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.
Ed Bott 
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 didnt fix the problem . so I called back. No they now tell me you need a new hard drive with more space. Ok, Im ok with that . but I dont 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 Ive come up with. After a lengthy phone call they narrow it down to one and I order it from them after theyve 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 Ive 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 Im giving them is not the one on my account. I get a little pissed at this and say its the only one Ive got and as this is the third time Ive tried to place this order theyd 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 Im 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 Im 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 Ive been spending hours and hours on the phone with DELL HELL for TEN DOLLARS, crikey!) Anyway she says shell 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 dont exist. Oh wait, yes they do but only in the spare parts division, he cant 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, Im transferred over to Customer Service so I can return the hard drive. And of course too much time has gone by and its not possible to return this item!!! I tell the guy my story, (in an admittedly loud angry voice) and he keeps saying and why didnt you call us sooner? and I keep saying Im 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 cant return the other one. I say can you pay me for the EIGHT HOURS Ive spent talking to on the phone to DELL these past two months? She didnt really see the humor but put me on hold again to check things out. She came back on and said well heres another option, I can order the hard drive for you right now for free. (Im 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.
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.
Part 2: The part has shipped. When we checked the website for the status of order it actually said NEXY DAY , it has no tracking number, status is saying processed but the arrival date is stating Jan 2. That does not sound like Next Day shipping to me. My cousin refuses to call Dell Cust Care hell back after being on the phone with them 3 hours the other night.
I agree with all of the above, a few years ago Dell service was great, now its the bottom of the barrel. For starts I ordered a laptop and gave them my address, it was supposed to be delivered within 10 days. After 2 weeks I called and found it had been delivered to an address I had used 5 years ago when I ordered a Dell Desktop for my father in a different state. When I asked how they had found that old delivery address they had no idea, I waited another 2 weeks and finally got the laptop, but the Netgear equiptment I ordered never came, I called and my fears were confirmed, it too had been sent out of State. I asked them to cancel it as I needed this asap, they said they did, but low and behold it was delivered and I was charged. I called and asked them to credit me and pick it up they gave me a case # and pick-up order # stating ups would pick-up on 11/4/05. Guess what I still have the part and now American Express is fighting with them for me. The wait time for phone help is crazy and yes I too have waited upto an hour, been on with a tech for two – three hours and then disconnected, only to have the whole process start again. Don’t buy a Dell and you won’t have to go to Dell Hell. I just bought an HP/Compaq, its great and the phone service is great. Dell got too big for its own good and they;re no longer customer friendly…. Sorry Dell but its the truth.
January 16, 2006 morning, ordered a Dell B110 with a free upgrade 17′ Flat Panel Monitor for $912.99. I guess, that should have sounded to good to be true. Everything went well, until the product was shipped to the wrong address by Dell’s distribution wareshouse at: 11550 Stone Hollow Drive, Austin, Texas. The UPS shipping label was correct but the contents in the box was wrong. I found a packing slip with this other guys computer info. Evidently, Dell sent me this guy Joseph’s computer which was NOT at all as good as the one I ordered. I called him up and left a message on his machine to call me back. He did and he said “that his name was on the box”. I said “Yes, it is going to be, because my name was on your box”. I told him to contact Dell the next day and I would do the same. I call Dell of the morning of 1/25/06. Dell made arrangements for DHL carrier to pick up the wrong box at my home, which DHL did, and took it to this guy Joseph home, but I was NOT ever given my correct box! As of today, 2/1/06, I have NOT received my computer that I paid with my credit card. I have called Dell at 1800wwwdell at least 10 times and they either hang up on me or transfer me back to the main menu to get another customer service rep that hangs up on me or tells me to call another number and that person tells me to call back to 1800wwwdell! I had to tell my story at least 12 times, only to get nothing resolved. Between my wife and I, we are very upset with Dell and from this horrible experience, we vow NEVER to purchase from Dell again! From seeing other letters from other folks, were going to write a letter to Michael Dell at the corporate headquarters in Texas and see if we can get the computer that we purchased. Obviously, this guy Joseph isn’t giving up our computer, and since its been 7 days, I wouldn’t be surprised if its been striped of my hard drive or missing something inside. Besides, I don’t want any problems with the warranties of the B110 computer. I just received a call from a Dell Supervisor. I’m suppose to get a replacement but isn’t that what the customer service rep told me before? I told the Supervisor, “okay, but I’m going to call back to customer service and find out if one has been order”. He said that he was going to work on it and hopefully by this weekend that it will shipped. Is this another stall tactic? Or if this Supervisor is on the level, I hope that they don’t do a RUSH job on my computer and its going to have defects. Don’t let this happen to you, do research on your item before buying. I plan to the next time! We have learned our lesson! Good Luck to you all that read this letter!
