DELL WARRENTY..

Well kids.. let me give you some thing NOT TO BUY.. a DELL PC.. we Ordered our Dell, from Dell.. in January.. We didn’t get the first unit for 6 weeks because they were out of various parts.. all the time having my money is escrow.. $1400.. so finally we get the unit.. 24 hours later, it dumps.. so we have to ship it back.. and then wait another two weeks and finally get the unit..
so the thing works until last night when the ether net card goes out.. Now that’s not a big deal.. so I run to best buy to get a card,, not even worried about the warrenty.. because we want the machine to work now..

Hey.. we have an intergated mother board.. IT WILL NOT use the new card.. so I call dell and the guy in INDIA says, Yep, you need a new mother board.. and guess what your warrenty expired LESS THEN A MONTH AGO.. and since its SO EXPENSIVE.. We won’t fix it. . a New mother board to fix the ether net card..

now I know that there are other ways around this.. But iF you want bad service.. and a bad attitude.. BUY A DELL.. what a total and complete bunch of jerks.. oh and I am calling Texas tomorrow..

I don’t believe you need a new motherboard. You should be able to disable the current ethernet adapter that is onboard the motherboard from system settings and hardware. Then, after plugging in the new card, let the system find the driver for the new card and it will load itself.
These PCs are all basically made from the same parts with a unique twist here and there. Ethernet adapters are so common I doubt the Dell chip differs from what Toshiba uses or what Lenovo uses…most likely all the same. Development is too costly for commodity parts like this, as is setting up unique manufacturing for old technology like ethernet.
Good luck..

Dang that sux! Any chance of elevating the request to a higher up and explain your less then satisfying experience with them so far?

A long time ago, (in the days of the 486 computers) I bought a Packard Bell and this was where I learned of “proprietary” parts. My PB had a motherboard mounted in some funky way that required a daughter board as they called it, to line things up with the rear of the computer. This pretty much made it impossible to install anything but PB parts into it. The way the priced stuff you would think it was made of gold!

I have only purchased a “pre-built” computer one other time. A POS E-machine. I knew it was. It was cheap and I just needed something to surf online with. 9 years later it still lives, the motherboard, CPU, and some of the memory chips anyway. I hacked it apart, put it in a new case with new power supply, video card and added a few hard drives. I need to replace some gunked up fans, I think it is about ready to die from dirt inside.

Anyways, that is why I started building my own machines. I really hope you keep trying with them. Seems you really got hosed over on the deal, especially if your warranty clock was still ticking while they had it for repairs the first time.

Boy, Dell has taken a nose dive has’nt it?

well there was no place to put a true ether net card.. I bought a usb ether net connection.. but the bottom line is that Dell should support this unit.. especially with all the trouble and termoil that I had to get the unit.. and that they had my money tied up for so long..

The warranty period can only start at the time of delivery, no exceptions!

I assume you had a 6 mo warranty? My Dell had a 1 yr warranty. Something seems fishy…

You said you spent $1400 on a computer it should have a video card and a sound card and a ethernet card. Must be a lab top? For that kind of money. You can get a new i5 for less then $600

What model machine is it? Just curious how it won’t take a pci LAN card…

FWIW I have approximately 150 Dell laptops, 100 desktops, 16 2u servers, 4 1u servers, and an 18 machine VMWare environment, all running on Dell equipment, and it has been just as good as any other equipment.

My last employer, one of the largest international companies out there, strictly used Dell for all client workstations – thousands of machines.

Dell makes good pc’s at a fair price, you just got a lemon is all, and it sucks, but nothing you can do. But it by no means represents the track record of their hardware

when we bought it , it was one step down from the best unit.. Not an inspriron.. and its a 64 bit system.. there are NO, not any slots on the board.. NONE.. there is removable plates but NO slots to connect anything to..

and that’s why they said I needed a new mother board..

and I am STILL STEAMED.. they held my money in escrow for months.. and then gave me the excuse ITS TOO EXPENSIVE TO FIX.. that’s what the guy in India told me.. I could put it through but its too expensive to fix.. for an ethernet card..

be very very causious in dealing with Dell.. their stock isn’t doing well, and their reputation is following their stock score..

