at MAC's today.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. No thank you, DELL. I am not taking my computer to Walmart.

*** Customer Service is so important in our careers. Even if you can't fix it, be patient and kind. Listen to what the "customer" is saying. Solve problems promptly and dont' take a week to get it resolved.****

Posted by Missy Caulk-Ann Arbor- Realtor(R)- Ann Arbor Real Estate on 12/12/2007 07:10 AM

Comments (70)

ann arbor, dell computers, support

Originally posted at: Ann Arbor Undressed : Ann Arbor, MI "Take your DELL to WALMART"

70 Comments on Ann Arbor, MI "Take your DELL to WALMART"

DEC

2007

I have had two dells that the hard drive crashed in about a week after the warranty and they wouldn't man up. I'm done with dell. They blow. Period. There, I said it.

Are you kidding me?!?!?! This is insane! I get hives everytime I have to go to Wally World!

WAL-MART?

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeesh!

I have never had a Dell. I have always had good luck with Compaq and HP. I am like you in that I would not be happy with being told to take my pc to Walmart!!

Missy:

There was a time when you had to be fluent in "Broken English" to speak to Dell's customer service people. I think they fixed that problem and hired reps that spoke better English.

You are so correct about customer service or lack thereof. When will companies wake up?

I always buy the extra-extended warranty (only on laptops). Of course if the crap didn't break so much - I wouldn't need it!

My other half just got a Mac and LOVES IT!!!!!!!!

Last time I bought a Dell I was a bit Tee'd Off when it arrived and I had to spend a few hours with tech support to even get it going. After getting past all the nonsense had to open up the machine, pull out cards and reseat them... That did work. The next day I realized the "ctrl" key didn't work and spent another hour on the phone with some dumb-ass that could not comprehend the keyboard was defective... Yes it was plugged in.. Yes.. every other key works... Never did get a new keyboard because my tolerance for stupid it to damn low...

BTW... That computer also had the BLUE SCREEN a year later... After a couple days and replacement of the hard drive without success I bought a new computer. Had someone look at the old one and it came down to a defective RAM chip... $50 and it was fixed. My son now has a nice computer for his room.

I feel your pain....but dont think changing brands is going to fix the problem.They are all complex mechanical devices that sometimes break. My old gateway has a new harddrive, fan, memory, cd drive. and video card. The only thing original is the power supply and the motherboard and the box itself. And Im thinking about a new motherboard. You have to find a reliable local repair shop for your computers just like for your cars. Telephone support is often not enough. And by the way... have a little compassion for tech support. Try calling Toyota tech support and having them walk you through a do it yourself diagnosis and fix for your Lexus.

Apple, at least has a network of stores. There is one near you at 100 Briarwood Circle Ann Arbor, MI 48108 (734) 780-2471

I've owned Dell computers for years, and have not had problems with any of them. When my local computer builder got a "real job" (his description), I had no choice but to look for alternatives. Since that time, I've had four Dells, each one being better than the last.

Call me a salesperson for Dell, I guess!

Our Dell just crashed and we had the geek squad come and fix it. They said Dell is the most that they fix but that doesn't really tell you anything unless you know the %'s of Dell's out there. It still isn't the same though. I hear good things all the time about Mac's but I know nothing about them so I'm hesitant to change. Sure as heck wouldn't go to Walmart though! Good luck!

Missy - Missy, Missy!! I can't believe your post... I thought it was JUST ME reacting to the RIDICULOUS customer service from Dell!

I was going to write a blog post about my 2+ hours on the phone with Dell trying to get them to help me figure out why my brand new printer takes over 5 minutes to print ONE Page. They spent about 45 minutes arguing with me over which printer I actually was calling about (I purchased a Dell system a couple of years ago, and they refused to acknowledge my new system!! Even though they just sent it to me!!). Finally, all of us exasperated, I was told that they would just send me a new printer. In all that time, I could have driven to Walmart and BOUGHT a new printer and had it installed before tech support got done with me.

New printer came, same exact problem. Feeling defeated, I did a Google search for "Dell All in One printer works very slow" and the #1 result was a forum - Major Geeks, maybe - and the guy on there had the EXACT issue as me. Turns out, it was Zone Alarm firewall causing the issues. I uninstalled Zone Alarm and the printer works fine.

Wouldn't you think that would have been one of the first things Tech Support would have asked me about - other software that might be interfering, rather than argue with me over which model I was calling on?

