No bad reports from me, but we are a member of an extremely large buying group. Also I am Dell certified so when I call I get gold support. Mostly though I can just order warranty parts direct.
I have heard horror stories such as yours though.

Only had outstanding support from DELL. Better than I've ever had from any other company selling any other product. But then again, DELL's Canadian support is in Canada.

My mom has a Dell. Everytime I called for her, I had to put up with "Scripts" Q&A,

On night was getting a 16 digit error message number. Help at Dell wanted the number, I gave it.
Once the message was acknowledged, a new one would pop up. Help want that number, I told them it was exactly the same except the last 2 digits changed. They wanted all 16 digits. 9 messages, 16 digits and only the last 2 changed, but I had to give all 16 digits on each one.

I don't know how their customer support is...but I didn't have much luck with their sales rep. I was shopping for a new laptop and called them to ask questions about custom ordering one. The guy refused to answer any of my general questions without first getting a lot of personal information...so I hung up. I waited a few days, then just ordered a laptop from them, not really the way I wanted it.

ama02 - I would have ordered mine online. That way I could customize it the way I want it.

But usually I just build my own.

But then again, DELL's Canadian support is in Canada

not according to a friend in nova scotia who told me that she spent an hour getting something resolved with them before asking if it was raining where the support guy was...he replied maam i am in india. without thinking, she said 'holy cow'

.he replied maam i am in india. without thinking, she said 'holy cow'

hahahaha thats so sweet

Dell Support is a joke! I even tried the paid support because I was told I would be speaking with someone in the U.S. that speaks english. But on the very first call I was routed to india again.

And the commercials you see on TV for dell are a joke as well. Never once do they show you anyone in india...it's always someone in the U.S. False advertising!

Needless to say I have had to figure out any problems I had on my own or by asking someone here in the forums.

keegbee, I don't know, maybe it was in India, but both times I called, the person had no accent. It's not so much the qualifications of the person that I praise but the speed of the service. One time, I had problem with the battery, and they shipped me a new battery the next day! The second time, it was for a laptop I had problems with the screen. They sent me an empty box the next day, I sent the laptop right away and 3 days later the laptop was back. I was very impressed.

But usually I just build my own

You build your own laptops huh ? Ama02 was shopping for a laptop, not a desktop so if you build your own laptops I'd be interested to know where you get your parts.. I've been building my own desktops for years but I don't think I know anyone who builds their own laptops.

Well, my Dell escapades have been well documented both online and in newspapers around the country from a few years ago. I bought a Dell laptop and it was a trying experience because the thing kept locking up after a couple minutes. The support people - still in the U.S. at the time - were very nice, but the techs actually working on the machine were clueless. One called me up to ask me some questions and he wasn't even using the installed OS, but a DOS boot disk! Since the problem was caused by poor BIOS compatibility between it and the video card drivers in WinXP, no kidding he couldn't find the problem.

Anyway, long story very short, I finally got movement when I went to the NYS attorney general and complained, but by then Dell had finally put out a working BIOS and drivers to workaround the lockups.

No I don't build my own laptops. I heard it can be done but I haven't looked into it. I was talking about building desktops.

Be that as it may I try to stay away from mass built pre configured systems.

Dell support sucks ass. My Dell's motherboard fried 2 days after the warranty had expired, and trying to get anything remotely resembling 'technical' support was a fucking joke. I actually asked the guy if he had the same manual as I did in front of him and was just reading from that, because that's how it seemed.

Outsourcing sucks too.

I Built my dell online I wanted everything, suround sound for my tv, home stereo, gameing,dvd burning, cd burrning, the works, and whene I recieved it there was stuff I had no clue what it was or how it was to preform, so I called spoke with hobeeb, he was clueless, called my sales rep. he asured me it worked.I was setting up my surround sound to mu tv, and I was getting audio/video out of sync. It was like watching a bad movie wher the lips moved with out sound. after about 3 months of playing and calling, I e-maild dell support my exact problem and how I thought it was suposed to be hooked up, and they replied with service bulitens on everything to do with my problem. today it works fine. I found it easer to read english than it was to try to understand hobeeb.

I have a Dell laptop. I've had it a little over a year. The best thing I did was to pay extra for a Complete Care Package. It was an extra 300, very expensive as far as I'm concerned. I've had my usb connectors loosened to the point they were not working, and they picked up the laptop, on a Tuesday and had it back to me with a new motherboard by Thursday. The laptop was just picked up yesterday because the bottom fourth of the screen it white, I mean just white! Nothing else. They are replacing the the screen, and are guarunteeing it will be back here by tomorrow. I live in Massachusettes and it was shipped to Texas. It arrived in Texas at 4 am this morning. But I PAID for this!!

The thing that bugs me is that you have to pay for manufacturers to guaruntee their product. They should guaruntee it... period!! If I hadn't paid for the extra 2 years for this special service, I'd be up a creek without a paddle so to speak. After just 1 year! I've also had the dvd drive replaced twice, which they hjust sent me in the mail to replace myself. And get this...if you get that home care service, they do not come to your home unless they have spent HOURS on the phone with you and have tried everything short of having you check out everything possible while talking over the phone. And I mean HOURS!! Many times they have to call you back on another night to continue troubleshooting! One time I sat there talking to a tech from Indai and after each step, which included everything from "click on the start button" to "now go to your control panel" she actually paused for at least 30 seconds to a minute to READ a freakin' manuel!!

Anyways, the bottom line is, if you want good service, you've got to pay for it first!!