dell
a mate of mine bought a dell p.c several years ago. it seemed to work fine, for the first two weeks. then it just stopped working altogether.
he sent it for repairs and was told it was fine. when he got it back, nothing had been fixed at all. he phoned several times to complain, but was told that, if he wasn't happy, he should send it back for repairs. hoping for a different result than the first time, he sent it back again.
3 weeks later, his p.c came back. the letter accompanying it said that they couldn't fix it, as they couldn't work out what was wrong with it. they neglected to explain why it now had a large scratch across the screen.
needless to say, my mate wasn't pleased. he tried phoning dell, but was placed on hold for so long that mushrooms* started to grow on the phone. he hung up and resolved to try again later that evening.
when he finally got through to someone, it was a young bloke who clearly wasn't impressed by his employers. he told my friend that, if it was considered a "minor" repair, nothing much would get done. however, if it was a "major" repair, or if the p.c was completely written off, they'd simply replace it with no questions asked. he finished the call by saying "it's a pity your p.c couldn't have a serious accident, isn't it?"
well, this got my mate thinking. he thought he'd find out if a dell p.c could fly.
it can't.
it can, however, land at the bottom of the stairs in a broken heap** that renders it effectively written off.
as promised, it was replaced within a week, no questions asked.

*this may not actually have happened
**the first time he threw it, it didn't get so much as a dent. they're stronger than you'd think.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Sun 5 Sep 2010, 21:20, Reply)