Dell sued for defective PC's

The following article appeared in my local newspaper (Newsday) yesterday:


Selden couple sues Dell over defective PCs

BY RICHARD J. DALTON JR | richard.dalton@newsday.com
October 4, 2007


A Selden couple has sued Dell Computer Corp. for $50.5 million, saying
the company replaced a broken computer with other defective PCs four
times and that a tech-support person repeatedly called them late at
night and e-mailed vile photographs.

The lawsuit alleges that over a 45-day period ending March 30, 2006, a
Dell tech-support agent sent plaintiff Crystal Collette e-mails with the
subject "Devil people in East Asia," with photos depicting Asians
dissecting and eating infants.

"This is the most outrageous thing I've ever seen," said Collette's
lawyer, John Juliano of East Northport. "When you look at them, you get
sick.

"It's the same kind of stuff with all American corporations lately,"
Juliano said. "They keep outsourcing everything, and what's happening is
they're not controlling the people they outsource to."

Dell spokesman Bob Kaufman declined to comment because of the pending
litigation.

The suit also says Collette, 37, bought a defective Dell Dimension 4700
computer in July 2005 and that the company replaced it with the same
model, which also was defective. In all, she received five defective
PCs, including the original, the suit alleges.

The suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, says
Dell's agents and employees "began calling her at all hours of the
night." Collette said the calls, between 10:30 and 11 p.m., were for
technical support.

The actions, Collette said, led her to suffer "severe and permanent
personal injuries and emotional distress." The suit says her husband,
Raymond Collette, 43, was deprived of her companionship.

Collette, who has two children, said she has had several miscarriages
and so the photos particularly disturbed her.

"I was throwing up," she said. "You wouldn't even mail it to a friend.
Why would this guy be doing this?"

Collette said she had been dealing with a tech-support person named
Sajjad, and the e-mail address of the sender contained the word
"Sajjad." She said she complained to Dell about the e-mails and that a
company representative said the employee had been fired.

Collette said her fifth Dell computer still goes to a blue screen, which
indicates a serious error that requires the PC to be restarted. But she
said that when she calls for technical support, she's often told she has
to speak with Dell's legal department.

Juliano provided the e-mail printouts and photographs, but Newsday could
not verify who sent them. A personal address was listed on the e-mail.

Lance Ulanoff, editor-in-chief of PC Magazine, said consumers are
unhappy with outsourcing, complaining that they sometimes can't
understand a person's accent or that tech-support staff can't resolve
the problem. But this incident, he said, appears to be an
"extraordinary" situation unrelated to outsourcing.

Ulanoff also said that it's difficult to prove that the Dell
tech-support person sent the e-mails. Someone could have spoofed the
e-mail address, or the tech-support person's computer could have been
hit with a computer virus that sent out the e-mails, he said.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kenneth J. Harris [mailto:kharris@suffolk.lib.ny.us]


I may have had a recent bad experience, but I find the information in
this article hard to believe.

yup, not a joke, its true
here's the link.
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-b...,4113566.story

that's pathetic.

anyway, my customers tell me that most of the dell techs in long island
are terrible.
that's why i get so much business there!! so i cant complain.

dell pays them very little.
i inquired once and it was a ridiculously small amount of money.
jay

