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Can I sue Dell for negligence?

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dfranco714

Junior Member
I live in California.


1. The laptop I bought from Dell has been a mess since the day I purchased it. The Dell Studio XPS 1645 is a ridiculous excuse for a laptop. It overheats like crazy (sometimes actually burning me), shuts down unexpectedly (probably because of the overheating), freezes many times, etc. The design itself is ridiculous. When the laptop is opened, the screen blocks the vent from where the heat should exit. It should have been recalled.

2. I have been unable to get a refund/replacement. Dell Customer Support told me they would fix the issues instead. I said okay. Sent in my laptop, suffered a week without it, and I get it back only to find out it was not fixed. I call, send it in again, suffer another week without it, only to find out that they still did not fix it (They said they were going to replace my heatsink/fan. They didn't). On a side note, just getting through customer service is a pain in the ass. Worst customer service by far. And now they want to charge you to get help, etc, but I digress. By this time, I am infuriated that they did not fix my problems and I suffered without the laptop for nothing (I am a student and I need the laptop to do my work). In other words, the warranty that I had (that I had paid for technically with the purchase of my expensive paperweight) was useless. A warranty, which is a service in a way, was being neglected. I had a problem with my laptop. I sent it in 2x, and they did not fix it. They did not even BOTHER to fix it. It is not as if they replaced a part and the issue remained. In the letter that I received with my returned laptop, it showed what they replaced/didn't replace. They wasted my time and neglected my warranty. What good is honoring a warranty by taking in the product and not fixing it?

3. Since I was fed up, I decided to say screw it and stopped calling. Decided I would just go with what I have for a while (A useless laptop that would work here and there). Surprisingly, it lasted a good 10 months ( 10 months that I was out of warranty now) until it recently started breaking down even more to the point where it becomes unusable. I decided to give Dell Tech Support another shot, trying to explain my entire situation. In the end, they said they will not do anything because I was out of warranty and that I had to buy a new warranty. This is ridiculous because even when I had a warranty, they STILL weren't doing anything anyway. Shouldn't there be an exception for helping me out because they never did help me when I did have a warranty? Their warranties are useless, and even Googling Dell sucks or Dell warranty with anything negative will produce numerous results of others being taken advantage of as well. Customer service told me I should have kept calling, even if it meant calling 100 times and sending in my laptop 100 times until my issue was resolved, but how can they expect such a thing? I, as a customer, was infuriated and was not seeing ANY results. Why would I bother calling again and again only to be let down? Hypothetically, yes I could have called 100 times and sent in my laptop 100 times, but they do not understand that no customer should have to go through that, and that I cannot go long without my laptop because I needed it for school.

4. I understand that Dell is a huge company, but with this story, is there any chance that I can gain anything? At the very least, a lawyer to possibly "scare" them to give me a refund/replacement? (Although I would prefer a refund. Don't want another Dell computer ever, EVER again.)
 
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dfranco714

Junior Member
Well that wasn't much help. I do plan on buying a new laptop though., but I spent a lot on this one. I want a refund so that I CAN buy a new laptop. But no, Apple can go to hell too.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Ok, in case I wasn't clear before, you have no "case" against Dell.

I live in California.


1. The laptop I bought from Dell has been a mess since the day I purchased it. The Dell Studio XPS 1645 is a ridiculous excuse for a laptop. It overheats like crazy (sometimes actually burning me), shuts down unexpectedly (probably because of the overheating), freezes many times, etc. The design itself is ridiculous. When the laptop is opened, the screen blocks the vent from where the heat should exit. It should have been recalled.

2. I have been unable to get a refund/replacement. Dell Customer Support told me they would fix the issues instead. I said okay. Sent in my laptop, suffered a week without it, and I get it back only to find out it was not fixed. I call, send it in again, suffer another week without it, only to find out that they still did not fix it (They said they were going to replace my heatsink/fan. They didn't). On a side note, just getting through customer service is a pain in the ass. Worst customer service by far. And now they want to charge you to get help, etc, but I digress. By this time, I am infuriated that they did not fix my problems and I suffered without the laptop for nothing (I am a student and I need the laptop to do my work). In other words, the warranty that I had (that I had paid for technically with the purchase of my expensive paperweight) was useless. A warranty, which is a service in a way, was being neglected. I had a problem with my laptop. I sent it in 2x, and they did not fix it. They did not even BOTHER to fix it. It is not as if they replaced a part and the issue remained. In the letter that I received with my returned laptop, it showed what they replaced/didn't replace. They wasted my time and neglected my warranty. What good is honoring a warranty by taking in the product and not fixing it?

