I had purchased this Dell laptop when I was in Seattle in July but the breakdown took place in Mexico.  Using my Internet telephone, I phoned the US Dell support center number and talked to one of their technicians. He suspected that I had broken both my computer hard drive and motherboard and suggested that when I get back to the United States, I call the support center again.

He stated that if it turned out to only be my hard drive, Dell would send me a new one. Then, over the phone, they would tell me how to remove the old drive and install the new one. If, however, it were both the hard drive and the motherboard, they would sent me a box so that I could mail my laptop to them. In less than two weeks they would send the repaired product to me. 

Neither option sounded very exciting to me, because I wasn’t planning to return to the States for another ten days.

I had another option. When I purchased my computer in the United States, I paid extra for a warrantee that covers me anywhere in the “Americas.” My next call was to the Mexican Dell 800 number. Within a few seconds I was speaking to an English-speaking technician located in Panama, and within 15 minutes he was convinced that the problem was at least a bad motherboard. The next day, a technician came from Guadalajara to my office in Ajijic and replaced the broken motherboard. When he discovered that the hard drive was also broken, he came back two days later with a new hard drive and replaced that as well.

That’s right - Dell gave me better and faster tech support along the shores of Lake Chapala than what is offered in the United States.

Some computer manufacturers only offer warrantee service in the country where the computer was purchased. Others, like Dell, offer several options. Should you spend time in more than one country, make sure that the computer you purchase can be serviced in both countries. When purchasing your warrantee, pay those extra dollars to ensure that you are covered in both countries. The extra cost involved is well worth it should your computer fail while away from home.