Kenneth J. Harris wrote:
> The following article appeared in my local newspaper (Newsday) yesterday:
>
>
> Selden couple sues Dell over defective PCs
>
> BY RICHARD J. DALTON JR | richard.dalton@newsday.com
> October 4, 2007
>
>
> A Selden couple has sued Dell Computer Corp. for $50.5 million, saying
> the company replaced a broken computer with other defective PCs four
> times and that a tech-support person repeatedly called them late at
> night and e-mailed vile photographs.
>
> The lawsuit alleges that over a 45-day period ending March 30, 2006, a
> Dell tech-support agent sent plaintiff Crystal Collette e-mails with the
> subject "Devil people in East Asia," with photos depicting Asians
> dissecting and eating infants.
>
> "This is the most outrageous thing I've ever seen," said Collette's
> lawyer, John Juliano of East Northport. "When you look at them, you get
> sick.
>
> "It's the same kind of stuff with all American corporations lately,"
> Juliano said. "They keep outsourcing everything, and what's happening is
> they're not controlling the people they outsource to."
>
> Dell spokesman Bob Kaufman declined to comment because of the pending
> litigation.
>
> The suit also says Collette, 37, bought a defective Dell Dimension 4700
> computer in July 2005 and that the company replaced it with the same
> model, which also was defective. In all, she received five defective
> PCs, including the original, the suit alleges.
>
> The suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, says
> Dell's agents and employees "began calling her at all hours of the
> night." Collette said the calls, between 10:30 and 11 p.m., were for
> technical support.
>
> The actions, Collette said, led her to suffer "severe and permanent
> personal injuries and emotional distress." The suit says her husband,
> Raymond Collette, 43, was deprived of her companionship.
>
> Collette, who has two children, said she has had several miscarriages
> and so the photos particularly disturbed her.
>
> "I was throwing up," she said. "You wouldn't even mail it to a friend.
> Why would this guy be doing this?"
>
> Collette said she had been dealing with a tech-support person named
> Sajjad, and the e-mail address of the sender contained the word
> "Sajjad." She said she complained to Dell about the e-mails and that a
> company representative said the employee had been fired.
>
> Collette said her fifth Dell computer still goes to a blue screen, which
> indicates a serious error that requires the PC to be restarted. But she
> said that when she calls for technical support, she's often told she has
> to speak with Dell's legal department.
>
> Juliano provided the e-mail printouts and photographs, but Newsday could
> not verify who sent them. A personal address was listed on the e-mail.
>
> Lance Ulanoff, editor-in-chief of PC Magazine, said consumers are
> unhappy with outsourcing, complaining that they sometimes can't
> understand a person's accent or that tech-support staff can't resolve
> the problem. But this incident, he said, appears to be an
> "extraordinary" situation unrelated to outsourcing.
>
> Ulanoff also said that it's difficult to prove that the Dell
> tech-support person sent the e-mails. Someone could have spoofed the
> e-mail address, or the tech-support person's computer could have been
> hit with a computer virus that sent out the e-mails, he said.

Jay, without trying to be too nosey, just curious what sections of LI
do you service? I used to live in Nassau and Suffolk county at
different times. I basically travelled LI almost end to end on the
south shore before I left.









On Fri, 05 Oct 2007 10:32:44 -0400, Jay B <jayB@audiman.net> wrote:

>yup, not a joke, its true
>here's the link.
>http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-b...,4113566.story
