MageB420666

Ok, I have a nice little story to tell.

I decided to format my hardrive and reinstall windows xp because I was having popup problems and I had messed around with some settings on windows.

So first I try to do it the way microft wants which is by putting the software disc in the drive and letting their little automated dealy do it's thing, only to find that when I try to delete the main partition, I can't because setup files are stored on it, so I then restart the comp and have it boot straight from the disc, it works and I can now format the hardrive.

So after doing this I get windows set up, only to find that my internet is not working. I connect through a LAN at school and this kinda thing should be automatically done by windows, but as I look into the problem, I find that I only have one of two drivers I need to have my nic work, so I get out the dell software/driver disc only to discover that it does not have the driver I need.

So I then call dell support and patiently and calmly explain the problem to the tech support lady. She has me check a few things(which I had already checked by myself, but did it again just to be sure that I hadn't missed something). So after doing this the dell lady tells me that I need to call my ISP and get a new IP adress(keep in mind I had already said I use a LAN), so thinking she had forgotten I tell her again that I don't have an ISP and that windows should be obtaining the IP adress automatically, but she doesn't listening and just keeps on saying that I should contact my ISP, so I get tired of this and just agree and hang up.

So I now go back to my comp, find out exactly what ethernet card I have and go download the ethernet driver I need(I have the 1394 adapter but not the ethernet driver), so then after trying a few times to load the driver, I finally start the comp in safe mode and go to the device manager, select the ethernet card(which has a driver loaded, but it's a bad one and the device cannot start) and load the driver and tada, I now can connect to the internet.

So my story may not have a real point, but it does show that Dell's Award Winning Support is not so great, and that they can't even include a driver for a piece of hardware that they put in my computer.

So hopefully this may help anyone who wants to format their harddrive avoid a major pain in the ass. By the way, this problem took me two days to solve.

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Apathy: The best outlook this side of I don't give a damn.

sailor

First level tech support is always worthless. Try to get transferred up the ladder as quickly as possible.

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"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
--Plato

MageB420666

cool.
I had never had to use tech support before so I didn't really know how to get any good help.

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Apathy: The best outlook this side of I don't give a damn.

heyal256

Not to really start bashing Dell or anything, but aren't most First level tech support call centers in India(at least for consumer support)? If this is the case, i have heard that they usually don't/can't deviate from the "script" that they read off of.
Either way it's good the you fixed your problem.

spindles

I work with an Indian guy - he said jobs in a call center are really sought after (they pay well etc.). He said they actually end up with quite well qualified people working in them.

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who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?

Flyguy

I have a Dell horror story:

I broke the keyboard on my inspiron. So I call dell to have them send me another one. After some indian guy has me go trough a series of steps to verify that the keyboard is actually broke (I love it when they just automatically assume that you're some sore on computer illiterate dumb ass) which I already knew in the first place, they arrange to have on sent to my address. So I pay the $15 for a new keyboard, I verify my address with them and happy day, my new keyboard is on its way.

Or so I thought.

Turns out, when I first bought the notebook, I had it sent to my parents house cause I was out of town at work at the time. When the geniuses at dell sent me my keyboard, the sent it to my parents address. Thing is, the live in Alaska, I'm in Washington state. Brilliant. SO I call dell back ant let them know of their fuckup and they tell me that they'll change the address in the computer. What!?!? I say? What the fuck is that going to do? You already sent it! I told them. The smart indian guy says that it gets rerouted once the change is made in dells system. Ok, I say then I hang up. Not believing him, I call DHL who delivered the package. I try and verify that the package really has been rerouted. You have to call dell they say. I did I told them. Then they said that there's nothing they can do until they get a piece of paper from dell saying to reroute it. Ok. Hang up with DHL. Call dell back. They say that the paper has been sent already. Ok. Call DHL back AGAIN. They say that no paper has been received. At this point, I already know I'm getting the runaround and some lazy some of a bitch ain't doing their fucking job. So I call dell AGAIN and literally bitch them out about their fuck up and after talking to 2 supervisors I end up getting 2 keyboards for $15. One getting sent to my parents house, that they mailed to me and another one that dell overnighted to me at their expense.

Needless to say, fuck dell, I'm never dealing with those fuckers again. From now own, if it ain't a laptop, I'm building my own shit.

