To start at the beginning, it has come the time to upgrade my toys. Last week my mouse decided to give up on me. I bought it at the same time as my laptop as it's easier for me to work with a mouse.
I didn't go for the most expensive one available on the market, but as I still love quality, I chose a HP, which served me well for 3 years, including travels as well.
But as nothing lasts forever, this is what the cable looked like last week. Even though I took good care of it, it still happened. Now most of you would say that's an easy fix as some tape would resolve the problem, but that's only damage control and will not fix it. I have a wireless one as well, but don't really like it, plus changing batteries all the time is neither convenient, nor cheap and as it happens with everything in life, batteries give up on you when you need them the most and you can't go buy new ones as you're in the middle of nowhere.
Friday was Black Friday, so I went to the mall to buy a new mouse and ended up picking this one.
It's a simple Dell MS3220, 3200 DPI mouse, with two fast side buttons, very easy to use and also nice at touch. It was around 8 euro, which, compared to the new, wireless, chargeable ones was a bargain. The only thing I don't like about it is the cable, which is too long, but one can't have it all.
Next thing I've been planning to change, is the battery of my laptop. I bought my laptop 3 years ago, three hears and two months have passed since then to be precise. It's a Dell Inspiron 15 3584 and was brand new as when it comes to electronics, I only buy new ones. I am very satisfied with it, can't say a bad word about it, but after 3 years, the battery does not last for more than 30 minutes.
Friday being Black Friday, I thought it was a good occasion to order the desired piece as I got 14% discount. I placed the order on Friday morning, paid online and got the parcel Saturday afternoon. They were really fast and I appreciate that.
The product came in a plastic bag, inside there were two boxes and the battery was covered with a foam like material as protection from any shock, which I appreciate as safety always comes first.
This is my laptop without the back cover and my happy moment, enjoying the thought that I'll have a new battery soon.
Old battery taken out.
Upgrading My Headache?
And this is where the headache started. The size of the battery is right, the model that I ordered is right as the product description said it's for 3584, but the plug on the new battery is placed 1.5 or 2 cm to the right. The plug doesn't have a long cable to let you connect it. The so called cable is that black thing you see connected to the battery on the top.
So we (me and my tech guy) looked around on the internet to see where can we find one that fits and after few minutes of search we found one, that based on the store description was not recommended for the type of laptop I have, but seemed to fit. After checking the code at the TYPE section, we saw it was the same type.
So basically this is how much you can trust sellers these days. I ordered based on the type of laptop I have, trusted them that they know what they are selling and here I am, with a battery that does not fit.
My tech guy is working for a refurbishing company and he says many laptops have the same components inside and only the size of the screen differs, so the description of the product lists a bunch of laptop types for which the battery is recommended, which is fine, but listing types that don't fit is not cool, especially if you're on the receiving end, like me.
Solution
Last night was too late to deal with this as I don't like to make hasty decisions when I'm tired, so first thing this morning was to send the battery back. Thank God, with easybox it took just a few clicks to fill out the form, indicate the problem, get a code for the box and in 30 minutes the battery was already in the easybox.
Then after an hour or so, I got a call from the seller, letting me know they got the notification of return and was asking me for the service tag. I was on the move, so I told the guy I'll call back in an hour, which I did. I gave him the service tag and offered him to send a photo with the two products to see what's the difference between the two and why the battery didn't fit.
He called me back in a bit, confirming that indeed there's a problem, the battery sent to me was not the right one. He says technical description coming for Dell indicates battery Type YRDD6 for Dell Inspiron 3584, but it is visible with the naked eye that this type does not fit.
The seller then gave me the link to the right battery type. What is interesting in this is that the new product I was given is recommended for other laptop types, not mine, but fits mine.
At the end I asked the guy to correct the product description on the website, to prevent others from buying it and he said that's the next thing he's going to do. 👏
Conclusion
Even though I had to make two trips to the easybox and still don't have a battery (yet), to replace the old one, I'm quite amazed about how things happened with this order. We're used to rude customer support personnel and a lot more headache that we have to face if something goes wrong with the order. But not this time. I couldn't have asked for more polite and helpful customer support. The guy has even given me the link to the right product, which saved me from more headache.
Hive saved me once again 😁. I started taking photos for my post, then it turned out the evidence I gathered served me to provide details for the seller and also saved me from looking dumb. (Yeah, the world thinks women are stupid when it comes to tech.)
Hopefully in a max two days I'll have the new battery and installed too. Fingers crossed.
Lesson To Learn
If you want to order a new piece for your laptop, first take out the old one, see the code and order based on that, not based on what the seller says. They could be wrong too.
If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:
- Communities Explained - Newbie Guide
- Cross Posting And Reposting Explained, Using PeakD
- Hive Is Not For Me
- How To Pump Your Reputation Fast - Newbie Guide
- Tips And Tricks & Useful Hive Tools For Newbies
- Community List And Why It Is Important To Post In The Right Community
Nice work, you should be proud of your self.
