Why Dell Sucks and Blows! Don't Buy A Dell! (aka Dell Hell)
[This document was sent on our company letterhead via UPS Red. This version has certain phone numbers and order numbers removed for privacy reasons. They are, of course, in the original. It is unedited otherwise.]
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Dell Inc.
Michael Dell and Michael George
Business Systems Division
One Dell Way
Round Rock, TX 78768
Dear Sirs:
I want to tell you quite clearly why this Dell machine is our last. I have never been treated so poorly and so indifferently by a group of people. Your “customer care” department doesn’t care about anything much less their customers. The courtesy of a written reply is requested.
My company distributes construction supplies and hurricane related supplies – check our website to see how hurricane oriented we are. Before and after a storm we are at our very busiest because the products we sell enable people to protect their homes and businesses from the storms and to repair their homes and business after the storm. Without computers our business is brought almost to a halt, as everything needs to be done manually. Plus orders that are e-mailed don’t arrive at all. We’re based in Florida where we get more than our fair share of hurricanes.
Thursday evening the 25th of August, Hurricane Katrina pounded us rather badly, with the eye wall of the storm passing directly over us. We tried to open Friday the 26th but due to lack of water, electricity, and passable roads we unable to and gave up. Saturday morning we came in and emergency power was in place. Our Dell Dimension 4600 came up and running just fine but within five minutes there was a loud “pop” and it died. The timing could not have been worse. I am not unreasonable I do not fault Dell for an act of Mother Nature.
I immediately called tech support. The man I spoke to (an Indian) was very helpful and after 15 minutes was relatively confident the power supply was the problem. I explained how critical this machine was along with the data on it. I said I didn’t care what it cost, but I needed someone to fix it immediately. He said he couldn’t help with that but that the parts department could. I need to point out I deal with foreign call centers all the time, and unlike most Americans they don’t bother me if they’re well run.
Around 8:50am I was connected to the parts department. The parts department (another Indian) said they could send me the special, proprietary power supply. I said that with no other alternative, that would have to do, but I repeated five times that it must be sent UPS RED EARLY AM delivery: that means by 830am. I specifically asked him if he understood what I needed. I explained how important it was. He took my credit card information and said it would be done. The order number was XXXXX.
I spent all day Saturday calling every single computer store in town that was open, asking if they had a power supply for this unit. They all said “No because Dell uses non-standard parts so you have to deal with them.” Why is such a common part proprietary?
Monday morning, at 9:04am I called parts and asked where my supply was. The nice lady (another Indian) informed me it was in Ohio and that it didn’t ship until Sunday. She suggested that perhaps I call DHL and see what they could do. She didn’t quite seem to get why I was upset and she had this idea it was going to be delivered “later in the day” even though it was still in Ohio. She said I could speak to Technical Support who could help me. After 1 hour and 18 minutes on hold, I got someone who said he couldn’t do anything. I repeated again that it wasn’t the cost, and that I wasn’t asking for anything free, just for someone to come in and fix the computer. He said only Parts could authorize that. After more time on hold, I was finally connected with Parts who said only Tech Support could authorize that.
I asked for the phone number to your corporate office and was refused that information. I called my stockbroker and asked him to look it up. You’re a public company after all. I called your corporate offices and asked to speak to an officer of the company. I was transferred to “Escalation” where I got a “this mailbox is full – please try later” message and got disconnected. I called back immediately and again asked for a human to speak to and was transferred before I even finish my sentence to another voice mailbox which, guess what, was also full.
By noon, I was pretty furious as you can imagine. I called again, and this time got a Customer Care agent in Ireland. She was very friendly but not much more helpful, though she at least pretended to be sympathetic. She transferred me back to Parts and promised to stay on the line, but she didn’t. As always, I was asked for a phone number ‘in case we get disconnected’ but (of course) when I was, nobody called back. It’s nice to have a perfect record but not in this case.
I called your corporate office again and got your “Dell Switchboard” again, which I finally figured out is bogus because you can’t get anybody with authority or anyone who even cares. Finally, I get some lady who tries valiantly to help and stay on the line with me, but said “the hold time is too long” and she’d have to leave me to my own devices. She gives me a third case number (XXXXX, XXXXX, and XXXXX are my three case numbers for the same issue.)
I want to point out that every single person I spoke to was clearly explained to that this was your error and that I didn’t even care about the money, but I just wanted it fixed. Nobody wanted to authorize a technician to come out to our place of business and fix our machine.
I was, sometime around 1pm, after being on the phone with Dell for four hours, transferred to a Tech Support line in Panama. I got a technician named Enrique. You should put him in charge of your company. He listened to me, read the case information, and agreed I had been screwed over. He sat with me on the line for nearly 40 minutes waiting for somebody to come to the line – and they blew him off too. He then took the initiative and scheduled a repair order for an on-site person in an effort to help me (062000311) and I wish to report that I was never called in order to make the appointment. Finally around 3pm, I called the 800 number and they said they’d call me in a day or two to see what they could do. Nobody at your company has any sense of urgency. Do you not understand the severity of this situation?
Tuesday I spent more time on the phone as my system was still down. Your dispatch department couldn’t dispatch anyone because they claimed I didn’t have the part. I told them it was in my hands having finally arrived just before lunchtime, but they argued that their computer reflected otherwise. I asked for a supervisor and spoke to Allison. She took my credit card number and promised someone would be here by 2pm. She never called back and no technician showed up. I left messages for her that were not returned. I called late that evening to cancel the service call as I had made other arrangements. I was told they couldn’t cancel it and I had to call tech support. There is not a chance in hell of me doing that. At least I was nice enough to try to cancel it. If you charge my card I will protest it.
Today is Wednesday and the damned thing is fixed via another vendor who has been promised all future hardware business for helping me with Dell hardware when Dell wouldn’t. Even your competitors can understand a critically important situation. They came to my aid and that speaks volumes about both them and you.
I had sent a draft of this via email before I added the latest travesties and received a call from someone in your Executive Support department. He was very nice and apologetic but I wish to point out that really doesn’t help.
For the record, every single customer who called us and asked why we didn’t answer their emails and why their order wasn’t shipped was told about our Dell saga. I am making this entire letter available to any of our over 15,000 clients who ask, and when we write a letter of apology to all the affected customers they will be told exactly what we think of Dell. Further, a copy is being posted on our website. If Dell cares to write a letter of apology to my customers, I will gladly send it out along with my apology and a copy this letter. (Please make sure you clearly indicate I have permission to do so)
I care that you caused my customers extreme difficulties when they could least afford it. We care about out customers and you clearly don’t. Forget your words, actions speak loudly. We’ve been in business almost fifty years and I can assure you this type of behavior guarantees you won’t be. You should be ashamed. Your activities, while legal, are immoral. You shouldn’t hide from your customers and you do as evidenced by my inability to get anyone in authority on the telephone.
In the meantime, I expect a full refund of shipping charges on the spare part. You probably should do better than that, but I won’t be holding my breath. I can tell you that you have earned the bad press your customer service has been receiving.
