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19 Comments
- pronouncable, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7first thing i thought about myself.
If a new car built by my company leaves Chicago traveling west at 60 miles per hour, and the rear differential locks up, and the car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside, does my company initiate a recall?
You take the population of vehicles in the field (A) and multiply it by the probable rate of failure (B), then multiply the result by the average cost of an out-of-court settlement (C).
A times B times C equals X. This is what it will cost if we don't initiate a recall.
If X is greater than the cost of a recall, we recall the cars and no one gets hurt.
If X is less than the cost of a recall, then we don't recall. - omnithought, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Dude, you had a Dell.
- obijohn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Actually, you don't need the population term (A) to perform the calculation, but in it's place you need the number of victims likely to sue (S). The formula is then B * S * X = average cost of settlement per unit. On the other side of the equation, you also need the likely number of people to actually take advantage of a recall (R), each of which will cost (Y). This formula is then R * Y = average cost of recall per unit.
In Dell's case, lets say the rate of failure is 0.2% (1 out of 500 laptops will go nuke), this is B. And lets say that 1 out of 20 such failures will actually sue, so S is 5%. And finally, let's say the cost to settle each suit is $1,500. So we have 0.002 * 0.05 * $1,500 = $0.15, or an average cost of 15 cents per unit.
Compare this with the cost of a recall. Let's say that 1 person in 100 (1%) actually makes use of a recall, and it costs us $25 to replace the battery when they do. So we have 0.01 * $25 = $0.25, or 25 cents per unit. This is more expensive per unit than the settlement figure, so we wisely decide NOT to issue a recall.
Our resulting cost is $0.15 per unit, which we can cover easily by increasing our current laptop price by $1 per unit. - mdshort, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Alright, Apple's turn.
- Gledster, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I can understand Dell not announcing a recall straight away from a business point of view. Recalls are very costly, bad publicity and probably bad for business overall. So for a company to wait before issuing one, whilst bad for the consumer, isn't really a surprise.
- Lifestory, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3For a company this big, one has to understand the complication involved just by doing a simple recall. You can't just initial a recall without serious considerations.
- Avanost, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Dell had to wait for "Dozens" of notebooks overheating before making their recall of 22,000 ... yeah that sounds totally bad. Im sure if a computer company with a more positive image... like.. APPLE for instance.. if they had a Macbook (pro) with problems like that, they'd probably pull them all as soon as the first report surfaced.
- tms8707056, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2That is because Macbooks and MBPs do not burst into flames!!! That means that the Either these machines get REALLY hot or Dell machines have a problem other than heat dispersion. There is not anything in a laptop that should be combustable.
- kualla, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2From: http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml06/06056.html
Name of Product: Dell Notebook Computer Batteries
Units: About 22,000 in the U.S.
Manufacturer/Distributor: Dell Inc., of Round Rock, Texas
Hazard: These batteries can overheat, which could pose a fire risk.
Incidents/Injuries: Dell has received three reports of batteries overheating. The incidents involved damage to a tabletop, a desktop, and minor damage to personal effects. No injuries have been reported.
Description: The recalled batteries were sold with the following Dell notebook computers: Latitude™ D410, D505, D510, D600, D610, D800, D810; Inspiron™ 510M, 600M, 6000, 8600, 9200, 9300, XPS Gen 2; and Dell Precision™ M20 and M70 mobile workstations. The batteries were also sold separately, including as secondary batteries and in response to service calls. The batteries insert into the battery bay located on the underside of the notebook. “Dell” and “Made in Japan” or “Made in China” are stamped on the batteries. The identification number for each battery appears on a white sticker. Customers should have this number available when they contact Dell to determine if their battery is part of the recall.
Sold at: Dell sold these batteries with the notebook computers, as part of a service replacement, and as individual units on its Web site and catalogs from October 5, 2004 through October 13, 2005. The computers with these batteries sold for between $900 and $2,650, and individual batteries sold for between $99 and $179.
