<p>ooooh…sorry to hear this. I’d be writing my letter to Mr Dell as we speak. Copying the AG. And threatening to post this awful story all over the web. (have you thought about writing “the haggler” from the NYTIMES?). Time to make some trouble! I’ve have never had luck with the BBB.</p>
<p>When my D received her Dell back from a repair recently it included a note that the HDD didn’t work (even though it did when we sent it to them) and that a new one would be arriving shortly. The new HDD arrived within a couple of days and the good news was that it was a 160G vs the old 100G one. </p>
<p>My point is that when they returned the laptop to us they informed us exactly of any ‘variances’ and promptly fulfilled the one variance.</p>
<p>I’m assuming you never handled the laptop since it seems that you would have noticed the missing components (and much lighter laptop) so did your D receive paperwork with the laptop indicating the missing components and the status of those? </p>
<p>I hope you don’t run into an issue where Dell says they shipped you a complete laptop but it was missing components on the receiving end where there could be an issue with a shipping person or customs person helping themselves to some components - or at least a lot of finger pointing with you stuck in the middle.</p>
<p>Maybe your D should just go get herself a netbook.</p>
<p>Part of the problem is that there’s an expensive piece of software on the old system.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Funny you mention this. This is exactly the position that Dell took, claiming that they shipped out an entire system. And this was from a supervisor. </p>
<p>It got really funny (and sad) when I gave her my fedex tracking number. Their number showed a pickup by the customer at 7:58 PM. Mine showed a ship of 8:00. I told her I would have had a hard time opening the box, stripping the chassis, repacking it and reconsigning it to fedex in all of 2 minutes. But, she tried to top me. She pointed out that their shipment was for 8 pounds while mine was for 7.2! Ah, the missing battery? I actually had to point out that they round up to the nearest pound for domestic shipments. </p>
<p>She said she’d check with the depot (funny how they could not do this for 1.5 weeks!) and get back to me. She did, and told me that the depot records show that they shipped all the parts, but that maybe they could find some replacement ones to ship to me. </p>
<p>It was interesting that when she told me Dell was not responsible - they had done their part, and I asked for that in writing, that is to say give me something in writing that they refused to do anything more, she would not. I told her that whether or not Dell had done what they were supposed to do was a matter of judgment that neither she nor I could make, that only a court or arbitrator could decide that, (so give me something in writing to start with…), she switched to a “lets find a solutions” pitch.</p>
<p>This has been enough to give me high blood pressure and more gray hair. Not what I need while digging out from a record snow.</p>
<p>Who would believe such a story? Meanwhile D is writing a masters thesis on borrowed machines. </p>
<p>Stay tuned.</p>
<p>What Dell has done has no justification, but your daughter’s mindset speaks volumes. It’s no wonder to me that she is where she is. She’s seems to be a wonderful young lady.</p>
<p>A brief update:</p>
<p>Daughter is still without a computer. </p>
<p>On February 11, they processed an order for a replacement computer:
Great. </p>
<p>A week later, I received a call from the BBB complaint resolver telling me there is a production delay, that it would ship by the end of the month.</p>
<p>Last night, I received another call telling me it is still delayed, with no firm ship date. I also learned that the original replacement order was cancelled and re-entered on February 22, with a change in specs for the order (one key part downgraded), and still with no shipping date.</p>
<p>After hanging up, I learned that the machine on order is no longer for sale, at least publicly (Inspiron XPS 1340) because it is “End Of Life”. That would explain why it is on indefinite backorder, but would not explain why Dell is not offering a better fix. And currently Dell does not have a real replacement for the XPS 13 series. the closest is the Inspiron 14, which is bigger, heavier and cheaper. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, for over a month, D has been writing her dissertation and a number of other important documents (fellowship applications and such) on borrowed computers and very old iron in the computer lab. </p>
<p>I guess it is time to tell her to just go purchase another machine in the UK, but then what do I do if Dell comes through with a machine in a few weeks, or a few months? </p>
<p>I suppose I could sell what they send on ebay? </p>
<p>Sue them in small claims court? (how would that work if they ship something after she’s purchased something else? Refuse delivery?)</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Maybe get a netbook here for a few hundred bucks and send it to her. When she no longer needs it she can send it back to you and you can use it. They’re good for traveling since they’re small and lightweight. It might be cheaper to buy one here and send it to her than her buying the same thing there because of all their taxes but it’s best to do a comparison.</p>
<p>Dell makes netbooks… ;)</p>
<p>UUD,</p>
<p>Not a bad idea (except for the Dell suggestion 
) We’d probably have her purchase it over there because shipping is so expensive and risky, although I suspect I could send a 4 pound netbook containing package for $30 if I trust the USPS! In truth, these days the costs in the UK are not as high as you think - go to Amazon.co.uk and see what I mean. Their VAT is 17.5%, but consider US sales taxes which are increasingly hard to avoid (but Hello Newegg?), so the effective tax difference is closer to 10-11%. And, there’s the risk of being assessed a duty when we send it to UK!</p>
<p>The other thought I had was to have her buy a new comparable notebook there, then take Dell to small claims court for the cost, under the concept of mitigation of damages.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Just take a drive to Salem or Nashua NH. There are malls and big box stores that would be happy to sell you a netbook. You can call to check if they charge MA sales tax - I doubt it since the recent ruling making it illegal for NH businesses to share sales information with other states. The MA tax for goods purchased outside the state is called the USE tax and applies if you intend to use the goods in MA. In your case, the device will be used outside the state so the USE tax shouldn’t apply. I don’t think that anyone pays the USE tax anyways.</p>
<p>BCEagle,</p>
<p>I live in DC now. Isn’t it a long drive to Nashua from here? I think the tolls on the NJT would eat up the savings!</p>
<p>Seriously, the customs issues are the bigger ones, that and shipping time. The fast way is FEDEX, but that takes 3-5 days, depending on customs clearance, and costs $100 plus. The slow way is international post, where you lose trackability, have huge hassles if anything goes wrong, and long waits. If the whole goal is to get something in her hands NOW, then trying to save a few $$ is false economy perhaps.</p>
<p>newmassdad,</p>
<p>This is like a bad mutation of Ground Hog Day.</p>
<p>have her buy a new laptop in the UK. And yes, sell what you get on ebay.