Sincerely,
Eric A. Seiden
[9-7-05 Commentary Update: I have yet to hear from Dell. I appreciate the many e-mails and phone calls of support I've received on this matter. I am sad to report, my experience is obviously not unique. Apparently even people with special on-site guaranteed response-time warranties are treated no better.]
[5-30-08 Commentary Update: It's been 2-1/2years, and I have yet to hear from Dell. But now, there is a chance for you to FIGHT BACK if Dell has wronged you. There's a chance for you to get restitution. In the news a few days ago, the State of New York found Dell guilty of FRAUD. I've been contacted (again) by an attorney who is willing to help you, but only personal cases to persons residing in the USA. See my new blog post about it, here.]
Labels: Class Action, Dell, Lawsuit, Sucks
posted by Rev. CMOT TMPV @ 8/31/2005 08:39:00 PM (permalink)
45 Comments:
A few problems with your complaint.
1. Dell uses DHL for shipping not UPS.
2. parts are sent out next BUSINESS day 10:30. period. There is no alternative. Meaning that if you order a part on friday, the absolute earliest it will be delivered is Monday by 10:30 am provided it is in stock and ships immediately.
3. Hurricanes shut shipping down pretty bad as a general rule. I'd say you were lucky toget it at all.
4. Time and materials calls are generated by Dell and service performed by a third party company such as Banctec (who I work for). When the call is generated and comes across to us, it is not runnable until parts are received AND payment info is provided. We usually get the part first.
5. it is not next day service. it is next BUSINESS day service. and is subject to parts and technician availability. After hours service is subject to technician's availability. Saturday service is subject to technician availability and must be confirmed by the technician running the call by 5pm the preceeding thursday. Translation, the earliest you would have gotten a T&M tech onsite would be tuesday, as the call would not be runnable on monday until that credit information is provided to our company.
6. Lost productivity and business is not provided for in dells warranty. YOur outage is no more important than grandmas inability to play solitaire.
I'm not trying to say you are wrong for being angry and frustrated at dell. what I am saying is understand the system that a monster company uses takes time. there is no such thing as instantaneous.
Unfortunately the processes either were not understood properly by the Dell reps ( a lot of them don't know the in's and outs of the system) or were not explained to you properly. I deal with reseting customer expectations on a daily basis.
I have posted this on Ihatedell.net as well.. please feel free to commment or ask questions.
http://ihatedell.net/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=18042#18042
1. So maybe the guy should have told me this? And further DHL does offer an early AM delivery. So that would have been fine. The point was I wanted early AM and repeatedly mentioned it.
2. The part didn't ship on time. It didn't arrive on time. It was sent next day delivery (any time not Morning delivery). So he screwed up on all counts.
3. There are no hurricanes in Ohio. That's where the part shipped from. We get delveries at work all the time and UPS and FedEx delivered on schedule.
4. Well that process failed too, didn't it?
5. Well they didn't show up Tuesday nor did they call. In fact they STILL haven't called or shown up and it's FRIDAY. So what's happening, eh? That's crap. You've got some fine excuses though, I'll give you that -- you should keep working at Dell you're perfect for them.
6. I will tell all the homeless people who were affected how much you care. I should tell them we're sorry but Dell doesn't care so we can't ship the stuff you need to repair your home/business. That answer may work for Dell. It doesn't work for us.
Dell does suck. I've dealt with them too many times on my fathers behalf; their techs suck, and the companies they use to install their hardware take almost 1 WEEK to get to you, even when you have 'Next Day & Weekends' installation!
Wow, Anonymous.. very brave. You're actually defending Dell. Oh I see.. you work for them (sort of). Good on ya, but I'm afraid this is par for the course for Dell and their Customer Dissatisfaction Service. Maybe you'd care to dissect my horror story:
http://www.luckyspin.org/?p=6
Todd
Hohohoho, sad to say Mr Dell doesnt even run Dell anymore, i doubt if he even has a dell email address...lol....wake up dude Dell's a Corporate...corporates dont haves faces, voices or emotions...just the profit motive....remember "grapes of wrath"
maybe try mailin kevin_rollins@dell.com..see if it works.....
"....sitting down here by the camp firelight , with the ghost of ol' Tom Joad"
the Dell Dude
The computer salesman who nearly conned the world
By: Ex-Zell customer
This is the storey of the computer salesman from HELL
Whose name by the way was Michael ZELL.
He tried to corner the computer world
But his empire fell and died cold
He was a nasty old kook
And he hated his own look
He took Inspiration from his piles
His people wrote virus into customer BIOS files
He infested all of his PCs with the Impel processor
And choked other makers ‘cause he was an evil aggressor
His company spawned branches around the world every few miles
He made computers whose components fell out like loose tiles
He dictated to his customers what they could and couldn’t buy
In the mirror he saluted himself like Hitler, this little guy
Tried to create a Monopoly and forced the PC prices sky high
He financed at extortion those people who could not buy
He was rude to his customers and didn’t care about their needs
He liked to shove blades of grass up his ass and retain their seeds
He was chronically anally retentive
To his clients he was wholly inattentive
He kept the computer prices artificially high
Sucked the soul out of the competition and bled them dry
He bribed the officials and sold the government agencies trash
And laughing all the way to the bank he counted his ill-gotten cash
He charged extortionate sums for his upgrade
He didn’t care much for fair trade.
He conspired with Impel and tried to corner the PC world
Bet he never dreamt his empire could so easily fold
See his PCs were short of Dimension and depth
He pissed off his customers with his foul breath
He left his clients no Latitude
Demanded from employees total servitude
He exaggerated trade but cooked his books
His wife didn’t liked his constipated looks
The corollary of this story
You’ll be told, don’t worry
With unreliable poxy PCs and accessories like his
Go find viable alternatives and get good service
If you don’t think it’s a good thing to have a hole in your head
Don’t throw your money at this guy; go buy from another “Ted”
As to what happened to the little guy
You may ask me, don’t have to be shy
He urinated in his BMW racer
Went crazy before he died of prostate cancer
He tied his wife to the back of his boat
And dragged her several times around the moat
He took all of his assets out of the bank
Like Bill Gates, he thought his dollars had shrank
Then he set fire to his house
And blamed it on a little mouse
Before he could claim the insurance money for the fire
His reached the end his time finally came to expire
I can identify with your horror story with Dell, as I myself have had one recently.
Two months ago, I ordered a Dell XPS from the company website. During checkout, I entered in the coupon code in order to receive my discount. Due to "coupon fraud," I was instructed to call Dell for verification purposes before I could receive my discount. I immediately called Dell and was placed on hold for 45 minutes (no exaggeration) and was then transferred to someone who could not help me and was placed on hold again. For approximately 2 hours, I was transferred from one helpless employee to another, each saying they had no authority to validate my coupon. Eventually, I was transferred to a sales rep, who said my order had to be placed over-the-phone because I was using a coupon. I cancelled my online order and told the rep the computer I wanted right down to every detail and gave my billing/shipping address. She then told me I had to fax over a paystub from my company to prove that I was eligible to receive this coupon, which was granted by my employer.