Okay so Dell really does suck! I’m only sorry I didn’t read these sites before I made my purchase. I bought an Inspiron 9300 in December. Everything was great. I had been a Dell customer for years, and had never had a problem with them. 40 days into my purchase my computer stopped working. It was as if it was just a prop. I called tech support, and after they decided it was really dead, they said they’d send a tech the next day. I never received a visit, but i did get a phone call that night asking me how the visit went. The next week was a haze of conversation after conversation with Dell reps that could not help me. After the tech (not a Dell employee) finally came, he saw that Dell had sent them the wrong piece. I waited another 2 days. The new pieces Dell sent were not the right pieces either. The technician actually told me that I shouldn’t have bought a Dell, he recommended several other companies that have been making better products these days. Macs and Toshibas. I called tech support for another round. A manager? finally came on the phone with me, I swear the “supervisors” are just other employees that they pass teh call to, they can never answer questions and hardly seems interested in anything you are saying, they do apologize profusely though, don’t they? The man I spoke with “Roy” was no help either, I had wanted an exchange at first, but by this point I wanted a refund. His final say was ” As you know sir, we are in the Phillipines, and unfortunately I can’t be of any further help to you” What the heck does his global location have to do with him helping me? It was at this point I developed a sudden dislike of outsourcing. . . I have never had a problem with it, no opinion I guess, but man its completely deteriorated Dell’s standards of customer care. “Roy” promised me a call from a US representative, but its been a week and I have yet to hear from anyone, and my computer is still dead. Yes I am suspending the payment of the computer until I get to speak to an actually representative, even if I have to drive to Texas to do so. By the way, I bought a Mac and even though the system takes some getting used to, its really user friendly, and I recommend it. Good luck to all of you on your respective Dell created hells.
I love my DELL… the support is good…
I recommend you to buy HP rather than this lemon dell system.
Dell Indian Tech Support SUCKS!
Go TEAM Philippines
I will never own any Dell products. I tried to. Placed the order by phone, spoke at great length with the seller about what I wanted; even made him repeat the order back to me stating all the specific components I wanted my new computer to have. The computer arrived lacking a CD-RW. Then true Dell-hell began.
Phone calls to the company were 1 to 1 1/2 hours each time and were basically unproductive. It quickly became obvious to me that Dell’s error was my sole responsibility to repair, my time, my effort, my endless hours on the phone on hold.
End result, my frustration level quickly rose to new and sad heights. I yelled and screamed, I became uncivilized, someone I hope never to see again. I cancelled the order and, finally, after more too-long phone calls much more screaming and yelling, obtained authorization numbers to return the computer. Dell reps informed me that I would have to pay the shipping costs (to me and back to them) myself and would not be reimbursed. I was so furious with them by that time I would have paid whatever it took to cut the ties that bound me to them.
I shipped the computer back, wrote a three page letter to the president of the company, accepted the loss of money and washed my hands of the whole thing. So many companies and businesses I deal with, locally and otherwise conduct customer service and sales courteously, quickly and without wasting my time, I will no longer patronize any that won’t.
End result, three months later I get a phone call from a Dell rep. I swear she heard my teeth clenching over the phone as I struggled to remain civilized while speaking to her. Dell reimbursed me for my shipping costs. Thank you, Dell. That too-long-delayed act restored a little credibility and integrity for them. But then they reimbursed me again; I returned the second reimbursement with a polite letter. They reimbursed me again after that and I shredded that check. Never Again!