I would write a nice long letter to the AG. Copy Mr. Dell. My request would be a BRAND NEW laptop. That would get a good price on ebay.
Good luck.</p>
<p>"And threatening to post this awful story all over the web. (have you thought about writing “the haggler” from the NYTIMES?). Time to make some trouble! "
Demand a computer that is in stock- there are lots of new scratch and dent laptops available in the Dell outlet that they can pull from…
[Dell</a> Outlet Home & Home Office - Refurbished Laptops - Refurbished Laptop - Refurbished Laptop Computer - Refurbished Notebook | Dell](<a href=“http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfh/notebooks/ct.aspx?refid=notebooks&s=dfh&cs=22]Dell”>http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfh/notebooks/ct.aspx?refid=notebooks&s=dfh&cs=22)
that’s what I would do, as well as tell your D to get a non Dell netbook over there. And yes, sell what ever you get from Dell on Ebay.</p>
<p>by the way, there are LOTS of refurbished Inspiron XPS 1340’s on the outlet website</p>
<p>[Dell</a> Factory Outlet](<a href=“Dell Factory Outlet: Inventory Search”>Dell Factory Outlet: Inventory Search)</p>
<p>the scratch and dents are brand new and come with a full warranty</p>
<p>Do not touch a 1340 with an nVidia graphics card. You’ll need to get the motherboard replaced over and over and over again. It can be miserable even with the warranty.</p>
<p>With respect to just buying a computer in the UK, is your daughter planning to stay in Europe? If not, you might want to first check and see if the warranty on the new machine will be honored back in the US. It isn’t necessarily the case that it is.</p>
<p>I’d second (or third) the idea of writing to Michael Dell, with a brief one page letter, accompanied by a time line that is an attachment.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the suggestions. </p>
<p>I found some nice online discussions regarding Dell’s lack of responsiveness, including results from writing Michael Dell. Those that did got a nice form letter response. </p>
<p>D just recently decided to stay at Oxford for a DPhil. Financial support is already taken care of. So she’s there for two more years at least. We’re planning to purchase something with a 1 year minimal warranty. Turns out that we already have “complete care” a la Dell style with our homeowners insurance, for $10/year, albeit with a $250 deductible. So a broken screen or trashed MB from a spill would be covered for the most part. </p>
<p>One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that within a year or so of product launch, most parts start appearing on ebay, including LCD screens, at decent prices. So we’ll probably take our chances this time around. We’ll also aim for a lower price point. </p>
<p>D has been so patient, but now things are piling up - MPhil dissertation, DPhil proposal, funding requests and so forth, and the machines she uses don’t seem to work with EndNote, her preferred reference application. So time has become more urgent.</p>
<p>[[oucs</a>] Hardware Repair and Upgrade Services](<a href=“http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/helpcentre/pcsupport/hardware-service.xml][oucs”>http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/helpcentre/pcsupport/hardware-service.xml)
^computer services at Oxford University</p>
<p>If she is going to stay at Oxford University, you may want to consider going with an Apple.
According to their website:</p>
<p>Apple Warranty Repairs
The Hardware Repair Service is authorized by Apple Sales International to carry out warranty repairs on Apple Mac computers owned by the University or its members. Fault diagnosis is carried out within 1 working day of receiving the equipment and, for qualifying warranty repair claims, the job is completed within 2 working days of the arrival of replacement parts.</p>
<p>nysmile,</p>
<p>She’s thought about an apple. The problem is that she only has windows versions for some expensive software she uses quite a bit for her reseach, so an apple would be more expensive for hardware, and even more expensive, by hundreds, for software, even under academic licenses. </p>
<p>Interestingly, some of the new thin light notebook offerings are competitive with apple, at least with regard to form factor. Service and OS, maybe not. so food for thought. </p>
<p>so this is indeed a challenge.</p>
<p>In the geek world, LaTeX is still popular for writing. It has a very steep learning curve but can be very rewarding with the fine level of control of the document. A CS Phd that I know helped his wife do her dissertation (Biology) using LaTeX and that worked out well. It is frustrating that common GUI-based tools have deficiencies for academic work.</p>