3. Since I was fed up, I decided to say screw it and stopped calling. Decided I would just go with what I have for a while (A useless laptop that would work here and there). Surprisingly, it lasted a good 10 months ( 10 months that I was out of warranty now) until it recently started breaking down even more to the point where it becomes unusable. I decided to give Dell Tech Support another shot, trying to explain my entire situation. In the end, they said they will not do anything because I was out of warranty and that I had to buy a new warranty. This is ridiculous because even when I had a warranty, they STILL weren't doing anything anyway. Shouldn't there be an exception for helping me out because they never did help me when I did have a warranty? Their warranties are useless, and even Googling Dell sucks or Dell warranty with anything negative will produce numerous results of others being taken advantage of as well. Customer service told me I should have kept calling, even if it meant calling 100 times and sending in my laptop 100 times until my issue was resolved, but how can they expect such a thing? I, as a customer, was infuriated and was not seeing ANY results. Why would I bother calling again and again only to be let down? Hypothetically, yes I could have called 100 times and sent in my laptop 100 times, but they do not understand that no customer should have to go through that, and that I cannot go long without my laptop because I needed it for school.

4. I understand that Dell is a huge company, but with this story, is there any chance that I can gain anything? At the very least, a lawyer to possibly "scare" them to give me a refund/replacement? (Although I would prefer a refund. Don't want another Dell computer ever, EVER again.)
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Well that is more clear. Can you explain why though? Especially the warranty part...
What warranty?

Your warranty is generally extended by the amount of time that the item is in their hands for repairs. Your warranty was expired by TEN MONTHS when it started giving you problems again. Unless your computer was out for repairs for greater than ten months, you're out of gas.
 

dfranco714

Junior Member
How would I do that? I really do want to try to escalate these complaints to the higher people, and maybe if they gave a damn about customer satisfaction, I might gain some relief. I can only contact customer support, but if there was a way to contact the higher people (say the Dell dude himself which I'm sure won't happen), MAYBE they'll have some pity for my troubles caused by their repair service not actually repairing anything.


Also, the laptop did not ever stop having problems and then started AGAIN. I just dealt with the crap that Dell never fixed the first two times I sent it in. As a student, I couldn't afford to keep going without it. And it was the 1 year warranty you get when you buy the laptop.
 
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Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
How would I do that? I really do want to try to escalate these complaints to the higher people, and maybe if they gave a damn about customer satisfaction, I might gain some relief. I can only contact customer support, but if there was a way to contact the higher people (say the Dell dude himself which I'm sure won't happen), MAYBE they'll have some pity for my troubles caused by their repair service not actually repairing anything.
They won't have pity on you. Your computer was repaired and worked for ten months.

Again, buy a new laptop. I would recommend an Apple product if you want a quality machine that will last. This comes from a long-time user of both MS & Apple products (along with various flavors of other OS's)
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Also, the laptop did not ever stop having problems and then started AGAIN. I just dealt with the crap that Dell never fixed the first two times I sent it in. As a student, I couldn't afford to keep going without it. And it was the 1 year warranty you get when you buy the laptop.
Right - so as far as Dell was concerned, the problem(s) were fixed.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
when you stopped calling them they figured your computer was fixed. This new problem is apparently outside of the warranty window. So, either consider it a doorstop or plan on paying to have it fixed.
 

dfranco714

Junior Member
Alright, I guess that makes sense. As for Apple, I am not a fan of their stuff. As it stands, I guess my only options are to find a place to repair it (if even possible. Another problem I noted was that this laptop is on a suicide mission from hell. Should have been recalled) or renew my warranty. If I were to renew my warranty, and I send it in again and again and it still isn't fixed, then is there anything I can do?
 

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