Dell Won't Provide Warranty Support for Its Monitors To Anyone Except Original Buyer?

We bought a few new-in-box 2407FP monitors recently, and one developed a
broken power switch. I was appalled to call Dell support and be told that
Dell doesn't have the capability to cross reference the original order from
the serial number of the unit, and only the original buyer can get support
by using his order number. Since we bought from an online reseller this
creates a giant hassle for us and for the reseller. Coming from a company
who simply creates new customer numbers for us every time we try to get a
typo corrected in data in an old customer number, I shouldn't be surprised.
But this policy sucks and I'm not going to purchase more of the Dell monitor
products for our company. Any manufacturer so incompetent that they cannot
trace their own serial numbers has problems that I don't want to deal with.

--
Will

On Wed, 30 May 2007 23:18:43 -0700, "Will" <westes->
wrote:

>We bought a few new-in-box 2407FP monitors recently, and one developed a
>broken power switch. I was appalled to call Dell support and be told that
>Dell doesn't have the capability to cross reference the original order from
>the serial number of the unit, and only the original buyer can get support
>by using his order number. Since we bought from an online reseller this
>creates a giant hassle for us and for the reseller. Coming from a company
>who simply creates new customer numbers for us every time we try to get a
>typo corrected in data in an old customer number, I shouldn't be surprised.
>But this policy sucks and I'm not going to purchase more of the Dell monitor
>products for our company. Any manufacturer so incompetent that they cannot
>trace their own serial numbers has problems that I don't want to deal with.
>
>--
>Will

Sounds like a hassle. Why did you buy from a reseller and not
directly from Dell (just curious)? I wonder if any other computer
maker would do any better for a situation like that.

The 2407 monitors would be good. Not buying them because of this
might be self-defeating.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Will [mailto:westes-]
> Posted At: Thursday, May 31, 2007 2:19 AM
> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> Conversation: Dell Won't Provide Warranty Support for Its Monitors To
> Anyone Except Original Buyer?
> Subject: Dell Won't Provide Warranty Support for Its Monitors To
Anyone
> Except Original Buyer?
>
> We bought a few new-in-box 2407FP monitors recently, and one developed
> a
> broken power switch. I was appalled to call Dell support and be told
> that
> Dell doesn't have the capability to cross reference the original order
> from
> the serial number of the unit, and only the original buyer can get
> support
> by using his order number. Since we bought from an online reseller
> this
> creates a giant hassle for us and for the reseller. Coming from a
> company
> who simply creates new customer numbers for us every time we try to
get
> a
> typo corrected in data in an old customer number, I shouldn't be
> surprised.
> But this policy sucks and I'm not going to purchase more of the Dell
> monitor
> products for our company. Any manufacturer so incompetent that they
> cannot
> trace their own serial numbers has problems that I don't want to deal
> with.
>
> --
> Will

Dell doesn't really have online resellers. What you likely did was buy
it from someone that watches for Dell's sales, buys a bunch of them at
the sale price, and resells them. They are almost always shoddy at
filling out the transfer of ownership which causes exactly the problem
you described. All the seller had to do was fill out a simple webpage
and transfer the ownership and it would have been simple to get service.

Alas, the problem is that the last question for every order on Dell's
website is: Do you intend to resell this. I don't know what happens to
the answer of this question, but I suspect it is because this practice
of buy low/sell high is not allowed by Dell -- it messes up their
business model -- and large purchasers playing the game are often denied
this transfer.

Your problem isn't with Dell, it is with the person from whom you
purchased the monitor. You probably saved nothing compared to just
waiting until Dell put it on sale, but you may not have a warranty at
all.

I'm particularly shocked that a company would make a purchase in this
way.

Tom

"Will" <westes-> wrote in message
news: ...
> We bought a few new-in-box 2407FP monitors recently, and one developed a
> broken power switch. I was appalled to call Dell support and be told
> that Dell doesn't have the capability to cross reference the original
> order from the serial number of the unit, and only the original buyer can
> get support by using his order number. Since we bought from an online
> reseller this creates a giant hassle for us and for the reseller. Coming
> from a company who simply creates new customer numbers for us every time
> we try to get a typo corrected in data in an old customer number, I
> shouldn't be surprised. But this policy sucks and I'm not going to
> purchase more of the Dell monitor products for our company. Any
> manufacturer so incompetent that they cannot trace their own serial
> numbers has problems that I don't want to deal with.
>
> --
> Will
>
>

You're leaving out something; how did the re-seller position the sale of
these monitors? Was he offering warranty and it was expired or did you
attempt to contact him/her? Did you ask him if the Dell warranty was
transferrable or did he sell the items promising Dell warranty?

If you'd have bought the thing new (individually) from Dell, then you'd
likely have had 3 full years of warranty - or warranty paralleling any
system the monitor was purchased with.

So I'm figuring that you bought from the re-seller and saved a bunch of
money, right? That's fine. Live and learn.

I'm not surprised that Dell can't track the "12-digit serial number" once
the product had been sold through a third party.

I'm placing the blame equally on the re-seller and you for not having those
questions answered before you bought the monitors.

As I've learned (painfully) and personally in the past, this is one of those
transactions where you talk with the seller and contact Dell about warranty
before the purchase.

It happens.

Stew

"Will" <westes-> wrote in message
news: ...
> We bought a few new-in-box 2407FP monitors recently, and one developed a
> broken power switch. I was appalled to call Dell support and be told
> that Dell doesn't have the capability to cross reference the original
> order from the serial number of the unit, and only the original buyer can
> get support by using his order number. Since we bought from an online
> reseller this creates a giant hassle for us and for the reseller.

