fox — Dell support service can't tell between a 720p and a 1080p monitor

TL;DR

I bought an XPS 13 ultrabook with 1080 monitor, i7 and 8GB of RAM and ProSupport service for 1 year (https://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x-mlk/pd) from the Italian Dell online store at the end of January.
After a few weeks I noticed a tiny lighter spot (aka ghost spot) on the monitor that was clearly noticeable with a light background. I called the ProSupport service and they sent a guy at our office to replace the display. After the replacement the pc didn’t work (8 beeps from the motherboard) so he came again after a few days with another replacement part but the problem persisted. He made me talk by phone with some people from ProSupport that suggested me to send the laptop to the laboratory in Germany to figure out the problem. After a month and many many phone calls all I know is that they were putting a 720p on my 1080p XPS and they don’t have any ETA because they don’t know when the replacement part will arrive to the lab.

Dell is taking more than one month with my laptop in their lab just to replace a display. I don’t know what else to do in order to have my XPS back so I’m writing this post. So here’s an advice for you: DON’T, EVER, send your Dell laptop to any laboratory even if they tell you it will take just a few days.

At the end of January I bought an XPS 13 ultrabook with 1080 monitor, i7 and 8GB of RAM and ProSupport service for 1 year (https://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x-mlk/pd) from the Italian Dell online store. It’s very cool and I was very happy with that. I waited very long before ordering it because I wanted the 1080p version that was announced at CES (http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/06/dells-xps-13-getting-a-1080p-screen/) so the first day it became available in Italy I ordered it. It costed 1400€, not so cheap but that laptop is definetely worth it (apart from the support service).
After 2-3 weeks of usage I noticed a very small lighter spot (aka ghost spot) on the display that was clearly noticeable when I had a light background (I noticed it using Google Docs, for instance), while it was invisible with a dark background.

I contacted the support service and they told me that’s a quite common problem that it’s usually due to some bumps during the shipping and that they would send a guy at our office in order to fix it ASAP. He came after 1 or 2 days with a new display and it took half an hour to replace the old one. Unfortunately when he switched it up the laptop kept beeping (8 beeps), he called the support service but they didn’t know anything about the problem, they concluded that the replacement part was broken so he put my old display back and came after a few days with a new replacement. He changed it again but the problem persisted: two broken monitor in a row it’s definetely not likely, so we talked a bit and I tried to tell him that I bought the laptop the second day the 1080p version was available in Italy so it may be that they were using an old 720p monitor, but he told me that he didn’t know, Dell just ships the replacement parts and he just changes them to the customers. He didn’t performed the order and he was sure that the company knew which was the right replacement part.
He phoned to one of the managers of the support center and they talked a bit, then he passed me the phone and I talked to this guy from the  support centre. He told me that that was a strange case, they didn’t  know which was the problem and that it might have been in my  computer, so it was better to ship it to their lab in Germany to figure out the issue. He said it would have taken maximum 10 days, but usually they solve the problem in 3-4 days, so I accepted. I shipped my laptop to the lab on 2013-03-13 and the next day it was in the Dell lab (I had the UPS tracking code).

I waited a few days but after a week I called the support service to know what they were doing and if they found the problem: they told me that the lab was waiting for a replacement part and from the call center they didn’t know anything else. So I waited a few days more and after the 10 days passed I called again: they told me that the replacement part arrived and that they didn’t know anything else. I called after other few days and they told me the same story: they were waiting for another replacement! WTF?!
After some other calls in the last week of March where the support service told me “don’t worry, I’ll perform a check and I’ll call you back” and I never got any call, I finally found a guy that performed a check “on the fly” so I waited 10-15 minutes on the phone and in the end he told me that the lab found the problem: THEY WERE PUTTING 720p DISPLAYS ON A 1080p LAPTOP!
I don’t want to know how many displays they tried before starting to think that maybe the problem was not my laptop nor the broken displays. -.-” Anyway he told me that in a few days they would solve the problem. I waited a few days, then I called again: the guy told me that the work on my laptop was finished but he dunno why it had not been shipped yet. He told me he would have called me back (but he didn’t). So yesterday I called again, they told me that the lab was WAITING for a new 1080p display! And they didn’t have any ETA!! WUT?! I asked if it was a joke or what and I asked to speak with a manager. He called me back and he apologized for the troubles but he didn’t know anything about my laptop. He said that he will wait until Monday for news from the lab but if they will not know anything he will start the procedure to send me a new laptop.

So, WHEN I WILL GET MY LAPTOP BACK? I think that a month it’s definitely not acceptable for a big company like Dell, thier support service (in my case) was awful.

I’m a developer, I need my laptop and I’m even considering to buy another laptop (not Dell) and sell my XPS when it will come back eventually (if it will come back).

In conclusion: don’t EVER send your laptop to a Dell lab.

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