More Systems Now Part of Vertical Line Issue

expired9300 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:29:13 GMT

Just wanted to share my experience.

I purchased an Inspiron 9300 in December 2005 (just under $2000, ack!) and a week ago the dreaded yellow pixellated line of death appeared slap bang in the middle of the screen. I guess it was feeling lonely, because now (a week later) its joined by blue and violet lines.

If it wasnt for blogs like this I would have never realised that this was a problem with certain machines shipped between certain dates.

Its pretty annoying to know that whilst Dell knew of this problem no correspondance was mailed to me (or probably other affected users). Alienating customers because their affected machine didnt display symptoms until after 3 years of invoice/purchase just seems so wrong.

You'd think with the Dell support software, which typically runs in the background, some kind of alert could have been raised to the user. It looks like theres nothing stopping the same situation from occurring if I buy another Dell. I don't want to find out the hard way the product I have has a defect, and because it didnt manifest in some arbitrary time, i'm all out of luck.

NicolasCSC — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:24:49 GMT

I am in Canada and this problem has started happening on my work laptop: The first line showed up 7 months ago, just before I went on leave for 6 months (so stopped using my laptop), a second line showed up the week after my return and a third, inch-wide line showed up this morning. The last line makes it very hard to use the laptop.

I called the Canadian service number and the person I talked to did not know of a service or warranty extension and only offered a paid repair.

My laptop was purchased in November 2006, so the 3 years is coming up. Can someone confirm if there is a repair program for this problem in Canada? If so, what can I tell the tech support folks?

Thanks in advance,

Nicolas

wags22852 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:45:16 GMT

Inspiron 6000 Vertical lines. Laptop was purchased August of 2005, developed 2 vertical lines in September of 2009. I had the 3 year warranty which has been exceeded. I spoke with Dell tech support (in India) for over an hour telling them how this is an issue of being sold a defective part, not something wearing out. I pointed them to this blog and after 2 techs and 1 manager, he agreed that Dell would pay for the repair. I can understand how they are going to try to talk you out of Dell paying for the repair, be persistent. They sent me a shipping box within 2 days, I shipped the laptop the next day and had it back within 8 days. Looks great, works great. I've been a Dell supporter for a long time and the way they handled this has kept me as a customer. GOOD JOB DELL !!!!!!!!!!!!!! and thank you "Richard" in Chennai, India.

Dave from New Hampshire

wmanning72 — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 05:05:20 GMT

My Fiance has also been having the vertical line problem for about 6 months now it was just one line then 4 lines. Now there is a wide stripe about 2 inches wide down the center of the screen. The comp has been well taken care of it's whole life. I also called TS and after 4 people acknowledged the problem I was still told I would have to pay. It is an Inspiron 9300 17inch LCD I have done and followed everybody's guidance in sending emails calling doing everything I possible to have this thing fixed. I have gotten no where. This is a sad day for me? Between myself and my family who I am the tech guy for them we have 3 Dell laptops, 1 Dell LCD TV, 1 Dell Projector and 2 Desktops all purchased within the last 2-3 years, the only exception is my fiances' 9300. If any dell rep wants to check on any of these I would be happy to provide the service tag numbers. I also have a friend that is a consultant and he was an HP guy for ever I got him to start recommending Dell servers. It looks like the company that I had faith in failed me.

The best part of everything I have read on this subject is from the orig april post

''Dell values our customers, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

We will send letters to all potentially affected customers whose systems are out of warranty. We have already begun mailing them—letters will be sent to our customers at their last known address.""

My fiance not only still has mail going there but her mother once aweek sends her a package with anything with her name on it. She has never gotten anything from Dell citing this problem.

I'll wait and see if this blog gets me any responses. Anybody know an actual email address for dell with out going through the website.

smackes23 — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:45:35 GMT

I have been experiencing the vertical lines since March 09. I have been contacting Dell since April and they are not going to help unless I spend dollars for a new LCD screen. I bought the Inspirion 6400/E1505 in August 2006. Now that I have found this blog I see that I am not the only Dell user having this problem. Most of the calls have ended with, they are not aware of the problem and I am out warranty so I need to purchase a new LCD. Other calls, they acknowledge the problem exists but I am out of warranty so I need to buy a new LCD.

After reading about the 3 year window from the date of purchase for replacing the LCD, I was hopeful that maybe I would not have to buy another laptop as spending $300.00 for another LCD is too much. When I called Dell representatives about the 3 year window, they knew nothing about it and because I was out of warranty I could only buy another LCD.

My 3 year window is expiring and hopefully someone will help me find the right Dell representatives.

BartDarlington — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:13:34 GMT

Sure seems like a lesson in how to lose customers and market opinion to me.

Dell knows there is a problem with units shipped Dec 2004 to Dec 2006. There's no notice of the problem/potential problem sent to those customers, but in January of 2008 they put a policy into effect that covers anyone that has it happen in the first three years.

So in short, they cut out 1/3 of the systems sold during that timeframe out entirely right off the bat. Then customer service refuses to talk to and/or acknowledge the issue for another year or so, eliminating another 1/3 of the people that could have filed in the three year period. Basically, they only cover the people they charged for it that happen to find out and ask for the refund and the people that griped their way to someone that would acknowledge the problem Dell obviously knew about.

I have a customer that called Dell and was told multiple times that they wouldn't even talk to him without payment in Aug - Sept 2007. Then in Mar 2008 when the lines started getting worse, he called again and was told they had never heard of the issue. Sadly , he actually bought a monitor to avoid the issue. Now he's looking at a line that's a good 1.5 inches wide right down the screen near the start bar and the machine is completely unusable as a portable machine. That's just pitiful customer service.

Guess its time to start recommending HP or Lenovo to clients.

perfect0 — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:58:48 GMT

I certainly appreciate that at least there appears to be attention given to others who have posted here.

Of course, I and maybe ksgarza are of a slightly different issue. Well, it's the same if you ask us, the only difference is that we've had our LCDs replaced, only to have the SAME issue all over again. And yes, we've been "explained" to by Dell that there are a million and one other reasons why we're experiencing the issue all over again, and that the lifespan of an LCD varies, and that the replacement LCD was (only) on a 90-day warranty. And, if Dell only asked us, we'd say simply: the issue was never resolved. Simple.

perfect0 — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:45:59 GMT

Todds12, it is not that difficult to replace the LCD screem but it will cost you around $300. And if Dell indeed replaces your LCD screen for free, that replacement part may not last long as well, as what I experienced and several others as well. As to the verticallines.com website, I am not certain as to why that site was discontinued. Maybe because Dell "listened" before? As you may check other threads on this site, I myself mention several times that, for me, Dell has NOT resolved the issue. Dell replaced a dud with a dud and now Dell refuses to have mine replaced.

todds12 — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 02:38:23 GMT

I just got the yellow line on our laptop. I called Dell tech support. They were very polite but didn't help any with the issue. It sounded like they were well aware of the problem and I had to talk with out of warranty. So I will try that tomorrow. Why is the dellverticalline.com web site refer you to dell support and was changed? Any advice on how to resolve this issue? How hard is it to replace the screen on your own?

perfect0 — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 23:09:51 GMT

Maybe it's time to revive the verticalline.com site or something similar to it. With what appears to be many victims of this issue, there may be some wisdom in documenting once more all our experiences,