Kevin M Mullins

Just a quick update on my drawn out problem with Dell over my Dell E228WFP 22″ monitor. After 3 long series of phone calls, Dell called me back today and told me that they are shipping me a replacement for my 22″ monitor. The Manager that I spoke with created an order number and a tracking number for my issue and they will ship me a replacement monitor in 3 to 4 days.

Again, the problem was the fact the I did not have an order number because I purchased a Dell Monitor from a reseller and the reseller did not generate a Dell order number or any other type of Dell tracking number. How many other people have purchased Dell equipment through resellers, and my guess is a percentage of those folks have run into the same problem.

Dell Customer Service kept pushing this problem back on me and it was not until I escalated this issue and Dell agreed to create an order number for me, which started the process and enabled me to get a warranty replacement for my monitor.

On August 14th, 2008 I purchased a Dell E228wfp 22″ LCD monitor from MicroCenter in Cambridge Ma. The monitor and wireless keyboard make a nice home desktop setup when I plug my work laptop (Dell 820) into the monitor and wireless keyboard. Every evening when I come home from work I plug my MIT laptop and keep and eye on work related issues while staying connected with friends on my home computer.

About 6 weeks ago the Dell monitor started acting flaky. The monitor would go black and it was not going into hibernation. I would be in the middle of typing and the picture would go black. I replaced the vga cable but that did not work, I brought my docking station home from work and tried that vga port and the digital port from the docking station but had the same problem. These two photos were take about 15 minutes apart and you can see the Dell monitor is black and hitting the space bar or any key does not help. The only way to resolve is to power off the monitor and then turn the power back on. When this starts to happen it occurs frequently and the only way to stop it is to turn off the monitor for long periods of time. 

I found a reference to the problem on the Dell Forums called “E228wfp shuts down every ten minutes” and decided to call Dell. After talking to three different folks I was told to go back to Micro Center and get the order #, the service tag # or the express service code. I went back and Micro Center and they reprinted my receipt and told me what the express service tag was (MT729-a01). I was traveling and finally call Dell back on Thursday evening however after talking with 2 different folks I was told that all of their systems were down and they could not lookup my service tag, so I had to call back in 6 hours.

I called back on Friday morning and again had the same problem. Apparently MT729-A01 is not the order #, the service tag # or the express service code so I struggle to work with the gentleman from Dell. I point out an article in the Dell Forums that outlines this problem called Dell E228WFP Backlight failure however without and order number they will not even begin the process. After 30 minutes on the phone, with no order number they want to start troubleshooting the problem to validate that there is a problem. I tell him that I have already validated the problem and have pointed him to similar examples, then I get upset and tell him that I am going to outline our conversation in the forums and in my blog and I immediately get moved to duty manager.

I spoke with Ashish who is the duty manager and after explaining the problems with my monitor, we quickly get the to heart of the problem which is that I do not have a order number. I have a valid monitor with a valid Dell serial number but Dell requires a order number. I am not happy and let Ashish know, and finally after 10 minutes on the phone with Ashish he agrees to start the process on his side and he will create and order number for me. Ashish explains that it will take up to 5 to 7 days to process this however for now the process has started.

Ashish asked me to complete one more test by unplugging the vga cable connected to the monitor and leave the monitor on but not connected to the computer. I had to leave for work but unplugged the vga cable on the back of the monitor and took a picture. When I came home from work the monitor was black so clearly there is a problem and it is similar to the issues related in the forums.

All that I am looking for is to replace my defective E228WFP. I guess I should have purchased this monitor directly from Dell as opposed to buying it in a retail organization, and if I had I would have had a new monitor by now, But, what about all the folks buying Dell products from retail organizations, are they going thru the same hassle when there is a problem? Dell could have handled this better and started this process three weeks ago when I first called. Dell already lost a sale as a result of this as I had to purchase a new computer for my father and went with a Micro Center PowerPC and a ViewSonic monitor.

So, my problem has not been resolved, but we do appear to have started the process.

More to follow ….