Disenchanted with Dell
I’ve bought at least two dozen computers from Dell in the past five years. Three of them are still here in my office, including the PC I’m typing this post on and the server that runs my home network. I’ve lost count of the number of PCs I’ve bought from Dell for friends and neighbors.
In the past year, though, I’ve become increasingly disenchanted with Dell, thanks to support policies that have turned practically hostile. Last year I had to fight for months to get a $200 rebate that I was entitled to. I ordered a PC with this rebate and received paperwork indicating a purchase date that was several days after the actual date on which I bought the PC – and, not concidentally, after the date on which the rebate expired. I was one of many Dell customers who experienced this problem, a fact I uncovered thanks to the excellent Dell support forums. But Dell’s customer service representatives didn’t seem interested in this problem, and it took at least 10 phone calls, my blood pressure rising a few points with each one, to get the rebate. On the last call, the outsourced Dell rep tried valiantly to talk me into settling for 25 cents on the dollar. Nice try.
Last week I had another run-in with Dell. A good friend has a four-year-old Dell Dimension 4100 that still does everything she wants it to do. The trouble is, it has a case fan that sounds like it could qualify for a Nascar event. It’s so loud that you can literally hear it two rooms away when the door is closed. Needless to say, she now turns on the computer, does her online tasks, and then shuts down.
This is a known problem with the Dimension 4100, I learned from the Dell forums, and many people received replacement fans when they complained. Good for them, because the fan is a proprietary part, consisting of a plastic bracket containing a standard 92mm case fan. I have a spare fan, but there’s no way to remove the defective fan from the bracket without breaking the bracket into pieces, and there’s no easy way to attach a standard fan to the case (except by using duct tape or Super Glue).
I found the part number and tried to order a replacement from Dell. After hours on hold, I found that the part was out of stock. Three different reps promised to check on the part’s status and get back to me. None of them did. The last one I spoke to told me I was simply out of luck.
On my 12th call, after complaining loudly, I was transferred to a customer service representative who searched Dell’s worldwide inventory, found the part, and agreed to ship it to me, free of charge. That should have been the response on the first call.
It’s unfortunate when a manufacturer uses proprietary parts instead of standard parts. It’s worse when they don’t keep those parts in stock for the tens of thousands of customers who own those computers. And it’s practically unforgivable when they treat those customers like a nuisance instead of an asset.
I used to recommend Dell enthusiastically. I’m not sure I’ll do so again – and I know I’ll look carefully at my friendly local PC builder first.
I used to work for Gateway in the mid-1990s and it was their policy to make it as difficult as possible for the customer to get a part replaced. We were supposed to expend at least 6 tech support calls and as many as 20 phone-hours “trying to fix it” before sending a new part. Which is completely ridiculous. If a HD fails, it fails. Same with a video card. Arguing with the customer won’t change that fact. But if we didn’t, our “call stats” went down and we were eventually fired.
Since then, I’ve either built my own or had the guy down the street piece and part one together for me ever since. I’ve only had two problems — two failed HDs in nine years, but they were both well outside their warranty. No problem.
Why pay more for a desktop just to have the Dell logo on it? Build your own computer .. Anyone with an iota of tech savy will find customer support less than helpful. You realize that these people get paid minimum wage to talk grandpa through checking his email 30 times a day?
Yeah, Paul, it’s easy to build a computer. But when’s the last time you tried to build a laptop from parts? http://www.thisistrue.com/dellhell.html
Ed,
The fan mounting bracket used in the Dell 4100 system you mention snaps directly to virtually any standard 92mm fan. Likewise, the existing fan can easily be detached from the bracket in seconds with nothing more than a pocket screwdriver used as a pry tool to disengage the latches. I recently rebuilt several of those systems and in doing so I removed and re-attached various fans to those brackets numerous times.
If somehow you did manage to break the bracket, in a pinch the fan could be attached to the rear of the chassis directly using nylon zip ties.
Historical note: Those systems used a chassis made by Palo Alto Products, which were some of the nicest chassis I’ve worked with. You can see an earlier example of the Palo Alto chassis depicted in patent number 5,748,442 (www.uspto.gov). An example of the fan bracket you mention is shown on page 11 of the patent images. If you can’t see the images in your browser, visit (www.uspto.gov/patft/help/images.htm) for a solution.