Tandem

For all the effort it took; what would you have done differently if you were faced with the same problem again?

Perhaps get better prepared? Correct drivers in hand, a plan and a checksheet? Have someone with experience peruse your plan (get feedback)? Whilst a lot of people may not consider these things as a requirement or even necessary, perhaps overkill; consider how often you build platforms from scratch and the time and effort to complete a stable rebuild. And in the process you'll learn more, without the stress and fustration.

Might be worthwhile next time. Good to hear you're back up and running though.

God of Thunder

I agree with Tandem, you're trying to blame Dell for not having the drivers you could have easily had in hand before you started this venture.

As a tech support person, my mantra is:

A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.

Unfortunately, it always does.

Don't be so quick to blame Dell or any other tech support line for info you could have easily obtained yourself beforehand.

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I reject your reality, and substitute my own

-- Adam Savage

bendsley

A company like Dell has to assume that most people calling them do not know what they're talking about. Most (not all) people who buy from Dell are home users and want simplicity, not technicalities. Most ordinary users couldn't tell you what a bus speed is, much less what speed it's running at, and most people can't tell you what DDR stands for. So, Dell has checklists they go through to help the customer by process of elimination.

Most of the people that do techsupport for Dell would probably pick up pretty quick if you know what you're talking about. But also remember, Dell wants to save money too and they cannot do that if they always send out parts and a lot of them not actually be defective. Example being if they sent someone a new keyboard and turns out the keyboard was unplugged. Work with the people at these companies, if you have trouble, talk to their supervisor, but don't get angry, it won't get you anywhere faster.

I can tell you that Dell's Business support is quite good. I'm a system's admin for a large chemical company, and we use a Dell PowerVault for our data backups. One day not too long ago it broke, and Dell had a new one shipped out that day. I called that morning about 8:15a and received the new one by 2pm. But, in this case, Dell assumes you know what you're talking about. Of course you also pay to have things replaced ASAP.

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"You hear the one about the fella who died, went to the pearly gates? St. Peter let him in. Sees a guy in a suit making a closing argument. Says, "Who's that?" St. Peter says, "Oh, that's God. Thinks he's Denny Crane."

zynyxx

Having worked phone support for 2 years with a major pc manufacturer in a prior job I have to say that it was important for both the consumer to insist on getting proper support as well as the support person to be sure they understand the problem. It was often difficult to get the consumer to explain the situation completely, mostly because people didn't know how to explain what was going on, or what all the components are called. But if you know what you are talking about and just need to know where to obtain a driver, be sure you insist on getting the response needed and most support personnell will oblige.
On a side note, if you haven't ever seen the Internet Help Desk video from 3 dead trolls in a baggie, it's hilarious. just go to http://www.deadtroll.com and look for it under video

MageB420666

Ok, I think that most people are going to agree with me when I say this.

I don't think it's very unreasonable for me to be upset that dell did not include all the neccessary drivers to run a piece of hardware that they installed themselves, and as I understand it, is a standard NIC for their Laptops that they use.

I didn't special order this NIC and install it myself, this is a driver that I had to get off the internet, using a different computer, because it was a driver for the piece of hardware that I use to get onto the internet. Plus they had one of the two drivers I needed on the driver disc, which has only about half of it's capacity used, this driver is only around 50 KB, it would not have been hard for them to add it on.

This was a hardware device that connects me to the Internet, I could understand if they left out a sound driver or something, cause you can get online and find that easily, but they should include the necessary drivers on their backup disc to allow you to get the other drivers you may need.

As for blaming Dell tech support, I told the lady THREE times in a row that I did not have an ISP and she kept saying "You need to call your ISP". Script or no script, that when she needs to be saying, "I need to transfer you to someone better able to help you", That was a problem on dells part.

As for me doing this again, I would back up the driver I need, cause now I know that I don't have it on the backup driver disc.

Yes, I did make the mistake of assuming, but check my first paragraph in this response for my reason as to this being a reasonable assumption to make.

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Apathy: The best outlook this side of I don't give a damn.

ShaniFaye

/as a side note

has anyone seen the new foamy cartoon at illwillpress? This is exact thing is the target of this months toon

/back on topic

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I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!

heyal256

Actually I just saw that today... quite funny.

Link for the people who haven't seen it
http://www.illwillpress.com/tech.html