Dell forum: Disgusted with Dell support

A little background: I have had my Dell 1535 laptop almost 5 years. I purchased it refurbished. Aside from the optical drive issue from the beginning I have no issues with the machine. About 4 + years ago I updated to OS to WIN 7. Even though Dell does not support 7 on the 1535 I have had no issues. About 6 months ago the laptop started slowing down; boot would take an inordinate amount of time to come up, but not all the time. I am running the MS firewall, Ad-Aware virus software and disk keeper monitors the hard drive.

1. I installed Jewel Quest games and that's when the issues began. I would be into the game and all of a sudden the laptop would quit working. To be clear the laptop would stop. Just like a light goes off when you flip the switch no warning, no dumps, no log file entries. Just off.

2. I called Dell support and after explaining what was happening the tech told me I must reinstall Vista because Dell did not support 7on the 1535. I tried to explain that I have had no issues with the laptop since the install of WIN 7. He would not hear of it. I decided to just uninstalled the Jewel Quest games.

3. For a time all worked well, then up jumped the devil, the laptop just stopped same as before. However, this time I was viewing a video clip being downloaded from Fox News. I thought this was interesting...but not funny. This happened a few more times. I called Dell and got the same response "Dell does not support 7 on the 1535!" Since my support was scheduled to run out in November 2013 I bit the bullet and reinstalled Vista.

4. I only installed the OS and some support programs along with the Jewel Quest games. I started playing one of the games and again the laptop just quit like turning off a light...no rhyme or reason could be detected. I called Dell support (I now have the support number committed to memory as well as the service tag) I explained the issue and I that I had reinstalled Vista. The Twit responded with 'it is a software issue' and transferred me to Software, where I was on hold for about 45 minutes. It was late and I hung up.

5. The next day I again called support and was pleased to talk to someone with a brain! The first thing we did was run the F12 diagnostics as it ran through the tests I told him there was a disk error and gave him the code (I cannot remember the code).
He determined the disk was bad and asked if I could install the disk drive. I said yes I have done this before. I received the disk in 2/3 days and installed the new hard drive.

6. After installing the Vista OS only (I have been burned before) I revisited the tests. Remember new disk drive; I ran the F12 diagnostics and this time the system crashed (same way) after the second memory test (WCMCH)... the lights just went out.

7. Again I called Dell support and informed then the laptop failed the tests again. I shipped the laptop back to the support center on 2/1/2013. About a week after I shipped the laptop I called support to see what they had discovered. I was told they replaced the disk drive (see #5). I explained that had already been done a week ago.

8. Today 02/13/2013 I received the laptop. The cover sheet indicated that in addition to the hard drive being replaced they installed a heat sync and of course the vista OS. There was also a note that "The system was diagnosed and extensively tested by a certified technicians to ensure the problem you experience was corrected"
Having been burned before I decided to run the Pre-Boot diagnostics (F12) before any additional software installations. Well the laptop passed the infamous WCMCH test and a couple of more. At this point it stopped and asked if I wanted to perform the rest of the tests and of course they were "recommended" and the test would take approximately 30 minutes. I said yes continue. It completed the tests up thru PMOVI and a couple of more.The last test I remember was something that started with WC (kind of appropriate). I turned away and a few moments later the laptop stopped! Same thing. I will call support later and give them the good news. BTW I started writing this yesterday knowing it would probably fail. I am hopeful a responsible Dell representative will contact me and assist in resolving this issue.