Laptops PSA - Dell wont sell you spare parts like batteries for systems out of warranty unless you pay extra for their on-site service

A

altair21

Adept
hey folks,

Just wanted to post it for everyone, I just got off of chat with a dell agent, and Dell wont sell me a new battery for my laptop (bought in 2019) unless I opt in for their on-site service which is an extra 2k. and that motherfucker had the gall to cut my call when I pointed out what bullshit it is. Just keep this in mind when you buy anything from Dell
 
ikkhan said:
Did you take it to a service center for repair or were you asking them to come at your home and repair it?
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I was asking them to buy a spare part so that I can replace it myself, it's just popping off the lid and replacing the battery, for just this they were asking me 2k extra which is obviously not a good choice, I even asked them if it's possible to buy from a service center but again same issue, they won't sell the part to you as the system is too "old" but not old enough that it can't be serviced by onsite folks
 
Sadly this is not new. I faced this almost a decade ago for an out-of-warranty Alienware. In the end, a local shop helped me source the original battery.

What is you laptop's model number? You might be able to find it on TPSTech. They sell original Dell batteries amongst other things. I've bought from them a few times.
 
StygianClaw said:
Sadly this is not new. I faced this almost a decade ago for an out-of-warranty Alienware. In the end, a local shop helped me source the original battery.

What is you laptop's model number? You might be able to find it on TPSTech. They sell original Dell batteries amongst other things. I've bought from them a few times.
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ah didn't know about this shop, I'll check this out, this is the first time I have faced it, I'll avoid Dell in the future. it's just bullshit that you need to 2k more just to get a battery replaced which any novice can do
 
Rather than chats and calls its always better to physically walk to their sc, place and order, get it installed by them.
No sc will ever entertain you for ordering on your behalf and you installing the item all by yourselves. It as good as buying from a 3rd party shop and getting it installed from the brand sc.
 
nRiTeCh said:
Rather than chats and calls its always better to physically walk to their sc, place and order, get it installed by them.
No sc will ever entertain you for ordering on your behalf and you installing the item all by yourselves. It as good as buying from a 3rd party shop and getting it installed from the brand sc.
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I did not contact their service center, its way too far from my place, I just directly contacted their tech support and asked them if I could buy a battery off of them. I've never had issues with dell before, this is the first time I faced this crap, I tried talking to their whatsapp support too but same response
 
dell going on apple way ... why any one pay 2k extra when they are paying for Part (Battery) and surely they earing some profit in battery price also.
in other thread one member paid 1k+ Tax as service charges to add RAM to NEW Laptop (may be Acer Brand) (RAM was bought by user separately from elsewhere)
 
Fwiw, chat support has never been useful when I've tried. Most times, I send an email and then I get a more tempered response whereas chat would just say "not possible" in corporate speak.

Ofcourse, this is becoming more and more difficult considering how brands are pushing towards chat automation and hiding actual human e-mail/phone support deep inside a North Korean nuclear bunker.

OP, maybe try sending an e-mail with the threat of posting all this on social media.
 
altair21 said:
I was asking them to buy a spare part so that I can replace it myself, it's just popping off the lid and replacing the battery, for just this they were asking me 2k extra which is obviously not a good choice, I even asked them if it's possible to buy from a service center but again same issue, they won't sell the part to you as the system is too "old" but not old enough that it can't be serviced by onsite folks
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no brand will sell you spare parts directly ,you will have to visit a service center and they will order one for you they will charge you a labour fee though even if u ask to replace it yourself
 
altair21 said:
hey folks,

Just wanted to post it for everyone, I just got off of chat with a dell agent, and Dell wont sell me a new battery for my laptop (bought in 2019) unless I opt in for their on-site service which is an extra 2k. and that motherfucker had the gall to cut my call when I pointed out what bullshit it is. Just keep this in mind when you buy anything from Dell
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It's not just dell it is pretty much the sad state of of most tech companies in general these days, user reparability of devices is just non-existent these days.
 
Kaching999 said:
It's not just dell it is pretty much the sad state of of most tech companies in general these days, user reparability of devices is just non-existent these days.
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yeah, never had an issue sourcing parts before, we always used to just order this from Dell's site, first time I faced this bullshit
badwhitevision said:
Fwiw, chat support has never been useful when I've tried. Most times, I send an email and then I get a more tempered response whereas chat would just say "not possible" in corporate speak.

Ofcourse, this is becoming more and more difficult considering how brands are pushing towards chat automation and hiding actual human e-mail/phone support deep inside a North Korean nuclear bunker.

OP, maybe try sending an e-mail with the threat of posting all this on social media.
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I got it resolved via a service center, they had the battery in stock and was actually cheaper than Dell's MRP, but this whole situation sucks, what if there's no service center available, then is the customer SOL? this just hurts longevity of products that should last a long time by default.
 
altair21 said:
hey folks,

Just wanted to post it for everyone, I just got off of chat with a dell agent, and Dell wont sell me a new battery for my laptop (bought in 2019) unless I opt in for their on-site service which is an extra 2k. and that motherfucker had the gall to cut my call when I pointed out what bullshit it is. Just keep this in mind when you buy anything from Dell
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Record call and post on social media along with transcript... Let them deal with backlash...

