How I discovered that Dell Technologies does not have my back

Dell Technologies Inc. logo

I wasn’t expecting this to be my first blog post but I wanted to share my recent experience of dealing with Dell Technical Support, when I was in Switzerland on business.

I have been buying Dell products (desktops, laptops, monitors, docks etc) and professional services, personally & professionally for around 20 years now. From my perspective, Dell stood for quality, reliability, good support and nice looking products (outside Apple, which I consider at the top of their game). Professionally, when I was in roles where I had complete autonomy on the vendors that I used, it wasn’t a difficult decision to switch to using Dell Technologies and I never regretted the move.

About 7 years ago, due to the large amount of travelling I was doing, I switched to Microsoft’s Surface Pro line for my primary business device (I still continued to use Dell for desktops and other hardware). The form factor was great and the spec’s were industry leading. For a time I was happy, the device ticked all my requirements. As I used my device more and more, I started to experience throttling issues due the form factor and how hot my Surface Pro would get. I also started to experience reliability issues (screen and battery bloating being the most common), which led me to ponder whether the Surface Pro was really the right fit for me and my business.

After looking at vendors, models and spec’s available, I believed it made sense to move back to Dell for my primary device. I settled on the XPS 13 2-in-1, 7390. As this would be my main device, 8 to 10+ hours daily use and with the travelling, I spent the extra money on Dell’s Pro Support option for 3 years. So, at this point, I’m now covered….right?

Fast forward 2 years. I am in Switzerland for work. Initially I did not pick up on the fact that the keyboard and track pad were slightly raised but it became clear something was wrong when stowing the device.

My first call with Dell, Technical Support (UK-based) went like this (summarised):

Me: “I am in Switzerland on business. I am in a hotel and I think my battery is swollen”
Dell agent: “Try not to use your laptop”
Me: "I’m here on business. That’s not possible"
Dell agent: “OK, try not to use your laptop that much”
.
.
Dell agent: “Do you have a screwdriver?” (so that I could take out the battery)
Dell agent [after the agent spent some time looking at the laptop model specs]: “OK, I don’t think you can take out the battery yourself. I think you will need an engineer.“

The call ended with the next step being that I would be contacted with a quote for a replacement battery.

The next working day, I received an email telling me to contact Technical Support again, and get the battery replaced through warranty.

My second call with Dell, Technical Support (German-based) went like this (summarised):

I explained again that I was in Switzerland on business and was staying in a hotel.
During the call I also raised concerns about flying on planes with a bloated battery, to which there was not a solution offered.

Dell agent: “No, your battery is not covered by warranty - you only get 1 years warranty on batteries”
Dell agent: “Download the Dell AR Assistant on how to remove your battery”
I downloaded Dell’s AR Assistant but could not find the XPS 13 2-in-1, 7390 on there
Dell agent: “Oh, you have an iPhone….it’s on the android version”
Dell agent: “Do you have a screwdriver?”
Dell agent: “Can you ask the hotel if they have a screwdriver?”
I then had a look at the screws on the back and noticed that they were different.
Dell agent: “OK, you will need a Torx screwdriver. Can you ask the hotel if they have a Torx screwdriver?”
After I pushed back
Dell agent: “Can you take your laptop to a shop, so that they can remove the battery?”
After I pushed back
Dell agent: “I’ll request that we prioritise the request to get you a quote for a replacement battery. But, they may or may not react to my request”

I was informed 3 days later that Dell could not provide me with a quote (as I was in Switzerland) and that I should contact Dell Technical Support in the UK. I then received a survey from Dell on how my experience was.

My third call with Dell, Technical Support (UK-based) was relatively straight forward and I now had to wait for a call from the procurement team.

My forth call with Dell, Procurement Team:

I provided the agent with my UK billing address, the address in Switzerland, where I was staying. After a period of time, I was then told that they could not provide me with a quote (billing address is in the UK and I am in Switzerland). The agent then recommended that I give them a call when I am back in the UK.

I then spent time explaining that I would not be going back to the UK for some time and had onward travel booked. I again bought up the concern of flying with a bloated battery, to which there was no response. I asked them to escalate the case as I felt it was unacceptable.

That evening, before completing the Dell survey, I spent time Googling “how to remove the battery from a Dell 7390”, to see for myself how easy it would be to remove it. So, once you remove the screws using the Torx screwdriver, which I did not have, you then need to use a special plastic tool, which I also did not have, to pry off the cover, otherwise there’s a good chance you could damage the laptop. At that stage, I wondered how many non-technical people (at no time was I asked if I was comfortable to unscrew the back, pry off the cover and take out the battery), Dell had managed to convince to pry open their laptops to take out the battery (and if they actually had a Torx screwdriver). I now felt that I was ready to complete the Dell Survey, not that they had managed to help me in any way. I appropriately marked them down on every aspect and provided them with a detailed response.

My fifth call with Dell, Technical Support (UK-based):

I received a call from Dell, two working days later. By then I had caught my flight to my next destination. With no conversation on what had happened prior to this call. The agent provided me with two service providers for the country I was now visiting, as Dell physically has no actual presence and it is service provider led in-country.

I did follow up with one of the service providers, who gave me an estimate of 4 to 6 weeks for the delivery of the replacement battery.

In summary

Professionally (this laptop was purchased for my business) and personally, I feel extremely let down by my experience of using Dell’s Technical Support. Comparing to other organisations (Apple, Microsoft, HP, ASUS and ViewSonic) that I have used, this has been the worst I have ever experienced.

As I am still processing what happened, I am unsure whether I will use Dell again professionally or personally. Right now, I feel that Dell Technologies does not have my back. Only time will tell.