Editor’s Take: How Dell (May Have) Lost Me

My wife, Donna, bought a Dell Inspiron 6000 notebook computer in July 2005. Naturally, it worked fine for her; that is, up until the day after press time when the battery apparently died. She and I figured we’d call Dell and have what was only a 14-month-old battery replaced quickly — and at no charge. This was, after all, our second Dell computer purchase over a four-year period, making us fairly important customers.