Lawsuit Shows Dell Hid Extent of Computer Flaws 272
Geoffrey.landis writes "According to an article in the New York Times, documents revealed in a lawsuit against Dell show that the computer maker hid the extent of possible damages due to a faulty capacitor in the computers it shipped from 2003 to 2005. Dell employees were told, 'Don't bring this to customer's attention proactively,' and 'emphasize uncertainty.' (PDF) 'As it tried to deal with the mounting issues, Dell began ranking customers by importance, putting first those who might move their accounts to another PC maker, followed by those who might curtail sales and giving the lowest priority to those who were bothered but still willing to stick with Dell.' In other words, the most loyal customers got the worst treatment."
Ha (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Ha (Score:5, Interesting)
This will surprise precisely no one who's ever done business with Dell.
No kidding.
I call in for a Warranty covered Repair. Why are they trying to upsell me speakers?
Re:Ha (Score:5, Insightful)
Calling any company is becoming a contact sport. I was informed by Verizon that my credit card number they had was expiring. So go to Verizon and try to log in...no dice. They eliminated my login I've had for a few years. I recently got FIOS. So now I was invited to register. Hmmm...what's this? I must run Verizon's special piece of CrapWare on my Mac just to register for an account? No fucking way am I letting Verizon run anything on my machine. AT&T got a note from my credit card company and updated automatically...one more fucking game Verizon throws at your head.
What to do? Call Verizon...find all their numbers for this, that, and the other are connected up to the same damn phone bot. Try to navigate the phone menus, finally find a human who will hopefully take my new experi date . "Oh, that is a problem for our billing dept. Let me transfer you." "Uh, okay"....damn...back in phone menu hell right up at the top where I started. After 4 rounds of this, always reaching a different piece of proto-simian meat, I finally found a way to get to billing which seemed to surprise the billing person out of her nap. Finally fixed it. "Is there anything else I can do for you?" "No...NO NO NO...don't even think about it."
Along the way, I was offered free movies for my FIOS for three months...I was "eligible". No way, I've been through that before with Verizon and FIOS. 3 phone calls later I finally got them to drop the damn movies after they started charging me, hoping to slip it onto the bill without my notice.
Re:Verizon (Score:4, Informative)
Actually Verizon is damn near the worst I have ever encountered.
Same brand of junk, different episodes.
"Let's bill your hardware charge to an account we'll close on you in 2 weeks from our side and then send it to a collection agency who sits on it for 4 months". That takes 4 hours to fix with your described Turbo Transfers. "Let me get you to billing. - No, we only handle Pennsylvania, let me get you your area - Oh, I am only billing, I can't take your credit card - I have no idea what that charge is, let me transfer you - ..."
Then they are just barely able to install a dry-loop DSL with 11 phone calls over 3 weeks.
The only thing is, the reputation of Comcast scares me more so I haven't yet switched.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
At least your guy spoke English. Last time I called, I had to break out a Hindi-English dictionary.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Undoubtedly, but given that I've already lost you and you've stated with "certainty" that I've lost you, I may as well cut my loses at this point. You've made it clear that nothing I can do at this point will result in me being able to extract more money from you in the future.
My point is that you shouldn't say that you'll never do business with them again (even if it's true), only threaten that you'll never do business with them again, or better yet that you'll never do business with them again and you'll
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Ha (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Lenovo sucks as bad if not worse. I spent 6 figures on their laptops and every single T61 ended up having to have the panel replaced every 6-18 months. In every case the backlights failed, we have had them all replaced as they end warranty coverage and will discard them when they fail again.
I will never again buy a Thinkpad, sad to say but dell has done better than that. I used to only buy thinkpads.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I'm using a T61 that's I've been using daily for 3 solid years now. I had to replace the keyboard because I spilled coffee on it. Lenovo thinkpads are friggin tanks.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
That's one advantage Dell had over GW. GW had built up a reputation that if there's a problem come in and we'll fix it under warranty, then these motherboards hit and there was no way to keep up with volume.