I tried faxing my paystub, but it was never received by Dell. I also checked my email confirmation of the order and noticed that several of the computer parts were incorrect, as well as my shipping and billing address. The sales rep apparently did not understand English and completely massacred my order. I called Dell to have the video card, processor, shipping and billing address corrected, as well as to find out whether or not my fax was ever received. Again, I was transferred from person to person over a 2 hour period, each saying they could not help my situation. I tried directly calling my sales rep dozens of times, but she never answered, so I left numerous messages on her voice mail. She never called back. I needed my order fixed before it shipped with the WRONG parts to the WRONG address with the WRONG price. After waiting on hold for another 45 minutes, I was transferred to Emmanuel, my 2nd sales rep. He said he would cancel my order and start over from scratch to make sure everything is correct. I gave him all the information about my PC and the shipping/billing address. After checking my email confirmation, I noticed that the shipping/billing address was once again spelled incorrectly, despite the fact that I spelled it out letter-by-letter for my sales rep. Emmanuel left me with his desk phone number, so I tried calling him. No answer. I tried emailing him. No response. I attempted to contact my sales rep over a 3 day period, calling several times per day and leaving numerous messages on his voice mail. Nothing. No response at all. I tried calling Dell to get my order fixed. I waited on hold yet again for an hour. After being connected to a human being, I explained my situation but the employee told me "I'm sorry, but you have to speak with your sales rep. I have no authorization to change your order." I explained that my Rep is absolutely impossible to get in contact with and I demanded to speak with a manager. After waiting another hour, I spoke with a manager who finally fixed my order. Since I threatened to cancel for all the anger, frustration and countless hours and days spent on the phone, the manager said he will enter in my coupon without me faxing over my proof of employment, which I tried anyway. He told me the fax machine hasn't been working, which I don't believe. To this day, neither of my sales reps have responded to my countless emails and messages.
I happen to be a sales rep and can honestly say that I would never do such a thing to a customer. Whenever my customers call me, which they do several times each day, I respond to them within 24 hours if not immediately, period. Even on Sundays. No matter how large or small an issue; if a customer calls me, I respond ASAP, because that is what customer service is all about: being taken care of. I would NEVER leave a customer to hang out and dry like these Dell sales reps have done to me.
This was by far the worst experience I have ever had as a customer. I've never seen anything like it in my entire life. Simply the worst, most inefficient and incompetent call center I've ever experienced. My computer finally arrived (with the right parts, thank God), but this will be my last time dealing with Dell.
I agree Dell does suck, but I see a easy fix in your problem. Dell uses propitery power supplies because they have to fix their fancey cases. In an emergency where your business depends on your computer functioning, get a second opinion. Any computer shop could have put your entire pc into a new case for probably less than 100 bucks. Yeah, it's covered by Dell, but how much money are you really losing? Dude- You got a Dell. Now deal with it. p.s. I hate dell and this stupid dell laptop.
DELL sucks!!! I ordered my DELL desktop on 12/2/05 and still don't have it. It was damaged during shipping and they promised to send me a new one. I still don't have it even though it was suppose to be sent next day. I have spent about 15 total hours on the telephone. I have talked with more DELL employees in India then I care to. I have spoken with DELL floor managers and I have received no help. No one ever returns my calls or replies to my emails. I am SO frustrated and I can't believe any company would treat their customers like this. The customer support reps and floor managers never give their real name or they claim not to have a phone number or extension. They are also not allowed to give out executive names or phone numbers to complain to someone hire up then the managers. This is not customer service, this is form of torture!!!!!! DON'T EVER BUY A DELL!
I placed a next day order on December 14, 2005 and called to check on the order status on 12/15/2005. The system says my "order will be shipped on December 29, 2005." - a little late for Christmas and decidedly not a next day shipping plan. So I called to cancel the order and after 45 minutes, 6 transfers, and a promised call back from a supervisor - my order is still not cancelled - and you can bet my card has been charged. Do not buy anything from Dell! What's funny is that I only made a $400.00 purchase for a digital camera - and I was going to purchase two laptops after Christmas. Well Dell is out the $2K now and I will even pay more to a competitor for the same product. I will also file a complaint with my companies HR department that sponsors our Corporate Employee Purchase Program we partnered with Dell on.
I hear a rumor that they’re going to need a DELL SIZED BODY BAG, that Dell is receiving subpoenas of Record Production from the Justice Department related to, but not limited to:
a) Antitrust violating Advertising, Deceptive Selling, and Financing behavior, as well as consumer fraud, parts swapping, and unlawful combinations and tie ins.
b) The huge monetary transfers (around $22 Billion) to Mike Dell’s Foundation, and various offshore facilities hiding liability for taxes.
c) A nascent relationship between Dell and Chevron, Dell and Rockefeller Institute and the allegation that such may be a cutout between Dell and IBM, hiding a hidden, nefarious relationship between Dell and IBM.
d) Anticompetition including use of stealth representative companies to invade competing vendors business markets, hiring threatening personnel kept directly or indirectly through the activities of Impact Venture Capital, an alleged front company in NYC for Mike Dell, run by his brothers Adam and Frank Dell, and other activities. One person involved with Adam and Frank, Joe Firmage, financially arrnaged for criminal harassment of one computer company figure to such a degree that the individual has filed serious charges against Dell.
e) Hidden illegal influence peddling by Chevron, Rockefeller and IBM, to secure huge government contracts for Dell with various government agencies.
When it erupts like this during a downturn at a company like DELL, it usually spells the kind of disaster that collapses a company like Dell.
Some called Mike Dell a “visionary”, yet there were innumerable competitors who did NOT have Chevron/Rockefeller backing, who tried the very same formula as Dell and failed, for lack of the influence peddling behavior of the Oil Industry and IBM early on.
And, sadly, most of all, their products STINK, and they continue to try and CON THE PUBLIC into ignoring the 34,000 or so Better Business Complaints over the past four years, the vast number of public complainants around the internet and consumer fraud investigations, not to mention class action suit(s) and other indications that Dell may be the very WORST the computer industry has ever had to offer.
Given the “lazy E” that is eerily similar to the laid back “E” in Enron, one can not help but wonder how long before they’ll need to fold Dell Smell into that old Dell Sized Body Bag. Clearly, they make Enron look like amateur “creative accountants” when it comes to perpetration of illegal behavior.
Jimmy
Don't buy Dell! Having purchased two laptops and a souped up hyperthreaded monster, I will NEVER buy another Dell. I have gravitated to taking my Dells to the local computer store (who sells other brands) for service even though the Dells are covered by big long expensive extended warranties...just to avoid wasting my time on the phone with the Dell People. With my most expensive machine, I had to fight with them for 6 months to get them to realize they should just send me another machine. It seems like they go out of their way to NOT HELP YOU.
