Problem with Inspiron 6000new to this site

I've done things the "politely persistent" way and the "indignant vocal customer" way, and if nothing else, I feel much better about myself when I'm politely persistent. I think politely persistent may also end in better outcomes.

The broken record technique works well at times:

me: I would like to have this call escalated because I don't think that I should be restocking fees for a defective product.

custserv: I'm sorry sir, but company policy says that you must pay the restocking fee.

me: I understand, but a customer should not have to pay restocking fees for a defective product, wouldn't you agree? Please transfer me to someone who can help me.

custserv: I understand your position sir but there is no way I can waive the restocking fee.

me: As a good customer who has bought many systems over many years, I request to talk to someone who has the power to waive the restocking fee -- if you could escalate this call I would appreciate it very much.

I have always been able to escalate. However, sometimes it wasn't that easy, especially if you get someone from India. In India you can escalate even though they will tell you very adamantly that you cannot), but it's harder. I think maybe the customer service people are told not to escalate and it might count against them.

Dell is making heavy use of metrics to improve calls routed to India (and it is showing, they are doing a better job than in the past), so the front-line people are probably under a lot of pressure to do things in certain ways.

Also, when asking for something like this I have been put on hold only to have the line drop about 5 minutes later or to be transferred back and forth like a ping-pong ball between different areas -- that is when a log comes in handy.

Journey