Re: (Score:2)
Not much of an advantage really...
Re: (Score:2)
your comment will surprise everyone who's done business. People are correct that this is specific to dell and companies that are doing damage control.
who's the idiot who doesn't want sustainable business? the guy that does shit customer service on his customers.
word spreads fast, even from your most loyal customers if you treat em like shit. that's one of the things the internet is well known for.
Re:Ha (Score:5, Insightful)
who's the idiot who doesn't want sustainable business? the guy that does shit customer service on his customers.
The guy who's cashing his options at the end of the quarter and only needs the stock price to float until then.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Welcome to modern capitalism. One reason of many I don't trust privatization of government functions.
Re: (Score:2)
Telcos.
Welcome to Duo-opolies.
Cover up by Dell? (Score:4, Insightful)
Wow who would have thought that some company in America was covering up, down playing, putting the blame on someone else, etc... on some bad news? Did anybody notice that the sky was blue today?!
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)
Re: (Score:2)
haters gonna hate.
Re: (Score:2)
> haters gonna hate. ...especially if someone gives them a good reason.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Cover up by Dell? (Score:4, Funny)
In Soviet Russia, overlords meme you!
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Part of it probably comes from the fact that our regulators don't regulate, meaning that the only way that a lot of that stuff gets punished is through class action suits. But, until there's a credible suit you can't just subpoena records from random companies. And so there's a greatly reduced risk in the short term of anybody noticing. Hence this sort of bad behavior, since most
Re: (Score:2)
It's a stereotype because he said American corporation; when it fact it s most corporations. In my experence other country's are FAR worse then American companies.
Re: (Score:2)
Oblig reference (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/index.php [badcaps.net]
It was more than just Dell having capacitor issues left and right.
Re:Oblig reference (Score:5, Funny)
Bad caps! Bad caps! Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
Re:Oblig reference (Score:5, Insightful)
It not just "bad" caps. My 42" Samsung TV died, not because of defective caps in the power supply, but because the caps were inappropriately rated. They were 10V-rated caps in a 15V circuit. It was just only a matter of time before they died.
And thankfully I found articles on the cap issues before I plunked down $999 for a new TV. $2 in caps, and 45 minutes of my time solved the issue.
Well, $2 in caps, $23 in shit I didn't really need to cover minimum orders, and $20 in "overnight" shipping all because jASSper, TX was a shithole of a town and the local Ratshack doesn't carry anything but TV antennas and Verizon phones.
Re:Oblig reference (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
is that overnight shipping?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Heh. No other way to navigate around their huge stock. There's just too many choices for every common component like caps.
Re: (Score:2)
i second digikey
Re: (Score:2)
I would have contacted Samsung. Pointed out they went out due to them using the wrong caps.
Then asked them for the caps an schematics.
I've done that with other companies, and I have always gotten the parts, free. Usually the toss in a few extra screws.
Not that this is a guarantee, or that it does you any good with this issue. Next time send the company a letter.
While I don't know jack about Jasper, in my experience almost every small town has a 'electronics' guy with extra parts.
Out of curiosity, which Sams
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, but some did not.
Dell was not the worst by any means. IIRC, the worst as far as caps leaks from those days was probably MSI. Asus was mostly OK (only some MB models affected) and I have not seen a single Via EPIA motherboard exhibit any of these problems.
I am still using about 7-8 Vias from those days quietly shuffling files as a small file server or serving as a media center. Not a single one of them is showing any problem and some of them have been through thermal hell in cases with failed fans.
When You Cut Corners... (Score:5, Insightful)
And take the lowest bidder from China...
And outsource your inspection, testing and QC,...
You deserve what you get. I am actually sorry to see this happen. I expected more professional management system.
Re: (Score:2)
This story can't be true (Score:5, Funny)
How is it possible for the free market to not result in better products and service?
Re:This story can't be true (Score:5, Insightful)
But it did. Right after tens of thousands of customers got fucked by it and shareholders lost $300 million in equity.
