|
|
|
'the big R.D.' |
ech support goes to Dell
Did you know that I no longer flog hardware .. just fix and
train on whatever you, the customer, have deemed appropriate to purchase. This
fact pertains to the following story.
One of my regular customers (30 miles west of my workshop)
bought a Dell Desktop computer last month. It arrived and booted up without my
assistance, but soon started locking up at strange times and places. My
diagnosis was a loose CPU cooling fan. Popping open the case, we determined that
the metal heat sink cooling fin that was supposed to sit on top of the CPU was
loose. Why? It seems that during shipping the tiny plastic tabs that hold the
heat sink in place had broken loose. My temporary solution was to apply a spot
of silver heat sink paste and to orient the case to sit on it's side so that the
heat sink sat on top of the CPU rather than clinging to it's side. Bingo.
Computer now works as expected. Then we called Dell.
"No problem", said the Dell representative on the
phone. "We will send that part out to you." Ok, I said. Then I asked,
"Can we get that installed?". "Oh, you want the part shipped AND
installed. Can't you do that yourself?" I said no, because I didn't imagine
that the nice customer was interested in ripping open her new computer and
repairing it herself or paying me to travel the 1 hour round trip to install parts for
Dell when she had just paid big money to them for her computer with on-site
warranty.
The parts shipped to a tech located 1 hour east of my customer.
He made the 2 hour round trip to install the part, which, as you may have
guessed, was not the right one. Hmm. "No problem", he said.
"I will just call Dell and get them to send the right part.". Three
shipments and failed on-site installations later, they still haven't gotten the
right part shipped.
My suggestion was to take the part out and ship THAT to them to
eliminate any miscommunication as to which part to send. Failing that, maybe a
series of pictures of the problem area would help. Apparently this critical
black plastic holder has no Dell part number assigned, so the service department
has to keep guessing what piece is to be sent for the repair.
Sometimes these things happen. Dell is usually a recommended
choice. The end result in this case is that my friendly customer is still
running her computer with the tower turned onto it's side, along with Dell's
reputation. All for a lack of a little 3 inch molded plastic part with a value
of a buck or two. Future recommendations: Maybe Dell could find a better way of
identifying and mounting the CPU cooling system. In my mind, metal clips are
preferable over breakable plastic tabs.
Just one man's opinion.
| 
