Is Dell in the right to refuse a free service repair, or am I delusional?

[Agamer0125]

To start off, here's all the info on the laptop:

OS Name    Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version    10.0.19043 Build 19043
Other OS Description     Not Available
OS Manufacturer    Microsoft Corporation
System Name    DESKTOP-EVCSH18
System Manufacturer    Dell Inc.
System Model    G7 7700
System Type    x64-based PC
System SKU    09F9
Processor    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10750H CPU @ 2.60GHz, 2592 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date    Dell Inc. 1.11.1, 11/9/2021
SMBIOS Version    3.2
Embedded Controller Version    255.255
BIOS Mode    UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer    Dell Inc.
BaseBoard Product    06YKK0
BaseBoard Version    A00
Platform Role    Mobile
Secure Boot State    On
PCR7 Configuration    Elevation Required to View
Windows Directory    C:\Windows
System Directory    C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device    \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale    United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer    Version = "10.0.19041.1151"
User Name    DESKTOP-EVCSH18\alexd
Time Zone    Pacific Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)    16.0 GB
Total Physical Memory    15.8 GB
Available Physical Memory    5.80 GB
Total Virtual Memory    28.3 GB
Available Virtual Memory    15.0 GB
Page File Space    12.5 GB
Page File    C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection    On
Virtualization-based security    Not enabled
Device Encryption Support    Elevation Required to View
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions    Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions    Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware    Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection    Yes

 

 

The issue that I've been having with this laptop is that it thermal throttles fairly quickly on any game, regardless of age, and idles between 50C(on a good & cold day) & 70C(normal). The system is preowned but was in near perfect condition when I bought it and this issue has happened since the first day I had it. I thought I could solve it myself and spent a month of troubleshooting. Then I decided to go to Dell and explained the situation and I was still well under my basic warranty. They told me that because I had the most basic warranty, they could not conduct a repair unless I paid $90 for the software service repair. I told them repeatedly that didn't make sense since the pc came like that(mind that I've been on several chats with many technicians all giving similar responses). They wouldn't budge so I did my own research and decided to do undervolting of the gpu and reapplying thermal paste to hopefully keep temps under control. It worked for a good while but it still ran fairly hot(idles not really changing). I assumed that this was normal for a laptop, until a few days ago I talked to a rep for an unrelated issue and he tells me that he has the exact same pc and had temps that were reasonable(30C). We were both shocked at how hot my pc ran and I decided to contact dell again despite being out of warranty. I explained and justified why it wasn't right for me to pay for a repair service and at every level of the company that I could contact, and they said the best they could do was a 15% discount(not even considering that parts might need to be replaced) and that it was against their policies to help any further.

I completely understand that this system is now out of warranty, but I am shocked that I did not receive the proper service the time when I was under it. Yes, my issue wasn't supposed to be covered by my basic warranty, but it was an issue that came with my system, and so I kept questioning why I had to pay for something that came with my system.  I spent at least 40 minutes trying to debate with Dell reps at various levels of the company and they all gave me answers I couldn't be satisfied with, they even dodged the question, or they gave me some unreasonable justification why they shouldn't have to make the service free(or at least with a much greater discount) and then said they very well understood my situation and apparently couldn't budge. What I am most shocked is that one of the reps threw their technicians under the bus, saying that some of them may not be fully trained to give a good diagnosis, despite the fact that I have talked to at least 10 different reps throughout the year regarding this issue.

 

To this day I still have the issue and I'd like to know if I am in the right here, or I am just being delusional to think I am entitled to a free service. If I cant get an answer on that, then can you guys tell me what you've done if you've faced this issue. 
 

[Slottr]

10 minutes ago, Agamer0125 said:

Yes, my issue wasn't supposed to be covered by my basic warranty, but it was an issue that came with my system

11 minutes ago, Agamer0125 said:

I completely understand that this system is out of warranty

10 minutes ago, Agamer0125 said:

The system is preowned

 

 

I'm sensing a high amount of contradiction here

[Agamer0125]

what? I had a warranty when I bought this pc a year ago, now I dont because its been a year. Sorry if that wasnt clear.

[Tech87]

Was the preowned system purchased from Dell, and what exactly was included in the warranty?