Manufactured in: Japan or China
Remedy: Customers should contact Dell to determine if their notebook computer battery is part of this recall. If it is, consumers should immediately stop using the battery as a power source for their notebook computer. Dell will provide a free replacement battery.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Dell toll-free at (866) 342-0011 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, go to the firm’s Web site at www.dellbatteryprogram.com, or write to: Dell Inc., Attn: Battery Program, 9701 Metric Blvd., Suite 200 Austin, Texas 78758.
Firm’s Media Contact: Tom Kehoe and Venancio Figueroa III, (512) 725-0281 and (512) 723-1726, tom_kehoe@dell.com and venancio_figueroa@dell.com - ptrcd003, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Why..
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Apple knows about their Mac Book Pro's frying as well, but I've yet to see them issue any recall because of it either.
- andrew522, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1My Inspiron 9100 burned up too - (thru 3 motherboards - thankfully on Dell's Tab)
But, At least they repaired it, put in a new processor, an xps gen1 motherboard, and a new video card (a 128mb ati radeon 9700, which is an upgrade from the 64mb 9600 i had)
Well, I still have this thing on my lap, and it hasnt given out on me since then. - radiofrequency, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Unlike Apple, DELL isn't a technology company. DELL doesn't make an OS, they don't design any hardware, they aren't even on the cutting edge as far as integrating parts. DELL's competition is more Walmart than Apple, IBM or HP.
- Niz1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1well hopefully its all fixed but next year as im planning on a Dell laptop so i can get it with Vista. Buying a laptop now and getting vista later would probably cost more. Anyway this is the only worry i have with any Laptop, is it so difficult to make the batteries properly?
- TimSee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Dell designs their own notebooks as much as Apple does. They use the same processors, chipsets, DIMMs, hard drives, NICs and Chinese/Taiwanese manufacturing companies (Quanta, Asustek, etc). Bottom line - in the past 3 years, HP, IBM, Dell and Apple have all recalled batteries.
If you're suggesting that Mac OS X is somehow responsible for more reliable batteries then that's pretty funny.
Apple recall:
http://www.upenn.edu/computing/provider/docs/applebatteryrecall.html
HP recall:
http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml06/06007.html
Dell recall:
https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/Default.aspx
IBM recall:
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/36377.html
This isn't a Dell unique problem per se - they just had the (bad) luck of having someone with a camera handy when it went *poof*. :) - bobothn, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile.
The second i saw this article i imediatly thought of fight club. but i wont talk about it. - theonesteve, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0If you'll recall, Apple HAD problems with the Macbook Pro (http://www.digg.com/apple/Is_your_new_MacBook_stained_Stained_MacBook_info_site) and disregarded the initial reports from users (http://stainedbook.info/). Any business has to weigh the possibility of a design flaw that affects a large number of customers against the allegations of just a few people. If Wal-Mart pulled products off the shelves every time someone returned one as 'defective' (read: opened, used, abused, repackaged, returned) there wouldn't be anything left to buy.
- theonesteve, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I had one of the notebooks that included the faulty battery. The first time it got REALLY hot and BSOD'd my system I called Dell and the rep ran me through some tests and said there was nothing wrong with it. The second time I used the online chat option and the girl seemed to know what she was talking about. When I gave her the battery number she immediately said it should have been recalled and sent me to Dell's online "battery replacement program" site. When it refused to accept the same battery number I had given the rep, she took care of it manually. Since the exhange I have yet to find my laptop severely overheating. Although the issue was eventually taken care of, I've had too many problems with Dell computers in the past, and I won't be purchasing another. Not that Dell isn't trying to persuade me - I start getting that stupid promo catalog about three months after I call and ask them to knock me off the list.
- tsunamisteve, on 10/12/2007, -8/+5The film Fight Club does an excellent job of explaining recalls. Go watch it.
And I didn't break rules 1 and 2 because I'm talking about the FILM Fight Club.
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