I had Dell for years, got a MAC and last year brought a Gateway for $450.00. The Dell is old and after several just sort of crapped out. I love my MAC really a superb machine which works beautifully but is a bit delicate and pricy. I do however love all things APPLE including their store. Th Gateway is the computer I love the most. It was cheap, never had a problem in the year I have had it, and if something breaks not sure it would worth the time to spend on the phone, just get a new one. It's a workhorse. Decided I don't need to spend 2000 dollars on a computer anymore.

Funny, but my experiences with Dell have been great. The most reliable laptop (out of three) that I've had is a Dell I bought four years ago. On the rare occasions when I've needed help, they got back to me immediately. I had a power cord/transformer that failed once. I made one phone call and the new one arrived in a package the next day.

By contrast, my seven-month old HP has been unreliable and slow, even though it has a "dual-core" processor. I had a Gateway that was in the shop all the time. My old Dell workstation still runs like a champ, as does the monitor.

Missy--I am so sorry to hear this. We had a Dell issue a few months back...The first tech said that one of the two hard drives failed and would have to be replaced. When it arrived the next day, I called again as they didn't tell me I had to send the other drive back...What about the information on it? As there was limited time or I would be charged for the drive, I called back. Seems the first tech didn't realize that I my coverage included onsite repair. So after that was arranged and completed, we called again to be walked through the repair. My husband was on the phone with the tech, not me. It took a couple of hours but this tech knew what he was doing. Only 2 of 3 of these people seemed to be up to speed there. We are so glad we called back but it was frustrating. So much better than our Gateway experience...That was a nightmare!! I don't think there is anyone with real customer service. I usually have to pay a $200 service call for real customer support through a local company.

What a nightmare! I haven't had any problems with my Dell..yet. But Walmart????? Yikes!

I'm not a big fan of Walmart myself. They have undertaken a huge public relations campaign to improve their image, but Walmart still treats their employees poorly.

Missy - Since I live about seven minutes from Dell's headquarters, I will run over there and speak to Michael about this today. :-) We have had several Dells, most of which have been fine. Honestly, my favorite computers are those we bought on Black Friday a few years ago to stock our office - they were $199 eMachines.

Missy: PLEASE don't tell me this!!! I just bought two new Dell laptops for my office. My husband's has already had issues...but were resolved on the phone. YIKES!!!!

Missy, all our computer USE to be Dells. You are reminding me why we started buying Toshiba's. I'm surprised you got someone that could speak English. It is so sad!!!!!!!

Missy,

I know what you went through. My Dell Inspiron 8000 was okay for a bit, and then everything went South.

Let me know what type of new computer you get, and how you like it. I need a new one for home. I have three at my office, and that forces me to come in and pick up the phone.

Remember the day when cell phones came out and they were like carrying a bag around?

It all changed real fast.

Sincerely

Tom Braatz

My poor Widdgy. I feel your pain. My laptop, my whole life just went completely blank on me, so I am using our home's desktop, which is just not the same. I mean computers are computers, but my little laptop was a part of me. It went every where I went, it even smells like me. LOL

Missy,

Tsk...Tsk...Please give us a 'what's up mac' update!!! Thanks, Fran

I am so glad Santa brought me a Toshiba laptop instead of a Dell. I've never really liked Dell's since I had one during marrige 2. I had to call cs a couple times and I couldn't understand them. I've never had a cs issue with my HP and I hope my Toshiba does me right!

Missy- Computer problems are my worst nightmare....and next would be customer service from another country that reads scripts on how to solve a problem......"Listening" isn't in the script, which then makes a simple solution into a major ordeal :)

Good luck with whatever new computer you get.......

Well, at least they didn't send you to India!...I've been a DELL customer for quite some time now. I'm on my 3rd laptop, and 4th desktop. Overall, I've been pleased. Let me know what you end up getting...

Missy, Walmart??? You've got to be kidding! I've had a Gateway laptop for over a year and not one hitch...nothing. I LOVE it! I was always an HP user, but they always crashed on me and about every 2-3 months I'd have it in the shop. You know, $100 here, $100 there...it all adds up. A friend suggested Gateway and I'm thrilled with mine, but I think when it's time to upgrade I'm going to MAC. My son has one and I really like his.

Missy, I paid top money to get what I thought was the best, a Dell...Never again. My computer just died one day about 2 years after I got it, Dell could not figure out the problem and although I paid extra for the in home service, would not send someone here. It makes me think of an old E Machine I bought from QVC. It was terrific. I hear the HP's are good and would be looking at them next time around.

Chris, I'm glad you said it. My bar isn't at the top to highlight names so sorry.

Renee, LOL

Fran, I know, can you believe it ?? Yea, I'll trust Walmart with a computer problem.

