In March I purchased a refurbished system from www.dell.co.uk/outlet site. The website states that 'All products have been tested and repackaged to Dell factory standards'. The cost of the refurbished machine without monitor was £774.03. This price includes a three year hardware warranty.
The machine has never worked properly. The hard drive cannot be formatted and the operating system has to be reinstalled every 60 to 90 days. I have re-installed the operating system many times which takes hours. I have spent countless hours on Dell's 0870 Technical Support Number.
Dell has now stated that these are software issues therefore chargeable for technical help, although one particular technician confirmed that the system was originally returned to Dell due to hardrive failure. Whilst speaking with another technician I couldn't help but feel that they were aware that the machine was probably faulty but simply kept re-assuring me that the system had a three year warranty, and in this occasion to reload the operating system again.
I stopped contacting Dell through embarrassment when they said it was a chargeable software issue. I continued reloading the operating system on my own when it failed. The problems with the machine although called software issues are directly connected to hardware i.e. not being able to format the hard drives.
I would rather Dell simply collect the machine for repair than waste their time and my time supporting a faulty machine. In September I complained and Dell finally collected the machine for repair. The machine was returned three weeks later. The hardrives and motherboard had been replaced.
The machine worked for three days then would not boot up at all apparently due to faulty RAM. After several more telephone calls to Dell it was arranged that a technician would visit in order to repair the machine. I booked another day off work. The technician arrived without the correct replacement parts. He was unable to replace all the RAM and replaced only one stick of RAM when the machine has four RAM sticks, simply guessing which stick of RAM may be faulty. I heard him speaking with the office stating that he was unable to replace the RAM as he has not been supplied sufficient RAM. The office advised him to simply replace the one RAM stick and CLOSE THE CASE (I couldn't believe it).
This has not rectified the problem. I complained to Dell who offered to replace my system with another refurbished system. I declined after the ongoing problems with this system. I was then offered a new machine but after looking at the details it was a much lower specification. I declined a downgraded machine. After many more phone calls to Dell they have offered a refund less �£175.00 for the VAT, stating that this money could not be reclaimed.
I declined, as I should not be liable for the VAT as the system should not have left the factory faulty in the first place. Dell then advised me that under these special circumstances they were prepared to offer the full refund and arranged for the Dimension 9150 to be collected on 14-12. I took another day off work for the collection of the machine. Dell never arrived to collect it, did not advise that they would not be coming or offer any explanation for not making the collection.
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