Keyframer

Dell is a huge corporation here in America and that badge often comes with a price in the eyes of the general consumer. The term “Corporate America” can imply a cold and unfriendly conglomerate whose only goal is to make money at the expense of consumer relations. Dell has proven itself to be the total opposite of that.

About 4 years ago I bought a pimped-out Dell Inspiron workstation with the high end 17″ display. I needed not only a laptop but also a machine that would allow me to use it for production (Flash, Photoshop, After Effects, etc…). The machine has performed amazingly well overall and proved to be a great purchase

But a few months ago I noticed a 1 pixel vertical line running through the middle of my display. I rebooted. The line was still there. I cracked open the display bezel to fiddle with the wiring, hoping a connection came loose, but the line was still there. I even picked it up and gently shook it as one would shake an Etch-a-Sketch to erase its screen. The line was still there.

I called Dell and explained my problem to a service representative/technician. I was told by the rep that the machine was unfortunately out of warranty and that I would have to pay for the display to be replaced. The cost would exceed $500 and his advice was to put my money towards the purchase of a new machine. The rep was very nice to talk to but I couldn’t understand the concept of throwing away a perfectly good machine because of a 1 pixel line. I politely accepted his advise, hung up the phone, and continued to use the laptop while trying to ignore what was constantly glowing in front of me. I tried to work around the line by moving my application windows to either side of it. But my user experience still suffered. There was no way I could escape it.

Google to the rescue.

I found a website devoted entirely to the problem of a small number of Dell displays purchased during a specific time period, suffering from the 1 pixel glitch. Amazingly, this site was being supported by Dell themselves. I found an email address and sent them my service tag and explained my problem. About 3 days later I received a reply from a very nice rep who told me my machine would be covered! About 2 days later a shipping container was sent for me to use for shipping the laptop back to Dell for repair. I was to expect approximately 10 business days to elapse before the laptop would be fixed and returned. This posed a unique problem for me. I use this machine for all my email, MSN, Skype, Yahoo, AIM and production work. It is my lifeline between me and my employer and subsequently the various teams and projects I am involved with. Working without it for just 1 single day seemed daunting if not impossible.

If that wasn’t enough of an issue, my only other machine (desktop) was acting like it was on it’s death bed. It is older than the laptop by a couple of years and not very reliable. Holy production nightmare Batman! So I waited until I built my new monster workstation (future blog entry), then installed all my chat programs and Outlook onto the antiquated desktop and crossed my fingers.

Once I was ready, I shutdown the laptop and packaged it up into the shipping container from Dell and kissed it goodbye. I had to assume I wouldn’t see it for several days or perhaps the better part of a fortnight. Hell, for all I knew it could get lost or broken during the shipping process and I would never see it again (at least in 1 piece). DHL picked it up at my doorstep and I watched it disappear around the corner. I said a quiet prayer to myself and made my 2nd cup of coffee to help me morn its absence.

That was Monday of this week (2 days ago). I had remembered to save the tracking number before DHL took possession of the laptop and yesterday I saw that it was delivered safely to Dell in Texas. Delivery time was around 5PM EST. Whew! She’s still safe in the hands of qualified Dell technicians and in 1 piece as far as I could tell. I made another cup of coffee.

This morning brought with it the sun, a refreshing change from the wet and dreary ambiance of the last 2 days. It also brought with it a DHL driver, to my door, with a shipping container in hand. A shipping container that looked exactly like the one they picked up only 36 hours prior. This can’t be right! Several thoughts crossed my mind. Did I forget to include the power supply or something? Perhaps it didn’t have the correct address label! Maybe it’s a new 1-piece bathing suit my wife ordered from one of the thousands of catalogs we get in the mail everyday!

The DHL delivery man was here, on my doorstep, with a smile as big as the box he was handing to me. He gracefully placed the box in my hands and I could now see the shipping label was addressed to me. It was my beloved laptop - fully repaired and back in my arms.

I closed my eyes, tapped my heels together 3 times and muttered; “There’s no place like home.” The smile quickly left the DHL driver’s face as he scurried down the steps and across my lawn, into his truck and drove away erratically.

Dell received the laptop at 5PM Tuesday afternoon, replaced the display and shipped it priority overnight on their dime. I didn’t pay 1 penny for any of the out-of-warranty expenses. Corporate America ain’t all bad folks, not bad at all. Thank you Dell.

-A happy customer