Dell disappoints

Still on computers, I must say that I an very, very disappointed with Dell Computers. I'll tell you why.

I have a 17-inch LCD monitor at home, bought in February or March of 2005, which means it is less than three years old. About a month ago, the monitor suddenly went blank. No power. It was working fine until suddenly, in the middle of doing nothing, the screen went off.

I phoned Dell's customer support. Heck, they required me to give them the Order Number of my purchase even though I told them that it was purchased almost three years ago. Okay, fine, I'll check that out for them.

So I phoned them a second time, gave them the Order Number, and had to describe my problem all over again. I asked: can the power source be repaired? The guy at the other end had the cheek to ask me: what do you think? I was patient. I asked back: what do YOU think? Geez...if I know what to do, I wouldn't be calling him.

He told me that it was difficult to repair the power source as it was inside the monitor and that even if it could be repaired, it would probably cost almost as much as a new monitor. Bottom line was that I should simply buy a new monitor, preferably another Dell monitor. Shit! That wasn't what I wanted to hear from a Dell support guy!

Luckily, I remembered that Jeffrey had once worked at Dell. I phoned him and he gave me a telephone number to call. Someone who once worked at Dell and now operating his own computer shop. He would know what to do.

Guess what...he told me to try and use another power cable. Maybe the fuse had blown, he said. If it doesn't work, bring it in to his shop and he'll see what can be done. Fair enough, right? Reaching home, I did just that and voila! The monitor sprang back to life. Phew! I just saved myself another RM600 to RM800 for a new LCD monitor.

To Dell Computers, I can only say one thing: Dell, go to hell!