A glowing report
Sunday evening, around 9 pm:
AC adapter wouldn't function properly while in Willis Lounge, which means I can't use my laptop (very short battery life).
Popped home and logged onto dell.com, entering their "support chat". The online conversation was clear, simple, and took around 10 minutes altogether. The support guy didn't try to BS me or treat me like an idiot; he asked me to do a couple of things to make sure the problem was just in the adapter and not elsewhere, and then he asked me where I wanted the replacement sent. I gave him my school address in CA, warning him that this was different thant their address of record (in OH). He asked me for simple info to confirm I was actually me, and then said it was on its way, without batting an eye.
Tuesday, before noon:
Here it is. Sent express air, less than 40 hours after they said they'd send me one, a brand-spanking new, perfectly functioning adapter. No hassle, no problems. One of my parts stopped working (likely at least in part because I've been handling it too roughly) and they sent me a new one.
I consider that excellent service.