Palo Alto Products was founded by Jim Sacherman (www.plasticsnews.com/forum2003/bios.phtml?id=1041278002) in 1983, and
was perhaps best known for doing the industrial design of the Palm Pilot. They also designed and built computer chassis for Dell, Gateway, Micron, Packard Bell, and many other major PC vendors. They were bought by Flextronics in early 2000, who now manufactures most of Dell’s systems, as well as HP Printers, the Microsoft Xbox, and more.
Funny you mention those chassis now, as I was recently going through my inventory of old stuff, and encountered three Dell Dimension XPS and one Micron Millenia from the 1998-2000 timeframe, all of which used the same basic Palo Alto Products chassis. I had to build a number of new systems over the last few months, and re-used the Palo Alto chassis for several of them, all the while marvelling at how well designed and constructed they were, especially as compared to many of the newer chassis I’ve used. Scott.
Ed, I too had a problem with Dell also. I recently bought a 17″ flat planel on behalf of my parents for my B-Day/Christmas gift. I actually had to argue with the “sales rep”? that I did not want the sound bar for my monitor. He told me it was $49.99. Then quoted me a price of $460 or so dollars. I couldn’t use their account from Dell online so I called. He said he would give me the internet discount but shipping was $49. Ground shipping is $16. Which was free also online. He said that I could get free shipping if I bought the sound bar. I have great speakers and headphones. I went though 5 “hold” periods. I then recieve an email for the wrong amount and wrong address. Then finally got the email for the right price with tax and everything, but the wrong address which I stressed for him to change. I had to drive to the local UPS facility to pick up my monitor. I’m done with Dell! Screw them! BTW the people never give their full name or use American names so you don’t know that the job you could have had has been taken by an immigrant for lower pay and they don’t speak English very well!
For more Dell gripes see
http://www.computergripes.com/Dell.html
I’m a Dell customer of 7 years, BUT I just sent back my entire Dell system, and will never buy or recommend them again. They have slipped beyond repair.
The customer support Dell says is “world class service” is nothing short of unethical and incompetent. All of my contact with Dell was either in Panama City, or India. The reps speak poor english, and are very hard to understand. They seem to only be able to follow a simple flow chart and apologize. When I aked for a phone number to corporate, Customer Care said they didn’t know the number. When I asked for the name of the Manager in Customer Care, they only said, “David”. They also disconnected me from the chat Customer Care, when I insisted they provide me a solution to my problems…this happened 4 times!
In every transaction there was an error. From cancelled orders, to incorrect shipping methods, etc. I spent a minimum of 1.5 hour per call…that’s per call.
When I asked Dell how they could rectify there errors, they said that they were only a “mail order company”, and had no control over production & shipping.
If you press them, they will give you money off your order…they offered me $50, and then $75 credit. But in the end that was not worth all the trouble.
In November of 2003, I purchased 3 laptop computers as Christmas gifts for my grandchildren. I availed myself of the offer of 6 months, no interest account, since it was Christmas and the cost was about 5000. I paid for the computers well within the time specified and in accordance with the agreement.
Later, I received a check for $4.00 accompanied by scant and very obtuse “information” apparently designed to entrap rather than inform. Assuming I had over paid the account inadvertently, I deposited the check.
The nightmare began. I continued to receive checks which I threw away since by then it seemed clear this was some kind of scam. Then began the bills for something called “Essentials” (all this for computers I have not seen since I gave them to the children). I called both Dell and “Essentials” about 30 times. I asked what this was for–no one would tell me! I continue to receive bills, late charges, etc. I continue to try to speak to Dell who claims this is not one of their charges so they “don’t know”. I never get to speak to someone for whom English is the primary language.
I have written several letters. I have told them they have forever alienated a faithful Dell cusotmer who has purchased many computers from them over the years. Nothing seems to register.
At no time have I received any merchandise or services–I still do not know what “Essentials” is.
Can the FTC help? Is anyone else experiencing this? One Dell Financial employee remarked that “we’ve had a lot of complaints” but would not expand on that.
