TV-OUT on laptop causes major damage, fire / shock

[Thomas Bruno]

Ok, here's the update:

Dell emailed me back. I posted my orginal story on both the dell forums,
and dell's e-mail tech support.

Basically, the first technician asked me to send my address and stuff,
so they could setup to replace my laptop.

I though.. ok this would be fine. cept for the T.V. and my cables being
damaged. But I could settle for a replacement laptop. So I sent my
details in, thinking, ok this sounds like my last laptop replacement.
They just send me a new one, i place this one in the box and send it
back. All will be fine and well.

Then thismorning, it seems the dell tech (who is not the orginal tech)
decided that this wouldn't be a good solution. Instead now, they want me
to send them my laptop so they can A.) repair the motherboard, and if
that doesn't fix it, B.) replace the laptop.

Now this seems like a reasonable request.. only a few problems with this
one:

A.) I'm freaking terrified of my laptop, to afraid to even plug it in
and turn it on.
B.) I'm freaking terrified of EVERY pluging a TV into a computer, or
anything RCA into a TV again.
C.) There's isn't much comfort in them replacing the motherboard...
D.) What about my TV and RCA cables?
E.) When I send them my laptop, i have nothing, no proof, no evidence,
they can say whatever they want. It's in their possesion, they can say
the laptop is fine and didn't cause the problem. Once the evidence is in
their possesion, I have nothing. I most certianly am not going to trust
dell, especially after they tried to extort $300 from me by MAKING me
send in my laptop for a fan repair... the fan can't be more than $2,
they just wouldn't sell it to me.
F.) last time i sent it into the dell repair center, It stoped turning
on all the time, and they never did fix it.


Once dell has the laptop, I have nothing. This isn't going to work. I
guess i'm going to have to go see a lawyer tomorrow. Plus... what about
general safety? This could have been my grandma... or YOUR grandma...
All i did was plug in the TV to the video card via RCA.... 

I have here all the dell emails that i recieved and replied to.

The Original Message
http://www.djgoku.com/original-message.txt

Dell's first reply "Message 2"
http://www.djgoku.com/dell-reply1.txt

My Reply to message 2
http://www.djgoku.com/my-reply1.txt

Dell's second reply "Message 3"
http://www.djgoku.com/dell-reply2.txt

My Reply to message 3
http://www.djgoku.com/my-reply2.txt

My 2nd Reply to message 3
http://www.djgoku.com/my-reply3.txt




More updates as they come on

www.livejournal.com/crweb

On Fri, 2004-12-03 at 17:11 -0600, Thomas Bruno wrote:
> Actually, this is my 3rd laptop from dell, due to replacements,  each
> time I got the standard message like the one before saying "send us the
> details, so we can replace your system blah blah",  I have no doubt they
> are going to do it right now, however, I am ready if they don't.
> 
> On Fri, 2004-12-03 at 16:46 -0600, Duane Attaway wrote:
> > On Fri, 3 Dec 2004, Thomas Bruno wrote:
> > 
> > > I don't know yet, i sent the details, and i got a automated message 
> > > saying "we are redoing our mail system to better serve you, normally it 
> > > would take a technician 6-12 hours to contact, but until we finish, it 
> > > very well could be up to 24 hours.
> > 
> > The old runaround tactics.  First they shift the blame and if that fails, 
> > pretend reading comprehension problems, and then if logic becomes too 
> > threatening, stall.  Then they are ready to introduce you to the 
> > bureaucracy of paperwork and procedure, all while making calls through a 
> > broken automated telephone system.
> > 
> > "I need to talk to your supervisor."
> > 
> > "OK, I'll transfer you."
> > 
> > "Please be patient.  Call time may exceed 10 minutes. Your call is..."
> > 
> > I learned this when dealing with our beloved phone companies.
> > 
> > -=Duane
> > http://dattaway.org
> 
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