Back in late August of 2019, I purchased a Dell laptop computer after doing extensive research to determine what the best laptop would be for my needs. I used the computer with no issues until late September of 2021, which was one month after the warranty expired. Basically, my computer would not start up, so I contacted Dell technical support and was informed that I would have to pay for of warranty charges to have the unit repaired. The IO/daughter board and main logic board had to be replaced, and the operating system reinstalled, which wiped out everything I had stored on the device. Then by the end of October of that year, the battery died and I had to purchase a new one.

It didn’t surprise me when the Dell laptop could not be booted up on December 19th, 2022, because I was already wary of its reliability based on what had happened in 2021. The following day, I called Dell and was literally scolded for having a computer which had no active warranty, but I insisted on getting some assistance, and was transferred to tech support. The technician initially believed it was a software issue, and informed me that once I paid a $99 fee for the software installation, he would arrange to call me the following day to assist me in installing the software. The technician failed to call me on the 21st, and there was no call on the 22nd, so I called Dell on the 23rd inquiring about the scheduled software installation.

A Dell technician assisted me during that call and attempted to have the software installed, but determined that the issue was with the hardware, not the software. He informed me that I would be refunded the $99 I had paid previously, but that I had to pay a separate $59 for the shipping box to be sent to me, and that the payment had to be made through a link in an email which would be sent to me. I agreed to this and clicked on the email once it was sent over, only to discover that Dell completely butchered my shipping address and phone number. When I called to inform them of this, they told me the mistakes could not be corrected via phone, thus leading me on a wild goose chase in which I had to send numerous emails to rectify the situation.

When I received the shipping box in which my laptop would be sent to Dell, I noticed that the manner in which my shipping address had been corrected was with a Sharpie marker. I reluctantly sent the computer to Dell and waited for the diagnostic team to ferret out the problem with my system. I finally received an email on January 6th informing me that the hard drive had to be replaced, and the driver and operating system had to be reinstalled, meaning that I once again would lose all data on the computer. I was prepared to pay for the repairs, but I was unable to authorize the work without informing Dell that once again, my shipping address and phone number were incorrect. What then ensued was a stream of emails between Dell and me in which someone from Dell would partially correct my address, then when I indicated that the address was still incorrect, the person changed my address back to the completely incorrect one. This occurred THREE TIMES, and when the address was finally corrected, my phone number was changed back to an incorrect number. It drove me completely batty. The idiots at Dell actually were trying to reach me by phone, but guess what? They were attempting to call me via the incorrect phone number!

By that point I had already ordered another laptop (an HP) because I just didn’t trust the reliability of the Dell laptop which was being repaired. I received my repaired Dell laptop in late January, then noticed that I had never received the $99 credit from December 20th, so I called Dell again, unprepared for the nightmare call which would transpire. I was on the phone for over an hour, and was transferred FOUR TIMES. On top of that, three of the individuals I spoke with mentioned that I was out of warranty, as if that was a pertinent fact in my pursuit of the refund which they owed me. When I was transferred to the fourth representative, I told him that I never received any refund, to which he replied that he had record of it being received, and that my bank was wrong, then hung up on me without even saying goodbye. I was livid.

I ended up having to get my bank involved, and finally received the $99 refund in February. Incidentally, the bank was NOT wrong, Dell was.

All of my experiences with Dell have been so upsetting that I will never purchase a Dell product ever again. The incompetence and rudeness of the representatives I spoke with was astounding, and to be honest, the repaired Dell laptop is little more than a paperweight at this point.