[Agamer0125]

It was purchased from Best buy, I did try to get a repair service with them too, but all they did was clear my temp files. The basic warranty only included hardware related issues, but there is no reason for this not to be a hardware issue. The Dell reps assumed it was a software issue only because it passed all their tests on Support Assist(which to my knowledge only checks if the components are good enough for booting and basic function).

[kirashi]

7 minutes ago, Agamer0125 said:

what? I had a warranty when I bought this pc a year ago, now I dont because its been a year. Sorry if that wasnt clear.

Then I'm confused about why you don't think you should have to pay for service. If the warranty has expired, Dell has no obligation to provide free in-warranty service. That being said, if the laptop is overheating, you might just need to disassemble it so you can re-paste the CPU/GPU.

[Agamer0125]

 please see what I said in the post, I feel I shouldn't have to pay because my system came like that. I am more than willing to pay, I am just not willing to pay full or near full price for an issue that came with the product I purchased, and I don't think I even qualified for Dell's 30 day return policy when I bought it because this was purchased months after the original purchase, and even if it did, I had thought it was normal for laptops like this to overheat(especially since I wasn't the only one with this issue). I thought that was true, until I spoke with the rep about how their laptop(we have the same model) runs way cooler than mine. Secondly I also said that I tried repasting both components with a minor improvement.

[Spotty]

44 minutes ago, Agamer0125 said:

The system is preowned but was in near perfect condition when I bought it and this issue has happened since the first day I had it.

7 minutes ago, Agamer0125 said:

I don't think I even qualify for Dell's 30 day return policy because this was purchased months after the original purchase.

You bought a preowned laptop from Best Buy? What date did you buy it? Did you buy in store or online? If you bought online was it directly from Best Buy or was it from a Marketplace seller? (Best Buy's website has 3rd party sellers on it). How do you know it was preowned? Was it being sold as 2nd hand or refurbished device? Was it advertised as including any warranty, if so how long was the warranty that was advertised?

 

If it was a problem since day 1 you should have just returned it to Best Buy for a refund.

[kirashi]

9 minutes ago, Agamer0125 said:

 please see what I said in the post, I feel I shouldn't have to pay because my system came like that. I am more than willing to pay, I am just not willing to pay full or near full for an issue that came with the product I purchased, and I don't think I even qualify for Dell's 30 day return policy because this was purchased months after the original purchase. Secondly I also said that I tried repasting both components with a minor improvement.

If you're not the original purchaser, technically Dell doesn't even have to honor the included warranty unless the transfer process was completed. All you can do is plead your case with Dell, but again, if you bought this preowned outside of the warranty period, Dell is in the right to refuse a free service repair. As Spotty noted above, if there's more to this story than has been told, we need a lot more informaiton.

https://www.dell.com/support/assets-transfer/en-us

[Agamer0125]

24 minutes ago, Spotty said:

You bought a preowned laptop from Best Buy? What date did you buy it? Did you buy in store or online? If you bought online was it directly from Best Buy or was it from a Marketplace seller? (Best Buy's website has 3rd party sellers on it). How do you know it was preowned? Was it being sold as 2nd hand or refurbished device? Was it advertised as including any warranty, if so how long was the warranty that was advertised?

 

If it was a problem since day 1 you should have just returned it to Best Buy for a refund.

It was bought directly at a best buy store, and marked as in excellent condition, it came with a year of basic warranty and it was not advertised, though I think the sales rep told me it would come with it(cannot say for sure).

[Agamer0125]

15 minutes ago, Spotty said:

You bought a preowned laptop from Best Buy? What date did you buy it? Did you buy in store or online? If you bought online was it directly from Best Buy or was it from a Marketplace seller? (Best Buy's website has 3rd party sellers on it). How do you know it was preowned? Was it being sold as 2nd hand or refurbished device? Was it advertised as including any warranty, if so how long was the warranty that was advertised?

 

If it was a problem since day 1 you should have just returned it to Best Buy for a refund.

You're right I probably should have, and this is mostly my fault. But at the same time, I didn't want to return it immediately because I got a very, very good deal on it despite how new it was. ($1200, when it was priced for 1500-1800).

