Latitude C610 support experience.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Last week I picked up a Latitude C610 (just off corporate lease) on ebay.
The unit has a few months of Complete Care and Gold Tech Support remaining
on it, which was a factor in using that seller. WinXP media was included in
the auction listing.

Got the system in and immediately set it up to run the Dell diags overnight,
and the hard drive died. Click of death along with the drive intermittently
failing to be recognized.

10-minute wait after the phone menu. Domestic service center and tech there
picked up. Ebay seller had already transferred the system tag to my name,
which was a pleasant surprise.

The tech allowed me to explain what I thought I needed, and what I'd done to
come to that conclusion. Gave her the exact error message(s). Asked me if I
had any concerns that the mb controller might be bad. We agreed, no, that
the 'click of death' at power up probably meant the problem was isolated to
the disk itself. Asked me a couple of quick questions from the script and
then setup the parts only dispatch (which is what I asked for). She gave me
the reference numbers, then gave me a phone number to phone if the drive
didn't fix the problem - to a 'special' repeat call queue. Gave me her name
and offered to escalate me to her manager for comments about my 'experience'
on the phone, good or bad.

Got off the phone and called for warranty extension information (sales) and
prices. First got a rep.in the wrong queue who quickly gave me the correct
queue # and extension. Very nice lady whom I estimated was located overseas.
Second queue also appeared to be international, had some minor communication
issues with the male rep there, but we quickly got the plans and pricings
worked out. Rep gave me a direct-dial to his extension for when I need to
extend the warranty.

Replacement drive arrived DHL within 24 hours with return tag for the old
drive.

Problem solved.

This C610 is in good to very good shape and will wind up with a college
freshman heading off to school.

FYI.


Stew