Now it's all better.
Re: (Score:2)
Did the CEO get paid millions and millions of dollars and told not to come in tomorrow^W^W^W^W^W^W^W^W^W^W^W^W^W fired?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Because consumers are stupid.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Quite true, from my time working in staples, I can say it's pretty clear. Cheapest > best 95% of the time. No matter what I would say or do, I couldn't talk people out of buying the $300 machines during the horrific era when manufacturers were releasing vista on systems with 512MB of ram.
"Yes the e-machine has windows vista, and is $300, but I have to warn you, the hardware on it is far to weak to run what they have installed on it. If you buy this machine, you can expect it to crash several times a day
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You only got yourself to blame. For every story of a customer ignoring the good advice of a sale person, especially with regards to tech purchases, there are 10 stories of a sale person reaming a customer with some bullshit about the need for $100 gold plated, oxygen free audio cables.
Now I'm sure you're one of the good ones, but your line about crashing is pure FUD. Run painfully slowly, yes. Crash several times a day, bullshit.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
You're being facetious, but I think you are actually completely correct. The free market only works when people are informed. If everybody had perfect knowledge of the ins and outs of the things they were buying, then perhaps we could have a free market utopia where the invisible hand of the market automatically corrected everything.
The problem is that we live in the real world and most business deals involve some kind of information asymmetry where one party (usually the seller) knows more about the produc
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I absolutely am not being facetious. Consumers buy too much stuff to be informed about all of the products and the companies behind them. Democracy has the exact same problem.
Re:This story can't be true (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes; what we need are government regulators that Dell can pay off so that these stories never actually make it out* and give buyers the opportunity to react with their wallets.
Sarcasm aside: government regulation is good and helpful to a certain extent, but it doesn't solve all problems. Why? Because the government is made up of the same people that make up companies, and they can be bought, corrupted, and act unethically. And, unfortunately, we can't easily "boycott" the government, whereas we CAN refuse to buy Dell products, if we so desire.
Unfortunately, I'm only a doomsayer, I don't have many good ideas in this way. I would like to say that I don't know many people who actually think there should be a 100% free market, just like I don't know many people who think we should have a 100% regulated market (i.e., no freedom in the market at all). Arguing against an exaggerated position of people who suppor ta "Free market" may not help much. Or, I may just be ignorant of the folks who actually advocate a 100% no-regulation-whatsoever market...
* Because then a lawsuit against Dell would also involve the regulators and regulating governmental agency, which basically would mean that another group of people would be at risk and raise the incentive to hide the documents/defeat the lawsuit. Examples, perhaps? The recent coal mining stuff and BP. Those had government agencies attempting to regulate them and whatnot. Fancy that, the ones that were overseeing BP were corrupted. Shocking.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know where you get your misguided opinion, but nearly all US government employees are hard working honest people who won't be bribed or corrupted.
There isn't a perfect solution, but government regulators are generally good at their job. Sadly, it's a job that, when your doing it well no one notices. And then when people wan't 'taxes cut' it's the people in the background doing work that gets cut.
The Phrase 'cutting taxes' has done a lot to hurt this country from functioning.
Hey, you see something yo
Re:This story can't be true (Score:4, Informative)
When people started talking about bad caps.. certain MOBO makers went out of their way to label their boards as "Premium Capacitors only", or caps from japan, or anything to show they weren't infected with the bad ones.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The reason the GP stated that is that if we had real regulation of corporations like that it wouldn't have gotten to that point. But, because the free market results in supposedly better products, service and prices we don't need to subject them to oversight.
Re:This story can't be true (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not a straw man. "Free market" has one meaning: a market with zero regulations. If libertarians don't want that, then they should stop saying "free market", and I really wish they would do that because it promotes ideology over moderation. If we drop the ideology that "regulations are bad", then we can get to the real adult work of deciding which regulations are net good and which ones are net bad. Do we have too many regulations today? or the wrong kind? Perhaps, but it's hard to discuss it because the ideologues are always ruining the conversation by shouting about free markets.