WTF has this to do with Dell? Your contract is with the seller, not Dell, as
is the warranty obligation. Send the balifs to the reseller and stop blaming
Dell for your stupidity in not buying direct...

PDR

On Thu, 31 May 2007 14:37:58 +0100, "PDR"
<> wrote:

>
>"Will" <westes-> wrote in message
>news: m...
>> We bought a few new-in-box 2407FP monitors recently, and one developed a
>> broken power switch. I was appalled to call Dell support and be told
>> that Dell doesn't have the capability to cross reference the original
>> order from the serial number of the unit, and only the original buyer can
>> get support by using his order number. Since we bought from an online
>> reseller this creates a giant hassle for us and for the reseller.
>
>WTF has this to do with Dell? Your contract is with the seller, not Dell, as
>is the warranty obligation. Send the balifs to the reseller and stop blaming
>Dell for your stupidity in not buying direct...
>
>PDR
>


I too was thinking the same thing tho not quite a strongly worded as
you. And I'm not sure why he bought from a reseller other than for
the price vs. directly from Dell but I think the other mistake he made
was not checking out the vendor first before making a large purchase.
I suppose it's possible that the vendor is fine but that he didn't
read their terms on its web site entirely or at all before the
purchase and then blames Dell for his mistake???? Who knows and cares
(tho we might if we knew who the reseller was).

More than anything else, this sounds like a buy from an unethical reseller by
someone who did not ask enough questions before making the purchase.

I resell Dell gear, too, on occasion. When I do, I become the first point of
contact on hardware support problems, and I may have to eat the cost of a repair
of equipment still under warranty, just like any other brand I may sell. But
this buyer bought from an "online" reseller apparently no support personnel in
the neighborhood. Seems like the buyer was captivated by the price, a common
phenomenon these days, and failed to consider other factors.

The whole situation with Dell equipment under warranty has just gotten more
complicated with the Dell-Wal*Mart deal and its recent push (according to the
trade rags) to line up authorized resellers for its hardware. In short, it
will be just as messy as warranty policies for HPaq, eGate-machines, IBM-Lenovo,
all of which are sold through multiple sales channels.

Caveat emptor! But don't blame Dell unless dealing directly with them.

.... Ben Myers

On Wed, 30 May 2007 23:18:43 -0700, "Will" <westes-> wrote:

>We bought a few new-in-box 2407FP monitors recently, and one developed a
>broken power switch. I was appalled to call Dell support and be told that
>Dell doesn't have the capability to cross reference the original order from
>the serial number of the unit, and only the original buyer can get support
>by using his order number. Since we bought from an online reseller this
>creates a giant hassle for us and for the reseller. Coming from a company
>who simply creates new customer numbers for us every time we try to get a
>typo corrected in data in an old customer number, I shouldn't be surprised.
>But this policy sucks and I'm not going to purchase more of the Dell monitor
>products for our company. Any manufacturer so incompetent that they cannot
>trace their own serial numbers has problems that I don't want to deal with.

"Journey" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Sounds like a hassle. Why did you buy from a reseller and not
> directly from Dell (just curious)?

It was $100 more expensive from Dell Direct. And I don't like dealing with
Dell Direct. They have bad information systems and I get tired of hearing
their excuses for why they cannot change the customer type of our customer
number, cannot edit information in our record, cannot move our credit line
from one customer number to another.


> I wonder if any other computer
> maker would do any better for a situation like that.


I don't have these problems with HP warranties.


> The 2407 monitors would be good. Not buying them because of this
> might be self-defeating.

LCDs are commodities. Dell isn't the only company in the world that makes
good products.

--
Will

"Tom Scales" <> wrote in message
news:000001c7a36f$fabc99f0$de01a8c0@t9200...
> Dell doesn't really have online resellers. What you likely did was buy
> it from someone that watches for Dell's sales, buys a bunch of them at
> the sale price, and resells them. They are almost always shoddy at
> filling out the transfer of ownership which causes exactly the problem
> you described. All the seller had to do was fill out a simple webpage
> and transfer the ownership and it would have been simple to get service.

That is true for *systems*. Apparently it is not true for monitors.
Monitors do not have service tags, only serial numbers, and Dell has no way
to even cross reference that to the order number.


> Your problem isn't with Dell, it is with the person from whom you
> purchased the monitor. You probably saved nothing compared to just
> waiting until Dell put it on sale, but you may not have a warranty at
> all.

No that's wrong. My problem is with Dell. It is a new Dell product. It
has a legal serial number. It was purchased legally. Dell's information
systems are so screwed up that Dell cannot take a Dell serial number and
translate that into a warranty. That's not the reseller's problem, and
that's not my problem.

--
Will

"S.Lewis" <> wrote in message
news:aCx7i.18997$.. .
> You're leaving out something; how did the re-seller position the sale of
> these monitors? Was he offering warranty and it was expired or did you
> attempt to contact him/her? Did you ask him if the Dell warranty was
> transferrable or did he sell the items promising Dell warranty?

They advertised as three year manufacturer warranty. And so far they are
better at honoring their promises than Dell is.


> If you'd have bought the thing new (individually) from Dell, then you'd
> likely have had 3 full years of warranty - or warranty paralleling any
> system the monitor was purchased with.

Yes, and then I would also have paid $100 more in the purchase price, wasted
20 minutes on the phone correcting mistakes on our account, etc.


> So I'm figuring that you bought from the re-seller and saved a bunch of
> money, right? That's fine. Live and learn.

What I learned is to go with a manufacturer whose information systems
preserve the serial numbers as a way of tracking warranty, and I also
learned that Dell is hopelessly inept.

--
Will