Dell is EVIL and WONDERFUL… depending on who you are. Order through the “home” line and it’s horrible. If you work for an IT company or are aresseller who buys in bulk… they rock. At the office i work for, I can buy low cost computers and get things MOVING with my Dell rep. But I can’t believe the horror stories I hear when it comes to single PC purchaces. These peole should be lined up and shot. Dell tech support absolutely sucks. …but the sun is shining if you’re a reseller or a bulk buyer. I hate you Dell. I love you Dell.
Dell has received their last dime from me as far as I’m concerned. I have purchased two computers from them in the past five years and am extremly unhappy with their performaces. As soon as one attempts to upgrade at any level on a Dell, the craziness insues. Trying to get support from Dell is laughable, trying to get support from someone who speaks English as a native language is improbable. I think the big wigs at Dell ought to stop lining their pockets with all that saved money from farming out there customer service calls to India and pay attention to their consumer’s needs. I have spent countless hours on the phone trying to receive tech support that I PAID for and nobody seemed to know what the heck was going on. Each time I called in, the previous representative had made NO notation. I changed my address with Dell no less than 8 times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No one ever updated my address and it still remains the old address to this day. It was like some insane customer service nightmare!!! I FINALLY, quite by accident, realized if I kept calling and calling and calling, I may just get a Rep out of Candida and that, for awhile, was my saving grace. At least I could understand what they were saying. I feel that the India reps have no grasp of the English language and are very poorely trained. I purchased my Dell here in the US – What’s more…when you buy a Dell, the Reps speak English clearly, and are as helpful as can be. I Hate You Dell.
I never even got my notebook, but I did see the box in the hands of the ups driver, as he attempted delivery, that I had to refuse because Dell had tried the “bait and switch” scheme on me, that they are being sued for on the west coast by multiple purchasers, who are sick of their techniques. I ordered, after being “baited” by a print ad in my local newspaper, an Inspiron b130, with the configuration I needed, for $499, but was invoiced $899, the full price. I called in the order, my mistake, rather than placing an online order. Evidently, Dell doesn’t honor the sale price in the print ad, unless you order the item online, none of which is stated in the ad. So after the multiple “customer service” assemblyline confrontations, and offers of 15%off, free printers, $50 “coupons”, I had to cancel my order. Now, I am mad, and I contact the clown who had actually sold me the thing, and after a few rounds with him, and being told that the $499 price was for a lesser-equipped machine, which was nowhere-to-be-found in the print ad, I get him to admit he had not done his job very well, and he was in round rock, not in bangladesh. So, I hope to get my card credited in full, and go on with my original plan to get a toshiba. When you peer over the edge of the pit, and look down into dell hell, remember the ground is crumbly….
I would like to share a recent visit to Dell Hell that is memorable in a very negative sense.
I maintain PC’s as a large portion of my income, so I try to keep up and keep an open mind when a system has problems.
I was called on this week to check out a new Dell Dimension B110. The complaint was no video. I went to the customer’s home and began diagnostics.
The machine was acting rather strange, so I attempted to isolate the problem. It appeared there was a video or processor problem. As I worked with the machine, I really believed there may have been a processor failure.
I got Dell on the phone speaking with an Indian female who had a hard time communicating. She was nice, but was very language impaired.
I identified myself s a service technician and trainer on PC’s and Windows and reviewed the steps I had already taken. 45 minutes into the conversation she asked me where I had the monitor plugged in on the back of the tower. I simply lost it! I told her I am not a rube, I do this for a living and I expect to not be treated like a moron. I asked for a supervisor. Time passes, passes, finally a supervisor (male, Indian) picks up. He does treat me with more respect, but then puts me through a series of hand stands that takes all told 129 minutes, 16 seconds on the phone.
The disposition reached was the monitor had failed, shorted in the 5V circuits and had threw the PC into basically a failure mode similar to processor failure.
