Reader K's call to Dell tech support for his laptop resulted in the tech helping him break a different computer, then sending him a replacement laptop full of human pubic hair. After diagnosing a faulty power adapter with K's laptop, the Dell technician asked him to plug the malfunctioning adapter into his other, out-of-warranty Dell to confirm the problem. K was reluctant, but complied, and fried his old laptop in the process. To their credit, Dell offered a replacement; unfortunately, it had a full bush. Full email, with picture, below (photo is NSFL: Not Safe For Lunch).
So I rarely resort to complaints as I think I am an easygoing consumer, but this time Dell went over the line. Maybe I just needed to write this email to vent, but I think it may be worth a post on your site...Well, although Dell may not be listening to Executive Email Carpet Bombs anymore, it doesn't hurt to try. Here is a bunch of Dell email addresses, here are some more, and here is one more. Include pictures of the fuzz factory in your email, hopefully it will gross someone out enough to get you a replacement.Recently my 1 year old Dell laptop stopped charging the battery, so I called technical support (still under 3 year warranty) to try to resolve the issue. The technician recommended trying to plug another Dell power adapter into the laptop to see if this was the problem, and surprisingly it worked - problem solved...send me a new power adapter and I'll be on my way.
Unfortunately here things took bad turn. The technician thought that it would be a good idea to try the faulty power adapter in my other Dell laptop just to confirm that this was the problem. I told him that this laptop was no longer under warranty and that I didn't really want to mess with anything else since we had already resolved the issue. He said that we had to confirm this before he could authorize a new adapter being sent to me. So I plug it in and ZAP! Burning smell, and my old laptop was fried - nothing could revive it. At this point I was worried the technician would hang up, but to their credit they stayed on the line and after about an hour finally agreed to replace my old laptop. At this point, I was rather satisfied despite all of the problems - I was getting a new replacement for my old laptop.
About a week later, I get my "new" Dell laptop. I open the case, and the instruction manual is bent out of shape, and I start to worry. I reach the bottom of the box, pull out the laptop, and first thing I see is the top is covered in scratches. Some people may say that I should be happy since I was getting a newer model laptop to replace an old laptop with no warranty. My old laptop, however, was in great condition. When I opened up the new laptop, I saw the screen was scratched and dirty, and the keyboard was covered in debris. Wait, not debris....what is that? HAIRS!? Not just any hairs - these could only be described as pubes. I hate to be so crude, but pubes are pubes. Not the incidental curly hair, but rather mini-tufts between the keys. My only guess is that Ron Jeremy was the previous owner. At this point, I called Dell back, and I have written this email in between talking to 3 different people and over an hour of hold time. Nobody wants to help, and I'm reached the limits of my tolerance for poor service.
At this point, I'm considering 3 options:
1. Vacuum it, douse it in alcohol, and just try to use it and forget about "the hedgehog"
2. Sell it and buy a new laptop
3. Go to the gym, run 3 miles, trim body hair directly over the keyboard, send laptop back to dell (this is the cleaned up version)
Any other ideas?
("Free Human Hair" Photo: Kevin Dean)
Comments
Eww...
Pubic hair is mispelled in the intro
human public hair
Even with the italicized typo, ick! That's just wrong. Try the EECB and if not, small claims court maybe?
I think you mean "pubic", not "public".
human public hair?
like hair you can get in a public place? might want to fix that typo:)
That could be arm hair. I mean, it doesnt necessarily have to be pubic hair. Still though, pretty gross.
oh sweet!
[sigh] . . . we really need a spell checker in this joint. But, then again, even spell checker wouldn't have caught that one. I always try to read aloud what I just typed. I catch most of my typos that way.
Wow, just wow.
really odd.
tip one though for anyone dealing with techs: DON'T do anything you feel uncomfortable doing.
no matter how much they try to coerce you.
that dell tech needs to have his system board blown for even suggesting that he plug a suspect power adapter it into another laptop. Probably didn't have the same voltage requirements that the new one did.
as much as I'm against regulation of my industry, there are times like these that I wish there were some kind of way weeding out idiots like this tech.
As for the replacement unit. ugh.
but thats the only thing i hate about dell. their replacement policy on laptops. It usually ends bad.
Maybe it's beard hair?
NOT blaming the victim, but i've been told to do crap from phone techs before and i just pretend to. how would they know the diff? "Oh, you're right, it totally doesn't power up my old laptop, I'm glad we tested to make sure" would have been sufficient.
That replacement is just gross,though, and I feel for the guy.