Relax... Profit.. Or at least enjoy the show... Otherwise act detached if it's a fuss bomb
 
The real reason companies won't give you the battery is because of safety, knowing consumers giving them the lithium ion battery to install is like handing them a bomb and hoping they don't get hurt, 99% of people will be able to install the battery themselves, but that 1% might end up getting hurt, and when that comes out in the news it's very bad for the reputation of the company. "Dell customer bought battery for the laptop, on the way home the battery exploded and car caught fire." because it was kept in car's front passenger seat and customer went to dominos for eating pizza on the way back, meanwhile due to car being parked in direct sunlight, the internal car temperature raises to 85 degrees and the battery exploded.
 
Heisen said:
The real reason companies won't give you the battery is because of safety, knowing consumers giving them the lithium ion battery to install is like handing them a bomb and hoping they don't get hurt, 99% of people will be able to install the battery themselves, but that 1% might end up getting hurt, and when that comes out in the news it's very bad for the reputation of the company. "Dell customer bought battery for the laptop, on the way home the battery exploded and car caught fire." because it was kept in car's front passenger seat and customer went to dominos for eating pizza on the way back, meanwhile due to car being parked in direct sunlight, the internal car temperature raises to 85 degrees and the battery exploded.
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agree with you but charging Rs.2000/- to fit battery is too much and even when the laptop is from DELL it self.
if any day i need to buy NEW laptop then will not opt for Dell ... sorry

altair21 said:
yeah, never had an issue sourcing parts before, we always used to just order this from Dell's site, first time I faced this bullshit

I got it resolved via a service center, they had the battery in stock and was actually cheaper than Dell's MRP, but this whole situation sucks, what if there's no service center available, then is the customer SOL? this just hurts longevity of products that should last a long time by default.
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what was MRP, Mfg. Date on Battery and at what price they sold you? (GST Invoice Includes)
Did they charge Rs.2000/- extra over battery price just to pull out old battery and fit new battery?
Did they offer you any rebate like UPS battery, anything for old battery?
 
Heisen said:
The real reason companies won't give you the battery is because of safety, knowing consumers giving them the lithium ion battery to install is like handing them a bomb and hoping they don't get hurt, 99% of people will be able to install the battery themselves, but that 1% might end up getting hurt, and when that comes out in the news it's very bad for the reputation of the company. "Dell customer bought battery for the laptop, on the way home the battery exploded and car caught fire." because it was kept in car's front passenger seat and customer went to dominos for eating pizza on the way back, meanwhile due to car being parked in direct sunlight, the internal car temperature raises to 85 degrees and the battery exploded.
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then you havent really seen the scene in the last decade, we used to buy batteries for our mobiles/laptops all the time from OEMs, and while you can say those were designed to be replaced by users, the risk was no less than an idiot deliberately sabotaging it or exposing it to extreme heat, just because shit can happen doesnt mean that you stop giving out support for your product or force your customer to literally pay a "ransom" fee before you'll sell them the product
Emperor said:
what was MRP, Mfg. Date on Battery and at what price they sold you? (GST Invoice Includes)
Did they charge Rs.2000/- extra over battery price just to pull out old battery and fit new battery?
Did they offer you any rebate like UPS battery, anything for old battery?
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didnt check all this, but it was a sealed box, and they sold me the battery for 3k including service charge and GST, and no, no rebate offered but honestly I was just glad to get the battery replaced.
 
Heisen said:
The real reason companies won't give you the battery is because of safety, knowing consumers giving them the lithium ion battery to install is like handing them a bomb and hoping they don't get hurt, 99% of people will be able to install the battery themselves, but that 1% might end up getting hurt, and when that comes out in the news it's very bad for the reputation of the company. "Dell customer bought battery for the laptop, on the way home the battery exploded and car caught fire." because it was kept in car's front passenger seat and customer went to dominos for eating pizza on the way back, meanwhile due to car being parked in direct sunlight, the internal car temperature raises to 85 degrees and the battery exploded.
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By that logic, a demo phone at an electronics store (read: Note 7) can explode anytime because it's plugged in for several hours, with no fault of the customer. Will they stop demo phones because of the off-chance that may happen? No. Negative probability exists everywhere, but that doesn't mean you charge that much for basic support.
 
Heisen said:
The real reason companies won't give you the battery is because of safety, knowing consumers giving them the lithium ion battery to install is like handing them a bomb and hoping they don't get hurt, 99% of people will be able to install the battery themselves, but that 1% might end up getting hurt, and when that comes out in the news it's very bad for the reputation of the company. "Dell customer bought battery for the laptop, on the way home the battery exploded and car caught fire." because it was kept in car's front passenger seat and customer went to dominos for eating pizza on the way back, meanwhile due to car being parked in direct sunlight, the internal car temperature raises to 85 degrees and the battery exploded.
Click to expand...
Dell sells spares via it's website in the US. They have catalogues for each model. You can just use the service tag to see what is compatible with your particular unit and order it. Lenovo also does this. Probably some other manufacturers too. The Alienware laptop I mentioned in my earlier post was a 2016 model. The battery is in stock and ready to ship on their site 8 years later.

Companies just love to say "Oh but its for your own good. We have your best interests at heart". That is simply them spouting what can be justified publicly. The primary interest is to introduce hurdles in availability of spares, warranty/RMA etc. to push the customer to buy new products instead of holding on to what they have already.

I'm glad legislation in US and especially EU is finally pushing companies to make more repairable products and ensure availability of spares to Individuals and 3rd party repair shops. I expect legislation in India to catch up at some point. But even before that happens and somehow ironically I might add, the cost of having additional SKUs will likely mean that the same repairable designs will be sold in India as well.
 
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