Posted on 21 Comments

Sent My Dell Inspiron 1505 Back to Dell For Repairs

After way too many emails, I sent my unreliable Dell Inspiron laptop back to Dell this week.

It has had the following problems: slow boot times, frequent blue screens, unreliablity connecting to the Internet due to a flaky Internet card, weak and broken hinges due to a poor design in fact, the Inspiron line got rid of this altogether with the latest redesign, gee maybe it’s because it was a design flaw? 

This matter is made worse by the behavior of a certain inconsiderate Director of Dell’s community program, who rudely interrupted my conversation with a senior person from a major search engine last fall because he thought inspecting my hinges was important at that moment.

Dell was founded on reliable, highly tested equipment that was flawless, this experience and the experiences of others show that is no longer the case, they play word games and do not stand by their products and take responsibility for their design flaws – in fact my mahcine wasn’t even made in the US, which used to be one of Dell’s mantras.

This laptop is an unreliable and poorly designed machine. It is why people like Danny Sullivan (formerly href=”http://daggle.com/080427-161732.html) and others are switching brands. I agree with Danny totally when he says:

 “My plea is simple. Empower your customer service people to simply replace things that don’t work rather than making them jump through whatever procedures you have in place that clearly don’t work.”

Update: It appears Dell VP Bob Pearson is more interested in selling new PC’s than creating satisfied customers who would then create positive word of mouth. PR does not equal customer focused culture and process improvement!!!

21 thoughts on “Sent My Dell Inspiron 1505 Back to Dell For Repairs

  1. […] of making lame excuses they could be amazing, intead they have blog posts, like the one mentioned in the post below where they moderate comments about the truth. […]

  2. David,
    I’d like to comment on this and give your readers the other side of the story for the sake of clarity. You first contacted Dell’s Community Team about your Inspiron notebook in June of 2007, asking about your wireless connectivity. We sent you a link to the most recent driver for your card and you let us know the problem had been resolved. In September of 2007- four months after the service contract that you purchased had expired, you contacted us again indicating that you were “unsatisfied” with your notebook and after discussions where you said it had always been having problems, you let us know that the only acceptable solution would be to replace it- and replace it with a different, more expensive model. Prior to that, you made no mention of issues with this system- despite having interactions with the community team at Dell. You even blogged about it here:

    http://www.daviddalka.com/createvalue/2007/01/17/dell-starting-to-truly-listen/

    After you met with our Director, Sean McDonald, at the Forrester conference in Chicago -October 2007, we offered to extend your service contract at no cost to you in an attempt to have the machine looked at and fixed. You did not take us up on that offer, but rather, you again implied that you would have no problem installing your software on a *new* computer and intimated that you had not received any compassion or consideration for the “internet driver fiasco” that you had experienced. I can only assume this is the wireless driver that we helped you reinstall in June of 2007. Our consideration was to extend your service contract by an additional year and fix any issues you had at that time. You did not take us up on this offer. I find it odd that if this “flaky” wireless card was really a fiasco that you failed to mention over several months after getting the driver updates, in any of your previous blog posts about Dell.

    In May of this year, we offered to have you send your Inspiron to our offices so that we could examine and fix the hinge you claimed was failing due to a design flaw as well as the wireless card and the error messages you said were occurring. Upon receiving the notebook, there was very obvious evidence of damage to the LCD assembly, and upon disassembling the LCD assembly the cause of the looseness was not a problem with the hinge but a separation of the metal that connects the hinge to the LCD. This separation of two pieces of metal that are bonded together is usually and most typically consistent with an outside force of some kind. Whether it was dropped or lifted to hard is impossible for me to say, but it is not a design flaw. And if it were design flaw it should have been there all along.

    As to your wireless card- I was able to connect to both the internal network here at Dell as well as a network at a local restaurant without issue. I connected to each network multiple times just to be sure.

    Finally, I not only ran your system on my desk for several hours without encountering a blue screen error, but found no evidence of a major error in any of your logs. Since you have never been able to provide a specific error code when asked, I don’t know what more can be done to address an issue that we can’t replicate.