The moral of this story is not to depend on a single computer for mission critical applications. If a computer is so important, just buy a second one to keep on the shelf in the event of a failure. If it's really an important task, buy three or four.
This way, in the event of a failure (and systems ALWAYS fail eventually), you won't die of a burst aneurysm from dealing with Dell.
Thus you will still be able to take advantage of Dell's cheap prices, without caring how long they take to fix the dead machine. (And you will save on your medical bills as well).
Use online support- then you can deal without bad accents and miscommunication of numbers and such- although the people will be just as retarded.
Online support doesn't work when the computer's dead, does it Andy?
Bought an XPS 600 monster in Febuary of this year. Reformatted the hard drive three times in a month and a half. Two weeks later the hard drive goes belly up. A month later the sound card goes sameway. In June of this year the SLI cards go belly up also. A week ago Dell finally sent out a tech with a new motherboard, cpu and memory for me only to have the system not reboot after installation. Now after fighting with them for a week I get this answer from their Manager "Chris" you may get a refurbished XPS 600 system for all your troubles. Found out talking to a tech from Dell that they often send out refurbished parts in replacement for new parts gone bad! Thats fraud. Choke on your Money Mike Dell I hope you rot in hell!
We bought 2 desktops & 4 laptops from Dell. Keeping my fingers crossed, so far they are still working. One of the laptops, however, needed the AC adapter replaced. I called for a part replacement (still under warranty). I can't remember all the phone numbers I was told to call or tried calling, or how long I was on the phone, but each person (when I finally reached a human voice) insisted Dell tech support is 24/7. However, they don't seem to answer the phone 24/7. So I decided I was going to call sales. Imagine my suprise when I got someone on the phone right away! Told the guy my problem and I said "before you tell me I need to call another number...." So, finally after about only 10 minutes with him, got my part ordered and received in a timely fashion. What my major beef about this company is, we financed these computers through Dell and if you are one day (and I'm not kidding, ONE DAY) late paying your monthly bill, they have their overseas collectors calling all day long. I pay the accounts 2-3 days before it's due and I still get calls. Even after I have explained that it was mailed out and the check numbers, they insist I pay over the phone to avoid a late fee (even though the statements say a late fee will only be charged if a payment is received 7 days after the due date). I've asked them several times to not call over being one day past the due date. They've messed up applying our payments, therefore you can only imagine the recent calls I've been getting from them. They think I should pay a late fee because they applied both payments to one account last month. After numerous calls from them and numerous calls I've made to customer service to straighten it out, they agreed (gee, thanks) there should be no late charge. But then get this, she wanted to know why I was late in making last months payment after all that? HELLO??? I decided it was time to end the call at that point. Anyways, that's my story. Bottom line, you can wait forever for them on the phone, but don't ever wait to pay their bill! And so help me God, if my husband buys another dell and/or finances through them, you'll be reading about me in the papers!
I've recently resigned from one of Dell's warranty providers. I was a field tech servicing Dell products since 2000. There's plenty of blame to go around. The manufacturers are money hungry. They believe the we americans will only buy the bargain. So, to cut prices and compete with 'the overseas competition', they send jobs where? Overseas! They have parts made where? Overseas! Then the computers are carefully labeled 'assembled in the U.S.A.'. When you call for tech support, where do you call? Overseas! All to keep profits up. Face it, it's the american way. Now when it comes to onsite service, an all too familiar approach is used. Cut the work force and cut their pay. It shouldn't surprise you to know that field techs are the pawns of the industry. More and more demands are put on these guys every day. The demands come from the contracts signed by salesmen who only care about their commission no matter how much more the manufacturer wants because by then, the service company is under their thumb. They've grown to accomodate and now their survival depends on keeping that client. Most field techs I've had the pleasure to work with are very good at what they do, but the new trend to save money, is to pay for performance. And that pay has been reduced time and time again. So, now, the field tech has to work faster to make the same money. It's not unusual for a tech to drive 200-300 miles a day. That doesn't leave much time for customer satisfaction which, by the way, is what the manager gods preach. All of this does, however, create record profits for the almighty shareholders. So, you see, we're all share a little of the blame. I got out because of the stress put on us to meet impossible demands and it's all so mush BS. Happy computing from Serviceguy.
Hi all,
I understand your frustration with Dell, but you need to realise one thing. Dell builds and ships 80,000 machines a DAY. They have a manufacturing capacity of 700 systems AN HOUR per factory. They only ever have inventory on hand for between 2 and 72 hours of production. Their Just-In-Time processes are nothing short of amazing - imagine trying to ensure that 80,000 systems get built each day with only 2 hours of parts available!
Now, with that in mind, I'm sure you'll agree that only 34,000 BBB complaints over the last 4 years is pretty darn good - especially since most of those are from people that don't understand the way the world works and think that Dell should focus all their resources on that customers problem.
The fact is that the majority of Dell customers are very happy. Dell will not be "falling" any time soon. They are growing and ramping up production. Whether or not Dell get sued for anything is besides the point - Dell Computers will continue to function for the foreseeable future.
Now, I have some comments for the author of the original article. I know your company is not an IT powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel you are putting the blame on Dell to make up for your own lack of foresight. I'm NOT saying that Dell was right - their customer service really does suck for most classes of their machines, notably Home, Outlet and Refurbished-class systems - but YOU should have been more prepared. The first thing you should have in place is redundancy. If you have critical information on a system that will cause you and your customers hardship when you can't access it, then can you guess the solution? That's right, have TWO computers that share the data! All of Dell's Enterprise customers have redundant systems, AND they pay for Same-Day 4 hour response business service on top of that. Dell do not outsource Enterprise customer service to India any more (they tried it for a while but were forced to move it back to the US). If you are running a mission-critical environment, then you need to invest in your own business. I'm not sure if you bought a home-class system, but if you did, then you really have no grounds for complaint.
Dell sells a lot of systems, and by the laws of probability they cannot be 100% perfect to every one of their customers. They have problems, sure, but most people have absolutely no problems with Dell. Unfortunately, people that have no problems rarely ever post on forums. I personally have had issues with Dell, but I understand their business model so can give them some leeway. My company used to purchase hundreds of Dell systems and we rarely ever had issues - and when we did our Enterprise contract kicked in and we had people on-site same-day who would fix the systems while our redundant systems took up the slack. We have some Dell systems that have been running 24x7 for 5+ years and never had a problem. If there is one constant it's that computers WILL fail. Stop complaining for your lack of foresight and realize (and correct) your mistake. You had no contingency plan and expected Dell, a huge multi-national corporation, to bend over backwards for your $200 problem. Realistically Dell expect YOU to do what's necessary to run YOUR business - and that means not having a single point of failure.
Thanks!
