Dell responds to latest capacitor-related fallout, ignores the whole lying to consumers part
By Tim Stevens 
posted July 2nd 2010 9:09AM
posted July 2nd 2010 9:09AM
The "capacitor plague" issue of the early 2000's has started to resurface, not thanks to another batch of bogus orange-hued electrolytes popping free, but this time thanks to the release of documents relating to a three year-old Dell lawsuit. As we reported earlier this week, those docs show that Dell asked customer service reps to deny there was any problem with their motherboards, telling them to pretend they'd never heard about the issue and to "emphasize uncertainty." Now, Dell is responding to the latest flare up -- sort of.A post on the Direct2Dell blog reiterates that this was an industry-wide issue, which it was, but more or less ignores the crux of this latest report: those internal memos telling CSRs to play stupid while corporate IT departments panicked as OptiPlex desktops died left and right. (Boxes manufactured during those troublesome years would ultimately achieve an amazing 97 percent failure rate.) Dell also points out that AIT, the company that raised this particular lawsuit, was improperly using its OptiPlex machines as servers and not as mere desktops. That sounds an awful lot like sour grapes to us -- or should we say sour electrolytes?
Taking a page from the Apple play book eh Dell, well played... well played.
@CircusBrain
...except you won't see "lying" and "Apple" together in a headline on this site. (Unless it's "Apple's iPhone 5 is out. And we'd be lying if we said that it wasn't the cat's meow.")
@NHAnimator Or "Thousands wake up from mass delusion and realize that Apple products only work well while lying on the bottom of your cats litter box. In a related story, HTC reports record profits..."
@CircusBrain
Perhaps they should try tinkering with the way WiFi signal strength is displayed on their PCs. That should fool everyone.
@CircusBrain
I hadn't heard about Apple pulling one of these, although its well known that they censor discussion of common problems on their forums.
Well, they did have the overheating thing due to over-application of thermal paste which lasted at least a year and which they insisted could be solved by a software patch... really?
Still, its no excuse and Dell should have its ass handed to them for that, same as Apple.
Horrible customer service to deny or side-step known issues. >:|
@CircusBrain
Ok, we all hate dell but you have to cut them some slack. This happened almost 10 years ago now. When this WAS an issue, you barely heard or read anything about it and why its just now making news boggles my mind.
@okok only Apple Fanboys bought i
I don't see why this is news - everyone knew better than to buy Dell in the 2002-6 period. They had worse quality control than Acer does.
Now they've turned it around and I'd say are one of the more reliable computer manufacturers. This is being written from a Dell Studio 15 2-year old desktop replacement that still gets 5 hours of battery life and has yet to develop any issues.
@CircusBrain
that Dell logo deserves a big ol' bite out of the side of it...
Dear Dell,
I will forgive you if you release the Streak in 24 hours. The clock starts....... NOW!
@CircusBrain
What a bunch of lying crooks those Dell public relations people were. No wonder Dell is going out of business. It seems there was hard evidence that Dell was knowingly duping its customers. No wonder Dell computers are so cheap. They've got cheap innards. if Michael Dell had any self-respect he'd sell the company and give the money to the unfortunate shareholders.
Stay classy, Dell.
@SolidSnake Classy is right.
Working for Dell Norway (before the globalization) I was never asked to lie about this issue. We happily admitted to the faulty parts and dispatched free replacements on the 24h plan (Naturally, of the same 3-year-faulty motherboard, but it was free nevertheless (Sorry for the inconvenience)). I don't see why Dell would ask their CS to lie in other countries though...
A lot of corporate B.S. being slung today.
@avinash240
Yes, but I am still waiting for Dell to say that they can fix this with a software patch ;]
What's that smell? A molten capacitor? Oh, wait, that's the smell of a class-action lawsuit...
why didn't they just sell a repair kit for 29 dollars?
@repo105
well played sir, well played
@repo105
this
GO F yourself Dell, I had one of those laptops and CS kept telling me it was my fault for "probably dropping" it....I ended up buying a new laptop (not from Dell)...gah this pisses me off to no end
@From My Cube ....It was only desktops so it had nothing to do with your laptop dummy
@From My Cube
OptiPlex series doesn't include laptops. Plus, this was back in 2002.