    And, yes, we have dropped by several times to review this blog against the previous case files and information to ensure we were being as fair and thorough as possible or to determine if we were missing anything.

  3. Oh the comedy! I don’t have time to defragment all of the things I disagree with in your reply.

    But unlike your PR people on many blogs I won’t edit your comment. Almost any Inspiron owner of this vintage would want a new PC (and knows the truth) and I offered to pay the differential towards this. The blog post you refer to was regarding one incident and your blog team didn’t even link to it at the time.

    If you spent 1/10 the time actually fixing the problems and satisfying customers instead of making up stories and excuses, I’d totally respect Dell once again.

  4. […] my recent Dell communications, I performed a Google blog search on – Dell Inspiron 1505 […]

  5. I also have a Dell Inspiron 1501 and purchased an extended warranty. Well, it is now 1 1/2 years old and I have had several phone conversations for various problems, and to date none have been resolved. I have had them send their repair person to my home and he used refurbished parts to fix my problem – blue screen, freezing, won’t shut down, loss of cursor, won’t power down (had to remove battery to shut down laptop) and these are just the major problems I have had. Anyway, I received a replace “refurbished computer” two days ago, and after spending another couple of hours setting up the machine, lo and behold…..it froze again and had to take out the battery and unplug the AD adaptor to shut it down. Just got off the phone with a Dell rep who took control of my machine and of course, found nothing wrong. As soon as she hung up my computer froze again. I have the extended warranty, but apparantely it doesn’t allow me to receive a brand new computer…..I am not asking for upgrades…just another new laptop to replace my third non-working one. Is that too much to ask? Dell does not care about their customers which is a shame, and once I can afford it, I will be buying another brand.

  6. I have a Dell 1505 and 1501. I don’t travel with either inspiron, they just sit at desks. Anyway the hinge / case suddenly cracked apart on one side of the 1505. Does anyone have an idea as to the best way to get it repaired? I feel really stupid because I even got one for my parents as I thought I was buying quality… TIA

  7. My inspiron 1505 failed one month after the warranty got over (which is 1 year). It didn’t charge the battery. I am assuming its the battery issue. Very poor laptop.

  8. The battery costs around $300 in their website. Its just not worth it.

  9. I also have the Inspiron 1505. And I could list for days the issues I’ve had. My wireless card not working properly, hinge cracks, the cd rom drive not working, blue screens, the speakers were replaced twice, I’ve gone through two hard drives… all of this, but you would think a 4 year extended warranty would fix this? Nope. I’ve spent a record number of hours talking to representatives, taking me through the same steps over and over again instead of just replacing my laptop. I even sent it to their depot and it was returned to me, still not working. But despite all this I’m still playing their games, continuously begging for new parts and pieces. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone ever! The laptop is a cheap piece and the costumer service is worse than the quality of the laptop!

  10. whoa. excuse my spelling error. **customer service.

  11. I was also a victum of dells poor customer service. I purchased an Inspiron 1505 in Dec. of 2006. 6-7 mths. later I also had problems with blue screens and when I contacted Dell’s tech. support/customer service, they told me it was a software issue and I did not purchase and extended software warranty. Well from what I was informed of is that it comes with a year warranty anyhow, plus I purchased the complete care warranty for 3 years. Needless to say that computer had an accidental fall while moving and they had to replace the system. When I received the new system- refurbished- it was in rough shape, there was sand and food particles in the keyboard. I called and ripped them a new one and demanded to speak to a supervisor- he agreed to replace this one as well. I’m sorry but for one I am a very hygenic person and cannot phathom how they could ever get away with sending someone such a disguisting mess. Well, I waited for 2 wks for the new one to arrive and still nothing. So I called and asked about my order and they told me they were sorry but they had discontinued making that particular model and someone was “supposed” to contact me and ask me if it was ok for them to send me a different model. They sent me a brand new inspiron 1520. I shouldn’t complain right? Wrong- inspiron 1505 I had custom built and after the warranty cost $1568.00. It was fast and I never had problems with it like I do this one. I think that they gave me an assembly line piece of junk with half the speed and capabilities of the one I had built. So now my daughter dropped my computer and ruined the battery. I called them to get it replaced and all they can tell me is that the battery only has a 1 yr warranty- ok I get that but what about accidental damage- the complete care warranty I purchased? Yea- keep sending American jobs to India where we can’t even understand half of what they are saying anyways. I told them to note in their records that ” I WILL NEVER BUY A DELL EVER AGAIN & WILL DISCOURAGE ANYONE WHO IS THINKING ABOUT IT FROM DOING SO,” all the guy told me was “OK”- I would rather buy a computer from bum on a street corner before ever dealing with them again. Sorry ahead of time for errors- this fires me up and I type faster than normal with lots of errors!

