Laptops 1.3k for overpriced laptop battery installation? Ripoff by dell !

greenhorn

greenhorn

Patron
a friend forwarded to me his repair quote and his response. He has CC, but his battery went kaput.

Dear Dell Team,
I seriously don't understand what kind of a preposterous quotation this is!!!!
Your product quality has deteriorated so drastically in the last few years that for a laptop which was just over 1 year old at that time, I had to shell out more that Rs. 16,000 extra (some months back) to get my display fixed and get a complete cover. The parts that you give as replacements are themselves old and defective most of the times, my LCD got changed twice within a few months and even the present LCD has a patch on its display. I am just too tired to go through the whole ordeal of asking for a replacement even though I have a complete cover!!!!
Now for a system under complete cover, I have to pay Rs. 7000/- for a new battery (which is not covered according to your policy) and an additional Rs. 1364/- for an optional "installation" of the battery!!!! A new battery of these specifications should not cost beyond Rs. 3500/- to Rs. 4000/- and it wouldn't cost me even Rs. 1.364 to "install" the battery myself. What are you charging your customers for??!! Is it a premium for extremely low quality that Dell is providing nowadays??!!
I do not see a single reason at all to pay so much for your low quality parts or services, the golden days of Dell are gone and lost for me as well as for all my friends and colleagues who are totally frustrated with their Dell systems. There was a time when I used to suggest Dell to my friends and family with my eyes closed ( I handle a lot of such suggestions being a comp engg and biz grad). However I have stopped making that mistake now.
I guess I would better go for a new non-Dell system in itself, probably a Lenovo or a Macbook where I will at least get dependable quality for the high price I have to pay. You see, people do not mind paying if it is worth paying for.
So here is my answer, No Thanks.

Regards,

XXXXXXX

Past Dell loyalist and customer
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Customer,

Thank You for Choosing DELL.

This is with regards to the conversation you have had with Dell regarding the quote forBattery .

Following are the charges as mentioned :
Quote for Battery = Rs . 7000/-

The Price Comes to : Rs. 7000/- (Inclusive of Taxes)

Please reply with your Shipping Address and the details of the payment you are making so as to send you a formal Quotation

Delivery Lead Time is 3-4 weeks depending on part availability.

Installation if required will be additional = 1364/-

Terms and Conditions:

· Payment Terms: 100% in advance. (Options below).

· Validity of this quotation is 15 days only.

· On receipt of this quote, customer is expected to sign/seal the quotation(s), declaration letter,confirm billing/shipping address, and send the same along with their payment by Courier/Mail .(if ordered)

· Kindly provide the road permit form where ever required at the time of shipment if required to deliver to your destination.

· All sales are subject to Dell's Terms and Conditions of Sale, Service and Technical Support ("Terms and Conditions"), copies of which are available on www.dell.com\ap or on request. These terms would apply irrespective of terms mentioned in the PO.

· Upon receipt of PO / PAYMENT from the customer, it would take up 2 -3 weeks to deliver in India. These services are carried out during Monday to Friday, 9 AM till 6 PM (IST) excluding holidays.
Payment options:
· Payment Mode DEMAND DRAFT PAYABLE AT BANGALORE OR Credit card. IF CHEQUE IS SENT, ORDER WILL BE PROCESSED ONLY AFTER CHEQUE CLEARANCE

· DD in favour of "Dell India Pvt Ltd" (payable at Bangalore ONLY)

Diners and Debit Card not accepted. No payments either in cash is accepted nor is cheque pick up option available so order has to be couriered to the mentioned address.

Courier the DD/Cheque to:

Attention to: XXXX Dell India Pvt Ltd, xxxx Bangalore 5600XX.

Regards,

XXXXXXX

India Customer Support Technical Support Associate

Dell | Consumer, Small and Medium Business

Toll free : 1800 425 4051

Fax : + 91- 080- 2535 9804

My work schedule is 9:00 am - 6:00 pm(Mon-Fri)

Website: Welcome to Home User Support

Customer feedback | How am I doing? Please contact my manager: xxxx@dell.com
Click to expand...

Jeez:S

1.4k for installing a battery? srsly?

its a vostro 1310, and the battery costs just 2.5k on ebay.in....
 
its better to get a battery from sources apart from dell. I don't think dell will ever give a battery at the lowest available price.
 
Doesn't Complete Cover cover the Battery as well. I guess I didn't know that, but 1.3 G's for battery replacement labor is audacious... Better to get one from Ebay or locally...
 
You do realise that the battery installation is entirely optional, and is basically the price for a technician to come to his place, change the battery and go back.
It would just be a standard option, which noone would be taking, so noone noticed it.

And CC,etc. will cover batteries only for 1 year(standard across all companies in india), not more..