@From My Cube
people like you dont deserve a laptop.. go learn to use one :)
there trying to hide under the cover of Apple
@From My Cube : they're ? ffs, is english your native language?
@From My Cube
People like you don't deserve to comment... go learn to spell :)
I work in IT and I've personally seen this happen. An employee brought me an Optiplex 745 that would not boot. I opened the case and took out the HDD to find the capacitors on the motherboard had actually exploded and leaked a substance out. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised.
@steakman Motherboard goes boom~
@steakman You work in IT and you were surprised? - I've seen several cases of this as a high school student.
Early 2000 Dell motherboards suck - and replacing them is a pain because they almost always use some weird variation of the the btx form factor - so you typically have to buy a crappy dell replacement board anyway (assuming the board is damaged beyond replacing a few capacitors - leaking electrolytic solution...)
Capacitors are the main problem but far from the only one - the boards also often die after the usb ports short out, as well as a variety of other problems.
Here's a solution, next time buy from a small PC manufacturer like iBuyPower or CyberpowerPC, they use quality, brand name parts. My motherboard is from Asus, not from some unknown Chinese company that has 2 engineers.
@Sea Urchin or even better build it yourself
@Sea Urchin or even better is building it yourself
@Sea Urchin Considering that the mobo in my 2002 vintage Dell Dimension 4550 was made by Intel and it died in 2006 or 2007 from bad caps, I would say this issue affected more than just no name companies.
@Sea Urchin ... you mean Foxconn? who else uses them again...? hmm...
@Sea Urchin
oh dear god. DO NOT BUY FROM iBUYPOWER. their reputation for quality is far far far worse than Dell's
@Sea Urchin
Dell uses ASUS, Foxconn and a host of other well "respected" industry leaders. Who do you think was manufacturing motherboards for Dell back then, Walmarts?
@Sea Urchin If it's more than $500, build it yourself.
@Sea Urchin Google this before buying: iBuyPower review
Dell is pulling an Apple.
I used to work for a help desk dealing with Compaq customers. There were so many known issues that we were not allowed to tell customers about it wasn't even funny. If anyone thinks keeping customers in the dark about problems is anything new, keep dreaming.
I still have to a lot of Dell monitors doing this same thing. We are constantly replacing popped caps in LCD monitors. It's like Dell uses the cheapest cheapest pieces of Chinese crap caps they can buy.
@Pitchy
funny only your monitors are defective. i have about 73 monitors for my business and none seem to have the problem you have.. the issue in this article is from a long time ago. Dell made a lot of changes and makes very good desktops, laptops, monitors etc..
*crosses off Dell off my buying list*
@MrX8503 Right behind Apple?
@MrX8503 *crossed Dell off years ago*
I was seriously looking at buying an Alienware or Studio laptop from them. I seriously doubt I'd have that kind of problem, but as an ex-CSR/Tech Support Rep, telling them to lie to the customer pisses me off.
@jsevans
Yup, every manufacturer is going to have a few issues here and there with parts from a supplier, and I don't think Dell had an unusual high failure rate.
BUT, you want the peace of mind knowing that when a problem DOES crop up, that the company will take care of you and take responsibility for their mistakes.
Right now, Dell and Apple appear to be the worst offenders.
The thing I HATE most about dell support is when they have you run Dell diagnostics. It takes hours to run full diagnostics. Just send me the f'n replacement motherboard when I say that is the problem or the memory is the problem. My time is money!
@boe
Before Dell diagnostics, you would have Johnathan, aka Mohinder Shah, walking you through his 20 step troubleshooting program. Dell diagnostics is the best software update they have ever included IMO.
Much rather press a button, come back and read the results and have a at-home service call the next business day.
@Ducman69
What if your computer doesn't boot?
@boe
Dells time is also money, alot more money. If you want parts sent, pay for the training and get Dell certified. Tech support will no longer make you trouble shoot and trust your judgement. Otherwise, nobody is going to take it on good faith that you in all your infinite wisdom knows the issue is related to either memory/proc/motherboard/hdd. Its far too ambiguous / costly of a decision to keep sending out part after part until you get it right. Companies have to draw a line in the sand at some point or did you think it was cheap to send parts with computer techs to your door in 24 (ish) hours?
Not to mention those diagnostics were designed to force customers off the phone and have to call back later so tech support could read engadget in peace. Seriously I dont think those diags really do anything.