Kim, I had an HP lap top, gave it to my husband when I got my Tablet PC. It is a motion computer and I got it in 2005 and never had a problem. MY Dell is only 1 1/2 years old and have a string of problems on file.

Bill, the communication was OK, but lots of repeating. The first guy was really nice and helpful. He told me at one point you are a very good customer you have not got upset. The 2nd one was a woman who talked LOUD and too fast.

Al, I think it is getting worse everywhere. Minimum wage they just don't care. That is why we need to be great, and wow people. It is so unexpected.

James, I hope to get over there today and check them out. I know they give free one hour training anytime you want it. Just have to solve my MLS problem. Does anyone else use a MAC and how do you get around MLS problems?

Dan, what a pain !!! Even though your son got a nice computer, was it worth it?

Ron, I do have patience with tech support. UNTIL.........she told me to go to Walmart. The Briarwood store is great. Plan to go soon to check out desktops.

Vance, ok good, you can be the salesperson for DELL. LOL. We have had many, many over the years, but the last few one in 2004 and one in 2006 have been problems.

I just went through this with HP on a printer and after 30 minutes of answering questions to the automated response system I am routed to India to the call center where I can understand every other word they say. Finally shifted twice more to some on in the US that I can understand and we fixed the problem in another 15 minutes. Is this customer assistance or just too busy to talk to us so if we make it difficult you might just give up. Thanks for your post and I agree if we took care of our business like they do would we have any clients left.

Missy~ I one of the few that haven't had a problem with Dell. The one I've working on now is from 2003 and my Dell upstairs is from 1999. I am looking to get a new faster computer because of all the photos and music I keep throwing into mine, so I be reading the comments closely! Keep us posted on what you finally decide on.

Krista, my husband started on MAC's and then switched to PC's when I went into real estate. He would be thrilled if I went to a MAC.

KAREN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are kidding me? Zone Alarm is great but it interfered with my MLS so had to take it off; however it doesn't interfere with my assistants at all. Go figure.

Miriam, do you have to switch back and forth or is your MLS compliant ?

Eric, good for you. Glad to hear it.

Jason, we have those in our office too.

Elizabeth, Hope for the best.

Teri, that is too bad, usually they do tell you to send it back. Thanks so much for commenting, hope you feel better. I did after I wrote this.

Diane, wasn't that a stitch.. I couldn't believe my ears. Marchel, you're right is sad and DELL has been losing customers for years. I use a Motion Computer Tablet, the company was started by 2 former DELL executives. Michael didn't want to venture into tablets. I love mine but mostly when I am out. I am having to work on it now and I hate to use it like a desk top. Tom, I do remember those phones. I was dating a guy in college and his dad was a big builder and had one. I will definately let you know.

Mana, oh so sad. I know you felt you lost a friend. Yep they do smell like us.

Fran, :)

Lysa, great good for you. Thanks for stopping by and I am enjoying your series on your out-side blog. Even though it is painful to hear about what you had to go through. Kathy, I know I hate computer problems, for years it was a love-hate relationship, maybe it still is, but I am so dependant know. Rich, I'll let you know. Lynda, most kids do love MAC's.

Carole, I'm sorry. :(

Missy - I have a Dell and I'm not real impressed myself. My brother used to work for them so I can say that and not lose any of the Holiday Spirit when I go visit my family:-)

Terry, I agree, Customer service is getting bad in our country. We must take good care of our clients.

Lisa, I will and I think older Dells are much better. My husband has one from 2003, a dinasaur in computer world. No problems.

Jason, they have been laying off lots of people in Nashville but don't know about anywhere else. Thanks for stopping by.

Missy,

I have a Dell laptop too. I've had many issues with it, mostly software related because the drivers were all wrong, but I resolved them all myself. Luckily for me, I haven't had to call Dell support for anything.

I can tell you, after 14 years in retail and a few of those running a Best Buy store, the people you might find at Wal-Mart probably are no worse than any others you'll find elsewhere. I also know that all the major brands of computers have the same types of issues these days. It's all pluck and chuck when working on computers. You pluck the old part out and chuck it.

As for support. That's where most companies can set themselves apart. Much like Realtors. It's a huge cost to those companies and they try to get spend as little as they can, which usually means farming the calls out overseas. Those people just have a flow chart in front of them and get confused easily when the problem is off their charts.

Best of luck with the Apple.

I love my Dell...I've had it since 2005, no real issues except my "h" keeps popping off but I can put it back on. I'm not sure why they would say to take it to Walmart...are they an authorized Dell repair center? Sorry you've been having issues. I have my own on-site computer help (my husband is an engineer & knows all about this stuff, lucky me!)