But, libertarianism is an ideology. It can never be anything else. Libertarians will never change, but the moderate alternative is simply "conservative". I don't consider myself conservative in most regards, but at least they are realistic instead of ideological.
Markets are good; free markets are bad. Moderation is good; ideology is bad.
They finally revealed the source documents (Score:4, Informative)
IMO, the important thing about this article is they finally reveal the source document their claims came from. This is important, especially because of the kind of comments the last Ars Technica article about this lawsuit [arstechnica.com] had.
same thing with nvidia flaws (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:same thing with nvidia flaws (Score:5, Informative)
I'm still seeing these burnt up Nvidia chips get replaced with the same identical board on warranty repairs, and still finding busted caps on certain (cough gx270 gx280 cough) models.
We had a very large number of GX270's. Within 4 years, 2/3rds of the power supplies and 1/2 of the motherboards died from bad caps. They didn't even flinch when I called and said the MB had caps leaking brown crap. They were happy to ship a new MB and let me swap it even though we had the on-site service contract. The problem was that Dell was shipping replacement parts that would have the same problem within 2 months. I stopped calling on the power supplies and just bought new non-dell branded ones.
They had to know they had a widespread problem and that the parts they were shipping would have the same issues. They were simply trying to use up their spare parts inventory and string the customers along until they were out of warranty service contract. That's dishonest.
Re:same thing with nvidia flaws (Score:5, Informative)
The fixed models had a K shape cut into the caps the old ones looked like a +, they used up the old known bad parts then started shipping good ones. They ran out of known bad pretty early on.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
The fixed models had a K shape cut into the caps the old ones looked like a +, they used up the old known bad parts then started shipping good ones. They ran out of known bad pretty early on.
I knew about the expansion cuts being different. They were shipping us bad parts for at least a year, while publicly denying it was a widespread problem.
no soup for you (Score:3, Insightful)
They were simply trying to use up their spare parts inventory and string the customers along until they were out of warranty service contract. That's dishonest.
Actually, I think from a legal perspective, Dell was colouring between the lines, if the contract was for Dell to replace the system as often as it failed within the warranty period.
You might complain that it's not ethical given the business image that Dell put forward. Obviously they decided that their short term reputation with share holders was worth more than their long term reputation with customers.
Given the size of the problem (across the industry) I'm not sure there were enough good capacitors avai
Re:same thing with nvidia flaws (Score:4, Funny)
Its a good thing problems like this don't happen in other areas. Imagine if the auto industry did this!
Re: (Score:2)
I have had some mixed experiences with Dell. Some great. Some not-so-great. But you know? They are still better than the rest... even if they are only a bit better. I have grown accustomed to dealing with their support people -- I know how to answer questions to expedite the results I seek. I am also certain to buy NBD support for machines I care about -- servers and laptops mostly. (Accidental damage for laptops every time!)
I have had to deal with the capacitor issue in the past. Maybe my company w
Re: (Score:2)
You've set your price pretty low there. All it costs to make you go quiet and keep buying $000s worth of their kit it one motherboard that they should have replaced without being threatened anyway. You really taught them a lesson there and I'm sure they'll keep learning from it with every future order you make from dell corporate.
Nothing personal, but I've never understood this sort of reaction. If I get to the point of threatening a company then it is already too late. I don't threaten to take my business
Dell must have some good hookers on staff... (Score:5, Interesting)
The US Federal Government buys more Dell machines than any other major customer. And Dell sucks, really really hard.
Sure, their server hardware is OK, but it's just off the shelf stuff which is more expensive than a lot of competition, including the superb Supermicro. So, the only conclusion is that Dell has employees that suck a really good dick.
Now this comes out. I wonder what the total damage done to the taxpayer was? Probably in the hundreds of millions when you figure in the lack of services caused by downtime, contractor handoffs of parts before they actually get the problem fixed, and subsequent testing which is mandated at many facilities.
