I do not often have a moan out load, but this time I need to speak out. I decided to test the feasibility for teachers to acquire a laptop though a cellphone contract. As finances is always tough for teachers (not to mention me) disposable income for buying a computer is always a problem. So Vodacom’s laptop deals seemed to offer a viable way to acquire a laptop. The laptop for teachers programme allows for R159 per month and I decided to put Dell to the test and added a Dell Studio 1555 to my hubbie’s vodacom contract seeing that his business would pay. Jippeeee!
The vodacom deal stated explicitly that it includes a 3 year next business on site support warranty, which of course, for me is an essential thing as I practically live on my lappie and cannot afford to be seperated from it for any extended period of time (eg 3 minutes). My hubbie collected the laptop at the end of November and I duly opened it in the beginning of January to start working. Except that it was not working properly. It was extremely slow. For is 64 bit machine with 4 GB of memory and a 2.6 Ghz dual core processor, it was slower than the slowest 10 year old desktops that still linger around my office. Dissappointment. Soon afterwards it started giving me hardrive errors and this is when I decided to call in the cavalry and invoke my next business day onsite support. This is when the real terror set in.
The number I was given by the Vodacom service centre (0860103017) turns out to be for bussiness clients only. I naively thought I was a business client! No ways. It was explained to me by a very friendly gentleman that my warranty was a normal user one which means that they will give me telephonic support. I was referred to another call centre number (011) for plebs, given a reference number and told that the people at the other number will help me. The next business day onsite support actually related to the fact that you can only get through the next day, if you are lucky and finally after many times trying to get through (it was just engaged), I gave up in despair. Low and behold I received a phonecall form a lovely lady called Tiny Mokobi- hope at last!
She explained again that I actually had a normal user telephonic support warranty and that Dell does not have a walk in repair centre at all. Huh???!!! How does the computers get repaired then??? She calmly told me that they do a diagnostic (over the phone) test which tell them what is wrong with the computer and then courier the defective part to you. This is where my mind really made a few backwards somersaults. So I asked her bemusedly if the courier will be delivering my new harddrive and installing it for me??? Unfortunately that is not how it works, you see. You (while the courier waits and have a cuppa) remove the harddrive yourself and give the courier the old hard drive back. Sound simple hey? But then I casted my eyes to the teensie weensie screws at the back of my brand new laptop where I suspect the harddrive is located. Huh? I don’t even have a screwdriver to talk of to change plugs, where on earth am I going to find a tiny one that can liberate my dead harddrive? My mind raced to think how my novice teachers, who barely can switch on their new laptops will be able to cope with this and then install a new operating system (with the kind friendly voiceprompts via phone)???? This just won’t do.
As I consult to the Department of education and various schools, and as I really do care about my teachers and them getting empowered with the new laptop programme, I realised with a leaden feeling that this just won’t work. Not for my teachers and seriously, not for anybody else either. I explained my concern to Tiny who really could feel my pain it seems, but unfortunately, that is how the sytem worked. I remember asking the Vodacom sales person, at the Vodacom service centre in Northgate about how the warranty worked and none of this was explained to me. Then I had another shock. According to the records at Dell, I was on a 1 year warranty (not 3 as stipulated in my Vodacom contract) and also that I bought the computer a month before I actually did. Huh???
Soo, back to Tiny who was, I must just mention, at all times extremely friendly and understanding. When I threatened to advise my colleagues at the DoE that they must most definitely remove Dell from the preferred laptop list, she got worried and told me that she will go and discuss my situation with her manager. She duly returned and informed me that it was my lucky day and that they will make an exception just for me and send me a technician to replace the harddrive!!! Whoepeeee!!! But if they just make an exception for me, what about my poor teachers who might not be as forceful as me or even know that they will be required to manually fix their laptops themselves???
Monday afternoon a technician arrived on time and with a hardrive ready for action. It took him quite a few hours to re- install the harddrive and operating system. I was in a meeting when he appeared to inform me that he couldn’t install the ethernet and 3G vodacom built in drivers and handed me a piece of paper with a reference number and a name of someone to talk to (an Ismael). As I was in the meeting I could’nt ask him more.
On inspection the piece of paper did not even have a phone number and I duly started phoning the call centre. A week later I got through, after holding for 20 minutes. (So much for next business day). I was greeted by another friendly lady (forgot to write down her name) who listened patiently to my sad sad story and then told me that she will put me through to the software department. After being on hold for another 10 minutes, I got through to a foreign sounding lady. On futher investigation it turns out that I was speaking to the software support centre in India. This lady (also very friendly) told me that as the harddrive was replaced, I needed to talk to the hardware people and she transferred me again. Another 10 minutes and I was talking to a very charming man……in the UK. I was not bargaining to do a world trip, courtesy Dell…..Huhhh. Well, he told me as well that I need to speak to the support people in my own country and gave me the number for the south african support desk. Back to square one.
After phoning and holding for another 20 minutes I got lucky and got through to Lucky Mlombo. How Lucky can a girl get?? Anyway, he again listened to my pathetic tale and told me that I definitely need the drivers. This was going to cost me though – if he puts me through to the software department, they are going to charge me. I was seeing strange dots in front of my eyes- getting ever bigger. I asked him in my dotted mental state how can that be???? This computer is still a virgin, with a virgin harddrive. Surely virgin computers comes with free supported virginal drivers???? I asked him to please get his manager to phone me. And that is where I am now. Me and my virginal computer that cannot socialise due to a 3G and ethernet port failure to communicate.
But seriously now. Teachers cannot buy Dell’s. Unless I got it all wrong. The one thing we need is support. And having someone whispering to me over the phone, no matter how friendly, is not going to cut it. We need real support!
