January 25, 2007 – 1:09 pm
So apparently I seem to have issues with two big companies, hopefully I am not the only reading this who has had issues before with Dell computers. Nothing against the company, because they are great at putting any computer together and the service I have received has been exceptional. It’s just the amount of times I have needed service for a 7 month old laptop. I got the laptop in June and right off the bat had I issues with Mcafee conflicting with Windows Updates, of which I had to call Dell and work this issue out. Maybe my issues should have been with Mcafee on that one, but as soon as that problem ended I had the infamous “blue screen” issue every time I would turn my laptop off, take it somewhere and plug it back in. Luckily I know my way around computers and how to handle most conflicts, with a little research.
Low and behold though, Dell never sent along a Windows XP installation disk nor did they have a backup saved on the computer. YAY!! So I had to call to get one. Then I did chkdsk and within the past 3 months I have pressed “chkdsk /r” around 5 times. Normally most people would be calling Dell and asking for a new HDD or laptop (considering I have a 4 year warranty), but I think due to my stubborn behavior I am rebelling because I have put so much effort into it. Along with the blue screen, I have also had issues with the batteries not working correctly. So maybe there isn’t anything new or mind numbing here, I just needed to comment about. I will be much more inclined to call Dell once I tweak my desktop and buy an external. My overall suggestion…if you know how to build a computer or know someone that does, put the effort in that way so if you have an issue, you can only blame yourself and don’t have to go through hours of phone conversations with Tech Support. Happy January 25, 2007.
Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself. Mankind. Basically, it’s made up of two separate words “mank” and “ind”. What do these words mean? It’s a mystery, and that’s why, so is mankind.
Jack Handey
January 25, 2007 – 10:54 am
I have been having some disc read errors on my new replacement 360 and I have examined the discs and they are perfectly fine, so I decided to give good old Xbox customer service a whirl. I call up and get the robotic voice called “Max” steers you through their crappy menus. The automated voice first tells you if you are calling about a refund request please hang up because they will send it when they get around to it and you don’t have to do anything. I try to navigate through the menus to get some technical help and instead get a list of things to look out for and one of the most frequent problems is 3 flashing red lights on your screen. I then get to another set of menus that states they are the top ten ways to troubleshoot your system, let me list a couple out for you to judge:
- Cycle the power on the console, turn it off, wait 30 seconds and then turn it back on (reboot)
- Make sure the system isn’t overheating, “let it breath”
- Check all cables are connected properly, unplug and re-plug connections
- Turn off console, remove accessories, plug in and re-connect system, re-start (reboot)
I like how the majority of the suggestions are just to restart your machine, it kind of sounds like windows troubleshooting, when in doubt reboot. I then spoke to a real person and they gave me more brilliant advice. She told me to clear the cache (didn’t tell me how), take off all the accessories and to create a new gamertag!? WTF does that have to do with a disc read error? She then proceeded to tell me that she couldn’t help me without the serial number of the unit and told me to go to www.xbox.com and look at the troubleshooting section there. All I can say is that the interaction with customer service hurt my brain and did not help in the least bit.
January 23, 2007 – 11:22 am
My friend puma81 decided he had had enough. He was tired of the countless phone calls, the lies from support that a supervisor would call him back, and worst of all, the thought that the defective wireless headset he had sent in over a week ago was going mia.
He did some searching and came up with this:
Jabil Circuit Inc
5700 South International Parkway
McAllen, Texas, 78503-8931
Phone: 956-683-0698
Whats THIS?! A PHONE NUMBER!? Yes, that’s right, and FREE OF CHARGE!. Puma was able to find that elusive phone number for the McAllen service center. He told me a guy named “Girdy” answered the line, and so he asked for door #18 (microsofts section of the warehouse), and was promptly transferred. The next voice he heard was that of a microsoft employee…
“Microsoft” the guy answered… Puma then told him about how he had paid out of pocket to ship in his defective headset, and how he was getting the typical run around from the lame and useless outsourced tech support line.
Puma was then informed that there are new headsets, a new hardware revision that is coming soon, and they were holding off on shipping out a replacement for him until that revision was in stock. Whether or not they have been shipping out these new revisions, or whether or not they actually fix the COUNTLESS problems with the headsets remains to be seen… but at least everyone now has a good starting point if they are getting nowhere fast with 360 tech support.
January 17, 2007 – 12:28 pm
A credible users on AVS Forum posted a conversation he had with Sony support regarding his broken PS3. What he found out is that because he wasn’t using Sony approved component video cables, the warranty on his PS3 had been voided and they are not replacing it for him. Fucking WOW.
If this is true, I’m guessing that 95% of the user base has a voided warranty, since Sony released the console with no cables. Hell, I can walk into any electronics store and NOT see any Sony cables for PS2 or PS3. I really hope this is just a case of a customer service rep being retarded.
