Dell Recalls 4.4 Million Notebook AC Adapters

"Paul Schilter" paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote:
But how did you
get to the page that had the initial information and a link to
https://www.delladapterprogram.com/Main.aspx ?

I went to the Dell home page, did a search for "recall", and under
reccomended links, found a hotlink to "Recalls", aka
http://support.dell.com/support/batt...=19&l=en&s=gen
and thence to delladapterprogram.com

You'd think they'd put a link to it on thier homepage, but their
marketting droids probably figured it would chase potential customers
away...

William,
I also searched on "recall" but on the resultant page I didn't see the
link about the power adapter. There were other pages that I didn't go to. I
find Dell's response rather disheartening. I understand that most of their
components they buy from other vendors and assembly them into a computer. I
would have a lot more respect for Dell if they made this recall very
prominent on their home page, not buried layers deep. Every company is
subject to mistakes, some their own fault, some the fault of their supplier.
The difference is how the company handles the mistake.
Paul

William P.N. Smith wrote in message
...
"Paul Schilter" paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote:
But how did you
get to the page that had the initial information and a link to
https://www.delladapterprogram.com/Main.aspx ?

I went to the Dell home page, did a search for "recall", and under
reccomended links, found a hotlink to "Recalls", aka
http://support.dell.com/support/batt...=19&l=en&s=gen
and thence to delladapterprogram.com

You'd think they'd put a link to it on thier homepage, but their
marketting droids probably figured it would chase potential customers
away...

Did go to "home and small business" first. Seem to remember seeing a box
with reference to the Dell Recall. Clicked on the link and found my way
to the recall info. Sorry I can't be more specific because I was just
wandering around at the time just looking.
MLD
"Paul Schilter" paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote in message
...
MLD,
Went again to www.dell.com , didn't see anything about a recall.
Selected "home and small business", didn't see anything here either. Went
to
notebooks, again I didn't see anything about a recall. Now I've gone to
the
link Tim provided and sure enough the information is there. But how did
you
get to the page that had the initial information and a link to
https://www.delladapterprogram.com/Main.aspx ?
Paul

"MLD" wrote in message
news:qPW9d.581$ER4.401@trndny04...
It's on their web site, saw it there this morning. Follow the links to
get
specific Laptop and Adapter Model Numbers.
MLD
"Paul Schilter" paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote in message
...
tim,
Read about this in the Saturday paper. I went to the Dell website
(home
page) but didn't see anything about a recall. Under their search field
I
searched for "recall" and did find information, I didn't find anything
about
this recall, curious.
Paul

"tim" wrote in message
om...
All the information about the Adapter recall can be found at
https://www.delladapterprogram.com/Main.aspx.

Tim.


DOC wrote in message
. ..
Dell Recalls 4.4 Million Notebook AC Adapters
Recall involves Latitude, Precision and Inspiron laptops
By Steven Burke, CRN
1:35 PM EDT Fri. Oct. 08, 2004

Dell on Friday voluntarily recalled 4.4 million AC adapters for its
notebooks after receiving seven reports of the adapters overheating,
posing a risk of fire or electrical shock for users.

Dell announced the recall--which involves Latitude, Precision and
Inspiron notebook adapters--in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission (CSPC). The recall only affects the
adapters
and not the notebooks, Dell said. About 2.9 million of the adapters
were sold in the United States.

The CSPC said businesses and consumers should stop using the
recalled
adapters immediately. The AC adapters were manufactured by Delta
Electronics of Taipei, Taiwan. Delta also was the vendor involved
when
IBM announced an AC adapter recall for its notebooks in September.
That recall, also done in conjunction with the CSPC, involved
225,000
AC adapters.

The Dell adapters involved in the current recall have the words
"DELL"
and "P/N 9364U," P/N 7832D" or "P/N 4983D" printed on the back of
the
unit. They were shipped to customers between September 1998 and
February 2002. The adapters were also sold separately, including in
response to service calls, for between $30 to $70. The advanced port
replicators and docking stations sold for $300 to $600.

Dell will send consumers with recalled adapters a free replacement.
Those who believe they are affected by the recall can call Dell at
(800) 418-8590 or go to Dell's Web site. The latest recall follows a
Dell power adapter recall for 28,000 systems in July.

Tyler Dikman, chief executive of CoolTronics, a Dell reseller, said
his company will be on the lookout for the adapters when servicing
Dell notebooks. Dikman added that he doesn't expect the recall to
affect his Dell sales and that, overall, he is happy with the
quality
of Dell notebooks.

Most of the components for notebooks--whether they are from Dell,
IBM
or Hewlett-Packard--come from the same suppliers, Dikman noted.
"Dell
is lucky this involves just a power adapter," Dikman said. "Ocne you
have to get inside the notebook system, that costs a lot more money.
You can't have an end-user customer taking out RAM or pulling apart
a
[notebook] screen assembly."

