Has Dell ever replaced a laptop under warranty?

They are telling me it's "not an option", even though the warranty says it can be replaced.

Four times I've been on the phone with "technical support", twice for over 2 hours while they attempt the same cover and over.  After the last time, I contacted Microsoft and for another 2 hours, we tried different things.

My feeling from the start is that the GPU has taken a dump and they keep wanting to do a remote control take over and find nothing, then think they "fixed" the issues.

This is what I posted on their Facebook page: "I doubt I'll get any response that differs from the ones I've gotten from their "technical support" but here goes:
I have an Inspiron 15 7000 (7586 model). In November (11 months owned), I lost the touchpad and cursor. After a few different tries to get them back, I resorted to a restore of the OS to factory settings and that is when the issues began.
1) Photoshop CS6 workspace and tool sizes became very tiny
Various attempts to rectify failed; the only way to "fix" the issue was to change the resolution to a much (half) lower ratio.
2) "Extra large" photo view was the same as "large" except there was more space between images in the viewer. Again, the "fix" was a lower resolution.
There were four different attempts by Dell Technical Support (based in India, some accents were too thick to understand) and each time was a different person, meaning I had to go over the entire litany of issues and fixes each time.
After the fourth time, it was decided I should contact Microsoft and did so. That was a failure as well and we determined it is most likely the GPU. Updating drivers hasn't worked. Restoring the OS a second time hasn't worked. Putting in an earlier version of Win 10 didn't work.
This is a GPU issue. I have the extended warranty on this laptop and I want more than "technical support". They know nothing about graphics. about Photoshop or about images. If the GPU can not be replaced, I demand the entire laptop be replaced. It is basically worthless to me like this. I don't expect an upgrade, a "better" laptop. Just replace this one.".

True to form, I get a bot asking for my service ticket number. I'm sick of this. I don't know what happened to Dell in the last decade but it's "support" stinks. I have an XPS with Windows XP that I bought 8 years ago that's still going strong and a 12 month old laptop that I am still paying for isn't worth the metal it's made out of.

I must say, Dell's "Technical Support" really. When they wanted to take remote control and play around with scanning and restoring, no problem. But when you ask for the next level, getting someone to come and replace the GPU, which I'm 99.9% sure is the issue since everything wrong is graphics related, I get crickets.

I'd sign onto that letter. I have a 7586, too, and in the year I've had it: the wireless card stopped working, the sound card stopped working, and now the battery won't charge while it's plugged in and in use. I already sent it into the depot for the wireless issue, and they sent it back saying it'd been repaired and was fully functional. That was two months ago and other issues have cropped up since.

I've contacted their escalation team, but their only answer is to keep sending it into the depot. They refuse to swap or refund, even though I bought it in November of 2018. I've bought Dells for years! Is this the new face of the company? Because if so, count me out.

Oh, and the upshot of all this?  The "supervisor" conceded and a memory card will arrive to my home in the pocket of a tech who will then install it. That's the idea, anyway. We'll see if that comes to fruition as a lot of the complaints mention Dell not following through with such "promises".

If the card doesn't solve the problems, I will gladly take it to MY techs who no doubt will fix it good as new.  the warranty. The only reason this isn't a paperweight right now is because I am literally a starving artist and can't afford another computer.

All I can say at this point is that Dell should be ashamed of what this company has become. I bought an XPS210 over a decade ago. It runs 24/7, never been shut down except in power failures. It runs Windows XP.  If I could just use that for my photography I would. It's only downside is the storage capacity. What happened that Dell went so far

So I sent an email along with records of what's been going on and texts, etc. And...got the 9th or 10th (I've seriously lost count)response from someone in India.

They keep sticking to the "it's the software" argument because software is not covered under any warranty. But 12 different apps, most installed multiple times after the last factory reset and with compatibility options but still they neither work nor sync as they should and they want to stick to that feeble conclusion. 

I even got Microsoft involved and we rolled back the Win 10 version to where they thought it might just be an OS issue and guess what? It isn't.

The issue has been all along the GPU, which,  as I had to explain to this "supervisor", is not the same as the CPU.

There is no way of knowing how much money I have lost not being able to edit and upload images to my selling sites this holiday season. It's the one time of the year where I make some decent money but instead I've spent the better part of 6 weeks arguing with heavily accented people who have no experience with graphics, with images or any apps. Every time someone had their remote access, I had to explain what it was I was showing them and they still didn't understand what they should be looking for.

When a GPU usage graph shows 0% usage and several graphic based apps are open, there's an issue. At best there should be a 20% showing.  When your free memory is threes times the used yet your software won't respond or says "not enough RAM', there's an issue and it ain't the software.

I will never EVER deal or buy anything having the Dell name. If you Google "Dell Reviews", you'll see almost nothing but complaints; one site that Dell is a member of shows a 72% poor or bad rating. I just wish I had seen that before I shelled out so much money for this POS. But what makes it worse is the absolute lack of caring and lack of consistency in their so-called "technical service".

Funny, after the tech did the restore to factory settings and updated all drivers, other issues started coming up for me as well. Losing the internet, which I don't know is related, but it has been happening lately several times a day.

Graphics apps, like Topaz, stopped syncing with Photoshop completely; the few that have synced don't open images, instead a pop up comes up saying "error C++", then the whole PS crashes. Everything is tiny-the tools in PS, images, print, etc., all tiny at full rez.  One of the "solutions" suggested over at Adobe (I've been contacting everyone, it seems!) was to change the rez to half-from 3840 to 1920 and I'd be able to see the PS tools and open extra large images to view. It worked but messed with my web pages and it's a 4k monitor. It shouldn't only be working at 2k!