OK, I am fine with that. Now lets get a monitor shipped out. Well, wait there is a problem! This PC was a gift (brand new in the box, I set it up 3 months ago). Dell required the name of the ORIGINAL orderer to process the replacement monitor. Problem is, this was a gift through a promotion with one of the Auto Auctions my customer buys cars through (he is a used car dealer). Well, now, after over 2 hours on the phone now we must call customer support and transfer ownership. Well, that process took the better part of an hour more, then when we were transferred back to Tech support to get the case number released to finally ship the replacement monitor, there was a problem AGAIN. The support person wanted the original purchaser’s phone nmumber to look up the replacement. I saw red again. The support person became very defensive and abusive telling me I was getting too excited.
Finally after much weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth and 190 minutes total on the phone with Dell, they relented and agreed to ship the monitor.
Dell has had a reputation of quality and service, but at this point with Micheal Dell saying 30000 more jobs will go to India to support Dell products, not only will I NOT recommend Dell, I am going on a one man crusade to prevent my customers from buying ANYTHING more from Dell.
Do yourself a favor, go to a reputable local computer assembler and have him use off the shelf standard products and build you a machine. You have a much better chance that way than with DELL!
I purchased a Dell Inspiron 9300 notebook computer last June. I connect it to a video projecter with an s-video cable to project images during church services. It worked great until a few months ago when I hooked it up and turned it on to only have black & white images from the projector. The projector has color when connected to other devices. My computer has color when connected to a projecter through another port. After trying a lot of different things that did not fix the problem and talking/emailing with Dell reps, they decided my s-video port was bad and they would replace it (under warrenty). I sent it back and got it back this week. Wouldn’t you know it, when I hooked it up for the first time yesterday, I still have black and white on the projector. I spent a couple of hours on the phone with tech support yesterday. Of course, I had to repeat my story again. This is only about the 12th time answering all the same stupid questions they ask. Of course, each time there is a little bit different accent from the person on the other end. I had to repeat things several times because of the language issue. They finally said they would replace my system board again and also my video card this time. I must send my computer back and do without it for another week to 10 days. My frustration is with the difficulty of being able to get through to a human being and when you finally do, the person has difficulty with English. I own a Dell Desktop we bought about 4 years ago that has served us well, my son has a Dell desktop that he has had good service from, I convinced my father to buy a Dell, and my mother-in-law, as well, my but unless they make some compensation for me in this case, my family has bought their last Dell Computer. the headache with this one has not been worth it.
There is hope for Dimension 4100 users plagued by fan noise:
I have been having a similar noise issue with my Dell Dimension 4100 fan. The PC was used for 5 years (still working, and going onto its 6th year of operation). The fan could be heard from rooms away!
Today I managed to replace the fan with a generic 90 mm case fan. Contrary to this journal entry, the fan is NOT a proprietary part, and is not fixed physically to the plastic enclosure. A flat-headed screwdriver can be used to pry the fan out of it, which reveals 4 small plastic “pegs” that the fan simply snaps onto. (The pegs insert into the 4 holes on any generic 90 mm case fan). The fan-enclosure assembly then attaches back onto the case.
The new fan costed me only 5 dollars CDN from a small downtown computer parts store, and the system now runs absolutely silently.
Dell Hell now includes Dell Fraud:
I recently purchased an XPS 400 from Dell (my seventh Dell computer). One of the purchase options, for an added cost, was installation of the new XPS and removal of the purchaser’s old computer. I selected this option, not for the installation service, but rather for the removal and environmentally safe disposal of my old Dell computer. California (the state in which I live) has very wise and strict environmental laws on the disposal of environmentally unfriendly products such as computers.
Dell charged my credit card for its advertised removal service and charged my card as well for the appropriate California disposal tax. That all seemed quite reasonable to me. On the appointed day, the Dell contract installer/disposer came to complete his functions. After completing the installation, a simple task that anyone even mildly experienced with computers could easily complete, he then informed me that he was not authorized to remove my old computer in accordance with my Dell purchase contract. Rather, Dell had included in my XPS 400 shipping box two completed DHL mailing labels. The Dell contract person informed me that I was responsible for installing my old computer in the packaging in which my new XPS 400 was shipped and then for packing the boxes with my old computer with the care that was required for DHL to accept them for shipment.
