Apparently they're trying to keep this issue quiet, but since they haven't said anything to me I guess I can discuss it with you.
The article as posted on Slashdot HERE by dapsychous
It appears that certain 17" Dell laptops are supplying AC voltage to the chassis screws. Between 19 and 139 volts. This anomaly has resulted in everything from damaged components in the unit to an actual electric shock the the user.
This problem was also covered on notebookforums.com
So recently a laptop exploded at a conference in Japan. Guess who the manufacturer was, none other than Dell. Full story at The Inquirer
An update on this story can be found here at Forbes
"Now the company is to recall 4.1 million of its notebook computer batteries because of a fire risk." 4.1 million? What were the engineers doing that day?
"Dell will now be operating the biggest recall of electrical products in its history." Amazing that people still buy these things. There are other computer companies you know. How about IBM or Acer? Both of which have been making great computer hardware for longer than Dell has been in business.
"That makes 33 different models of notebook computers that Dell cannot guarantee will not burst into flames." Classic. 33 different versions of a flaming Laptop. Who else offers you a choice like that. I wonder if they come with fries.
Keep in mind that there award winning service team also had a recall on some 22,000 AC adapters. This problem was considered a sever fire hazard but our friends at Dell managed to get consumers the information and return packaging a short 4 months after the recall was released. 4 months they let consumers use known hazardous power adapters. What award can we give them for that?
As published by The Register
Dell spanked over unacceptable Ts & Cs
Agrees to change its ways
By Ashlee Vance in Mountain View
Published Saturday 8th July 2006 19:32 GMT
Dell has agreed to give into the demands of the UK’s Office of Fair Trading and alter the terms and conditions attached to its gear.
The OFT has spent the past few months sparring with Dell over the company’s terms and conditions. The two organizations recently agreed to settle their issues with Dell changing contracts and making them “fairer to consumers,” the OFT said. The specific changes, however, remain secret as neither the OFT nor Dell will reveal exact terms and conditions alterations and as Dell has kept old contracts online.
While vague, the OFT did provide some color on the changes it was seeking.
The on-line retailer of computers, software and IT services cooperated with the OFT and has agreed to improve the transparency of its agreements with consumers and to take steps to address the OFT’s concerns, including separating terms applicable to consumers from terms relevant to business customers only and changing terms that potentially:
· limited liability for negligence to the price of the product
· excluded liability for consequential loss arising out of breach of contract
· excluded liability for oral representations not confirmed in writing, and
· required the consumer to notify Dell of any errors in its confirmation of the consumer’s order immediately.
Some of the changes come after Dell received a flood of complaints, according to consumer magazine Computing Which?.
“There are a variety of ways that technology retailers are able to sidestep their responsibility to consumers,” said the magazine’s editor Jessica Ross. “Of the complaints received about technology retailers Dell came up as the worst offender, so we appreciate any work with the OFT to improve the consumers’ position.”
Most of the complaints revolve around computer makers denying their responsibility when hardware breaks. In addition, the OFT suggested that Dell used its position as an online and mail order seller to avoid fixing problems as it should.
After receiving much abuse in the press, Dell has vowed to improve its customer service. Huge questions, of course, remain as to whether or not Dell will follow through on its promises. ®
We’re living in a world where retirement is almost a thing of the past. People change employers and even careers far more frequently than in the past. People still, however, seek an employer who is stable, dependable and who offers a decent retirement package. Most people look at government agencies as this type of employer. Working for the state or county has always been stable right?
When several family members held such positions it’s difficult to weigh the pros and cons of such employment. As I have always been against the political warfare that takes place in such agencies, I personally would never seek that type of position. However, when everyone in the family tells you how you have to have insurance and you have to have a retirement and their office is a good place to have a solid career, two things come to mind. Why do you always complain about your job and why is your pay so low?
I think one of those questions has been answered. THEY HAVE NO MONEY. Recently another family member didn’t heed my advice and took a job with a local county DA’s office. Now keep in mind she’s in school and is trying to make a few dollars. So she takes this job that’s supposed to be so great and then the fun begins. Her first paycheck involved a discussion about her pay rate. They decided to pay her $1 less per hour than originally agreed upon. In addition, the pay period here is biweekly, however in this case we had an employee that worked 7 weeks between checks. During this time, when inquiring about her pay, she was literally told that there was no money. When she complained about the time span they told her she was no longer needed.
Can someone explain to me what the world is coming to when a government job is this bad?
I’ve had a major frustration with Dell for a couple of years now. During that time I’ve experienced delayed shipments of parts and complete systems, non-informed customer service staff, incomprehensible automated attendants, poor support of premium tier support contract and failed hardware.
During my reign as IT manager for a local RV dealership, I was the sole responsible party for a Dell Poweredge 4400. Nice server. I was impressed with the design and redundancy.
A few months into the job SP 4 was released for Server 2000. As any good admin would do, I applied the service pack. Come to find out certain Dell servers are incompatible with the service pack rendering my server inoperable. Although Dell admitted this was a known problem, they were not willing to help nor did they publicize the issue. I had to do a full OS reinstall to recover the system.
A few months after that, I had a hard drive in the RAID 5 go bad. No big deal, it’s a RAID. So I called up Dell and tried to order a new hard drive. Hah, what a laugh that was. They didn’t want to sell me a new drive. They flat out insisted that I purchase a refurbished drive. I refused and ordered a new drive.
A day or so later I loged onto the dell website to check the status of my order to find that it’s been delayed a few days. I let a few days pass and checked again. It was delayed again. Then I’m concerned. I called Dell and asked what was going on. I expressed my concern regarding data loss and beged them to send me a drive. They inform me that the hard drive I ordered is no longer available. So I ask, “Then why is it on your web site for sale?” I got the run around and was insured that a newer larger drive will be shipped right away. Again the order was delayed. All said, I operated on a failed RAID for over a month because Dell was unable to ship a product that they were advertising for sale.
A year or so later, I’m no longer employed by the RV dealership. One of my long time customers has a Dell Poweredge 600SC, installed by someone else. The owner of this company wanted to buy his daughter a laptop for Christmas. I advise strongly against it with no avail. I order the laptop online from Dell with yet another delay. After receiving the laptop I find that it’s not configured the way I specified by through the customization questions on the Dell website, but I didn’t have time to return it and get it replaced by the holiday. The customer suffers again.
The straw that spawned this writing, and my final dealing with Dell is a recently delayed order. As my client grows the need for larger backup capacity became more apparent. I called Dell to order a replacement tape drive. This is a part advertised on the Dell website for this server, the 600SC. Two days after the order was placed I receive an email with the subject line “First Notification of Order Delay” as if they know there will be another. I called and sent an email expressing my concern. Sure enough I receive another email a couple days later telling me that the part can’t be shipped for at least another week and that they are going to automatically cancel my order unless I respond. This puts the best delivery date 3 weeks after placing the order.
After these events with a company who brags about “Award Winning Customer Service” I can only say, whoever issued the award, needs to reevaluate their standards. Dell’s customer service is absurd and totally unacceptable.
They advertise parts they don’t have. They ship systems however they want to, regardless of all the customization questions they make you answer. They have absolutely no technical answers ever, even after you pay exorbitant amounts of money for support contracts.
I don’t see how any of this is “Award Winning” and I don’t ever intend on doing business with Dell again, nor will I recommend purchasing from Dell to anyone. I’m back to the basics, buy an IBM.