A long Dell complaint……
I have an older Dell Computer, Dimension 4100, and had been getting frequent messages saying it was low on space in the hard drive. I know little to nothing about computers and so called Dell support to ask for the solution to this problem. I said I thought maybe I needed more memory and they agreed with me (eh? Should have known then I was in trouble). I ordered the memory and installed it and it didn’t fix the problem…. so I called back. “No” they now tell me “ you need a new hard drive with more space”. Ok, I’m ok with that…. but I don’t know which to buy. I first try their web site, typing in my type of computer and getting the options for a hard drive. I then call up tech support to get their advice on the hard drives I’ve come up with. After a lengthy phone call they narrow it down to one and I order it from them after they’ve assured me that it will come with everything necessary to install it. This is January 12, 2005. I receive the hardrive on the 17th and call them a couple days later so they can walk me through installing it in my computer. After being on the phone for over an HOUR with a guy from India who I can barely understand we come to the conclusion that I have not received the brackets to hold the hard drive into the computer. (I swear he must have asked me ten times if I saw the green latch in the computer and I told him ten times that there was absolutely NOTHING green in my computer, to which he would say ‘uh, huh’ and then try and rephrase the question in hopes of…. what? Catching me off guard so I would say ‘oh yea I really do see that green latch I’ve been looking for for the last hour’…..) Anyway he said that they should be sent to me free of charge and I got off the phone hopeful and with a small crick in my neck. A while later I checked my order status and it had been cancelled…HUH? So back on the phone to wait and wait for a service rep. I again place the order for the brackets, the sales rep assuring me that this time it will go through. (this on Jan. 31) Again the ordered is cancelled for reasons no one can see. I place the order for the third time on Feb. 7th. I actually have trouble verifying my account this time because they claim that the phone number I’m giving them is not the one on my account. I get a little pissed at this and say it’s the only one I’ve got and as this is the third time I’ve tried to place this order they’d better figure it out. The guy seemed to let it go. After placing the order I tell him I am EXTREMELY doubtful of his ability to get this order through. He assures me it will all work out. He gives me his email address and I get the actual item numbers for the brackets so I know what I’m getting. Again the order is cancelled…. I email the guy and wait a day and get no response (I later learn that they are not suppose to give out email addresses, perhaps this was a phony?). So I get back on the phone with Dell, this is around the end of February. I get on the phone with a sales rep and tell her the story and say perhaps the order is getting cancelled because I’m not giving credit card info to them (even though its supposed to be free of charge) She said this was not it but I was so fed up that I asked to pay for them now and have her credit my account later. (oh and by the way ‘how much are these items?’ ‘ten dollars’ I’ve been spending hours and hours on the phone with DELL HELL for TEN DOLLARS, crikey!) Anyway she says she’ll put the order through and call me the next day and also credit my account when I receive the items. Never hear from her again and also never see that order again….it NEVER was even placed.
So I call them on March 12th for my FIFTH try. At first the sales rep tells me my customer number is not showing the order for the hard drive and we solve the mystery of the incorrect phone number two calls ago. I have two customer numbers, one old, and one new. One with an incorrect phone number….ah. He then proceeds to tell me the items numbers I gave him don’t exist. Oh wait, yes they do but only in the spare parts division, he can’t actually place the order (so all the other reps were lying to me when they said they could place the order??) I get transferred to spare parts. There I talk to a guy who actually takes two seconds to look at my information, type of computer and what hard drive I ordered….and after telling me the brackets are backordered for six months (what??) he drops the BOMB and says ‘ but you know the hard drive you ordered is not compatible with your computer’
I think I actually started crying then…
So, I’m transferred over to Customer Service so I can return the hard drive. And of course too much time has gone by and it’s not possible to return this item!!! I tell the guy my story, (in an admittedly loud angry voice) and he keeps saying “and why didn’t you call us sooner?” and I keep saying “ I’m telling you why, just listen!!”
So I get transferred to his supervisor (last time I asked for a supervisor, I believe that was my 4th phone call, I was told they were all in a meeting.) She listens to my tale of woe and puts me on hold for a while to check it out. She comes back and tells me that ‘ yes that hard drive is incompatible with my computer and the one that will work is $99 dollars. So what she can do for me is give me a coupon for $100 dollars so I can buy it online, but I still can’t return the other one. I say ‘can you pay me for the EIGHT HOURS I’ve spent talking to on the phone to DELL these past two months?’ She didn’t really see the humor but put me on hold again to check things out. She came back on and said ‘well here’s another option, I can order the hard drive for you right now for free.’ (I’m sorry, was that different than the first option, really?) I gave up and said ‘Great! Which customer number would you like, my old one or my new one?’