[Agamer0125]

14 minutes ago, kirashi said:

If you're not the original purchaser, technically Dell doesn't even have to honor the included warranty unless the transfer process was completed. All you can do is plead your case with Dell, but again, if you bought this preowned outside of the warranty period, Dell is in the right to refuse a free service repair. As Spotty noted above, if there's more to this story than has been told, we need a lot more informaiton.

https://www.dell.com/support/assets-transfer/en-us

No, I had a year of basic warranty, and I requested help several times within the warranty period. The earliest I messaged them was around december, less than a month after purchase.

[SlashedM]

10 minutes ago, Agamer0125 said:

It was bought directly at a best buy store, and marked as in excellent condition, it came with a year of basic warranty and it was not advertised.

Best Buy would be the one providing a Warranty if anything, thats typically how Refurbished products are, but you should have asked the store selling it for more info or if the receipt states exactly whats going on. Dell has no obligation to provide a service.

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/buying-guides/outlet-buying-guide/pcmcat748300448284.c?id=pcmcat748300448284

Quote

Pre-owned products may not include all parts and accessories (details are provided for each item), and usually do not have original packaging.

Warranty: Products sold by Best Buy often include a limited warranty through Best Buy.

 

[Spotty]

3 minutes ago, Agamer0125 said:

It was bought directly at a best buy store, and marked as in excellent condition, it came with a year of basic warranty and it was not advertised.

See Kirashi's post about transferring Dell's warranty. That 1 year 'basic warranty' would likely be provided by Best Buy, not Dell. When stores like Best Buy sell refurbished/used goods they will typically offer some sort of warranty on it themselves as the original manufacturer might not cover 2nd hand/refurbished goods.

 

You didn't mention when you bought it so I'm not sure if that 1 year 'basic warranty' still applies. That model laptop was released less than 18 months ago, and if it was a few months old when you bought it's possible you bought it within the past 12 months and it may still be covered under that 12 month 'basic warranty' from Best Buy. If you believe it's defective then take it back to Best Buy and ask for a refund.

 

I'm not familiar with the Dell G7 7700 laptop. It could just run really hot so it might not an issue relating to a hardware failure but rather just poorly designed laptop. The i7 10750H is a pretty hot chip so if the cooling solution in the laptop isn't up to the job it would explain why it's running hot. Just searching for it comes up with pages of results in google for G7 7700 "overheating", "thermal throttling", "Stop overheating", etc. Seems to be a common problem with that laptop. That might be why the original owner returned it in the first place.

There are some posts that I saw that said that Dell released a new BIOS to fix the overheating issues, so I would recommend you looking in to that and seeing if there's a new BIOS revision available for the laptop.

[Agamer0125]

10 minutes ago, SlashedM said:

Best Buy would be the one providing a Warranty if anything, thats typically how Refurbished products are, but you should have asked the store selling it for more info or if the receipt states exactly whats going on. Dell has no obligation to provide a service.

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/buying-guides/outlet-buying-guide/pcmcat748300448284.c?id=pcmcat748300448284

 

I bought it last November, so unfortunately it wouldn't. I never knew I even had a best buy warranty, I just assumed that they issued me a new warranty from Dell because it was due to expire some time in October as said on the Dell support site and I've only ever gone to dell for support for other laptops I've had.

[Qyygle]

Unfortunately, regarding the warranty, I think that's all you'll get out of Dell... honestly, the best policy on Dell machines is (in my opinion) to just not let friends buy Dells

 

However, regarding your temperatures, there may not be much better news even if you could get a warranty replacement/repair:

It's hard to find reviews for this thing, but Jared's noted his CPU idled at 41* and ran hot throughout all his testing.

50-70 is a bit high, when you replaced the thermal paste, did you notice any pressure or fitting issues with the heatsink? When it's idling at 70*, is there anything running the CPU in the background, or is this just straight 0% usage?

 

If you put your hands at the exhausts and notice no heat coming out at idle ~70*, it might be indicative of a bad heatsink fit. You'd be stuck either trying to get a replacement heatsink from Dell at that point or trying to fiddle with adjusting the fit somehow. A really thick thermal paste like IC Diamond may help in that regard.

 

If the CPU is actually running constantly during idle, you might try a fresh Windows install. Wipe everything and start from scratch too (USB media creation tool), don't use the in windows options. Could be some broken background process or Dell's stupid firmware causing issues.