Sounds like politics (Score:5, Insightful)
In other words, the most loyal customers got the worst treatment.
Political parties do much the same thing. The so-called base voters who would never consider voting for the other party (or staying home) can be and generally are ignored by candidates because they know their votes are secure.
Loyalty is a terrible position for a customer (or voter) to take. If you want results, insist on getting them up front, before you fork over the cash (or votes, or, in our political system, both).
Well, duh. (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course they prioritized the situations with the most impact to them.
What's wrong with that?
However, selling computers with an enhanced probability of failure at the same price as if they didn't have that is fraud.
And "reassurances that no data loss would occur when a PC failed" is just gob-smackingly stupid fraud.
Re: (Score:2)
what's wrong with it? a lot. It's being a bad player when loyalty gets rewarded last. Even the Mob kbows this.
But for short term business practice? no, nothing wrong with it in that context.
Lie to customers.... (Score:2)
Well telling them the truth was a never an option, that would had involved telling them that "Sure we used cheap or substandard components in our machines and you pay a premium for a quality product... Sucks to be you!"
That was option 1 option 2 would have been to pay a bit more for better quality components in the first place and while I would say pass those costs on to the customers they already had done that.
I haven't been able to recommend Dell to home buyers for years now to be honest. If your a corpor
Re: (Score:2)
If your a corporate customer and can afford the gold warranty support and buy in a large enough volume to pressure them when something goes wrong your golden no pun intended.
Speaking from experience you still take the hit in lost work hours and your efforts to deal with the problem.
They're not the only ones... (Score:4, Interesting)
Dell may have been more customer-antagonistic than other manufacturers, but even alleged luminaries in the business were tainted by this issue.
My first Apple base station was based on a Lucent design that Apple put a graphite-colored plastic enclosure around. Naturally, the Job/Ivs-ian approach to mechanical design did not allow these base stations to have ventilation holes in them, even though they had a comparatively big internal linear power supply and were using a 486 chip. Combine that with all the remaining hardware and you had a nice hot little box, especially if you used the dial-up modem. A year later, and the marginal Lelon capacitors powering the the base station started bulging like Champagne corks or popping off altogether.
Naturally, Apple told its customers that the they were SOL if the unit was out of warranty after a year of ownership. Those who had AppleCare warranty could get refurbished units - usually in marginal cosmetic condition - and only if they mentioned that AppleCare covered attached peripherals. Apple never proactively contacted owners of graphite base stations to acknowledge the issue and to point owners towards repair options.
I got mad enough to investigate the issue, discovered the bad capacitors and created a web-page to teach others how to replace them or have service providers replace the capacitors for them. Not that hard to do. I also gave folk instructions on how to add ventilation holes to help these poor base stations cool better. The Lucent design covered much of the board with an EMI shield, which exacerbated the thermal problems - it's like encasing the electronics inside two heat shields.
As the issue affected more and more customers, Apple started a non-publicized warranty program that allowed customers outside the warranty period to get their unit replaced - but only if they knew what knowledge-base article to point the Apple drones to. Naturally, just as the program appeared one day, it also disappeared after a while - without a press release, notice to customers, etc.
All along, the typical answer from an Apple phone-drone was that they had never heard of the issue before. So, if you did a little digging at Apple, I would not be surprised if the SOP manuals for phone-drones include the 'suggestion' that every issue reported by an irate customer is 'unusual', 'never heard of before', etc. It's one way to mollify customers, especially those who don't know of the myriad of other customers affected by the same issue.
The only times I had Apple admit something outright was with the Santa Rosa graphics chipset problem, and probably only because by MacBookPro was covered under AppleCare. However, by then, a lot of of other folk had already been affected by this issue and NVIDIA was presumably paying for the PCB repairs. So I'm not sure if I can give Apple a pass on that one either. The first sets of customers were probably told that unless the unit was under warranty or AppleCare that they'd be buying a new motherboard and paying Apple for the privilege of getting it installed too.