So how's it been since your last reply?

The saga continues.

On December 24, a tech showed up with a replacement motherboard and installed it. I could not log in and, after several attempts, he muttered something about "figuring it out" and left.

I tried contacting tech support because, in addition to not being able to sign on, I couldn't shut the thing off!

Their solution? Hold down the power button longer.

After 3 days of trying to sign into my laptop, including going thru the BIOS, attempting to bypass BIOS and attempting a password reset, I took it to a pc repair place I've used for years. Within seconds, the tech found that the BIOS had a unique password and without knowing that, nothing I tried would work.  He told me the motherboard was probably not even a refurbished one they simply took one out of another laptop, never bothered to wipe it clean and put it in mine. This is how they treat their customers.

The installer then LIED to his superiors by stating he ran a "diagnostics test" and it came out fine. Since we couldn't even get into the laptop, there's no way, with me standing there watching, he ran any kind of test. Today, "Tech Support" tried giving me "master passwords" that didn't work, then told me I should contact their "escalations team".

Had they just sent a new motherboard like I asked, this would have been done with.   When this all started 6-7 weeks ago, it was under warranty. A day before that was to expire, I bought an extension. I am entitled to a NEW motherboard, not someone else's.

Dell customer service ranks a mere 1.5/5 in more than one review site. This is why.

Now they are refusing to honor the warranty and refusing to replace the defective motherboard installed on Christmas Eve.

So we have techs that aren't really techs, we have technicians that install broken or unusable parts then lie about it in their reports and we have so called "supervisors" who refuse to honor warranties.

This is why they rank so low in customer service; they don't have any.  As long as Mr. Dell gets his money, we're good, right?

A new motherboard runs around $300. They have spent more than that trying to make me go away.

Obviously they have learned nothing these last 12 years.

Prologue:

After getting nowhere with Dell's so-called "tech support" nor their "escalation team"-who kept insisting it was a software issue strictly so they wouldn't have to honor any warranties, I took matters into my own hands.

I bought a brand new motherboard (about $350) and had it installed by a company I've used for years. Once all updates were also installed and the monitor set at 2k, everything works. No more "not enough RAM" prompts, all reinstalled software works to perfection, images are sharp and it boots up in nanoseconds.

Here's the thing, however: Windows 10 in later versions, is not compatible with 4k monitors. Whatever they've done to their updates, they essentially wiped out that feature. So, until a patch is available, there will be issues, however minor, with later versions of Windows 10 and high rez monitors. While this was the issue with not getting extra large images to show as such, it had NOTHING to do with performance and the GPU.

Hello, i am so frustrated that you are facing these problems just to replace a laptop. I will sue (make sure dell replaces your laptop) and i will spam their chat for a week and i will make the media know about this.

Dear Sir / Madam ,
I am writing to you to raise an issue about: Computer Manufacturer .

The issue that I have experienced was: The product is DELL G3 3500 and on the very first day of purchase the laptop after getting fully charged to 100% was drained within 1 hour completely to 0% even without using it for heavy purpose . After opening the folder ( My computer ) the screen was lagged and stucked at place with saying that it is not responding for more than 15 secs . The fingerprint scanner is also not supporting well and takes longer to open the screen as well as it was not responded today . The video player also not supported some videos . The cooling fans started spinning so fastly with making much noise after the battery was at 20% and started heating a lot . It occurred on: 19/02/2021

This meant that It feel frustated that I bought this laptop for a huge price range with a hope of excellent performance and regret that customer service will help me to replace the product . I want a brand new dell g3 3500 with guaranteed service that it will work like a new and original piece and will not show problems as this laptop and if this laptop too works like that then I want a complete 100% refund of my money .

I look forward to your prompt response on this matter. As recommended by Trading Standards, I would like to keep a complete record of my case .

The response for my issue by dell customer support was that first 2 specialist told us about some update issues and drive updates . And they asked us to let us update it by remote assist and we let them do it . But even after the updates and installing the guides by them the system after the installation the system is performing the same as the first like battery is draining so fast for a normal use including using chrome , youtube , stalking the laptop , etc. Then what if I install a heavy graphics games and softwares . The fingerpint sensor is taking time to identify my fingerprints and sometimes shows error about it and says sorry we have a problem from our end please try again later . I installed a roadrash game by winzip file and when the files were extracted the game started running , immediately after 5 - 6 minutes the game started lagging some how for a bit and when I closed the game after being aware of this the screen got crashed and fully blanked with the game music and sound running in the background . On the very first day when I opened my computer folder , it was totally hanged for 30 secs and was saying that it is not responding even if it is a brand new laptop and have 8gb ram , 1tb hdd , 256gb ssd with intel i5 processor . And it also showed some minor issues like taking some time load folders , display re turn on after sleep it was getting lagged . These were the problems .

But the customer support system is always saying that you have to update some bios , windows even after each customer representative did that for 2 times . They are ignoring my problems and my feelings towards their service and product . They are always saying that we can fix this and we will assist with our team and we can check the internal issue . But I have bought a new laptop then why should I repair it and why should I have to check it since day 1 . I wanted a brand new pc for education , career and gaming purpose . Then why I got a faulty piece instead of it . I have told them many times that I am unsatisfied by your product , I dont want any kind of changes in the new pc because it is new one and I except it to perform so fast and healthyly for atleast the 1st year . But the customer care are not ready to give me replacement and refund for it .