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Dell Laptop Burns House Down

Posted by kdawson on from the dude dept.

Nuclear Elephant writes "The Consumerist is running a story about a house burned down by a Dell laptop. 'My 130-year-old former farm house was engulfed in flames, with thick dark smoke pouring out of the windows and roof... Hours later, after investigation the fire marshal investigator took me aside asked me if I had a laptop computer. Yes — I told him I had a Dell Inspiron 1200.' It was determined that the laptop, battery, or cord malfunctioned after its owner left for work, leaving the fire to spread through the entire house. All attempts to contact Dell have failed. 'I have tried to call Dell to at least notify them of my problems, but each time I have called I get transferred into an endless loop of "Joe" or "Alan" all speaking a delectable version of English I presume emanates from Bangalore. I have been outright hung up on each time I get someone who speaks a reasonable version of English, or sounds like they might be in charge of something. Promises of call backs have gone, of course, unreturned.'"

11 of 405 comments (clear)

  1. Pshaw! by Bwana+Geek · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's nothing... An iPod killed my family!

    1. Re:Pshaw! by wirelessbuzzers · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, we knew from the beginning that the iPod was Apple's killer app.

      --
      I hereby place the above post in the public domain.
    2. Re:Pshaw! by TClevenger · · Score: 4, Funny

      To date an online petition has never changed anything.

      That's not true at all. I signed an online petition and starting getting lots of spam.

  2. Guess they'll have to drop the upcoming commercial by edwardpickman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Burning Down the House may have been a poor choice for a new a theme song.

  3. It's not a bug, it's a feature! by c0d3h4x0r · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is the new combined security and power-save model in Vista. Your PC can't get infected by spyware, no one can hack your home network, and you won't use any power, if the computer just burns the whole place to the ground.

    I think it's in the Screen Saver settings someplace:

    "[x] Enter Burn-House-to-Ground mode after [ 30 ] minutes of inactivity."

    --
    Moderator hint: a comment is neither "Flamebait" nor "Troll" if it is true.
  4. Obligatory Simpsons quote by c0d3h4x0r · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Well, this is your problem right here -- this thing's set to EVIL!"

    --
    Moderator hint: a comment is neither "Flamebait" nor "Troll" if it is true.
  5. Re:Let's assign blame accurately by hwyengr · · Score: 5, Funny

    And really, what is Dell supposed to say to claims of "you've burned my house down?"

    "Dude, you're getting a fire extinguisher!"
  6. Simple. Caveat Emptor (paraphrased) by heptapod · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of laptop batteries in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.

  7. Duh! by Derek+Loev · · Score: 5, Funny

    He obviously forgot to install a "firewall".
    ... Ok, I'm leaving.

  8. Re:Just curious... by mojodamm · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, especially if they were planning on using that laptop to do it.

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    I'd rather be an ignorant moron than an anonymous coward.
  9. Re:Guess they'll have to drop the upcoming commerc by greg1104 · · Score: 5, Funny

    No big deal, they'll just use "We Didn't Start the Fire" instead.