The recall could end up costing Dell tens of millions of dollars,
given the $30 to $70 price tag of the adapters, Dikman said. "The
question is, how many of these computers are still being used,
especially the ones from '98," he said. "It is rare you will find a
six-year-old notebook."

A Dell spokesman said the company doesn't expect the recall to be
"material" to business and, therefore, not have an impact on
quarterly
results. The spokesman declined to comment on how much the recall
could end up costing the company or if Delta Electronics or Dell
would
be responsible for the cost of the recall.

=============================================

"Paul Schilter" paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote:
I also searched on "recall" but on the resultant page I didn't see the
link about the power adapter.

It's "hiding" near the top of the page, _before_ the search results.
Took me a couple of times to find it, which says something about their
HCI design.

would have a lot more respect for Dell if they made this recall very
prominent on their home page, not buried layers deep.

Indeed.

and damn good thing they did!! cuz I hear they can be used for atomic
bombs! heeheehee

"DOC" wrote in message
...
Dell Recalls 4.4 Million Notebook AC Adapters
Recall involves Latitude, Precision and Inspiron laptops
By Steven Burke, CRN
1:35 PM EDT Fri. Oct. 08, 2004

Dell on Friday voluntarily recalled 4.4 million AC adapters for its
notebooks after receiving seven reports of the adapters overheating,
posing a risk of fire or electrical shock for users.

Dell announced the recall--which involves Latitude, Precision and
Inspiron notebook adapters--in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission (CSPC). The recall only affects the adapters
and not the notebooks, Dell said. About 2.9 million of the adapters
were sold in the United States.

The CSPC said businesses and consumers should stop using the recalled
adapters immediately. The AC adapters were manufactured by Delta
Electronics of Taipei, Taiwan. Delta also was the vendor involved when
IBM announced an AC adapter recall for its notebooks in September.
That recall, also done in conjunction with the CSPC, involved 225,000
AC adapters.

The Dell adapters involved in the current recall have the words "DELL"
and "P/N 9364U," P/N 7832D" or "P/N 4983D" printed on the back of the
unit. They were shipped to customers between September 1998 and
February 2002. The adapters were also sold separately, including in
response to service calls, for between $30 to $70. The advanced port
replicators and docking stations sold for $300 to $600.

Dell will send consumers with recalled adapters a free replacement.
Those who believe they are affected by the recall can call Dell at
(800) 418-8590 or go to Dell's Web site. The latest recall follows a
Dell power adapter recall for 28,000 systems in July.

Tyler Dikman, chief executive of CoolTronics, a Dell reseller, said
his company will be on the lookout for the adapters when servicing
Dell notebooks. Dikman added that he doesn't expect the recall to
affect his Dell sales and that, overall, he is happy with the quality
of Dell notebooks.

Most of the components for notebooks--whether they are from Dell, IBM
or Hewlett-Packard--come from the same suppliers, Dikman noted. "Dell
is lucky this involves just a power adapter," Dikman said. "Ocne you
have to get inside the notebook system, that costs a lot more money.
You can't have an end-user customer taking out RAM or pulling apart a
[notebook] screen assembly."

The recall could end up costing Dell tens of millions of dollars,
given the $30 to $70 price tag of the adapters, Dikman said. "The
question is, how many of these computers are still being used,
especially the ones from '98," he said. "It is rare you will find a
six-year-old notebook."

A Dell spokesman said the company doesn't expect the recall to be
"material" to business and, therefore, not have an impact on quarterly
results. The spokesman declined to comment on how much the recall
could end up costing the company or if Delta Electronics or Dell would
be responsible for the cost of the recall.

=============================================

Has anyone here received a replacement adaptor yet? I ordered mine
about 10 days ago and have heard nothing. I understand that
obviously replacing this many adaptors is going to be quite a
task, but I would have expected to get an email confirmation of
order or something..

I received an email within an hour confirming the replacement request.
It said the following:

Date Order Placed:10/9/2004 6:00 AM
Dear Dell Customer:

Your replacement kit order has been received. Your order number is
.. Please
keep this order number as a reference for shipment status inquiries.

The details of your order are below.

Order Number:

Adapter Quantity: 1

Ship-To Address:


"Tom Cumming" wrote in message
...
| Has anyone here received a replacement adaptor yet? I ordered mine
| about 10 days ago and have heard nothing. I understand that
| obviously replacing this many adaptors is going to be quite a
| task, but I would have expected to get an email confirmation of
| order or something..

On 19/10/04 12:32, Math1 wrote:
I received an email within an hour confirming the replacement request.
It said the following:
snip

Hmm I didn't. I'll try ordering again.

Ordered it 10/12-received the confirmation email, and it was at my door
10/13!!!

what adapter, for what?


Tom Cumming wrote in message
...
Has anyone here received a replacement adaptor yet? I ordered mine
about 10 days ago and have heard nothing. I understand that
obviously replacing this many adaptors is going to be quite a
task, but I would have expected to get an email confirmation of
order or something..