Dell Cust Ser for a Dellophile

DeeSin · 14 Aug 2014

Our Dell laptop loaded with WIN 8.0 (later 8.1) was delivered in end Dec 2013. My wife was used to WIN 7 and could not bring herself to use 8.1, so this computer sat unused for 8 months. I recently asked Dell if they could send me a copy of WIN 7 so we could use the computer. After many phone calls, they have finally said "No". I asked for their definition of "Customer Satisfaction". Nothing was offered. I informed them that (a) in the last ten years, we have bought perhaps ten Dell computers, (b) in the last 20 years, more than twenty Dell computers, (c) I was asking for something which was going to cost them perhaps $ 5 or $10, and lastly,

While my purchasing a copy of WIN 7 at $ 150 was not going to bankrupt me, it would certainly express to me what Dell thought of long term customers and customer satisfaction.

This is not a vent, but just an example of how not to do business. Pretty pathetic.

JDobbsy1987 · 14 Aug 2014

Hi and Welcome to SevenForums,

Thank you for sharing your opinion, was it advertised as coming with Windows 7 or did it say it came with windows 8?

To be honest if it was advertised/bought with Windows 8 then "no" is the answer i would have expected from Dell or any other manufacturer but everyone has different levels of expectations and that's the difficult thing to manage sometimes and unfortunately you have been on the wrong side of "you can't make everyone happy" on this occasion.

What is it about Windows 8 your wife doesn't like?
Maybe we can help straighten some things out that makes it feel a little better to use?

Maybe the siter site for Windows Eight maybe of help? - Windows 8 Forums

I use Windows 7 and 8 daily and find them both brilliant.

Regards,
Jamie

gregrocker · 14 Aug 2014

I've not found a case yet where a Windows 8 PC cannot be Upgraded to Win7. You only need to disable Secure Boot in BIOS setup, possibly enable some level of Legacy Mode or CSM which we can help you with if you tell us what the settings choices are. Then boot the Win7 installation media as a UEFI device if you want UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums , or Bypass UEFI to Install WIn7 if you don't. Either way its best to delete all partitions during the booted install using the Drive Options pictured in Steps 7 and 8 of Clean Install Windows 7

Make your Win8 Recovery disks first so you have a path back if you want it, or you can always Clean Install - Windows 8 if you decide to sell the machine and buyer wants that.

Look over these same steps for a Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which explain how drivers are best handled, and everything else that's worked best in tens of thousands of installs we've directly helped with here.

fireberd · 14 Aug 2014

I agree with Jamie, any PC vendor, except maybe a local PC shop that you buy a PC from, won't send you an OS disc for a different OS, unless it was bought with, for example Windows 7 with a free upgrade to Windows 8.

All you have to do is download and install "Start8" ($4.95) and it will restore the desktop and will look and work just like Windows 7. You will still have the "metro" if you want to play around with it, but with Start8 it will boot directly to the desktop, just like Windows 7. I have Start8 installed on both of my Windows 8 systems.

JDobbsy1987 · 14 Aug 2014

As greg has mentioned, if you were to buy a copy of Windows 7 then you could install it, i too have not had an issue downgrading from 8 to 7 but in general i don't as like i said before i like Windows 8.

My understanding here though is that the issue isn't actually buying a copy of Windows 7 but you feel Dell should have provided a copy based on your previous custom.

You pretty much have 2 options here:

Buy a copy of 7 and follow Gregs advise on downgrading
Stick with Win 8 and after a while of using it i'm sure your wife will get used to it

Regards,
Jamie