>
>that's pathetic.
>
>anyway, my customers tell me that most of the dell techs in long island
>are terrible.
>that's why i get so much business there!! so i cant complain.
>
>dell pays them very little.
>i inquired once and it was a ridiculously small amount of money.
>jay
>
>Kenneth J. Harris wrote:
>> The following article appeared in my local newspaper (Newsday) yesterday:
>>
>>
>> Selden couple sues Dell over defective PCs
>>
>> BY RICHARD J. DALTON JR | richard.dalton@newsday.com
>> October 4, 2007
>>
>>
>> A Selden couple has sued Dell Computer Corp. for $50.5 million, saying
>> the company replaced a broken computer with other defective PCs four
>> times and that a tech-support person repeatedly called them late at
>> night and e-mailed vile photographs.
>>
>> The lawsuit alleges that over a 45-day period ending March 30, 2006, a
>> Dell tech-support agent sent plaintiff Crystal Collette e-mails with the
>> subject "Devil people in East Asia," with photos depicting Asians
>> dissecting and eating infants.
>>
>> "This is the most outrageous thing I've ever seen," said Collette's
>> lawyer, John Juliano of East Northport. "When you look at them, you get
>> sick.
>>
>> "It's the same kind of stuff with all American corporations lately,"
>> Juliano said. "They keep outsourcing everything, and what's happening is
>> they're not controlling the people they outsource to."
>>
>> Dell spokesman Bob Kaufman declined to comment because of the pending
>> litigation.
>>
>> The suit also says Collette, 37, bought a defective Dell Dimension 4700
>> computer in July 2005 and that the company replaced it with the same
>> model, which also was defective. In all, she received five defective
>> PCs, including the original, the suit alleges.
>>
>> The suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, says
>> Dell's agents and employees "began calling her at all hours of the
>> night." Collette said the calls, between 10:30 and 11 p.m., were for
>> technical support.
>>
>> The actions, Collette said, led her to suffer "severe and permanent
>> personal injuries and emotional distress." The suit says her husband,
>> Raymond Collette, 43, was deprived of her companionship.
>>
>> Collette, who has two children, said she has had several miscarriages
>> and so the photos particularly disturbed her.
>>
>> "I was throwing up," she said. "You wouldn't even mail it to a friend.
>> Why would this guy be doing this?"
>>
>> Collette said she had been dealing with a tech-support person named
>> Sajjad, and the e-mail address of the sender contained the word
>> "Sajjad." She said she complained to Dell about the e-mails and that a
>> company representative said the employee had been fired.
>>
>> Collette said her fifth Dell computer still goes to a blue screen, which
>> indicates a serious error that requires the PC to be restarted. But she
>> said that when she calls for technical support, she's often told she has
>> to speak with Dell's legal department.
>>
>> Juliano provided the e-mail printouts and photographs, but Newsday could
>> not verify who sent them. A personal address was listed on the e-mail.
>>
>> Lance Ulanoff, editor-in-chief of PC Magazine, said consumers are
>> unhappy with outsourcing, complaining that they sometimes can't
>> understand a person's accent or that tech-support staff can't resolve
>> the problem. But this incident, he said, appears to be an
>> "extraordinary" situation unrelated to outsourcing.
>>
>> Ulanoff also said that it's difficult to prove that the Dell
>> tech-support person sent the e-mails. Someone could have spoofed the
>> e-mail address, or the tech-support person's computer could have been
>> hit with a computer virus that sent out the e-mails, he said.

