Trouble From The Start

[Robvee]

Hi CTH,
I've only had this Dell XPS Vista Premium system for 2 weeks and I've already had several problems. It came with a fingerprint scanner and LoJack anti-theft service among other things, but neither of these features has worked for me. I couldn't activate the factory installed LoJack software; it kept freezing up. I can't activate the fingerprint security feature because it can't seem to get a "good" read from any of my fingers after numerous attempts. On the 3rd day the system shut down on me, and it's gone through a few Recovery Error Restarts since then. On the 4th day I called Dell to return the system, but the technician had me uninstall the LoJack because he suspected it may have become corrupt and affected other operations (although highly unusual for factory installed). The technician urged me to use the system a few more days before giving up on it. The next day (5th day) Word closed on me, and one of the installed fonts (Aharoni) has never worked. Yesterday (13th day) an installation error message about Office appeared. Finally, the touch pad is nonresponsive or lags in response at times. I want to return this system to Dell. Can I submit a log or something for you at CTH to look at to confirm whether or not things are so bad that I should return this system or try to fix it?

Thank you so much,
Robvee

[tech_9]

Your computer is fully under warranty. Make that clear to whoever you speak to. If they give you trouble, ask to speak to a superior. There is no excuse for them to not accept your computer back, and don't give them one by tinkering with things.

I know tech support is usually a huge waste of hours, but this early in the game there's no excuse for them to refuse a computer that is so obviously problematic. Stay on them until they take it back.

I have a friend who got his point across by saying "Well I'm sending it back, and when it gets there, if I don't have a refund, I'll report it stolen and tell them where to find it." I'm not sure how advisable this is, but it seemed to work. It wasn't Dell he was dealing with, though.

[AnnMarie]

Yes, send it back Robvee. There is no reason why you should have to put up with all these issues on a brand new computer.

[Robvee]

AnnMarie and Tech9,
Thank you so much for your replies. I felt I shouldn't put up with it when I first started having problems, but then I though maybe I was being "picky". So thanks for letting me see that it's not just me being too entitled.

God bless,
Robvee

[AnnMarie]

Good luck with Dell Robvee.