I'm not really proud as this should be normal, but I'm happy things turned out well.
I had my computer cleaned about a month ago and it really makes me nervous. It's a really scary process for me, opening my computer, changing parts inside, cleaning it, etc. Because if they make a mistake and I can't somehow prove that they are the ones at fault, it will take too long and I might end up with a broken computer. I certainly don't want that. I hope you can install your new battery properly and that you will continue to use your computer for many years. I think I'm going to get a new battery soon because mine is not working so well hahaha.
I understand your feelings and I would be nervous too but this was done in my home, in front of me by someone who's doing this every single day as that's his job. I also trust him, he would never do any harm. Now I know changing the battery is not complicated but you need the right tools, which I don't have.
I had my keyboard repainted last year and waited till the warranty expires to be able to give it to my tech guy. I did not trust the service provider. Better safe than sorry.
You are absolutely right. Being safe is more important than anything else. That's why I always try to go to the same place and try to make them trust me and make them be trustworthy.
Hopefully with this upgrade you won't have more headache :P
you only need the battery and you are done!
You're right and hopefully I'll have it in two days 😇
I'll never face your headaches cause I almost exclusively use the native mouse pad of my laptop and whenever its battery reaches the end of its life I just dump it and enjoy a lighter laptop always plugged in hence always in full power mode. The above fit my needs perfectly (yes, even though I travel a lot) but of course each to their own. By the way, a week ago I got rid of my current laptop's battery :)
That is true. I see no reason to buy a new one when the old one can be fixed.
This is really interesting. I, too, would have never thought that a part that is advertised for a certain model will not fit said model. That's really crazy. I'm glad you got it worked out AND had a good experience. That isn't very common these days...
It's about their reputation and it means money for them, so it's in their best interest to resolve the situation and find a solution. I was indeed lucky as the guy was extremely helpful and not only found me the right product to buy, but he also made arrangements for the listing to be corrected, avoiding this way other incidents.
Ou yeah, buying tech stuff online could be nightmare.. Im getting same headache when im ordering some parts for my car even if im getting them cars registration number. Im glad to hear u sorted your problem pretty much smoothly..
-peace-
I guess I was lucky but hope this is going to be the new normal now and also hope it's going to happen n other countries as well.
Good that you got it sorted so easily, and found a polite and helpful support person! Send an email to their boss, thanking them for it!
Tech/customer support men can indeed be condescending to women. But then, so can both male and female customers who call and get a female tech on the phone, which I learned the hard way when I worked IT support. I ended up refusing to take calls, and only worked the email helpdesk, pretty soon.
When I do have to call support, I write down in detail what the problem is, what I have done to check if it's on my end, and just read it to them without letting them interrupt, ending with And yeah, I did check the cables, in BOTH ends! That usually makes them a bit more helpful, since I've proved that I do know what I'm talking about.
Basically I filled out a form and sent the product back, so customer support was not needed basically. I had proof that the product does not match the type of laptop was sold for. They phoned me because the technical details they had from Dell said otherwise and most likely mine was the first case proving that wrong. I was able to show them where the problem is, also sent them a photo of the original battery, that had the type code on it and they took measures to correct the mistake on the website.
I gave them a nice rating because they deserved it.
Those are troubles indeed but thankfully have decent results so far! Hopefully with the incoming battery all will be well and you’ll be back to hive business with hours of battery time on your hands!
It’s always nice when customer service is a good experience. They have to deal with a lot of shit which isn’t great but some take it out on the next customer which isn’t good.
I agree on all of the above. It's nice to deal with nice customer service and don't envy them either as it's the most difficult job and they most likely get a lot of complicated customers as well. Yesterday I got the new part, basically shipped in 24 hours, which is fantastic. Today, if all goes well, I;ll have it installed. I can't even remember how long a new battery should last 😳
I have experienced disappointment several times in buying goods online, maybe I was a little careless at that time, the slightly lower price offer was the cause of everything happening, and one mistake from me opening the item without taking a video, they sent the damaged item, really bad.
Thankfully in my country online sales are regulated, I'm only buying from trusted sources, so I had no worry at all, but still. I'm sorry to hear about your experience. It's not nice to buy something that is already damaged.
This may be an unpleasant experience, but I still take the positive side of every incident.
My husband does all the tech buying for me, but I do know of some similar issues he has had. The part is supposed to fit, but doesn't; the wrong item is sent (nothing near what was ordered); the part doesn't work, etc. He has always been able to get them resolved.
By the way, I never use the pad on my laptop. I use a track ball, not a mouse. It's much easier and more precise for me.
Unfortunately cases like mine are happening all over the world. Mine was a fortunate one as the fault wasn't mine and was a quick fix because the company was extremely helpful and cooperative.
I am using the pad as well, but like to have a mouse too. I've never had a track ball and checking out to see what's available here and at what price, I suppose I would not own one soon as it's not cheap 😳
My daughter and I wished to have a laptop And hope before college she can have it
Good luck, I hope you get one.