I love Walmart, too...they just gave me a referral, remember? :)

Missy,

My dear,..checking your email in the middle of the night???

Andrew, they must have a flow chart because they kept putting me on hold to ask questions. Kelly, my husband is really good at computers too, but this is was too much. Lynda, well I was awake letting my dogs out.

Missy,

Please tell me your day improved. It couldn't have gotten worse. What puter did you use all day?

I was thinking of you and I hope all is well without too much difficulty!

Hi Missy, my laptop that recently crashed was because of the same issue. If it had been worth anything to fix it, I would have. I just bought a new one. Now I get to re enter my entire database. :(

Good luck with it. Let us know if you get a Mac and how you like it!

Missy

I have 5 Macs, An SE-30 built in 1989 to an IMac thats now two years old. Im down from 10. Just last week my wife made me clean out whats become the old mac closet. ...... hmmmm ......might be time for a new one...I have the room now. My mls is Rapatoni and it works on my pre intel chip I-Mac just fine. My problem is that everyone in the office uses top producer and that dosent work on the mac so I use a pc for most of my real estate business.

Mac se/30 vintage 1989...still works like brand new

Hmmmmmmmmm Wal Mart? Sounds like that service plan was a good one! Is all your software Mac based? If not you may need some conversion issues to run. I bought a new tablet note book...and I like it for presentation purposes. I still have the base unit with a 20" monitor, flat screen. I can hardly think of that kind of crash....wow. Remember Missy you can always go to Wal Mart.....they have gift cards too! Nice post...hope you got some sleep.

Karen, ohhh my day was OK, my daughter is not speaking to me, moved out. She doesn't want to leave R. Ron, wow, we have a MAC like that in our basement. You're kidding it still works. I love it. Gary, I'm not anti-Walmart. Hey I grew up in the South. I love my tablet PC too but not for my work horse. I slept great last night.

DEC

2007

I have no idea how you kept your cool through that. WalMart????? I think I may have been tempted to pack it up, take it to WalMart, ask for the manager and stand there until the manager himself/herself fixed it. (All while on the phone to tech support also.) Shame we don't have enough hours in the day to deal with idjit responses like that.

Kris, if I hadn't have been so exhausted, I might have thought of that.

Going over to the Mac side? I hear the sun is always shining over there.

Brian Wilson, Zolve.com

DEC

2007

Hi Missy,

You read an earlier post of mine on Macs and their excellent customer service so you know where I stand on computers and I'm happy that you're thinking about getting a Mac! Jeff Turner would be happy too! Lol.

Have a great Friday!

All I use is Dell's and I am extremely happy with them. We still have had our share of issues with them but they always stand behind their product. I always buy the extended warranty on them which comes with in-home service. I am very handy with the computer and have replaced things out before but the last time when my motherboard was giving me issues they came over THAT day replaced it out and a few other things because he suggested to do it because it was under warranty and things have been great ever since.

Missy, When our children were young in the 90's, my husband and I had a side business building custom computers - he was certified by Microsoft as an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and did the building; I did the office work. He was full-time as a hardware/software engineer with Ford Motor as well. When Gateway was able to so thoroughly customize at great prices, he knew it was time to sell the business. In recent years he has panned both Gateway and Dell - quality and service had slipped. We have only bought HP since for laptops/printers/faxes and have been very satisfied. (He still custom-builds our desktops.) Very few issues with the HPs, a new cord needed on two units and a new battery on another. Our daughter's died after 3 years, but dropping it from the upper bunk regularly during freshman year at UM had to be a contributing factor there! Apparently size does matter - the smaller the laptop the more likely the problems. Something is sacrificed for convenience and interference issues are more common with everything so packed in. For what it's worth, my husband wouldn't touch a Mac, but I know plenty of people love them.

One more point, external backups! Backup early and often!

Brian, I went to the MAC store yesterday. Now I am deciding if I want to add another change into my life right now. But, I may get my husband one for Christmas and get use to it.

Stacy, who comes to your home ?

Susan, well arent' you the lucky one. Kevin from KW came and took it away today, the mother board came and my husband installed it last night, but still the blue screen. So Kevin worked on it for several hours and thinks it is the hard drive. So he took it away to work on it.

DEC

2007

Missy,

I am a customer advocate here at Dell headquarters in Texas. I found your blog and wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help. I don't believe Jason ever contacted Michael Dell about this, but if he was able to my team would be the one Michael would give this to.

