Life of a Sysadmin

The occassional trials and tribulations of a jack of all tr ades sysadmin in a startup in Silicon Valley

archives

October 2008 (2)
September 2008 (3)
June 2008 (1)
April 2008 (1)
March 2008 (6)
December 2007 (6)
October 2007 (1)
September 2007 (1)
August 2007 (2)
July 2007 (1)
June 2007 (5)
May 2007 (5)
April 2007 (3)
March 2007 (7)
February 2007 (2)
January 2007 (3)
December 2006 (4)
November 2006 (3)
October 2006 (3)
August 2006 (3)
July 2006 (1)
June 2006 (2)
May 2006 (4)
April 2006 (2)
March 2006 (5)
February 2006 (5)
January 2006 (7)
December 2005 (2)
November 2005 (6)
October 2005 (4)
September 2005 (4)
August 2005 (1)
July 2005 (2)
June 2005 (3)
May 2005 (4)
April 2005 (1)
March 2005 (2)

May 2007

Dell Replacement part tracking, or Why is this the customer's responsibility?

So in a tale similar to this one, I once again was in possession of both a new laptop and a broken one that needed to be returned to Dell. In the box with the new laptop was a prepaid DHL label to return the broken machine. I needed to put the RMA number and our return address on the label, and call up DHL to arrange a pick-up.

It took me a little while to get around to calling DHL (I wasn't about to give up the broken machine until I had verified the working status of the new one). The day it was finally picked up by DHL was the day the office manager came into my office with a letter from Dell indicating 1) they were grumpy with me for not having returned the broken machine and 2) that if I have already had the machine picked up by DHL that I needed to contact Dell with the tracking number for the package. Once I provide the tracking number (and it's in transit) Dell will stop pestering me.

It would have been nice of Dell to fill out the prepaid shipping label with address and the RMA number, but I can forgive them for that. It is however pretty sad that they can't keep track of the tracking numbers themselves. Apparently Dell doesn't understand the little touches about customer service.