Would the base stations have lasted longer if Apple had elected to use name-brand capacitors instead of Lelons? Perhaps, but any electronic appliance last longer with lower operating temperatures. Sadly, this is an issue that seems to continue to haunt Apple - a desire to design pretty enclosures whose thermal performance is at the borderlines of what the electronic hardware can tolerate.
Re: (Score:2)
Yep, the new MacBook Air performs better than the old MacBook Air having processors of the same speed:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3991/apples-2010-macbook-air-11-13inch-reviewed/6 [anandtech.com]
Guess why.
the most loyal customers got the worst treatment. (Score:5, Funny)
the most loyal customers got the worst treatment.
In business loyalty is foolish. You always get better deal by shopping around. This is also true with jobs and women.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Issue only with Dell USA ? (Score:2, Interesting)
We had almost 90% of our GX270 desktops (about 200 deployed at the time) fail due to the bad cap issue, and Dell Canada repaired every single one within 24 hours, no questions asked. Since then we’ve had near zero issues with any Dell laptops or desktops (over 1,000 deployed and in use), and the few failures we’ve had since then Dell has fixed without any hassle.
Dell Canada never gave us a hard time over repairs for the bad cap problems. Whenever we placed a support call all it took was a ment
Re: (Score:2)
I have to post a big Me too on this one. Never an argument, or a crazy request to reinstall software or try pointless remedies.
Nowhere near as many systems as you but exactly the same response. They fixed units that failed, took me about 1-2 minutes on the phone to go over the details and the rest of the time was just waiting for them to fill out the dispatch forms.
Like hell they hid the problems (Score:2)
It clearly says "D-E-L-L" right on the box. Only way to get more explicit than that is Surgeon General's Warnings.
Re: (Score:2)
Surgeon General's Warning: "Dude, you're getting a Dell."
It was not just Dell's fault in this lawsuit. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Nowadays, there are Mini-ITX SFF systems that are much smaller, easier to stack, and much more suitable for this purpose.
The late Werner Heisenberg took offense ... (Score:2)
.. and has threatened Dell with legal action concerning misuse of his intellectual property, 'emphasize uncertainty', from beyond the grave.
"Dude, your Dell is getting attacked by the ghost of a dead German Physicist!"
I really hate to defend Dell (Score:2)
So I won't, because they really suck.
But the real problem with Dell is their entire business model. They manufacture nothing. They buy components (motherboards, etc) from the lowest bidding Chinese OEM, who manufactured those components using parts from the lowest bidding Chinese OEMs. The bad capacitors aren't Dells, fault. They aren't even the motherboard manufacturers fault. The bad capacitors are the fault of the company that made them. And unfortunately, you can't tell they are bad until they fuc
Please mod this to TROLL right now... (Score:3, Interesting)
...because this post is in response to those who espouse "the man fucked us over again" attitude you see a lot of here.
Just for a minute, step outside your cubicle and put yourself in charge of Dell.
First of all, you have no choice but to manufacture your laptops in China, Viet Nam, Malaysia or some other God-forsaken country because it takes a lot of labor to assemble your products, all your competitors do the same thing and people want a full featured laptop for $599. If you stamp a "Made in USA" sticker on the box and charge $899, a price at which you'd lose money if you built it here, your product sits on the store shelf like an old turd.
Secondly, you have to source subcomponents like capacitors (or in the case of Mattel, paint for Barbies) from a network of vendors within the country you're building in. This sub-supplier network could go 3 or 4 or more companies deep by the time you get down to the raw materials used to make the parts.
Of course you got samples, tested the shit out of them, and insisted that all the components and sub components come only from approved suppliers. You put in incoming QC tests to make sure the parts adhere to spec, but it simply isn't possible to test every single component every single time they come in. You've got ongoing WIP tests at every step of the way to make sure the subassemblies and end product stays in spec.
Then some peasant in Northern China decides to send some bad raw materials used to make the capacitors used in the Dell (and other) machines up the stream to the capacitor factory. The factory making the caps has no idea the material is bad and the caps test out fine. They only fail over time so they pass any and all incoming QC tests your factory has put in place, and the end computer they go in tests out fine before shipment.