On Fri, 5 Oct 2007 10:31:43 -0400, "Tom Scales" <tjscales@gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Kenneth J. Harris [mailto:kharris@suffolk.lib.ny.us]
>
>
>I may have had a recent bad experience, but I find the information in
>this article hard to believe.
>
>


Well parts of it sound plausible but parts of it sounds like this
couple is trying to make a buck at Dell's expense. I'm just glad I'm
not the lawyer (for either side) in this case.

i live in North Nassau. 30 mins east of Manhattan.
I typically cover the upper half of Nassau, Queens, and most of
Manhattan. i usually dont go into Suffolk or the other adjacent areas
unless a referral from one of my customers. I'll often tell customers
to bring their stuff to me to save travel.

Long Island is very... long. 3 Hours to get to the far east end of the
island.


RnR wrote:
> Jay, without trying to be too nosey, just curious what sections of LI
> do you service? I used to live in Nassau and Suffolk county at
> different times. I basically travelled LI almost end to end on the
> south shore before I left.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, 05 Oct 2007 10:32:44 -0400, Jay B <jayB@audiman.net> wrote:
>
>> yup, not a joke, its true
>> here's the link.
>> http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-b...,4113566.story
>>
>> that's pathetic.
>>
>> anyway, my customers tell me that most of the dell techs in long island
>> are terrible.
>> that's why i get so much business there!! so i cant complain.
>>
>> dell pays them very little.
>> i inquired once and it was a ridiculously small amount of money.
>> jay
>>
>> Kenneth J. Harris wrote:
>>> The following article appeared in my local newspaper (Newsday) yesterday:
>>>
>>>
>>> Selden couple sues Dell over defective PCs
>>>
>>> BY RICHARD J. DALTON JR | richard.dalton@newsday.com
>>> October 4, 2007
>>>
>>>
>>> A Selden couple has sued Dell Computer Corp. for $50.5 million, saying
>>> the company replaced a broken computer with other defective PCs four
>>> times and that a tech-support person repeatedly called them late at
>>> night and e-mailed vile photographs.
>>>
>>> The lawsuit alleges that over a 45-day period ending March 30, 2006, a
>>> Dell tech-support agent sent plaintiff Crystal Collette e-mails with the
>>> subject "Devil people in East Asia," with photos depicting Asians
>>> dissecting and eating infants.
>>>
>>> "This is the most outrageous thing I've ever seen," said Collette's
>>> lawyer, John Juliano of East Northport. "When you look at them, you get
>>> sick.
>>>
>>> "It's the same kind of stuff with all American corporations lately,"
>>> Juliano said. "They keep outsourcing everything, and what's happening is
>>> they're not controlling the people they outsource to."
>>>
>>> Dell spokesman Bob Kaufman declined to comment because of the pending
>>> litigation.
>>>
>>> The suit also says Collette, 37, bought a defective Dell Dimension 4700
>>> computer in July 2005 and that the company replaced it with the same
>>> model, which also was defective. In all, she received five defective
>>> PCs, including the original, the suit alleges.
>>>
>>> The suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, says
>>> Dell's agents and employees "began calling her at all hours of the
>>> night." Collette said the calls, between 10:30 and 11 p.m., were for
>>> technical support.
>>>
>>> The actions, Collette said, led her to suffer "severe and permanent
>>> personal injuries and emotional distress." The suit says her husband,
>>> Raymond Collette, 43, was deprived of her companionship.
>>>
>>> Collette, who has two children, said she has had several miscarriages
>>> and so the photos particularly disturbed her.
>>>
>>> "I was throwing up," she said. "You wouldn't even mail it to a friend.
>>> Why would this guy be doing this?"
>>>
>>> Collette said she had been dealing with a tech-support person named
>>> Sajjad, and the e-mail address of the sender contained the word
>>> "Sajjad." She said she complained to Dell about the e-mails and that a
>>> company representative said the employee had been fired.
>>>
>>> Collette said her fifth Dell computer still goes to a blue screen, which
>>> indicates a serious error that requires the PC to be restarted. But she
>>> said that when she calls for technical support, she's often told she has
>>> to speak with Dell's legal department.
>>>
>>> Juliano provided the e-mail printouts and photographs, but Newsday could
>>> not verify who sent them. A personal address was listed on the e-mail.
>>>
>>> Lance Ulanoff, editor-in-chief of PC Magazine, said consumers are
>>> unhappy with outsourcing, complaining that they sometimes can't
>>> understand a person's accent or that tech-support staff can't resolve
>>> the problem. But this incident, he said, appears to be an
>>> "extraordinary" situation unrelated to outsourcing.
>>>
>>> Ulanoff also said that it's difficult to prove that the Dell
>>> tech-support person sent the e-mails. Someone could have spoofed the
>>> e-mail address, or the tech-support person's computer could have been
>>> hit with a computer virus that sent out the e-mails, he said.
>

On Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:31:42 -0400, Jay B <jayB@audiman.net> wrote:

>i live in North Nassau. 30 mins east of Manhattan.
>I typically cover the upper half of Nassau, Queens, and most of
>Manhattan. i usually dont go into Suffolk or the other adjacent areas
>unless a referral from one of my customers. I'll often tell customers
>to bring their stuff to me to save travel.
>
>Long Island is very... long. 3 Hours to get to the far east end of the
>island.

Trust me I know... I lived in NYC (Queens) traveled to work and school
for some time in Manhattan and the other direction as far as Montauk
Point many times. I used to know the south shore well and am familiar
with the north shore but not as well (too rich for me... Manhasset,
Great Neck, etc.. ). I bet you love traveling into Manhattan .

it is true that anyone can sue anyone for any amount of money. what remains
to be seen is if they can actually prove the statements they are making and
justify the damages they are asking for. i know nothing other than what was
in the newsday.com article but i suspect this couple will have a hard time
proving both. and even if true, it is a hard to understand how bearing
witness to a picture of a dissected fetus leads one to "severe and permanent
personal injuries and emotional distress" that results in them severing
relations with their spouse. there is more to this story. my guess is that
it will die a quiet death rather than attract any more notoriety.