  12. I too have an Inspiron 1505 that will power up. It’s on my workbench apart. There is will stay until I get aggravated enough to chop it up and mail it back to Dell. Maybe someone in India can put it back together. LOL My new machine is a Gateway. Hopefully I’ll have better luck.

  13. oops. My Inspirion 1505 will NOT powerup. Typo!!!

  14. I too have a dell Inspiron E1505. I get the blue screen atleast once every hour. I’ve tried all sorts of fixing, changing drivers,… Couldnt fix the problem. I had a very good opinion about Dell, before buying this laptop. I would suggest people to think again, if you want to buy Dell, especially Inspiron.

  15. I purchased 3 dell 1505 at the same time and they all have failed…The screens are coming apart, blue screens, battery cables have split, and the battery has no life in them…They are barely 2 years old. I will never recommend dells to anyone. I used to buy many dell’s at a time from my business but never again. I emailed dell customer service about the problems and got no response…

  16. I purchased my Inspiron 1505 mid 2007, after my Macbook crashed to the floor. My dad loved his three prior Dell laptop, so I figured I would give PC’s a try… they couldn’t be that bad, could they?? Wow. I did’t have a problem until Dec 08, when I opened my laptop and saw that the LCD was cracked and looked like it bled all over the screen. I called tech support, in India of course… what a joke. I confirmed with 3 reps that I did have accident protection or whatever garbage they call it before actually filing a claim. When I called the 4th time to have a box sent to me so that it could be sent in for repair, I also confirmed that my address had been changed since I was living in Cali when I purchased the laptop and now living in Georgia. Nope, the tech showed my old address, no worries, she could change it now. It took over a half an hour, but finally, she changed my address. I recieved the box a few days later, and sent my laptop to be repaired. This is where it gets good. I get a phone call, about a week later, from a tech telling me that my laptop was not covered and it would cost me $500 to fix! When I explained to her that I had accident protection and so forth, she screamed at me, told me to call the original tech(wtf?) and then hung up on me. I tried to call back, but every time I would get throught to tech support, I was disconnected. I called a few times the next day and left messages, no one EVER called me back. About 10 days later, I recieved a voicemail letting me know that my laptop was fixed, it would be sent via FEDEX and was given a tracking number. I had to wait the next day when I went in to work to check FEDEX tracking. Imagine my horror when I discovered that my laptop was sent to an address in CALIFORNIA! Not even my previous address! I immediately called Dell, I spent over an hour being transferred to one dept to another, since “they don’t handle this here”. Finally I spoke to someone who let me know that they would contact FEDEX and have them stop delivery since it was still waiting at the FEDEX location. I checked tracking that evening and saw that it had been delivered. When I called Dell (and finally reached a human being, albeit, a poorly speaking one)the first thing to come out of her mouth when I explained the situaiton… “did you change your address?” Seriously? How the crap did I recieve the box to ship it back?!? When I mentioned that maybe it the lack of English understanding, she offered me the “upgrade” tech support, where I can speak to someone in the US! Not for free, for a fee!!! When I asked to speak with a supervisor, she said that they didn’t have any. I asked her who I could speak to about the “level of service” I had recieved, she transferred me and of course, I was disconnected after waiting on hold about 20 minutes. I finally spoke to a gentleman in tech support who was nice enough to get a supervisor who said he would take over the situation and get my laptop back. At this point, I no longer wanted that laptop back since I had no idea what this person who had possession of it now- he culd have put all kinds of things on it, or even damaged it. The supervisor, who called himself Mr. Thomas, said that he would arrange for a pickup once I recieved the laptop for inspection, blah, blah. He then said that it wasn’t even fixed! I almost lost it. I have never been so mad. After 20 minutes of explaining what had happened and asking why Dell does not take responsibility of their mistakes, he offered to fix my laptop, at no cost. He let me know that I should recieve the laptop back from Cali and then email him to schedule a pickup for the system so that Dell could repair it. When I asked why they couldn’t just pick it up and repair and then send it to me, he said, “we don’t want to complicate things” For who? Me? I think we are miles from complicated! Whatever, do what you think is best. Mr. Thomas said to expect it with 3 business days… by the fourth bus day I emailed him and said that the least Dell could do is just send me a replacement. He called me a few hours later and said that they would send a replacement- same specifications or better. Same my big toe! My original had Office 2007 installed, but I never recieved the disk. The product key was on a sticker on the underside of the laptop. The replacement, did not have Office and when I emailed Mr. Thomas, he said that this was not possible. “Dell would never paste MS OFFICE key on the bottom of the computer. Product key will present on cd or cd cover. If you are seeing MS OFFICE product key on bottom, then someone must have pasted it there.” Yeah, someone meaing Dell! He responded back, “I didn’t mean DELL EMPLOYEE, by someone, I meant the USER of the computer”. He just called me a liar! It’s no wonder the lawsuits against this joke of a company. I will NEVER BUY DELL, and am seriously reconsidering even buying another PC. At least I come out of the Apple store feeling like a human being! It is worth the extra money!

