Re: Re Which Dell Dimension?
> > I dont want to be a PITA here. But one problem we frequently face with
> > our custom made machines is service. If the mother board on dell
> > dimension fails, fine, the dell guys takes care of it immediately and
> > replaces it within the next 2 days. But on a custom built machine, the
> > money will be coming out of your pocket.. I am not sure how good HP
> > and Gateway service is but I can vouch that Dell service is very nice
> > and I would go for it anytime than a custom built machine.
> >
>
> You must be living under a rock for the past couple of
> years. I would suggest you study up on your chips, read the
> links provided earlier in this thread.
I am not asking them to purchase from OEM. I am just saying that as
far as I am concerned, I would go with Dell than a self assembled
computer. I am not sure if Dell actually falls into OEM category. That
is just my opinion. May be next time when I buy a computer I would
consider your suggestion.
>
> The average user, who purchases these OEM systems do not get
> that kind of customer support, even if they bought the
> support two days is not a good turn around. You could have
> a server down for two days, that could be a lot of money. In
> fact most people who buy OEM systems have the opposite, goes
> something like this:
>
Well, I am in Cornell University (USA). I consider diagnosing and
replacing the problematic hardware in two days is pretty good. The
computer that I was talking about belongs to the university. So even
if we know what is wrong and even if we are ready to buy there is a
special procedure to place an order (even when the part is covered
under warranty). First the purchasing department has to be contacted
and then they will 'assess' the situation and there is a long list of
HR related activities that will go on. The whole process will easily
takes couple of weeks. I think Couple of days is much better than
couple of weeks.
> 1. Hardware fails, customer has no idea what has failed.
> 2. Customer calls OEM support, most likely talks to a
> non-native speaker of his language. After very long talk
> with customer support still has no idea what has failed.
> 3. Customer then speaks to supervisor, who then walks him
> through the same steps as the original person, tells
> customer to boot into windows, if a non windows install is
> on that system, tells customer that it is a non supported
> OS.
> 4. Customer gets upset and demands recourse, this will get
> him an RMA number if its within the warranty period.
> 5. Customer waits for package box so he can send his whole
> system back to OEM to fix the problem. This could be a day
> or longer depending on his location.
> 6. Person packages up system sends it back to OEM for
> repairs. He is not given a definite time, but is told
> usually takes 2 to 4 weeks.
> 7. After a long wait customer is upset he has not recieved
> his system back from OEM, thinks about purchasing another
> system just as a backup for future problems.
> 8. After recieving his system back from the OEM he plugs it
> in and finds that all his information is deleted, this
> really makes the customer mad. Since he could not make any
> backups of the data due to hardware failure, his work is now
> lost.
> 9. Customer is now so mad he vows to never again buy from
> that OEM again, swears that he will be diligent in his
> backups. This last about 3 weeks, sometime later his system
> is acting funny, so he just lives with it, eventually it
> goes out of warranty, customer swears up and down how much a
> dung pile his system is, how it was never fixed right.
>
Well for me. I called up dell, it took aound half an hour to convince
them that the problematic hardware is with the motherboard (we have
done all the tests ahead). Then they sent a person with a mother board
next working day. But that person could not find us in the office. So
he came back on the next day and fixed it for us.
Again YMMV
--
Kamaraju S Kusumanchi
Cornell University
http://people.cornell.edu/pages/kk288/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flumech/
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