Hi, Dell's customer service is awful and I really would like some advice on how to counter these guys as I do believe that I am being scammed, lied to and basically being taken as a fool. I purchased the M301Z a while back and its still under warranty. The laptop HDMI port is deemed faulty and the technical team did a remote assistance check on the laptop. I advised them that the BIOS needed updating but it required me to have a battery fitted in. Now, since Dell does not cover the battery, I had recently spent over £100 on different oem batteries since dell don't supply new ones. These junk did not last me for 3 months and even the ones under warranty didn't last me ( got them from duracell direct) I discarded those batteries and stuck to the AC adapter since I was still able to do my work. Now...the technical team are telling me I have to purchase a battery which I down right refuse as it is not ME who needs the battery but the SOFTWARE that needs it, this is not my fault and this responsibility should be of Dells, even then there is no gurantee that this will fix the main problem as they clearly said that the BIOS update MAY fix the solution. I even said to them to send an engineer down with a spare battery when they replace the motherboard just to update it and they can take it back...they still refused. Instead they send an engineer to replace the whole motherboard, I assumed that the motherboard should have had the updated BIOS on there already since dell were aware of that too. The engineer did a good job as I witnessed him installing the motherboard and load up the notebook. After he left I had tested out the motherboard and the HMDI issue didn't appear only until an hour later when the static sound came back...Not only did my original problem come back but I my laptop now began to shut down every single time whenever I tried waking it up from sleep mode! I know for a fact that a system shuts down when there is a hardware failure. So basically, the new motherboard is obviously a refurbished non-tested motherboard...I contacted dell again to tell them of the issue. They made me wait over the weekend just for the guy I spoke too to speak to a senior colleague. I even sent them e-mails over the weekend to tell them that problem is constantly occurring and I have also now taken video and images of the problems to prove it. I get a call back today and I'm back to square one. They just keep telling me to buy a battery for the BIOS update. Why cant they send a motherboard with the update? They just sent a replacement without testing or updating the motherboard! He didn't even bother reading my e-mail that I had sent over the weekend as I had to tell him the new issue over the phone..again he has now made me wait so he can speak to his senior. I am pretty much fed up as the technical team are very unprofessional and have to constantly speak to their seniors. I will demand to speak to those specific members who are refusing to make this situation easier and finding solutions. What should I do if they fail to find a solution? What is the correct procedure to make a formal complaint as I believe that they have failed to provide the service based on the agreement which we had agreed to when I purchased their warranty. I have always tried to find a solution but it is them that are refusing to offer any additional assistance.

Here is a list of common notebook abbreviations used by Civil Enforcement Officers