I have in my possession an order number, an item number, a ship date and her name…Angel.
Will I ever see my hard drive?
I’m curious. Did you ever receive your hard drive?
Fuck you Jon B. This is why the rest of the world thinks americans are ignorant.
Although I acknowledge many of these situations do happen, I did feel compelled to share some information with you. I am a tech support manager in Panama and I can honestly tell you that in my opinion (and speaking only for the area I work in: approx. 450 techs handling all the lines of busines) the proportion of poor agents to competent ones is very small. I think if you called back today, you’d likely notice the improvement. The trouble was that until about 6 months ago, our support model was not designed to give proper follow up/take ownership of cases. This had very little to do with the agents and more with the fact that we had always gotten calls and resolved them the first time. Due to the changing nature of issues like spyware (and policies obviously designed to reduce warranty costs), we were in bad shape to handle situations where we might have multiple contacts or had to call back, especially when agents had to rely on the log of the previous person who might not have done it in great detail. Fortunately, we created a new model for owning customer issues that I think has really good potential. Sure it might take some time to work out the kinks, but I’m confident we’ll be able to do it. About the international support, I can tell you we have some very good people down here but bear in mind we are only nearing 2 years of service. Replacing Round Rock based techs who had over 5-7 years dealing with our machines was never going to be easy. Accents are something tough to address, but then again, even within the US there are thousands of different accents that can be just as tough to understand. I can tell we are actively coaching everyone to improve their communication. The issue with India is tough because I’ve travelled there often and yes, the accent is tough get through but we are committed to the country. The reason is they are exceptional employees who DO speak extremely good English and learn very quickly. I understand the frustration but I would bet anything they’ll find a way to get over those issues. Just to share other tidbits with you, we’ve opened new facilities within North America in Idaho, Edmonton (Canada) and will open another in Ottawa so we have listened to everyone’s desire for more native speakers but do understand globalization will continue to grow. Just to finish up, something really important about us (and believe me it’s no BS) is that our management hates to lose and always exceeds goals so if we ever have challenges in any area, I would bet any amount of money it would be solved within a maximum of 1 year. I know it might be hard to trust but give it a shot. At least know this, most employees grumble about their company but I’d say (including US employees) at least 60-70% of people I’ve met had tremendous faith in our company and senior management so that’s gotta tell you something.
So many similar comments….We bought a D810 laptop to take to Italy. Needless to say, it arrived defective, but after nearly 24 hours on-line, Dell promised to provide a replacement before we left. Surprise! They sent it UPS GROUND and it didn’t arrive before we left. Dell dropped it at my front door, and when I returned from Italy and tried to return ALL their equipment, I was informed there would be a charge because the 21-day policy, dated from the original delivery of their defective PC, had been exceded. Well hell, I had been in italy for weeks, what was I supposed to do, fly home to return their crap?
Let’s do all we can to sink Dell.
Don James
Yep, reading all of these complaints makes me all the madder, and it is the reason I wrote: Ode to Michael Dell. You can find it at:a
http://www.Dell-Hell.blogspot.com
Sixteen poems devoted to a lousy outfit.
Pingback: Chris Pirillo
I have recently had my own Dell Hell and although I wanted the computer (only one that worked) I could no longer tolerate the dysfuction of the support & returned it. Only to make matters worse–even if you have a return confirmation number–the collections people still call 20 times a day! (Dell will slow dance you past the return date and then expect you to pay for 3/4 of the original price) Write a letter to them requesting only written communications IMMEDIATLY or you’ll have to turn your ringer off on a service that is owned and paid for by you!! Where is the Justice?