PS - Just for the record I do not work for Dell, or have ANY affiliation with them whatsoever. My company doesn't purchase Dell anymore either, but that's only because of a merger with another company who used HP Desktops and IBM Laptops, so we switched our corporate policy to maximize the discount from one vendor. On that note, HP & IBM actually suck worse than Dell in my opinion. Both companies have outsourced to India too, and IBM don't even make the laptops any more (it's now made by Lenovo, a Chinese company - and the machine quality of the new T60-series is laughable). As for proprietary components, both HP and IBM use completely proprietary components - even MORE than Dell (at least Dell use a daughter-board style graphics card on their laptops, unlike others who integrate in to the motherboard). If you understand the market you'll see that Dell are not unique, and are sometimes better than other big vendors. As someone else mentioned, they have to make some proprietary components because the parts have to fit their cases perfectly - generic off-the-shelf parts do NOT follow any set standard. Ten different generic power supplies will have ten different designs - it's impossible for Dell (or HP or IBM) to use off-the-shelf parts. Also, it would void your warranty to use generic items as it would be impossible to grade the quality of a part.
Dell has to become the worst electronics bussiness out there. I purchased a desktop from them in 2000 and i still have it and it is still kicking...great maching..i did have a few problems with tech support, but nothing major...
Well, in 2003 I was in the market for a Laptop, and of course, having had good luck with my desktop, I purchased a Dell Inspiron 5100. WHAT A MISTAKE... This is the worst item I have ever owned...when it worked, it worked great, but after 12.5 months, it stopped coming on. This problem apparently happened to many who purchased the same computer I purchased, yet Dell refuses to recall or try to make it right. the 12.5 months is important because it was only like 15 days out of warranty and they would not work with me at all. Just told me i could pay some ungodly high repair rate and ungodly high shipping cost. I probably could have bought a new HP for what it would have cost me.
Not only did I have problems with the machine and the tech support, but i the billing department would call me and say i never sent me payment, even though i had given it by phone not a week earlier...then they would try to slap a late charge on me. Oh, and at that point they did not have any sort of online payment method. I do not know if they have this now because i refuse to even get on their site. then You had to mail a check or pay by phone which was a 10 charge. I can pay my home depot account online...but not my laptop payment? What a crock. Dell claimed to be some great technological front runner yet was using bill payment methods from the 1950s.
My girlfriend now has a dell, which she purchased before mine went boom...and that thing frequently freezes, sometimes will not recognize wireless HARDWARE that dell installed, along with various other issues.
MY POINT, WHEN DELL FIRST GOT GOING GOOD, GREAT COMPANY...ONCE IT REALLY TOOK OFF, WORTHLESS IN EVERYWAY, UNLESS YOU WANT A $1500 PAPER WEIGHT...
This is for the comment from Anonymous on Dec. 4th, 2006.
Not sure what seperates you from the rest of the world when it comes to realizing Dells "bussiness model" or how the world works. Dell makes a living by volume now. Yes, they have good machines out there, but their problem is failing to address the problems that they do have. The only major problem they addressed was the power cord issue that could have cost them millions in potential house fire law suits. I read your response and honestly think you are quite full of yourself. I must apologize for not understanding how the world works...in my mind, a company, no matter how large it is, strives to make customers want to come back to them when like services are required in the future. Search the internet, look at all the problems people have had with Dell. I am not just talking about someone saying my "F" button fell off. Look how many people have had identical problems...things that should not happen so early in a machines life. Then look at what Dell does, they blame the consumer for breaking it and refuse to recall or correct the problems. They released a defective line of Laptops and did nothing to sovle the issue. Dell just lets the consumer absorb the cost. Great business model...I don't care if you ship 80,000 computers a day or 8 million computers a day. If a substantial percentage of people who purchased your computers report the same problems, you should do something. If you ship 80,000 computers a day then you can afford to take the hit of recalling the sour grapes you put out there. In fact, in my world, a company who spends up front to correct a problem most likely collects a higher revenue from it in the end due to customer relationships. But this of course is in my understanding of how the world works, and is probably incorrect since you didn't write it. And before a comment is made that i do not know about computers and perhaps my problem wasn't major let me say this: I have worked in IT departments and helped keep the computers at the engineering firm I worked for. I have a degree in engineering from a major university so i have a slight grasp on technical things. In fact i think it is a better grasp than you have with whatever cereal box you got your education from.
What happens when an automotive company sees a problems in their vehicles...they do a recall and repair the problem for free. That keeps people coming back. I will never, and i do mean NEVER, purchase another item manufactured by Dell. I do not care if twenty years from now Dell comes out with a device that will make me live forever...I will die laughing at the suckers who buy it not knowing it will crash...If is not my problem that managing the production fo 80,000 machings a day is difficult. If your are in the computer business make darn sure you can produce computers. The bottom line is the customer only sees 1. That is all they care about....1 item...that is your one chance to reach that person. Capitalize on it and you may have a customer for life. That customer may share with friends and family that he or she had a good experiance, but may not. Now let that one person have a poor experiace with your product, and I would say that 99 times out of 100 more people will hear about how bad that company is. That is business buddy.
On the 29th of November, ‘06, I helped my ex-wife and my ex-sister-in-law to buy a couple of Dell machines, a laptop and a desktop, one for each. After two days configuring machines at Dell website, in order to adjust the budget (which is cheap, so I had to make the most of it) I spent almost one hour with the sales guy on the phone (this is Colombia, and none of them had credit cards, so we went for cash in hand, instead). First surprise: the configuration tool at Dell’s website does not reflect the real world. You can add as many things you want, but the tool is not prepared to say “if you put this, you have to take that out”. Well, compatibility problems are not what you would expect in this kind of deal, otherwise Dell would not be such a huge company, I thought. I got a little upset, but then, no good would come from insulting the sales guy. I had to make the changes “on the fly” (thanks to 20 years assembling bloody computer parts) and I got a decent deal of machines, if not very upgradeable, because the parts that I threw away compromised future upgrades. The guy (Mr. Fabio Flores) said that he would send an e-mail to each one of them with instructions about how to make the payment. At that point, I left them because the bank was not my concern, assembling the machines according their needs and budget was my job, and a hell of a job well done. But there was something slightly surreal about the instructions: they should scan the bank receipt concerning the money transfer, and send by e-mail to him, so he could confirm that they had paid. They did everything as instructed, and that same day, the money was already on Dell’s hands. Mr. Flores (which I came to know later, was located at a Dell Call Center in Panama) said if there was a problem, he would let them know. On the 4th of December (5 days later), he sent an e-mail saying that he could not order the computers because “the bank receipt they sent is not proof of payment, what is needed is a letter from the bank indicating the transfer succeeded”. At their bank, the manager said he could try to get such letter, but could not give any guarantee that Dell’s bank received the money. He could only guarantee that the money left the accounts. It took 3 days to get the letter, and then, at Dell, they