[Qagak]

Does any one know how they work? From the system configuration tool at support.dell.com, it says that the coverage it has is rapid response depot & limited technical support. (Does any one know what that means?)

Has any one had problems? I'm going to chat with/phone Dell Support at some point & I have no idea what to expect. I live in a US territory & did a transfer of ownership, which was successful (amazingly).

I didn't really know what to think, though, because I had to fill out an international transfer of ownership form, when I'm not actually international..... (overseas & non-continental/contiguous but far from non-US) There are no Dell Depots or whatever here....

I don't get mail at the house, so I'm wondering how it's even going to work.... Lots of businesses love to do things by DHL or UPS or FedEx, all of which can be either ultra-expensive & somewhat problematic when you don't get mail at a physical address. (I believe now some of the carriers work with USPS or something like that, but I'm really not sure.)

A hurricane will be here by Friday.... ~lol~ I feel so screwed with less than 90 days on the warranty.

[Qagak]

Well, I realize I didn't have too much to worry about, regarding the warranty.

I've never had to send or even think about sending any thing back to Dell because of failure or because I had a problem I couldn't solve easily (like getting a new battery, replacing the hard drive, upgrading memory, buying a new power adapter) until now.

& even now, I believe I know what's wrong with Snow (my Alpine White Mini 9). It's just that that's a slight headache for me right now, but I'm sure I'll flex my muscles (flab?), crack my fingers & get down to business when I get hyped up enough about it. Amazingly, the customer service rep I got was pretty okay.

I don't know if it's worth it, but I was told I could extend my warranty, since it's going expire soon. I'm not too gung-ho about doing that just yet because I would hate to buy something I couldn't use or get my hopes up that it'd be a solution & then find out otherwise.

I still don't quite understand how Dell's warranties work, but I don't feel that anxious about it any more. Fine print + specialized jargon can be such a pain.

[holmes4]

Dell has a wide variety of warranties - you'll need to examine the invoice of your purchase to see what you have. It ranges from "mail it in" to on-site service. You usually have the option of paying more at purchase to get better coverage. Coverage also varies by country.

From what you write, you have access to some phone support and have to mail in the unit if repairs are needed.

[Qagak]

Thank you Holmes! That was the most to-the-point, layman's terms description I could get. That was seriously helpful! I thought that, but I wasn't quite sure.

I took over a warranty from a previous user, so that just sort of muddied things up & then while I live in the US, a lot of businesses consider here "international" when it isn't. I admit it's overseas, & shipping maybe higher, especially when it's not done right or depending on the weight, but overseas is not synonymous with non-US.

That's part of why I'm such a mess, almost can't tell up from down & am so scattered. I gotta figure out what I'm considered as 1st to even begin to have a fighting chance & then hope/pray that there isn't double talk + false/erroneous information in the mix. It's like -_-; (Ai-yah-yai) .

I never know when they're gonna be like, "Oops! Sorry! We can't help you. The warranty doesn't cover your area." When I did the warranty transfer, I had to use the "international" form, even though where I live is, without a doubt, US.... It's plain confusion. It's really a headache I cringe at having to deal with at any time. ~lol~ I guess that's why I haven't gotten a computer in 6 years.

What is offered in the Dell Online store for my "area" is not as extensive as the official US site & there is an interesting price difference, excluding tax + shipping, but you know, I guess I should be glad that there is even a store for my "area". It makes me more tempted to try my hand at just building my own computer & be done, instead of continuing to mess around with pre-builts loaded with software I don't want.

Any way, once again, a great big "THANKS!" to ya. ;-)

[holmes4]

So, where exactly ARE you?

I don't know how Dell deals with items purchased in one "jurisdiction" that are then moved somewhere else. For most companies, the level of service you are entitled to will drop if that happens. I think it would be best if you called Dell and asked for their take. If calling is inconvenient, you might try one of Dell's own user forums.

[Qagak]

I was born & reared in the Virgin Islands (VI <--"state" abbreviation). I'd love to say it like that, but I often have to put US in front of it. ~lol~ I don't hear people saying, "Yeah, I'm from US Arizona or even Arizona US...."

My islands are next to Puerto Rico (a ways southeast from Florida) & we're neighbors with the British Virgin Islands (BVI), so I guess that's why I always have to put US in front of it.

I live here now again, ever since returning from school.

I think I'm going to drop thinking about the warranty & just deal with whatever comes my way 'cause I really don't like the idea of not having my computer in my possession any way.



Edit: I think I finally sorted it out a little. At http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/policy/en/policy?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~section=010 , I found some info about the warranty.

A rep also told me about http://www.dell.com/content/topics/g...=04&l=en&s=bsd . It was described as a warranty, but it's really a protection service. (Yup... That's something different.)

There's also http://www.dell.com/content/topics/g...=19&l=en&s=dhs , which has stuff on there about service contracts.

Links above are all for US.

If you want info for a country/area other than US, there should be something on the country's/area's web site about the warranty, service contracts, protection services, etc.

[erillanos]

I have had to send in my A90 for repair.
The palm rest broke on one of the corners near the LCD
hinge.
They just ask lots of questions when its about warranty and problems.
But they are fast at repairing.
called on a friday got the box on monday.
Sent it on wednesday got it back in almost two weeks.

The only strange thing is the vostro they send me back
had silver trackpad buttons and it said vostro a90 instead of only vostro.

[MoInSTL]

Sent me a refurb SSD when mine died.

When dealing with Dell support, less is more. Just told them the SSD was showing as 0. Did not go into anything more. It just confuses them.

Hopefully you won't need to deal with them.

[Qagak]

If I thought I had the warranty sorted out, oh I'll have to think again!

Alright.... Now.... so I tried again with the Dell warranty thing. Apparently, when I transferred the warranty from the previous owner who was in the continental US, the Depot Service does not transfer because I am in "another" country.

The VI is in the US but how Dell does it, the VI is part of Latin America + the Caribbean. Since the Depot service is not available for my region because that is apparently only for the 48 states in the US, I'll have to upgrade + extend the warranty (since mine is about to end) so it has onsite/next business day service, in order for them to replace the part.

When I did the international transfer of ownership, the reason I kept having a problem was that the company # was not correct. (Dell specific internal problem) I was tossed around almost all morning long. Hopefully, I won't have to do that again.

I'm simply making a report here....

Edit: The way I feel about this whole thing..... Man, I need a Coke or a wine cooler. I would kill for someone plum wine right about now.... (Yes, it was that exhausting & if I'm saying this when I don't normally drink soda or alcohol, I think you get how I feel.)

What was noteworthy about this tech support chat was that the guy stayed with me throughout the ENTIRE 2+ hr fiasco of calling to try to get the whole thing sorted out & to determine what was wrong why I couldn't get help. Even he was getting a little peeved about how long it was taking. I'm telling you: THAT TECH ACTUALLY DESERVED A MEDAL.

What was dirty about the previous transaction was that I had a dispatch # & it was cancelled. Of course, I got no notification of any kind about it. (Crikey! I wish those roosters would stop making noise in my head already!!!) ~lol~


Edit #2: I just found something that might be helpful.....

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/...en&cs=19&s=dhs
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/...en&cs=19&s=dhs

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...doclang=en&cs=