DELL Dell DELL Studio 15 Dead on Arrival Nightmare Internet

I placed an order online for a Dell Studio 15 notebook around June 28th. For my surprise I was never contacted via email saying any status or shipping info for my order, except two days after I placed the order that I received a "Thank you for your order" email.

I tried to log into their website and everytime I used my account it failed. I reset the password a few times, and even with the new password, an error would show and I couldnt see any info about my order.

Then magically one day on July 22nd the laptop comes on the mail via DHL, and it was shipped on July 18th. Thats about 20 days after my order.

I upgraded the 1 year warranty on this laptop and added a few parts, nothing that

When I opened the box, the first odd thing I noticed was that the battery was attached to the laptop, which typical you find them on a separate box or plastic bag.

When I turned it on, blank screen. The display wouldn't turn on, just the backlight and a dead blue pixel right on the middle on the screen. I tried doing Fn+F1 to see if it was a display output thing and nothing. The laptop lights would turn on, and no sound no nothing. It was dead.

I called Dell and to my surprise, their support hours were 8am to 9pm or something according to what the recording said.

Next day I called to complain about the DOA and after their basic troubleshooting the tech support person says it is damaged and since my warranty was repair only, that I needed to have it taken to one of their centers for repairs.

At this point I'm like, "you have to be kidding me, you send me a dead laptop, you replace it for a new one", and they insisted that my warranty was for repairs, which according to their info on the website, you have the 21 day policy for returns on damaged items for exchange or refund.

At that point I said no way, either replace the laptop for a new one or refund me my money. They said that they could have a tech guy come to my house in about 45 business days to have it checked and when I said that was unacceptable, they offered me a replacement laptop in 45 business days...

At that point I got pissed, who in their right mind would either accept a dead on arrival laptop and have it repaired, or wait another 45 days on top of the 20 days it took for the original order for a laptop? I mean, in that time I can just go to a local store and buy one with 1 year warranty (which was my original reason on buying a Dell because of their extended warranty which no other brand gives on where I live).

I then got really pissed and asked for a supervisor or someone that could help me because of their ridiculous options and the tech guy refused because "he was helping me".

After 45 minutes fighting over the phone with this person, saying things like how outrageous is to send a laptop without even testing it, I mean, what do they do with it for 20 days? According to their website they go through some testing to ensure they are in perfect condition before shipping, so I guess they didn't do it with mine.

I then asked for a refund and the person said, "are you sure you want that? because refunds also take 45 business days to process" WHAT???

Well after I hung up, I tried calling again to see if I could talk to a reasonable person and after 2-3 attempts they all said the same. One of them even hung up the phone on me!!!

I also called customer service to report how bad I was treated, specially since this was the 3rd laptop I've bought from them and that is the way they treat me? Wasted 3 hours of my life on that and all I got was that I was supposed to be called back with the information of the return, but it could take up to a week while they processed this and knew what to do with my case...

I've bought from other brands, like HP and have called them for broken issues and on the same call they get all the information and send you a prepaid box next day for you to put the laptop in and ship it to them and 4-5 days later you get it back repaired. All in the same call.

Well I called the next day because I was still waiting for that promised call to give me the information on how the return was going to proceed. Nothing on the system. I opened two reports on their website, and received an automatic email saying that I would get an answer in the next 48 hours, which I never received a reply.


I waited a week and called again, they said my replacement was being processed. Now I got pissed again because I specifically asked for a refund and they had me set up for a replacement. After some fighting again they fixed it on the system and transferred me to get my address (as if they didn't had it already) and said that in 1-2 weeks the laptop was going to be picked up.

I wait 15 days, haven't received a call from Dell, or someone that is going to pick it up. I call again, tell the story, and the person that is on the phone says to me "Sir, you have to be patient, this usually takes some time, something like 1-2 weeks" to which I reply "Patient? Its my money you have holding, making interests on the bank? And because of you I now have to pay interests on my credit card because of you? And by the way, those two weeks were due yesterday so don't tell me to be patient"

They apologize (again, as if they mean it) and resubmit the ticket for a pickup.

Another week has passed. No one has contacted me for the pickup. I call again and they said that DHL has tried to contact me and haven't been able to do so, which I reply it is a lie since I don't even have a missed call on my cellphone or a voicemail saying they tried to contact me. Now this is the fun part, the guy says, "Its true sir, we have had some delays with DHL and they are two weeks behind." OMG they lie to me and then admit it!

Next day I receive an email from Dell for a survey! HA! It was fun to say how lame their service was.

So the next week (5th week after I received the dead laptop) DHL calls me to schedule a pickup the next day. At this point I expect the worst from Dell so I take the laptop out of the box it has been sitting for the last 5 weeks, I take like 50 pictures of the laptop from all angles (specially the screen) because I'm thinking these guys could even said I broke or damaged the laptop and they wouldn't replace it.

Next day DHL picks it up, gives me a tracking number. I checked it while it was being tracked. I see it being delivered. Now the waiting game...

No email, no nothing, no confirmation that they received it. No calls, nothing. Funny thing they always ask for your email address when you call but don't use it because they don't send out information to the customer. Worst service ever.

At least the end of the story was good, Two weeks after DHL picked it up, the refund was done to my credit card. But not even once they even send me an email or a call apologizing for what they did. They didn't even offered me a replacement laptop that was better or something equivalent and give me something free for all the trouble. In times like this where the economy is so bad and the competition is hard, these big computer companies should at least try to keep their customers happy.