My old Dell computer had a monitor that was about 12 inches deep. My new XPS 400 had a flat screen monitor. I pointed out to the Dell technician that it was physically impossible, because of the very different monitor sizes, to insert my old monitor into the thin box in which my new flat screen was shipped. He readily agreed that it was impossible. He further stated that many of his Dell customers faced this problem.
The Dell removal promise is in fact a fraud for which purchasers are charged but Dell subsequently refuses to undertake. For the reasons stated above, it is impossible to comply with Dell’s instructions to place the old computer components into the new shipping packaging.
I was forced to pay to have a local disposal firm remove my old computer. I continue to retain the two totally useless DHL shipping labels that Dell sent to me to remind me never to purchase another computer from Dell.
Just got off the phone with Dell customer support — at this point I put them on speaker phone for the entertainment of anyone in the office listening in. I have logged in over 12 hours — spoken to every single department twice — and filed an online trouble ticket 3 times. I think where Dell really saves money isn’t in the outsourcing of customer service … but the fact that ultimately the majority give up, let themselves be ripped off and move on. How many lost consumers does it take to ruin a company? Unfortunately for those of use hoping for a bankrupt Dell, they apparently take extremely good care of the large corporate clients. The home and small business users of the world are just out of luck.
I ordered a Dell laptop 8 weeks ago today for £800. It still hasn’t arrived. I have contacted Dell by email and on the phone on literally 32 separate occasions to find out why it hasn’t been delivered when the money left my account weeks ago. I have been lied to, cut off, transferred, told they had lost my payment record … I cannot believe how AWFUL their customer service is and am APPALLED by the treatment I have recieved. I have written to the BBC Watchdog programme to complain and intend to take the matter up with the UK Office for Fair Trading. If you want to buy a laptop don’t buy Dell!
I found this post by searching Google for “why is my dell so loud.” I too have bought Dells many times, mostly at work. Their Optiplex line is a workhorse and I have never had issues with them. This Dimension though, seems cursed. I can not even listen to music on this computer. I have the exact same issue. I recommend Dell to everyone, but it is the last time. Dealing with their support on this issue and it never being resolved is enough for me.
I found this site when I googled “Dell D810 Noisy Fan”
I have to say I’ve never contacted Dell home support or sales. I work for an IT dept and we use dell laptops and servers and their Latitude laptops and Poweredge servers and support have been great. I have a Dell D810 that has a fan noise issue when the unit gets up to operating temp. I called Yesterday at around Noon and they said the part would be orderd and a technician would call me the next day to schedule repair. He called the next morning at 8:30am and said he had the part and wanted to schedule time for the repair. As of right now at 2:30 he is here fixing the unit now.
Just like other manufacturers there is a consumer model and a business model. The Dimension and Inspiron are light use cheaply made systems. The Latitude, Optiplex, and Precision systems are the higher class standardised business machines desinged to give years of service without failure. Compaq also had this scenerio, the Presario line where junk, but the Deskpro series where workhorses that you installed and almost never had to go back to them.
I remember 8-10 years ago you bought a PC and automatically got the highest level of service. Which you expected because you paid a couple thousand dollars for the system. Now that the manufactureres have been pushed into providing these cheap and affordable systems one area that is easy to cut is warranty and service. These are now sold as upgrades to the systems. When we buy a server we don’t settle for basic service we upgrade to gold service which gives us a dedicated support number to bypass all the first line support folks and a 4 hour response time. Sure on a laptop or desktop it may add $350 to the price to get that but if you depend on it it’s a small price to pay. So you get what you pay for, that support cost used to be built into the price but now is an option. They have actually had to downgrade areas of their support infrastructure to handle the calls from the people who only opted for basic service. In the old days you would have been put directly to what is now 2nd teir support.
