Dell Refurbished Reviews

This has been an absolute nightmare dealing with Dell Refurbished. We tried buying the same laptop five different times and every single order got canceled. The first time they said it was because my billing address didn't match my shipping address since we were using our warehouse. Fair enough, we called and were told it was all sorted out. Then two more orders got canceled with zero explanation. Looks like their whole system is automated with basically no real people checking on problems when they happen. We've been happy with Dell products in the past, which is why this is so disappointing. It's really changed how we feel about the company. And when I mentioned maybe taking our business elsewhere, the customer service person gave me what felt like a sarcastic response. When I brought it up, things got worse instead of better, and suddenly I'm being accused of mocking their accent, which never happened. There's a big difference between pointing out sarcasm and being disrespectful.

I've worked with refurbished and secondhand IT gear before, so I know what standards the industry should follow. This laptop from Dell Refurbished didn't come close. The unit showed up with visible scratches and marks all over it despite being labeled Grade A. It also had a 1TB drive when the listing said 2TB, the trackpad didn't work right, and it got burning hot within minutes of turning on with the fans going nonstop. Even returning it was a hassle. They scheduled a pickup on a day that didn't work for me even though I'd selected drop-off as my preference. The return label wouldn't scan at the drop-off spot twice, and I had to get it reprinted with special instructions before it finally went through. Refurbished equipment should still be described accurately, actually tested before shipping, and easy to send back if something's wrong. This whole experience was really disappointing.

I was really happy about the 40% discount I got, and the laptop looked practically brand new when it arrived. It ran smoothly at first with some updates from Dell support assist. Extending the warranty turned out to be complicated though - they said it was registered overseas and needed me to fill out an ownership transfer form. Then during a BIOS update from Dell, everything crashed. Dell's support team tried troubleshooting with cold resets but nothing worked. They sent me over to the refurbished team since my coverage included a 6 month warranty. Support suspected I'd need a new motherboard, but the refurbished department wouldn't arrange any repairs or replacements and just gave me my money back instead.

Got it on day one with multiple problems. Sent it back for repairs, they fixed one thing but installed a bad screen. When it finally came back, the battery was basically shot - we're talking nearly 75% worn out, not just a little degraded. My daughter can't even use it at school without being plugged in the whole time. When I asked about replacing the battery, they told me it's considered a consumable part and isn't covered. After four and a half hours dealing with back and forth shipping and customer service, I'm officially done with Dell. Been a loyal customer for about 30 years but that's over now.

This feels like a classic bait and switch operation. I ordered what was listed as a touchscreen laptop, and honestly I should've checked on the wifi situation myself. The bigger problem is that nobody at Dell or the refurbished division has any clue what I'm talking about, and I haven't gotten a single response from their side. At this point I'm disputing the charge with my credit card company because there's no other way to get this resolved.