Wow. Tech support is pretty pathetic these days.
I just threw up a little.
I'm glad I ate lunch well over an hour ago.
As a computer tech, you come to expect this stuff from customers. I've had roaches, hair, dust, the normal stuff. But whenever I release a machine to a customer, the thing is spotless. Literally spotless. This is disgusting.
Could it be dog hair? I know my keyboard is constantly covered in short hairs like that from my dog.
That is nasty.
Isn't this grounds for pressing some sort of criminal charges?
Oh my god, GROSS.
@Okaasan: I thought we were the spelling/grammar checker... /sarcasm
short and curlies also come from some people's heads, you know.
Do not pass go, go directly to EECB with all due speed. Cook that chicken until it's got a black covering!
To be fair, they could be beard hairs. But yeah, still not cool.
Apparently it is indeed PUBLIC hair.
Way to go Dell. Your actions eliminated my appetite, which will help with my spring weight loss.
Nasty. This was the wrong post to read during my lunch break.
@typo: Yeah, I don't know what my problem is with Moveable Type lately. I swear that in real life, I can spell words and form complete sentences.
@anyone saying this isn't pubic hair: I'd be happy to send you the higher res pictures that K included, but I didn't want this post to join the pantheon of Goatse.cx, Tub Girl, et al.
Ewwwww, isn't there some kind of health regulation that was violated by Dell for this?
Did it at least come with porn pre-installed?
absolutely disgusting.
Hey, I work for Dell tech support here in the states (and am an avid consumerist reader). I'll give you a hand w/ this if you want - no promises but I'll see what I can do for you - I handle the XPS systems (can help with those types - can't tell what your system is. Also I know people in Lat/Opti dept)... How do I get in touch with you? BTW - I've never heard of a PC coming with pubes from our replacement dept. - we normally charge extra for that =)
So, all curly dark hair is pubic hair? That's an assumption that can't be verified here. But it sure do make for sensational media, huh!
I wonder if the hair was outsourced as well. Perhaps it is Indian pubes.
Oh ewwwwww! I need to take a shower after reading that complaint.
Consider buying your next laptop from a different manufacturer.
@rndmideas: Your dog has a coat of short 'n curlies?
Dell may not monitor the consumerist, but they do have guys that watch www.notebookforums.com now and then. It might be helpful to post your story there. The "DellCA" has helped alot of folks there in the past. Sounds like they had a laptop another customer returned and said "Good 'nuff". Generally speaking, refurbished machines are free from cosmetic damage as well as human hair.
Stories like these make me wish I worked directly for Dell and not just for a third party service contractor.
Also, if you have a Dell technician asking you to do something that may potentially damage a system that isn't under their warranty. I suggest you either lie about that step, or hang up immediately then call back and get someone else.
Mortifying. I would sue. Sue, sue, sue.
mmm sexy
@MrEvil: I know plenty of Dell tech's that read consumerist for fun on a regular basis, in between speaking with customers. I'm one of them.
Um... what the hell? This has got to be some kind of interception prank. As much as I hate Dell (voted for them just now, go fighting Public Hairs! (yes, I know it's spelled pubic)) due to my lifelong attraction to Apples, I don't think that they'd be stupid enough to do that. I think someone got ahold of the box in between and gave it a good dose of pubes to make Dell look really, really bad. If not, here's the obligatory "dude, you're getting a crabs infestation."
Gives new meaning to "RE-FUR-BUSHED" computers from Dell...
No matter WHAT kind of hair it is, that is totally disgusting. I can't believe they even had the gall to send that to a person to RESOLVE a customer service problem!
Awesome. Just awesome.
Pubic vs. Public: Down the street from me is the "Mesa Public Schools Administration" building where the sign is right there at pedestrian level, right along the sidewalk on a major road where ne'er-do-wells and ruffians are always walking by. The L in the word "Public" on that sign is constantly being stolen, and they are constantly replacing it. It's so juvenile, but I giggle every time I see that it has gone "pubic" again. Mesa Pubic Schools, I love it.
OP - You gotta be glad though, that the thing wasn't stuck shut like the pages in an old issue of Hustler get stuck together, right? Know what I mean? wink wink nudge nudge...
In an unrelated matter, the court subpoenaed the employment records of one Eric Cartman.
Actually, Dell does monitor the consumerist, and yes, one of those people monitoring the consumerist (me) is grossed out enough to do something about this.