said they could not accept such letter. I was, then, aware of the situation, and I kept thinking: “this is bloody ridiculous, they are a computer company, they *MUST* have some sort of system that controls everything, from the manufacturing plants to the CEO coffee machine”. After 8 days, they had no money anymore, no computers, and no solution. And I was wrong. Dell is a crap company, I started searching with Google, and – voilà – there is an awful load of people that simply *HATE* Dell. My ex-wife is a hotheaded woman, and started calling Dell. I think they deserve her rage, and boy, they will suffer with her. They are a bunch of incompetents, they cannot communicate internally with each other (she said that after being transferred from desk to desk during the phone calls, she had to tell the bloody whole story again to each of them, she knows it by heart now), and they have no means to verify their own bank accounts and cross check the customer’s information. They kept giving excuses, like “this bank account is no good” (because they had 2 bank accounts listed in the e-mail they sent – why 2 banks if one of them is no god?), or “a money transfer is no good, should have been a deposit” (why would they instruct a money transfer in the e-mail if they cannot accept it? Would it be some kind of joke? “Ha, ha, we took your money, now piss off and do it right, your bloody poor 3rd world hispanic woman.”). After that, she decided to go to Dell’s bank, and explained the case to their manager. Even thought he *CANNOT* reveal information about the bank’s clients, after 2 days he decided to help and gave an official document saying the money had arrived at Dell’s account on the same 29th of November, detailed with sender, recipient, amount to the cent, time of the transfer, everything. But Dell likes things complicated, so now they are not receiving the scanned document by e-mail, but instead, they gave a fax number – which plainly *DOES NOT EXIST*!!! And absolutely no-one at Dell can explain either why they are not receiving the e-mail anymore or what the correct fax number is. It has been 2 weeks since Dell stole their money, 2 weeks since Dell has their money in the bank account, with all the rates of interest, and until now, there is no bloody computer, no purchase order, nothing. Tomorrow they will visit a lawyer, to see if they can sue Dell. I suspect Dell is not a company at all, but an intergalactic mistake. Some alien race, after hiding for some time on Earth in order to avoid the paparazzi due to an embarrassing freak accident whit an anteater, left behind a portable black hole, which was discovered by the U.S. military. They built a factory to conceal it, and now they experiment with it, searching for new and bizarre weapons, like the one that forces the enemies to call a Customer Center and put them on hold forever, while the power of the black hole sucks their brains through the phone cord and drives them mad. It is the only explanation. Behold, the truth is out there, somewhere, but the Big Brother is always watching it. Abandon all your hopes.
This is why I build my own computers. If you want reliable, hire your own computer tech to build your systems for you.
I made the mistake of recommending a dell server for our company. I ordered it with raid 1+0. A month after we deployed the server I was contacted by Chris Stretz of Dell. He informed me that the server was sent to us with raid 0 configured. This server is so important it runs the entire company's ERP application. I took the blame for not checking the raid level (we were in a rush I assumed these guys are competent). The worse thing is I was insulted by this guy as he twisted my name in to a semi racist remark and then mockingly apologized for it. Now we have to bring in the consultant on a Saturday to fix their screw up.
DO NOT RECOMMEND DELL!!!
I feel the pain of all of you. Dell continues to treat their core business customers like crap. Yech.
Sure, DELL sucks. Actually all the huge companies (big Phone companies, big ISPs, etc) tend to treat the individual customer like shit, outsource support, ignore complaints, etc). That really sucks, but they are starting to feel the backlash, so maybe it will change someday.
However I would tend to side with the other poster saying you should have foreseen it, although his choice of words was a bit rough.
I only use standard parts in my PCs, which I purchase off the Internet. If something breaks, I can purchase a replacement in any shop in 15 minutes. I use RAID, so when a harddisk burns (which happened a few times already), Linux sends me an email and I go to the shop, buy another harddisk, and replace the faulty one, the whole thing takes less time than a "customer service" phone call. I have off-site backups so if the PC gets stolen, it sucks, but it's still OK. All the important data is stored on a Linux server, obviously, using RAID, so the Windows PCs are disposable.
Given your storm-related activity, the times where you really MUST be "online" are the times where things like utility power, internet, and customer service are less likely to be available...
You probably sell generators, so that's already a problem handled.
You need some redundancy, if your activity depends on a PC running, then you need to have a spare PC, with data backups, and even spare parts for everything stored in a safe place. If lightning hits your power lines, or if the voltage goes berserk because of the storm, your PCs will die (even the spares), and also your DSL modem, routers, etc.
When your place gets robbed (like the company next to my place was) and your PCs AND BACKUPS are stolen, you'll be grateful about that off-site data backup...
There is no question that DELL really sucked at handling your case, but you put too much trust on them. I understand you were so pissed at them, and you should be, but what did you do, what measured did you take so that it does not happen again ?
Indeed! How many tales like this? Of course, it took loosing a good chunk of their business and market share before they even realized they had a problem. I won't bore you with yet another tale of woe. Just know there are many of us out here, who no longer buy Dells for the same reason.
You have to really, really "try" to make things this bad for yourself. And all I can say is, Dell earned every last bit of it and that they are just starting to reap the results of those actions. I don't think Dell realizes yet just how bad it's going to get.
My company uses Dell machines. I have not experienced the worst of problems, but enough of them to have made the decision to never purchase anything from Dell. In fact The only time I use any machine with Windows on it is at work. Otherwise it's MacOS or Linux. Another thing is, the customer service at Dell. It sucks! The IT guys at my company definitley earn their money because they're constantly fixing these crap Dell computers.
I agree here. I would post my whole story to do with dell, but it would take forever, I may start a blog about my shit dell experiences.
Lets just say ive gotten 3 hard drive replacements, and even a WHOLE COMPUTER replacement, cuz dells shit doesnt last!!!!
NEVER BUY A DELL
Go ahead and post your comments here or blog about it (and cross-link back here). The more people who complain the more people will be warned to go buy something else from someone else.
So....last year...june 2006 to be exact, I purchased Dell Laptop. I was excited to FINALLY get a new computer, after having been without one for a couple years. The last computer I had purchased on 2001 was a Dell Desktop and I had pretty decent experiences with it, so I opted to buy another Dell.
Thats where I made my first mistake.
So...then nearly 1,700 dollars later I had a Dell laptop. An E1705 with a 17 inch monitor, lots of memory, cd/dvd burner, media center edition with windows XP.
The first problem was with delivery...they came by allegedly several times and rang the bell, all of the times which I WAS home and never heard the bell ring, but thats a UPS issue more than a Dell issue...I finally got the computer after chasing down the UPS driver for several hours in my neighborhood (yes...literally)
Anyways...so i got the computer. It seemed to be cool and I was happy. Then about a month in the problems started.
First the cd rom went. It just stopped working.
So, dell tech support sent me a new one. Fine....I figured, it happens...
I got the part and installed it. Next, the power cord went. It frayed where it plugs into the back of the computer (in about 3 more weeks or so...and under normal use....mostly in bed, or on the couch....no pulling hard or twisting the cord either. This happened several more times (at least 3-ish.) So it was replaced every time. The last time it happened they sent me 2 cords...obviously not having any faith that the cord will last.