I bought a dell dimension with up grades. after a week or two the thing started freezing up, I called support and explained that computer froze and the mouse would no move the cursor, so they sent me a new mouse. 2 weeks and 84 1/2 hours later of troubleshooting on my end , with them it still freezes and I had to scream and swear at a esclation agent to get them to send me a new computer. we did soft restore, hard restore ( loose data) , reformated the drives, removed partitions and reformated the entire drive, added just thier software, still froze. india support sucks, phillipene support much better, but if they paid me 10 bucks an hour for my time, the would mowe me a computer and more. the final straw I tell the escalation specialist I amd disabled and am not supposed to lift things, she says just pull the machin out and swap memory sticks, I tell her I am disabled and really should not ben or lift the computer, she say it will only take a minute, so I do, and drop the memory stick under the mother board, and end up holdiong the computer over my head to shake the stick loose, then she finally says , after I yell at her about my back and the crappy treatment, she will send me a replacement computer,
don’t buy dell computers, their service is a joke. and I have built computers in the past, but they say,no, we have to do this first….
DON’T BUY DELL
I bought a Dell on Sept.4th, 2006 and I sure wish I hadn’t now. They charged me twice for one computer, after calling once to get it fixed they said it would be in my account within 24 hours. Wednesday rolled around, the 6th, no money. Called again, spoke with a guy who said a manager would call and the money would be in my account within 24 hours. Friday rolls around,the 8th, no money, no phone calls.
So, I cancel everything, at this point I’ve been lied to and stolen from. They tell me the first half of my money will be refunded in 24 hours, yeah right, and the rest in 15 days. 15 DAYS!! They can take my money at the flick of a button and double charge me, but they can’t return my money!?! In the mean time I’ve got checks bouncing off the walls and fees racking up at my bank like you wouldn’t believe.
I am a single mother of three babies, all under the age of four, and Dell has almost a thousand dollars of my money sitting in their accounts collecting interest, while I have thirty dollar NSF fees I can’t afford to pay hitting my account. All because I thought Dell had a good product for a cheaper price
When all this is settled I am buying an Apple like my mother has. And I am praying like crazy I can get my money back. I am on a tight budget and in a lot of trouble with my bank right now.
And for the life of me I can’t find an email address to anyone above a customer service rep who speaks with an accent that I cannot understand.
mikiaylah@yahoo.com
Well, I wish I’d read all this before I called them. Wouldn’t have changed much, but at least I’d have been prepared.
I, finally, was trying to order a new power cord(my old one went bad) and a new battery for my Inspiron 2650. Yes, it’s getting a little old, it’s out of warranty. So I was sucking up the costs and called.
My Indian salesperson didn’t bother to ask how to spell my first name so she got that wrong, and though she supposedly was setting up a “new account” she took my old Shipping address-made it my billing address-and also entered an old work number(that was not info given during my original purchase but must have been entered for parts replacements some time after).
I received first email while still placing my order, noted the incorrect speling of my name, and told her FIVE TIMES the correct way to spell my name. FIVE TIMES. I also told her my correct phone number and my correct BILLING address during this call. But all this information was wrong–as I found out in later emails/packing slip.
So miracles of miracles I received my package a day early. I was HAPPY–wouldn’t you be?
I turned off computer, attached new power cord, but immediately knew that the new battery was wrong. Too long and too narrow to fit. First clue!
So I called. I now have up to a month’s wait to have the cost of this battery refunded to me–and reading these emails fear I will not see this anytime soon.
Because the sales person processed the order for the WRONG PART, I don’t get a replacement instead I had to do a return/new order.
So I was sent to Sales. Another person(Different accent–Panamanian?). Anyway as he’s giving me the final information(after I’ve given him my credit card info). I hear the word REFURBISH. HUH?? I want a NEW battery, not some refurbished part. So NOW the truth comes out. Apparently there are NO NEW BATTERIES available(1 yr guarantee) but for the same price I can get a refurbished battery(90 day guarantee). UM, Why would I want to pay same price for a used product with a guarantee 1/4th the length of time???????. I told him I want NEW. And then asked how would I be notified when the product was available. Well, he says it could take up to a year. Oh, and I would not be notified–I’d have to keep calling sales back to check to see if product is available. Yeah, because I have so much free time I want to spend hours on the phone for the next year, hoping to catch them when a battery is actually in stock. What are the odds on that? I’m sure Corporate orders would get priority.