As for the battery cost , you have 2 options -- take it from Dell, who officially say that battery life is 1 year.
Or from outside for half the price. Then you will have to deal with the place you buy your battery from in case of any problems, which are more likely. Also the cheaper batteries often only give a 3 or 6 month guarantee, vs 1 year for DELL
 
sad , even my battery has dried out , now i just get a back up of 10-15 mins on lowest brightness system idle.

i see few thirdparty US websites which just deal with replacement laptop batteries , are they legit ? perhaps we could get them via iccworld / shopyourworld etc.

a few sites :

Supply Replacement Laptop Battery Pack, Laptop AC Adapter Online

Discount Laptop Battery|Laptop battery Charger Adapter replacement

Laptop Batteries|Laptop Battery|Laptop AC Adapter|Laptop Keyboards|Laptop Keyboard|AC Adapters
 
laptop batteries are a big problem as they get spoiled in 2nd or 3rd year of the laptop and no warranty covers batteries and the original replacement batteries are horribly expensive whereas the cheaper chinese batteries arent safe and also their backup and life is lower than the original ones.
 
Yes the screen issue is really horrible and I can understand you getting pissed for that. It's really SAD :(

But couple things to note regarding battery

1. No one gives more than 1 year warranty for battery.

2. Official prices of batteries will always cost you more

3. mehrotra.akash is right - The Dell technician is giving you home delivery? then the cost is justified for Rs.1300. Yeah your local guy will charge you Rs.500 or less to come over but company techs always cost more. Ever given your car to official company and to your road side mechanic? the cost is enormous is many cases!

4. Complete cover does sound that battery gets covered but I don't think it does. I'm sorry to say but you must've failed to read what it covers and what i doesn't. Also I'm very much miffed that companies don't say it clearer, instead of prominently saying it with simple language and using visual elements. Companies just hide under a lot of tech and legal jargon.

regarding mehrotra.akash's warranty suggestions about 1 year and 6 months, I think that is valid. Did you know that Mac charges Rs.9k for Mac Book Pro battery and that even though they are a premium company, they dont give more than 1 year for the battery.

I can understand your irritation but it is improperly placed for the battery issue, for the screen issues, it is indeed sad situation. I wish the service technician could've explained this to you, it would've been better, but really when customers have blown their top, no matter how much you reason, give logic, the customer just doesnt listen.

And no I don't work for DELL or any computer manufacturer/service company and neither am I a Dell fanboy! Just wanted to help, I hope I have buddy!
 
I think I'll tell him that the installation = optional means he can do it himself.

But 3x the grey market price?

Anyway too late, he's sworn off dells, and he's gonna get a MBP from his to be wifey, so he could care less :p
 
greenhorn said:
I think I'll tell him that the installation = optional means he can do it himself.

But 3x the grey market price?

Anyway too late, he's sworn off dells, and he's gonna get a MBP from his to be wifey, so he could care less :p
Click to expand...
If he found Dell's expensive, he'll throw the Mac out of the window.

In Dell, paying the install fee is optional, in Mac's its compulsory.

If you want user servicability in a laptop, I think the best choice will be a thinkpad..(T,X or W series)
 
Which model is this, greenhorn? Depending on the model & rating of the battery, the costs vary.

Coming to the installation charges - personally I would not bother asking for installation but there are many users who would not know even as simple as batter replacement and don't mind paying extra.

One of our old friends (yes! on TE) had an issue of no display on his laptop and went to the Service Centre and unfortunately it could not be serviced by them, as he had a 'business' model and the centre seviced only 'consumer' models. He took it to a local store and the guy took one look at the laptop and said "i can fix it, but it'll cost 300 bucks!" Our good ol' friend relunctantly agreed to it - that guy taps on the keyboard, pops open the small piece of plastic above the keypad, taps on it and voila! Display is ON. Turns out the laptop lid switch was stuck and the 'tapping' popped it back up and display resumed. And our friend had to pay 300 bucks for it!!! Whatta RIP-OFF eh?? And imagine the phone call I got after that.. unfortunately the laptop in question was made by the company i work for :p

Also, CompleteCover covers accidental damage to the laptop, however, consumables are not covered under this. Batteries are classified as consumables in the industry, hence they cost extra and not covered under this.
 
@mehrotra.akash
what u said is true, that is not not the cost of the job but the cost of the technicians "VISIT"
found similar thing for scanner servicing after warranty (min cost of visit makes me faint :))
recently my friend changed house and samsung asked 1000 to install bracket of wall-mounting of lcd tv
(the bracket was there in the tv package itself)
another case: lg tech for washing machine came to fix a new "head" on the tap said the min official cost for the visit is 450/- (plus tax AFAIK) plust cost of the head
 
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