  17. Since my first comment, My parent’s Dell Inspiron 1505 hinge has broken and today the hinge on my 1501 broke! That’s a broken hinge on every machine!
    None of these laptops ever travel. I am so frustrated with the fact I recommended the 1505 to others. I will never buy DELL again!!! They should be giving these parts out for free or having a recall. I found parts-people to be the best web site for the replacement parts. NO MORE DELL 4 ME!

  18. I also fell victim to the E1505, and my biggest problem is i can’t pick it up of the table or off my lap without it freezing up on my and I have to hold the power button till the system shuts down and then the errors start popping up upon reboot. All I have heard was there is no warrenty remainig and I would have to send it back to dell for repair. This is the second dell laptop I bought that has S___t the bed. Now my only other option is save up some money and buy the all powering never crashing and virus free apple macbook pro. GOODBY Dell and PC and good riddens.

  19. The screen housing on the Dell E1505 separates. It is due to poor construction on Dell’s part. Nearly EVERYONE is having this problem sometime in the lifetime of their 1505. Dell refuses to recognize this as lousy construction on their part. Apparently a “defect” doesn’t exist if it is not evident right out of the box. Tell that to Toyota.

    Don’t buy Dell. Somewhere along the line they started to sell quantity over quality.

  20. I bought a refurbed Inspion 1501 about 2 years ago and actually had no problems with it until the hinge on the right side completely broke from the case and in doing so created some problem with the wiring to the power supply (which is located in this area) rendering the machine completely useless. It is an obvious design flaw and or most people is off warranty and Dell has never admitted this nor offered to make good on repair/replacement to all their loyal customers who continued to buy Dell products. It is time to move on to a more reliable brand. Dell has turned in to a second (or third) rate computer manufacturer. Hello Michael!!! Was this your vision all those years ago??? Write us from the mountaintop sometime.

  21. It has had the following problems: slow boot times, frequent blue screens, unreliablity connecting to the Internet due to a flaky Internet card, weak and broken hinges due to a poor design in fact, the Inspiron line got rid of this altogether with the latest redesign, gee maybe it’s because it was a design flaw?
    Help me
    _____________________

    laptop apple| laptop dell| laptop sony |

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