Ordering parts from Dell.

[rblontz]

I have had a very bad experience ordering from Dell. It started TWO mos. ago when I was given an older laptop (Inspiron 1100) from my sister as a second-hand computer. It is WI-FI capable and I wanted a second computer/ laptop to use around the house when I didn't feel like sitting at my comp. desk.

I called Dell to purchase an "upgrade" for the laptop's memory. After several calls and talking to Dell Customer support, I was assurred that the parts I ordered were correct for my model no. I waited 2-3 weeks as the memory chips were "back-ordered." When I finally received the parts, they were for the Dell Inspiron 5100 and NOT compatible with my current system. After MORE calls, waiting for UPS call tags to ship the items back, taking extra time to DRIVE to a UPS store, (meanwhile being forced to pay for reverse-shipping), I waited longer. Back-ORDED THREE TIIMES!!!!! It's not bad enough that Dell "outsources" their business OUTSIDE the U.S.A., but having to talk to people with accents with whom you cannot understand. Two weeks went by-further. I finally received the correct memory chips, installed them myself, and my laptop works fine now and is faster, but WHAT a WAIT, phone calls back and forth, and a total waste of my time!

MEANWHILE, I get yet ANOTHER call from Dell about an order being "delayed" yet again (for a new hard-drive, WHICH-I did NOT order) and was told their was yet more another two week delay. After spending several hours and calls on the phone, my order was cancelled; FINALLY. I was givene credit to my charge account within 3-4 days. But it pissed me off that I had to spend so many hours on the phone, talking to people in another country, and people I could not understand. If you want to buy a Dell, or upgrade parts; be PREPARED to spend 5+ hours on the phone with them, receiving incorrect orders, talking to people you CANNOT understand, ans waiting and waiting.

I would NEVER RECOMMEND a DELL computer to ANYONE. My desktop computer is a GATEWAY. They have U.S. support, you do NOT waste your time with multiple phone calls, and get what you order within 1-2 business days. DO NOT buy from DELL! You are supporting a 3rd world country, their customer service is terrible, and they never give you what you order!

[Steve R Jones]

According to this link - the pc uses DDR PC2700

RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com

Each memory slot can hold DDR PC2700 with a maximum of 512MB per slot.*

Guess you didn't know that almost any ram stick with these specs bought from anywhere would work and probably be cheaper.

[rblontz]

I didn't know much about this system since it's an older computer. Guess I've been to the "School of Hard Knocks" and have learned a vaulable lesson now. My posting was primarily about how terrible Dell service is and getting the word out. I've officially joined the "I hate Dell and their customer service" club, Steve! Thanks for your post!

[michaels39]

You're not alone,the membership of the "I hate Dell" club is very large indeed. I became a member three years ago due to the self destructing motherboards in their Inspiron laptops,the one in mine died a month after the 1 year warranty expired. The first replacement they sent me was DOA,the second burnt out in two months.Seems they produced several laptop and desktop models using capacitors they knew had a tendency to overheat and kill the motherboards. There's a class action lawsuit gaining speed over it,I just avoid any product this company puts out.

[Zylcho]

Wow I love ordering parts from Dell. Last time I ordered an 11.00 CPU fan and received 2 brandy new towers! What a bargain.

I tried doing the same thing a couple weeks later but must have got the "good" Indian rep as I got the fan

Do yourself a favor and purchase upgrades from a reputable company like Newegg.com (which don't have tech support, but you can easily find what you looking for in simple web searches)

[rblontz]

I sure appreciate your input. I bookmarked newegg.com and will check them out for all my future needs. I am STILL a HUGE fan of GATWAY comp. systems! SCREW DELL!

[leinssa]

I think it depends on what division you are dealing with.

On the corporate side, I've never really had that many problems dealing with tech support on getting warranty replacements. Gold support is pretty good: although you have to pay extra for it up front.

Consumer side, I've ordered a monitor, 2 netbooks and a PC from them with no problems.

Gateway tech support is joke. Their text to chat program looks like something out of the early 90's. Finding drivers on their web site is like a guessing game.