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Technically, the battery fiasco is Sony's fault.
Technically, the battery fiasco is Sony's fault.
Just file your insurance claim. They will worry about pursuing Dell for you. Believe me, they will find out if the computer was the true cause of the fire. Don't rely overly much on the fire marshall. Wait for the actual C&O to be done by an engineering firm. This is the easy part. The hard part is remembering all your stuff. I keep photos and a videotape of the house in a safe deposit box. If I have a catastrophic loss, I can pull the tape and do a 'walk through' of the house. Makes it easier to remember all your knick knacks. If you can't tell, I'm an adjuster. If you do tape your stuff, tape everything. If you just tape the expensive things and don't show the whole house, it's a fraud indicator.
Oh, and a freebie tip. When you get your claim settlement, it's going to be initially at actual cash value. Once items are replaced, you'll make a holdback claim to recover the depreciated amount (you do have replacement cost coverage I hope). Here's the tip: Depreciation cannot be made due to age as the only cause. It must include some other factor, ie. condition. Insist your stuff is in immaculate condition to get the highest ACV amount possible. electronics are usually 10% a year, computers 15-20% a year, furniture 10%, etc. Fight for that high ACV so your not coming out of pocket to replace things.
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Wow, what a bummer. Thanks for your comments, critical_matt! That's very helpful stuff. Always good to have people in the \"know\" give us regular Joes a few hints!
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How will this work out? Will he have a hard time because the batteries were recalled and he didn't get his replaced?
I wish Dan the best of luck, I hope it works out.
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It's hard to make a good case out of this using Dell as a direct defendent against you. The most Dell can do is to provide him a new laptop but then that would be overreachin as well. If you could include your insurance in on the deal, that would be a great way to gettin around to it.
Dell took steps against this issue so the onus is on you unfortunately.
dohtem and superbmtsub: RTFA
Since the guy states very clearly that he checked his serials agaisnt Dell's lists, it's safe to assume that your 'you didn't get your battery serviced' scenario is not the case.
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I agree with critical_matt. You buy insurance for this reason: you don't worry about Dell. They do. They have as many fancy lawyers as Dell has, and you don't. Get your life back, and let the insurance company worry about contacting Dell.
BTW it would be their Legal department that you contact.
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Yeah let the insurance company handle it. For future reference, the best way to talk to dell is by going to support.dell.com and clicking the big CHAT WITH A CSR NOW! link on the right side. No automated phone menus, short wait times. With the exception of the week after Christmas when I waited for 14 minutes, I've never had to wait more than 5. No trying to understand an accent. The best part is that you can do this while you're eating, or even watching a movie.
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Just because the computer was plugged in there does not necessarily make it the fault of the computer, battery or power supply. There could have been some random piece of paper or lint that got into the wiring by the outlet. Sure, Dell has the deepest pockets, but it still could have been user error, or the gremlins of everyday entropy. Something like that happened to my dad, he had an electrical alarm clock hooked up behind a night stand with the plug pushed 95% or so against the wall. Some metallic schmutz fell in there and caused a short, which started the carpet on fire. He was fortunately sitting across the room working on his computer and put it out. It could have been a bad thing very quickly.....
I totally believe this. Twice now my Dell Inspiron 6400 power adapter tried to burn down my house... The label bubbled and burned off it the first time I noticed it overheating... I write this comment right now wondering when the hell I'll get the recall notice. Hope you get a good lawyer bud.
Unfortunately, Dell has explicitely made the consumer aware of the Battery recall for a year now. E-mails were sent, contacts were made, it was all over the news and a website is set-up to tell you if your battery is affected.
STFU KornKob. Where did you get the notion that I was talking about the 'you didn't get your battery serviced' scenario? RMCAYFPSB (read my comments again you f piece of s bag)!
All I'm sayin is that Dell is known to make solid products (aside from Sony batteries) so it's hard to make a clear case out of this because as Geschmidtt stated above, anything couldve been the cause of the fire.
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My dell 6400 was on my lap (why it's called lap-top) I fell asleep...About 30 min later...Oh my god, I was burned on my left leg about 3 inches up from my knee. Had the blankets been between me and the computer I might have had a blaze in my bed. Label should read: Warning this laptop should not be used as a laptop. Severe burn may result!!!
My boyfriend gave me this little stand for my laptop. It is silver (metal) with two small fans that run as an extra cooling device.
Seem to me there should be some kind of pop-up-stands on the bottom of a laptop. This would allow more air to flow under. Note: Using the stand w/ fans has not only kept the laptop cool, but my laptop now runs 10xs faster. This may be a clue in preventing burns or fires in the future. If your system seems to be getting stuck or running slow with no apparent reason...It might just need some fresh air.
They are called notebooks, not laptops. What sort of burn was it- 1st, 2nd or 3rd?
Im not sure whats with these dells and their burning.....
Ive got an ibm, and when i work on it in bed and it never gets hot.
On powersaver, its completely cold. On high performance mode, it just get moderately warm and the fan get loud. Probably because ibm spaced out the componts that generate the most heat....processor, ram, hard drive and vcard instead of clumping them in one corner......
True, it is a notebook, but its works great as a laptop....
There seems to be some confusion by many people who read this article. The gentleman clearly states that he checked his laptop against Dell's battery recall site. So long as his battery was not on the list he has a pretty solid case to take to court.
I to work in the insurance industry and agree with those who responded before me when it comes to the replacement costs and making claims. That being said before you make the claim please speak to a lawyer and see what they think the odds of winning in court are and if you making a claim will affect the ability to take Dell to court after making a claim. All contracts are different so be careful which route you take.
I do hope that you and your family have a place to stay while all of this gets cleared up.
Best Wishes,
L1feless
Michael Dells in charge, no need to worry... He'll take care of it, NOTTT..
But who knows you might want to give that a try, he's suppose to change teh image of the company and its morals..