I'm sending a contact through the website linked to Kevin's photo, but if that doesn't get through, you can contact me at our public mailbox:
customer_advocate@dell.com
'ATTN:John'
We'll get this taken care of immediately.
John
Dell Customer Advocate
Did they send the laptop to Frank Chen?
Wow, the previous owner of that laptop must have had an unpleasant dell service experience, and left his revenge for the wrong people...
@econobiker: You win! Awesome.
Those pubes look embedded into the keys, not sprinkled. I vote inside job.
@John-at-Dell: You can tell he really reads it too because he knew enough not to say he was "taking it seriously."
@boss_lady: not really, I just wanted to embrace that theory so I'd be able to keep down my lunch. I have a refurbished dell laptop.
I can't believe nobody's made an Eric Cartman reference yet. Scott Tinnerman must work for Dell.
I would never buy nor settle for anything refurbished that one puts one hands or fingers on.
To me, using any refurbished item is about the same as buying a used mattress.
When I go to hotels, I always bring with me a 4 x ( fooy sheet of marine plywood, place it atop the bedspread and sleep on the plywood. I refuse to use toilet seats and, instead, use the bathroom sinks.
I think that I have found the previous owner.
So Robin Williams repairs computers now.
Perhaps Dell has acquired Anus Laptops?
I am pretty sure Dell is the worst company ever when dealing with Laptops.
They "fixed" by LCD screen problem by creating new cracks in it.
Uugh. F*ck dell.
Technically the laptop would be kinkier without any pubic hair.
How could the technician have said he wouldn't authorize a new power adaptor being sent to you unless you tested the faulty one on your other laptop? What if you didn't happen to have another Dell laptop?? That is so ridiculous...
"What if you didn't happen to have another Dell laptop??"
Then you do what millions of other users do every day. Do nothing and claim it still doesn't work. Is the tech watching you plug in and remove things? How does he know if you even tried it or not?
Okay, so there's some room for doubt that it's pubic hair. True that it could be some other kind of hair.
Why are so many people missing the point that the individual received a laptop that was covered in some kind of hair? Regardless of what KIND it is, it's just unsanitary.
If this guy received a bowl of soup somewhere that had hair floating on the top, would you folks be as inclined to debate just what kind of hair it could be?
@eakolb: True, but if the headline just said that the laptop had "some kind of hair" in it, it wouldn't generate nearly as many clicks as calling them pubes.
I haven't read all of the comments to see if someone else thought of this... But it's likely they used an air compressor to try and "clean it up".
The funny thing is, a lot of times when you try and blow out a keyboard, you only make it worse by revealing all the nasties that are hidden under the keys.
It will blow all of the crap out from under the keys and get it stuck in the cracks where it's plainly visible (just like what you have pictured).
They obviously sent you a refurbished laptop (dell doesn't replace anything with new parts... every replacement part is refurbished), and at some point they blew it off to try and make it look clean, but it was probably on some sort of assembly line, so the person with the air compressor probably only had 5 seconds with it, not enough time to really clean it.
Not defending dell, I'm just guessing that's probably what happened. The whole replacement with refurbished parts is why I don't buy dells anymore.
JUST returned the second dell laptop I have owned. The first one crashed on me, so I decided to give it a second shot. A WEEK after having the second one, it crashed as well. They tried to send me a new hard drive and have me install it myself. I did, and guess what? Yep, that didn't work either! Only took about 5 cumulative hours on the phone with customer service in another country for them to authorize a return. DELL...NEVER AGAIN!!!!!! WORST COMPUTERS EVER.
he NEEDS to confirm its the power cord? what if you didnt have another laptop, how would he confirm it? sounds like hes a money retention specialist and wasnt going to get a bonus if he sent out a new cord.
I just could not pass this up I just had to post a comment regarding the poor service customers are getting these days. Maybe this is why Dell is closeing down here in the States and moving over seas where there are no controls. All those people who will be losing their jobs in the name of money and not service. Who really cares about the spelling or what type of hair. The point is Poor service. I have been a Dell Certified Technician for a long time. And I would never and that is NEVER let a computer, or laptop go back to one of my Customers in such condition. Just goes to show on where service has gone. Anyone who would do this is the cause of some the problems in the world.
Poor judgement and lack of training is showing up everwhere.
Now I feel better!
At the risk of sounding too defensive, there's a good chance that those aren't pubes. Look at your knuckles.
Your knuckles spend a lot more time near the keyboard than your genitals, no matter how much you love the internet porn.
Still a dirty computer. You have a right to be upset. But pubes? Probably not.
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