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Katsunami · 08-13-2017, 05:59 PM

Well, the Dell laptop has been fixed. A number of worthy rants...

1. Consumer authority (ACM) in the Netherlands is crap. I bought a business laptop, but I am a normal consumer with regard to buying the laptop. I'm NOT a business. ACM's complaint desk can't seem to understand the fact that this is a 'business laptop' only because DELL states it as such, and provides "Next Business Day Warranty". They can't wrap their heads around the fact that I, _AS A CONSUMER_ bought a business laptop.

They keep telling me:
- We can't help with purchases made for business use.
- We don't have enough information to help.
- We don't understand your situation.

Hire some people with brains for FRACK's sake! The only thing relevant is that I am a _consumer_, not a business, so _consumer_ law applies to me. The fact that DELL calls the laptop a 'business model' is of no concern.

2. Dell's keyboard costs €45, and will cost an additional amount of €30 to ship, when ordering through DELL Netherlands. That makes €75. Shipping time would be 10-15 business days. Can someone tell me why I can order the same keyboard through EBay, from a reputable seller, for €31, _including shipping_, from the USA, and have in my house 10 days (NOT business days) after ordering?

3. I've been reading around on the internet. Somewhere in 2014 or 2015, DELL has changed its policy. I'm finding many complaints that they are not honoring their warranty. It seems they have have included a clause that all mechanical damage (broken hinges, keys, whatever) are automatically classified as user damage. In short, they can get away with building laptops out of cheap material, because when it breaks, it's 'user damage'.

To me, that reeks of a company that's in financial trouble, and trying to save money wherever they can; not knowing that bad service will cost them so many sales in the long run that they will *really* go bust.

4. I've replaced the keyboard. The amount of dust in there was PHENOMENAL, even though I dust it off each and ever time the laptop comes out of the laptop bag. The only thing I can think of is that the cooling system sucks dust into the laptop, which then gets trapped between the keys. This amount of dust just HAD to break the keyboard sooner or later. I should have taken a picture of it; that was just ridiculous.

This leaves me to take the front frame of the keyboard off every 3 months or so, to clean the keyboard with compressed air.... with the risk of breaking said frame, or the pins it uses to click down to the body.

5. Because of all this, it'll problably be my last DELL laptop. I'm going to return to a desktop for daily use, and use a cheap laptop as a backup after this one fails or can't keep up any longer. (I also still have its 8 year old predecessor, the Lattitude E6500... which had wonderful warranty service, and it still works, although it's a bit scratched up now.)

08-13-2017, 05:59 PM	#30687
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	Well, the Dell laptop has been fixed. A number of worthy rants... 1. Consumer authority (ACM) in the Netherlands is crap. I bought a business laptop, but I am a normal consumer with regard to buying the laptop. I'm NOT a business. ACM's complaint desk can't seem to understand the fact that this is a 'business laptop' only because DELL states it as such, and provides "Next Business Day Warranty". They can't wrap their heads around the fact that I, _AS A CONSUMER_ bought a business laptop. They keep telling me: - We can't help with purchases made for business use. - We don't have enough information to help. - We don't understand your situation. Hire some people with brains for FRACK's sake! The only thing relevant is that I am a _consumer_, not a business, so _consumer_ law applies to me. The fact that DELL calls the laptop a 'business model' is of no concern. 2. Dell's keyboard costs €45, and will cost an additional amount of €30 to ship, when ordering through DELL Netherlands. That makes €75. Shipping time would be 10-15 business days. Can someone tell me why I can order the same keyboard through EBay, from a reputable seller, for €31, _including shipping_, from the USA, and have in my house 10 days (NOT business days) after ordering? 3. I've been reading around on the internet. Somewhere in 2014 or 2015, DELL has changed its policy. I'm finding many complaints that they are not honoring their warranty. It seems they have have included a clause that all mechanical damage (broken hinges, keys, whatever) are automatically classified as user damage. In short, they can get away with building laptops out of cheap material, because when it breaks, it's 'user damage'. To me, that reeks of a company that's in financial trouble, and trying to save money wherever they can; not knowing that bad service will cost them so many sales in the long run that they will really go bust. 4. I've replaced the keyboard. The amount of dust in there was PHENOMENAL, even though I dust it off each and ever time the laptop comes out of the laptop bag. The only thing I can think of is that the cooling system sucks dust into the laptop, which then gets trapped between the keys. This amount of dust just HAD to break the keyboard sooner or later. I should have taken a picture of it; that was just ridiculous. This leaves me to take the front frame of the keyboard off every 3 months or so, to clean the keyboard with compressed air.... with the risk of breaking said frame, or the pins it uses to click down to the body. 5. Because of all this, it'll problably be my last DELL laptop. I'm going to return to a desktop for daily use, and use a cheap laptop as a backup after this one fails or can't keep up any longer. (I also still have its 8 year old predecessor, the Lattitude E6500... which had wonderful warranty service, and it still works, although it's a bit scratched up now.) Last edited by Katsunami; 08-13-2017 at 06:32 PM.