So...then I have hard drive problems....so they send me a new one. That was awful. Happened right as I needed to relocate from the west to the east coast, and due to dell incompetance I couldnt receieve the hard drive until I moved. So, all the computer work i needed to do before then, including taking care of personal business/work and making all my arrangements had to be done on other computers. AND I didnt have my computer to use during my bi-coastal flight or hours of waiting at the airport.
So...I move, the hard drive FINALLY comes with a tech guy and is replaced. Then I have electrical problems and the motherboard needs to be replaced....so I cant really use the computer for days...while Im waiting for the part.
Then...Im told the hard drive needs to be replaced again, as Im having more issues....
So this time I told dell, just send me a replacement system. Im tired of having to replace a new part every couple months. Not only that but often I call tech support, and speak with someone who obviously doesnt know what they are doing, or cant understand me or vice versa (and Im GOOD with accents!) and when I ask to speak to someone else they transfer me.
Of course getting them to even replace the system took days and *escalation calls*. Finally it took hanging up on the alleged *upper management* (which was STILL in India) and when she called back I told her I wanted to speak to an american representative.
At that point she decided to send the replacement.
At various other points in dealing with all these problems (which also included the wrong software originally sent and needing new discs) dell tried to *buy me off* by sending me 100 dollars, and upgrading me to a dvd burner. That was nice at the time, but still not with the endless hours on the phone with a tech support that cant speak english or understand me and runs through the SAME damned routines OVER and OVER again even when I tell them Ive already tried all that. I dont mind speaking to foriegn tech support providing they can speak decent english and give me the proper assistance.
So...now I have a *refurbished* system. They upgraded it to Windows Vista...and thus the problems begin again. Some things about vista are annoying, but I was willing to deal with it. It was so bad. Then I realize that windows media player is crackly and doesnt work properly, and being a performance artist/musician I often use it to play music and burd cds.
I was told by tech support that I needed to reinstall the WHOLE operating system because WMP is built into VISTA. After failed attempts at other ideas given to me by tech support I begrudgingly backed up the computer (which was having its own issues and not working properly) and reinstalled vista. I put back in my files (which I wasnt able to save them all despite the backup functions not working properly which dell wouldnt/couldnt really help me with....
Now...Im having more problems. Graphic/video errors, and a plast piece fell off the bottom of the computer while picking it up (but not squeezing or dropping it)
So I call dell again...once again I get someone who doesnt understand me and hangs up, and I call again, and get someone who obviously had just started that day or something...couldnt help me and just told me to reinstall vista again. And ignored the issue I had with the plastic piece by the battery randomly falling off. So I called customer care, and complained about everything. They sent me an *escalation ticket* and I got a call the next day. I told DELL I wanted all my money back, and never wanted anything to do with them again. I realize this was unlikely, but hey...ya gotta try. So...I agreed to speak with *upper-level tech support* which wanted to run all the same tests I had already run on the computer. I told him I wanted them to replace this unit, and send me one that WORKS from the get-go because obviously this *replacement* is a piece of crap too! Of course he refused....and was rude. So I hung up on him and called customer care. THey agreed to replace the unit again, and this time it would be better. I told them I didnt want another e1705 because obviously that system has serious issues...but they said its all they could do for the time being...so here I am waiting for it to find out. My warranty runs out in june, and Im sure with the way this computer system has been, it will break down a day after the warranty expires...and Ill just be screwed...after spending nearly 1700 dollars (which btw I only had because my father commit suicide and I was able to cash in his small retirement policy) So otherwise I couldnt afford a computer. I was struggling myself in san francisco to stay afloat. So this computer was going to help me alot...getting my resume together, networking, building a massage clientele base, advertising, and staying in touch with family/friends and whatnot. I wish I had spend the extra 300 dollars and gotten a MACbook Pro. Next time I buy a computer thats what Im gonna do. Dell has shown me that it only cares if you bitch at them for hours, and keep bugging alleged upper level staff ceaselessly, and just sends out crappier and crappier systems/parts.
Sigh...
Dell Sucks!
Oh..and I forgot to mention on the refurbished unit the motherboard also needed to be replaced because the power cord wouldnt stay in it..and on the old computer the monitor started to fall apart at the seams...so Im expecting the same thing on this one...
Anyone else have the same problems???
Im at angeliclive@yahoo.com
Hey, tell them you want your warranty extended too. Tell them you want IN WRITING that your warranty starts over with the replaced system. If it's a new system, well it should have a new warranty. I know people who have had that done. GET IT IN WRITING THOUGH.
Also, file a complaint with both your State and the Texas (where dell is) department of consumer services and claim faulty equipment and breach of contract.
And as you have no doubt seen, a lot of people have similar problems.
I should...and will. I also just sent an email to several dell execs and to several media sources...dont know if it will garner any attention, but I basically copied and pasted what I wrote here to cbs, nbc, abc, newsweek, nytimes, latimes, and several others...
You cannot backup your piece of shit DELL because they (DELL) remove the backup feature from Windows XP!
I should note in my original post I meant to say, that when I spoke with someone who I couldnt understand or they couldnt understand me, they just hung up on me. Andd that a piece of plastic fell off the bottom of the computer. Well..I followed up with *upper management* and spoke to someone named *Cliff* in the midwest. He tried to run all the same diagnostics I had already run. I ended the conversation after he got irate with a friendly *f*ck* off....he refused to replace the system. So I called customer care again, and right away got someone who replaced it. I recieved my replacement. They sent me an XPS M1710. So far it seems like a much higher quality computer...except the screen seems to be more dim (and ive already adjusted all settings even in the f2 menu) despite this computer having a top of the line graphics card.
Sigh...
Im having font problems too (ive never had this problem before on ANY computer...)
Dell does suck, I returned a Lap top and they have had it since Nov 2007 and now 3 months later I have not seen my refund and I call and get some Yahoo in India telling me the same crap every week and still no refund what is the problem over there !!
I will never buy another Dell !!
This happened today. But has been happening since I purchased my Dell. The only reason I chose Dell was for the financing and for the fact that my last laptop, an Inspiron 6000 purchased in 1995, never skipped a beat.
First of all, I built the computer online and ordered it. When I went to show my buddy the process and how I ordered it, a ton of new options popped up. Options that were not given me just 12 hours before. I was engraged but decided I still had a good deal with the 250G HDD on this inspiron 1720. When I received it I was not happy. It weighs about fifteen pounds and standard in the price was the 9-cel battery that sticks off the back like an ice age battery pack. Used to good customer service (I sell high end televisions for a multinational company) I simply wanted to exchange it based on the fact that I wasn't given the options to choose from that were available to me.
1. Two weeks after placing the order, DHL delivered it to my neighbor, who signed for it. I did not know this person, had never met them. They were nice enough to call me and tell me it had arrived. What if it had been someone more dishonest?
2. When I received it, I called Dell to both complain about DHL and return/exchange the computer. I was told I could not return the computer without a hefty restocking fee. Even when I agreed to pay the restocking fee, the CSR (indian) said to change out the computer with the restocking fee would cost more than my "Dell Preferred Account" allowed me to spend. So whatever, they dangled some goodies in front of my face and I took them, thinking I had no alternatives. One was a blue tooth card, the other an nvidia graphics card. Keep these in mind. When I asked about the cost of installation, they said these could easily be installed over the phone with the help of a technician.