Then you get the first return from the field. And then the second. After root cause analysis, you finally recognize that the capacitor is faulty, and basically you then say Holy Fucking Shit. Because the lead time to get the caps was 12 weeks, and by that time you've got 150,000 suspect machines in the field, another 150,000 in work in process, and another 150,000 worth of parts in the parts bins waiting to be assembled.
You now have to figure out how and why machines fail, over what time span, and under what usage patterns. Will this thing burn down a customer's house!? How badly are you fucked in terms of warranty - how many machines will fail before the warranty is out, and what is the company's exposure? What about all the stuff in the supply chain - do you pay to have it reworked or do you deem the risk low enough that you continue to build and ship?
Then, you start the customer triage process. Who are the most strategic customers that will have the most downside due to the failure? Do we do a proactive recall, or wait until machines fail and come back in? if we don't do a recall, do we alert the public or just wait and deal with the failures as they arrive and hope it doesn't get any worse?
Of course, as part of this process, you've found the mother fucker in China who screwed you, had him shot, then put in tests to make sure this never happens again, and tried to get some sort of money out of the sub supplier to cover the millions you have at risk due to this problem. Good luck with that, by the way.
Then some douche bag on Slashdot calls you a greedy pig for not replacing every machine without question.
Welcome to the world of the manufacturer.
And by the way, the above if GROSSLY simplified to enhance comprehension.
Re:Please mod this to TROLL right now... (Score:4, Informative)
You have some very valid points. I've worked in manufacturing.
One thing to remember in this case, however, is the machines in question were not the Dell Crap line machines, they were the premium-quality Optiplex line, where you pay more to get a reliable machine for Enterprise users.
And the bad caps? Not the work of poor QC from a "Chinese peasant", but industrial espionage from some Taiwanese capacitor firms who had engineers steal a formula from from a company in Japan, but got it wrong.
And Dell bought low-end capacitors from cut-rate suppliers. They are not the first to make this mistake, but on your premium line, where you charge premium prices, you should be buying name-brand components. Good electrolytics are expensive.
This story was all covered by IEEE Spectrum [ieee.org]. They have a story on the Dell scandal [ieee.org] as well.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
i get the analogy, but dude, get a throwaway phone - lots cheaper and no contract... hope your dad is OK, btw
Re: (Score:3)
Rogers wouldn't even call me back when I was in the hospital with my dad who was going into major surgery.
I hope you're dad's okay now, but I have to ask -- what kind of cell phone problem hospitalizes your father and requires major surgical intervention?
Re: (Score:2)
Sometimes threatening is not enough. Some years ago, I realized that my company was paying way too much for our web and email hosting, so I called the provider and threatened to move unless they reduced the price. The provider would not budge.
So, I spent some time configuring a replacement and called to cancel the service. Now, the provider wants to offer a discount! I told them where to shove it, because I had already invested the effort in replacing them.
Was this a smart move by the provider? I don't know
Re: (Score:2)
Dell hid computer flaws. Oh, the outrage !
Correctly directed outrage.
Don't you alleged iPad jockeys have better news to post than this OLD news?
This is NEW news (or at least new information) relevant to the old news. I have no idea what connection you are trying to make to Apple here.
Perhaps, you might cover the intrusiveness of TSA "security" [youtube.com].
Because that is never covered here, and the following articles from the last couple of weeks are figments of my deranged imagination:
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/11/16/1723233/US-Marshals-Saved-35000-Full-Body-Scans
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/11/13/2229222/National-Opt-Out-Day-Against-Virtual-Strip-Searches
http://news.slashdot.org
Re:And What About HP (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not exactly sure why I was modded troll for this. The problems that HP had with DV2xxx and DV6xxx notebooks, particular with the nVidia chipsets is well known, as is HP's refusal to properly deal with widespread issues of overheating and damage.