I want to apologize for the tech telling you to take the computer to Wal-Mart for repairs. While Dell does sell computers in Wal-Mart (and other) stores now, they do not work on the Dell computers. Even if you had purchased the computer from the Wal-Mart store, the most they could do would be to do a credit return. For everything else you would need to go to Dell. Also, Dell's only "service center" is our notebook repair depot. They only work on notebook computers, and do not have the parts to work on desktops. For repair work on desktop computers such as yours, we would have an onsite technician come out to work on the system and/or send out replacement parts.

From what I see in the notes the replacement motherboard you purchased was delivered on the 13th (the day after you called in). Have you had a chance to get that installed yet, and if so did it fix the problem? From the notes Kevin left I believe the motherboard is the most likely point of failure but, unfortunately, until the replacement board is installed there is no way to tell for sure. As someone else pointed out, computers are complex, and the motherboard is one of the most complex of them all since it has to tie everything else together.

If you are still having problems with your computer, or if you have any questions or additional feedback for me, please let me know. You can email me at customer_advocate (with 'ATTN: Larry (walmart)' in the subject to ensure it gets to me) if you prefer.

Larry
Dell Customer Advocate

Hi Larry, Kevin was not the one who told me to go to Walmart, it was the 2nd level up girl. Kevin was fine and I have absolutely NO complaints against him at all. We struggled with language a bit, but he was very patient with me and did all he could do. It was when he turned me over to the hardware 2nd level up that things went sour. She was impatient, talked too loud, too fast. She is the one who told me to take it to Walmart.

The mother board arrived early, I was told it would not leave the ware house until the 17th and the earliest it would be here was the 18th. But, it came early. It arrived on the 13th, Thursday, installed that night. I had spoken to dell connect at 2:30 A.M. until 6:00 on the 11th. No biggy.

My husband use to work at U.of M on technology so he installed the mother board, and that was not the problem. However, we are going to keep it because I have always had problems with the USB ports, if you can read my history. We were still getting the blue screen with the new mother-board.

At this point the manager at KW who is trying hard to recruit me away from RE/MAX recommended his tech guy, Kevin Williams. Kevin came to my house, worked 2 hours and said he needed to take it to his office where he had more things to work with it. This was Friday.

He had it fixed by Friday night at 10:00, it was the hard-drive. He was able to clean up the issues and save it.

I appreciate you contacting me here. Did this get picked up by a Google Alerts?

Please understand the issue was not with Kevin. We have only bought DELLS from DELL, not Walmart or anywhere else. We have 4 in our home at the present time. However, we just got back from the Apple Store where we bought a lap top for my daugher for Christmas and my husband a desk-top.

When I went into real estate 13 years ago, we switched to PC's. My husband always loved MAC's, so he is happy.

With so much going on in my life right now, I am not in the mood to learn a new operating system and mine is working like a charm at this time.

Again, let me thank you for taking the time to post here. My email is Missy@MissyCaulk.com if you need to email further.

DEC

2007

I'm glad to hear you got the system working again. From what you describe it sounds like Kevin Williams may have had to back up your data and reinstall Windows. It definitely sounds like he got things resolved.

I read through the notes from your other calls into support for that system and would have recommended keeping the motherboard for those reasons as well, especially if you were having other hardware problems such as the USB ports not working.

From the sounds of it Kevin, the first person you worked with, is the type of tech Dell is always looking to hire. Just so you know I will be passing your feedback (as well as some of my own) on to the manager of the second technician.

I understand you bought all of your systems from Dell. My comments about Wal-Mart were to make sure you had the correct information about Dell computers and Wal-Mart, particularly in light of the bad information you had gotten from the second technician.

I will be sending you a short email in case you had any other feedback you wanted to include about either Kevin or Cheryl (the second tech). If you had any other problems or questions about the computer I will be more than happy to provide any help I can.

Larry
Dell Customer Advocate

Thanks Larry, not my intent to get anyone in trouble.

DEC

2007

I know, but passing on the feedback is the best way to make sure other people are not given bad information as well. Dell is always looking for feedback from our customers. It is the best way for us to know where we need to focus on improving our quality of service. The fact that Dell makes changes based on customer feedback is one of the things I like about working here.

DEC

2007

Missy, I have a Dell and an older Toshiba. The Toshiba just had the hard drive crash and it was irrepairable so what did I do? Got a newer, smaller Toshiba. So far, again, so good, but back up on web or memory sticks all your key files. WalMart for Dell support? I don't think so.

Best Buy says they will be selling Dells in 2008.

JUL

2008

been jumping hoops too.. I told dell I didn't really care much for working on my laptop thats what I paid them to do when I bought it 4 year extended service and hardware.. I don't remember them saying anything about me doing the work..Just try to get them to give you a address to mail it to for repairs.

when I take my car in for repairs they don't ask me to check all the fluids and does it smell warm..Duh

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