DQW EXCLUSIVE: Maharashtra govt upset over service issues with Dell

Facing scores of service related issues with Dell computers for the last 2 years, the Government of Maharashtra is now up in arms voicing its displeasure with the products and the concerned partner. Speaking exclusively to The DQ Week, Rajesh Aggarwal, secretary, IT and communications, Government of Maharashtra said, "This is the height of irresponsibility from Dell and the concerned partner, from whom we bought a bulk of Dell PCs. They were under warranty period when motherboards of about 400-500 PCs conked off in the monsoon season. After continuous reminders about the problem to the dealers to get it sorted out from the vendor, there was no immediate action taken either by the vendors or the dealer." Maharashtra is one of the major IT markets in the country but dealers have to contend with vendors when it comes to servicing issues.

As the concerned partner in this episode with the Maharashtra government for servicing Dell PCs, Pune based Ace Brain Systems is of the view that Dell has slipped in recent months in terms of taking service issues as a direct seller of PCs in a largely commoditized business.

Sarang Satarkar, director, Ace Brain Systems said, "It was in FY09 that we sold a large number of PCs to the government. And, following repetitive complaints about the servicing-related issues, we approached the vendor to repair or replace the conked-off machines under the warranty period. But, no repair has been done as of now." According to the partner, Dell sent an apology mail to the government for the inconvenience. The mail states, "We will extend 1-year warranty on the said PCs to cater you a better service and will get it repaired."

However, when Dell was questioned, the vendor clarified exclusively to The DQ Week in a mail, which is stated as: "This issue relates to the supply of PCs by Dell in 2007-08 to the Maharashtra government through our Pune based partner. Apparently the customer (Govt of Maharashtra) recently approached Dell, for a service issue regarding some of the PCs supplied to them. On checking, our support team found that there were no calls logged regarding this complaint and all the PCs in question were out of warranty period. Also there were no AMC contract in place with Dell. However, keeping the long-term relationship and positive customer experience of the government in view, the Dell team has identified the faulty PCs and agreed to repair them and extend their warranty for 1-year. We have also requested them to enter into an AMC contract (for rest of the PCs supplied to them as well), to avoid any further service issue. Dell is committed to resolving the issue on priority and to the satisfaction of the customer."