Dell Optiplex Class Action Expanded

A class action suit against Dell has been expanded to cover a myriad of failed hardware components in the Optiplex desktop computer. The suit charges that internal Dell documents show the failure rate for the Optiplex was rated at 97%.

Documents from that case, unsealed in November of last year, showed that Dell allegedly not only knew of the problems, but had ranked customers by importance when deciding whether their faulty systems would be replaced.

The lawsuit had initially charged that the Optiplex desktop computers had faulty motherboards and capacitors, causing them to fail prematurely. Court documents alleged that 8 million of 11.8 million units sold had defective motherboards.

The Seattle law firm Hagens Berman LLP now charges that a number of other components, including hard-disk drives, power supplies, fans, chipsets and RAM, may also be defective.

The case was originally filed in August 2010 on behalf of New York chiropractor Richard Statler, who said he bought five Optiplex computers that turned out to have defective motherboards, wreaking “expensive and wasteful” havoc in his office.

More problems

Hagens Berman is not the only law firm that's hot on Dell's trail.  ConsumerAffairs.com heard from a St. Louis law firm that has had multiple Optiplex failures.

"Our firm owns several Dell Optiplex computers, which have suffered capacitor failures," an attorney the Simon Law Firm PC told us.  The firm said it is considering litigation.

A Montgomery, Ohio, consumer had a similar experience:  "I had bought two Dell Optiplex SX280 computers for home use, and just last year, when the community sponsored an electronics recycling event, I dropped them off to be recycled. There had been too many problems and both machines eventually died," the consumer said.

Hagens Berman lost one round in court earlier this year when U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Wexler dismissed claims for unjust enrichment and allegations that the computers constituted a safety hazard.

However, Wexler did allow two warranty-related claims to stand, allowing the firm to argue that Dell's alleged concealment of the problems voided its claim that the warranties on the machines had expired.