Some months ago, my laptop monitor developed a one-pixel-wide vertical line. It was intermittent for a little while, and I did a little web research to find out how to get to the connectors and reseat them. With the intermittent nature of the problem I was unable to tell if the reseating made any difference, and eventually the line was there to stay. A few months later, it was joined by another. The intermittent period with the second was much shorter. My web research indicated that some Dell laptops of mine’s model and vintage (Inspiron 6000, shipped August 2005) had defective screens, and that Dell was extending the warranty for those screens to three years and refunding money to those who had paid for repairs. This, of course, did me no good, my machine being more than a year out of even the extended warranty, so I thought no more of it.
Then, a few weeks ago, the lines started multiplying more rapidly, and I thought, why not at least drop them a line? So I found the @DellCares twitter account and gave them a brief description of the problem. The representative asked for my service tag, which I forwarded via direct message, and shortly got back to me with the information that there was a chance mine was one of the affected machines, and that though they hadn’t seen the problem surface after so long, they were going to swap out my display. They offered me the choice of performing the installation myself or having a tech install it (at no charge to me). Fancying myself somewhat handy, I opted to do it myself. They shipped a new (well, refurbished) display overnight, with a pre-paid label for me to return my old display, and I made the swap. And now my machine is as pretty as new.
So, my thanks to Dell. I wouldn’t have been surprised had they said “Sorry, too late,” and I honestly wouldn’t have held it against them. Instead, they went above and beyond, and that is how a company builds loyalty in its customers.