I also have bought numerous computers from dell, but I can tell you this will be my last. I was trying to purchase a computer on their website, when it would not process. So I called their sales line, gave the man my order number and proceeded to purchase it this way. When I told him I had gift certificates and cash to buy the system with, he told me he could give me a better deal if I financed it. I again repeated that I did not want to incur intrest so I would pay for the system. He told me to finance it through Dell and then when I received my statement that I could mail in the certificates with a check for the difference and then the bill would be paid in full. After verifing this with the finance rep, I decided to do it this way. After mailing in the check and the certificates, the next statement did not reflect my certificates. Calling on this, I was told Dell Financial does NOT accept certificates as payments. I have now been aruging with them over this issue for 6 weeks. Their Customer Service is the worst I have EVER had to deal with. Their solution was for me to cancel the certificates and pay cash for the system. Dell-NEVER AGAIN
Speaking of Dell Hell, I have been in it since Nov. 9th with no satisfaction. I ordered a nice new Dell on Nov 9th and it was slated to arrive via UPS on Nov. 16. Only the monitor arrived. No PC. Finally on the 18th UPS told me and Dell that the system was lost and to file a claim and tracer. Since the evening of the 16th (when my local ups already had told me it was lost but to wait til the 17th) I called Dell and got the Indians. I have called them literally 40 times a day since and have had no satisfaction. On the 22nd of Nov I finally was able to find someone in this country that claimed to be from their executive offices that would expedite my refund (by this time I never wanted to deal with Dell again and did not want another computer. They had refused to send me a new one until UPS either paid them back for the lost one or found the one I had ordered.
Anyway the person in this country has been promising me since the 22nd that I would get my refund overnite and today is Dec 3 and no refund!! The monitor went back to them 10 over a week ago (and that took some doing!!! the indians never sent ups to pick it up!!) and ups found the other computer and returned it to Dell 5 days ago. Still no refund!! My only consolation is that on Dec. 22nd my bank card is going to credit me back inspite of Dell. Unfortunately my bank said they had to give them 30 days to credit me back after I put it in the dispute dept. Don’t wait to dispute the charge with your bank if you have charged one. Do it right away because it is a long wait to get any satisfaction. The new date for my refund to go thru is next monday but I am not holding my breath. I have heard this since Nov. 22nd. I will never do business again with Dell. In fact I bought a new HP the other day and it is wonderful.
UPDATE Dec. 9 2005: I finally received an email stating they had refunded the money on my credit card for the missing computer. BUT they shorted me $98. I call that horrible customer service in India and they claim its tax. I said why didn’t they refund the tax on something I never received. Gives me a number to the tax dept and claims she is transferring me. All I get is beep beep beep….no one picks up. Busy signal I guess into the netherlands. So I call the number she gives me and all day when you call it says they are in a meeting and call back another time. Ridiculous. I don’t believe they ever answer. Then I send an email to that dept and all I get back is an automated reply. This company is totally outrageous. I have been waiting a month for a refund and now they are trying to steal $98 bucks from me. Don’t ever ever buy from Dell. If you have ANY problem, it will never be solved.
Okay, I ordered a Notebook for my son for Christmas, because the ad promised delivery by December 23rd. After continuous checking of my order status, which remained as “pre-production” for TWO WEEKS, and with Xmas a week away, I attempted contact. I was put on hold and after waiting over a half hour on the phone, I was hung up on, not once, but twice. I then had an email chat with some Indian named Parneet who simply apologized woodenly, and told me that due to the holidays (did they not know the holidays were coming??) they were extra busy, and I would not be receiving it on time. Then, THEN, a couple days later,I checked the status of my order, and it said it was cancelled!! Why…who knows? I am livid, I will never purchase a thing from Dell, I am going out to buy an Apple.
My cousin was on the phone will Dell cust service last night for three hours! She had ordered a part for her laptop, had not received it and called to find out the status of her order. She was told the order had been cancelled. Funny, she did not cancel so who did? She informed the rep she needed the part and she wanted her order reinstated and expedited overnight. Please hold, she was told and she held for over 30 min. the first time. Finally someone came online and she had to explain the problem all over again. She did this back and forth for three hours. They transferred her to Sales, Sales transferred her to Cust Care, Cust Care transferred her back to Sales. Everyone asked her to verify her address. She had to give the same info at least 45X! She asked for a supervisor at least 10x, she was hung up on at least 10x, left in dell hold hell, reps were not giving their names, she sounded like a broken tape recorder repeating her story again, again, again, again. She was beyond livid but she was determined to get it resolved. She was given reference numbers and no one could find them so they would give her another one. I was sitting in the chair utterly amazed. She had to explain her situation with every rep regardless of the department that they were from. I was getting as mad as she was. The last rep she spoke with promised her the part is ordered and will ship overnight. I doubt it! Will shall see today. I will never purchase a Dell computer and I will not recommend them either.