My experiences with Dell have been 180 degrees different and I still recommend friends and family buy from them. Sounds like you got the wrong guy and just need to call in again and explain your situation. Level 1 customer service at it’s best…. Good luck!

If you could post the Make/Model of the PC, maybe someone here could give you a bit more advice. Sounds like you bought a SFF(small form factor) PC. These machines are great for space, but with all the integrated components they can be a real hassle when something fails.

Does your modem have a USB output. If so, you can run that into the PC and connect to the internet that way. If not, you might be able to find a compatible modem for your ISP that has one and avoid the cost of buying a new PC for awhile. My Dell has a 2 year warranty, sorry yours was so short.

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My experiences with Dell have been 180 degrees different and I still recommend friends and family buy from them. Sounds like you got the wrong guy and just need to call in again and explain your situation. Level 1 customer service at it’s best…. Good luck!

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Rat,
I agree with part of your post. I have a Dell computer that is over 7 years old. The power supply failed when it was just out of warranty (1 year). I had to deal with support in India. That was pretty frustrating going through their trouble shooting exercise. I got a new power supply for a reasonable price and it has been chugging along ever since.

Something about your post doesn’t add up. I just contacted Dell and they claim they have a 1 year standard warranty on both Desktops and Laptops. Sounds like you are not telling the complete story here.

Wasn’t it you a while back that had it in for Direct TV too?

my warrenty “expired” at first , I was told, TWO MONTHS ago, and then after telling them that my first CPU took a crap after 24 hours, was told that it expired “just over a month’ ago..

I ordered my unit in January.. they took the money.. or put a hold on my money at the time.. and THEN didn’t tell me that it wasn’t going to be shipped for 8 weeks.. finally get the first unit, and it dies the first day… and then I waited another 6 weeks for the next one.

and as soon as my second unit was shipped, Dell started sending Windows 7 with the new units.. but wouldn’t honor me with it..

so from January into May , they controlled my $1400, no windows 7 ,, two major delays, and now this,, and saying that they WON”T FIX IT.. which obviously they should.

they didnt call to extend my warrenty..

Since I have ordered my unit.. there has been a major shakeup in management, since a person WE KNOW there.. left there after moving extremely high into the management team..

their stock has dropped over half..

but there is no way something as small as an ethernet card, should be mother board replace only,,

plus NO EXPANSION slots.. Gees.. Here I have this monster of a CPU and can’t add any boards at all to it..

something is quite wrong..

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when we bought it , it was one step down from the best unit.. Not an inspriron.. and its a 64 bit system.. there are NO, not any slots on the board.. NONE.. there is removable plates but NO slots to connect anything to..

and that’s why they said I needed a new mother board..

and I am STILL STEAMED.. they held my money in escrow for months.. and then gave me the excuse ITS TOO EXPENSIVE TO FIX.. that’s what the guy in India told me.. I could put it through but its too expensive to fix.. for an ethernet card..

be very very causious in dealing with Dell.. their stock isn’t doing well, and their reputation is following their stock score..

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Rat – what is the service tag of your machine? there is a sticker on the case with it.

i will see what i can find for you, if anything.

btw – service tag will give me no personal info, just the specs of the machine as ordered, is all.

There is always option B which is if you paid for it with a credit card or debit card, you could possibly dispute it that way?

phigs I sent you a Pm.

according to the documentation on your system.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/435MT/en/SM/techov.htm#wp1210162

you should have i’m guessing at least one open slot. a PCI express X1 slot.

Microcenter in St Louis Park appears to have three models in stock, i would call to verify first.

http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.phtml?N=4294966885+4294964716&sht=Any&prt=NewProduct&

personally i would go with the intel card.

one last thing, is make sure whichever card you get, the metal “frame” fits the case of your computer. they only make two sizes, so it will be easy to tell.

I don’t believe that the case your PC came in, is a low profile one.

if you have any questions on installing this, just let me know. but this should get you hooked up, and for less then 50 bucks!