One of my users called me today to complain that her system has been running slowly for the last few days. I popped over to have a look, and found the computer wouldn’t boot. Popping my Vista disc in the drive, I let chkdsk /r run and wandered off. When I got back, it had failed – chkdsk found unfixable errors. Great.
I ran the Dell Hard Drive Diagnostics next, as the system is in warranty (with next-business-day parts) and they always insist on doing that, but surprise surprise, it passed. Moving on, I ran the Western Digital test which failed quite quickly. Then the drive started clicking.
After I got back to my office I called Dell Support. Normally I use their online chat, but at first it told me that it wasn’t available in Canada, and then it said that it was closed, despite still being in business hours. After navigating through their menus, I got an agent right away. As that almost never happens, I thought I’d have an easy time of it. Not so lucky. After giving the lady my Service Tag and confirming the company, the following conversation ensued:
Her: So what’s the problem with the system?
Me: The hard drive is dead. I need a replacement.
Her: Okay, so how do you know the drive is dead?
Me: It was running slow for a few days, then today it wouldn’t boot to Windows. I ran chkdsk and it failed, so I ran the Dell Diagnostics and those passed. Then I ran the Western Digital test, and it failed that.
Her: Okay. Do you have Gold Support on this system?
Me: No, just Next-Business-Day parts. Why?
Her: Oh, well, in that case we will need to troubleshoot the issue. I need an error code from the Dell Diagnostics before I can send a replacement part.
Me: What? The drive is obviously faulty, two other tests failed it, but the Dell one didn’t. You’re going to make me run it again, wait for it to finish and pass, then tell me you can’t replace the drive?
Her: We need to troubleshoot, sir, or else–
Me: I’m hanging up now. — Click –
I sat and steamed for a few minutes, then called back. I waded through the menu, and again got an agent right away. After going through the same greeting process (Service Tag and confirming contact information), we got down to business:
Him: What can we do for you today?
Me: Well, I’ve got a system with a failed hard drive and I’m not having a lot of luck trying to get it replaced. I – Repeat my explanation from above –
Him: Oh, okay. Let me check the warranty. –pause– Okay, you’re still in warranty, and have Next-Business-Day parts. What time is it there right now?
Me: About 1:30pm.
Him: Okay, can I put you on hold for a few minutes?
Me: Sure.
–Five minutes–
Him: I’ll just be a few more minutes.
Me: Okay.
–Five more minutes–
Him: Alright, the part is on it’s way. Depending on the shipping guys, it may go out today or tomorrow. Anything else I can do for you?
Me: Nope! Thanks!
Him: No problem – sorry about the trouble on your last call in, and have a nice day!
Just goes to show. If you get someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about, try-try-again!
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