3. After a month, the bluetooth card arrived. It was not what I has asked for, but simply a wireless plug in for a wireless mouse and keyboard, not the onboard bluetooth I asked for. I called customer service. They said, basically, tough.
4. At this time I also inquired about the graphics card that was supposed to have been sent out. It wasn't finished being built (?) and would arrive soon. Fed up at this point, I began the process of trying to return the computer. After speaking for two days to nothing but rude Indian reps, transferred line to line to line, same story, blah blah blah, they finally said that I was outside the 21 day return policy. When I explained to them that I was told I could not return it, was told I could not return it, they acted like it was my fault. They said that because I accepted these goodies it meant we had reached an agreement. Truth is, I didn't know about the 21 day and was not informed. That was my fault for not doing my research. But the fact that I was lied to had no weight with these people. With the touch of a button a computer can be replaced. They seemed intent on NOT making me happy. But the time they sent me all this stuff, they could have easily replaced the computer and sold it refurbished. They didn't understand this. That's okay, they're idiots.
5. Nvidia card arrived. I don't even know that it fits the computer. I called tech service to guide me through the installation process (remember when I was told it could be done over the phone?) Two technicians told me it could not be done over the phone and recommended me to Best Buy where I would have to pay to have it installed.
6. Computer would not restart, had to be reformatted over the phone and windows vista reinstalled. I lost precious data. I asked then if I could please exchange it. The answer was no.
7. Crashed again. This time they got on computer remotely and fixed it. They fixed it! No data loss. I complain of the fact that this is obviously a defunkt computer to be having these problems so far, no go. I will not be getting a new one.
8. Had it. Called trying to get upper echelon. Transfer after transfer, I repeated this incident over and over, I've had this thing for less than two months now and this is already happening. At my company we have a non-DOA warrantly. Dell doesn't. I finally complain enough to get a response in an email. I will paste this below:
Dear XXXX,
Thank you for contacting Dell Online Customer Care.
I am the supervisor with the customer service.
I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you. I understand that we lose faith in a company if we receive poor service.
We, at Dell, firmly believe that we have reached such heights only because of customers like you. It is our endeavor not only to just fix the customer’s problem but also to make him happy during the interaction.
Dell wants every customer to have a positive experience. However, based on the information you have given me your experience has not been a positive one. I would like the opportunity to resolve your issue and show you that Dell cares about its customers. This is not the way we train our people to conduct business services. It is something that we are constantly focusing at, as a daily business practice for improvement. By bringing this to our attention, you have provided us with crucial data in our ever-vigilant efforts to raise the standards of individuals, upon whom we rely to give excellent service to our customers. Your feedback will continue to be seriously considered in our ongoing endeavors to improve services.
I can understand the frustration this may have caused, as I would also have felt the same had I been in your place. I would call this a rare case where we did not meet our customer’s expectations. It is our endeavor not only to just fix the customer’s problem but also to make him happy during the interaction. I assure you that such a mistake will not be repeated and all steps would be made to make improvements. On behalf of Dell, I apologize to you.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to assist you. Your case number for this interaction is XXXX. Please keep this number for your records; it will help us keep track of this issue so we can better assist you if you have any further questions or concerns about your issue.
If you require further assistance, please feel free to visit our Online Customer Care Center at:
http://support.dell.com
Thank you again for contacting Dell Online Customer Care.
Respectfully,
Vishal Joshi
*
Now, thinking the war was won, I set out today to claim the spoils of my victory. But when I called customer servive with the case number they said they can see the email but do not see where it says a replacement is authorized. I am again transferred around to people who can validate it and after about three hours I simply give up.
I am waiting now to see what comes of it, having written an email back telling them that an apology won't build the Towers back up. I hope I drove it home. It seemed a little more tactful than hey man, I ate your grandma in a happy meal this morning.
From what I've read on this page, and I've been reading for hours, the way to get something done is to curse and to demand an american. I'm gonna pull both cards and let you know how it works out.
Wow, I know this was started long ago but it still looks active, so here goes . . .
Eric, my friend, you are a bonehead. Honestly, no backup plan for mission-critical devices? C'monnnnn. And any compatible power supply unit could have been used to replace the defective one, at least in the short term: just lay it outside the case, no need to screw it down inside. Although, I have done so, for example, installing a Thermaltake PSU in a Dimension 4550. Sure, you need to cut away a bit of metal, but if you can turn a screw driver then you can do it.
As for Dell, you need to learn to raise your voice. The squeeky wheel does indeed get the grease. Those folks in the subcontinent who speek the Queen's English really DO NOT understand America and our penchant for quality service. They are accustomed to what we consider "third-rate," and that's good enough for them. You need to get vocal, then they transfer you up the line to the helpers in Central America or the USA, and then it gets done. Next day service? No problem.
And as for Dell going out of business any time soon, get real. Hell, I just got off the phone with Apple support regarding replacement of a fundamentally defective motherboard (excuse me, 'logic' board) and was pretty much given the shaft by a nice American service rep. The grass is always greener . . .
I PROMISE NEVER TO BUY A DELL!!!!ITS A DISGUSTING HORRID COMPANY WITH NO ETHICAL, MORAL VALUES.
Obviously Anonymous works for dell
MICHAEL FROM MD
Dell used to have excellent customer care and Tech support til they started outsourcing this to India. even the person who takes your call is india and his name is Larry or Clint. Ask them if they are reading from one page or 2 page instruction. THis is my 3experience and I will never buy from India. I wasted 2 hours with tech support and customer care in India both on the phone and online about a new laptop that came with Visat 64 that is noot compatible with some software. The support show no understanding of the problem and it makes you wonder what part of the English Language they do not understand. As I said I am done with Dell. Toop bad a good american company will go down the drain and now THanks to using AMEX, let them deal with Dell.
my dell customer experience http://dell-customer-support-sucks.blogspot.com/
blog made while on hold with dell for 5 hours
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Worst Service ever!!! Poor customer support. I bought 2 XPS laptops for high price, but receive poor or NON support for both. Will never buy again from DELL!
Ok I'm on hold right now with Dell, it's been 4 hours! I have been transferred 8x! any way I have loved my laptop but its 5 years old & just needed a few minor parts. The parts need to be replaced due to my fault not Dells. I have been shipped the wrong parts (for a latittude not inspirion) 3x now! The don't believe me that my computer is a inspirion!!!
I am in the market for a new desk top computer & WILL NOT BUY DELL just because of the piss poor support center! My question to every one is who you would recommend for my next computer? I am very interested in a Gateway FX6801-01
just spent a few hours trying to download drivers for a dell printer from their site with not help. Dell support won't help me because my printer is not longer under warranty... so I say F'em. If they won't support their own products I won't buy them. Just that easy. To Hell with Dell.
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