"Kenneth J. Harris" <kharris@suffolk.lib.ny.us> wrote in message
newsBrNi.20$yx4.14@newsfe12.lga...
> The following article appeared in my local newspaper (Newsday) yesterday:
>
>
> Selden couple sues Dell over defective PCs
>
> BY RICHARD J. DALTON JR | richard.dalton@newsday.com
> October 4, 2007
>
>
> A Selden couple has sued Dell Computer Corp. for $50.5 million, saying the
> company replaced a broken computer with other defective PCs four times and
> that a tech-support person repeatedly called them late at night and
> e-mailed vile photographs.
>
> The lawsuit alleges that over a 45-day period ending March 30, 2006, a
> Dell tech-support agent sent plaintiff Crystal Collette e-mails with the
> subject "Devil people in East Asia," with photos depicting Asians
> dissecting and eating infants.
>
> "This is the most outrageous thing I've ever seen," said Collette's
> lawyer, John Juliano of East Northport. "When you look at them, you get
> sick.
>
> "It's the same kind of stuff with all American corporations lately,"
> Juliano said. "They keep outsourcing everything, and what's happening is
> they're not controlling the people they outsource to."
>
> Dell spokesman Bob Kaufman declined to comment because of the pending
> litigation.
>
> The suit also says Collette, 37, bought a defective Dell Dimension 4700
> computer in July 2005 and that the company replaced it with the same
> model, which also was defective. In all, she received five defective PCs,
> including the original, the suit alleges.
>
> The suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, says
> Dell's agents and employees "began calling her at all hours of the night."
> Collette said the calls, between 10:30 and 11 p.m., were for technical
> support.
>
> The actions, Collette said, led her to suffer "severe and permanent
> personal injuries and emotional distress." The suit says her husband,
> Raymond Collette, 43, was deprived of her companionship.
>
> Collette, who has two children, said she has had several miscarriages and
> so the photos particularly disturbed her.
>
> "I was throwing up," she said. "You wouldn't even mail it to a friend. Why
> would this guy be doing this?"
>
> Collette said she had been dealing with a tech-support person named
> Sajjad, and the e-mail address of the sender contained the word "Sajjad."
> She said she complained to Dell about the e-mails and that a company
> representative said the employee had been fired.
>
> Collette said her fifth Dell computer still goes to a blue screen, which
> indicates a serious error that requires the PC to be restarted. But she
> said that when she calls for technical support, she's often told she has
> to speak with Dell's legal department.
>
> Juliano provided the e-mail printouts and photographs, but Newsday could
> not verify who sent them. A personal address was listed on the e-mail.
>
> Lance Ulanoff, editor-in-chief of PC Magazine, said consumers are unhappy
> with outsourcing, complaining that they sometimes can't understand a
> person's accent or that tech-support staff can't resolve the problem. But
> this incident, he said, appears to be an "extraordinary" situation
> unrelated to outsourcing.
>
> Ulanoff also said that it's difficult to prove that the Dell tech-support
> person sent the e-mails. Someone could have spoofed the e-mail address, or
> the tech-support person's computer could have been hit with a computer
> virus that sent out the e-mails, he said.

travel's not so bad. but i have it down to no more than 2 days a week
to manhattan.
i can remotely connect to anyone's computer from my 4 desktops and fix
almost anything.

RnR wrote:
> On Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:31:42 -0400, Jay B <jayB@audiman.net> wrote:
>
>> i live in North Nassau. 30 mins east of Manhattan.
>> I typically cover the upper half of Nassau, Queens, and most of
>> Manhattan. i usually dont go into Suffolk or the other adjacent areas
>> unless a referral from one of my customers. I'll often tell customers
>> to bring their stuff to me to save travel.
>>
>> Long Island is very... long. 3 Hours to get to the far east end of the
>> island.
>
> Trust me I know... I lived in NYC (Queens) traveled to work and school
> for some time in Manhattan and the other direction as far as Montauk
> Point many times. I used to know the south shore well and am familiar
> with the north shore but not as well (too rich for me... Manhasset,
> Great Neck, etc.. ). I bet you love traveling into Manhattan .

> -----Original Message-----
> From: RnR [mailto:rnrtexas@gmail.com]
> Posted At: Friday, October 05, 2007 10:55 AM
> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> Conversation: Dell sued for defective PC's
> Subject: Re: Dell sued for defective PC's
>
> On Fri, 5 Oct 2007 10:31:43 -0400, "Tom Scales" <tjscales@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Kenneth J. Harris [mailto:kharris@suffolk.lib.ny.us]
> >
> >
> >I may have had a recent bad experience, but I find the information in
> >this article hard to believe.
> >
> >
>
>
> Well parts of it sound plausible but parts of it sounds like this
> couple is trying to make a buck at Dell's expense. I'm just glad I'm
> not the lawyer (for either side) in this case.

Heck, the lawyers are the only ones that will come away with any money.