When I purchased my Dell tower I was so impressed by their service that I later bought this laptop from them. I purchased an extended contract with them and it was only in the last year of the contract that I began getting foreign-speaking techs. Impatient and rude and unable to give basic help.
I used to tout Dell as the best around. Now I would not consider buying from them again. At least not without clear evidence that things have changed for the better.
Well, I wish I’d read all this before I called them. Wouldn’t have changed much, but at least I’d have been prepared.
I, finally, was trying to order a new power cord(my old one went bad) and a new battery for my Inspiron 2650. Yes, it’s getting a little old, it’s out of warranty. So I was sucking up the costs and called.
My Indian salesperson didn’t bother to ask how to spell my first name so she got that wrong, and though she supposedly was setting up a “new account” she took my old Shipping address-made it my billing address-and also entered an old work number(that was not info given during my original purchase but must have been entered for parts replacements some time after).
I received first email while still placing my order, noted the incorrect spelling of my name, and told her FIVE TIMES the correct way to spell my name. FIVE TIMES. I also told her my correct phone number and my correct BILLING address during this call. But all this information was wrong–as I found out in later emails/packing slip.
So miracles of miracles I received my package a day early. I was HAPPY–wouldn’t you be?
I turned off computer, attached new power cord, but immediately knew that the new battery was wrong. Too long and too narrow to fit. First clue!
So I called. I now have up to a month’s wait to have the cost of this battery refunded to me–and reading these emails fear I will not see this anytime soon.
Because the sales person processed the order for the WRONG PART, I don’t get a replacement instead I had to do a return/new order.
So I was sent to Sales. Another person(Different accent–Panamanian?). Anyway as he’s giving me the final information(after I’ve given him my credit card info). I hear the word REFURBISH. HUH?? I want a NEW battery, not some refurbished part. So NOW the truth comes out. Apparently there are NO NEW BATTERIES available(1 yr guarantee) but for the same price I can get a refurbished battery(90 day guarantee). UM, Why would I want to pay same price for a used product with a guarantee 1/4th the length of time???????. I told him I want NEW. And then asked how would I be notified when the product was available. Well, he says it could take up to a year. Oh, and I would not be notified–I’d have to keep calling sales back to check to see if product is available. Yeah, because I have so much free time I want to spend hours on the phone for the next year, hoping to catch them when a battery is actually in stock. What are the odds on that? I’m sure Corporate orders would get priority.
When I purchased my Dell tower I was so impressed by their service that I later bought this laptop from them. I purchased an extended contract with them and it was only in the last year of the contract that I began getting foreign-speaking techs. Impatient and rude and unable to give basic help.
I used to tout Dell as the best around. Now I would not consider buying from them again. At least not without clear evidence that things have changed for the better.
Update: Today I checked my bank account. Dell has charged me for the Battery I DID NOT ORDER. They have sent me no email receipt. I did not AUTHORIZE THE CHARGE. I repeated 3-4 times “I cancel this order.”
Dell Hell customer service is for real. I have had two phone calls to India and one live chat with customer service. All 3 contacts have resulted it the wrong part being shipped for my Axim PDA. The best part of all this is that one of the cables they sent does not even fit into the PDA. The other two calls resulted in the shipping of parts I had received, but not the ONE I NEED. I found an email for Michael Dell…….michael_dell@dell.com and sent a letter explaining that I would NEVER buy a product with the name Dell.
I live in Michigan and as everyone knows, we have the highest unemployment rate in the United States. Perhaps that’s because we have the Republicans in office who allow the jobs to go overseas and companies like Dell who put them overseas while we, the United States consumers, have to tolerate the incompetence and ignorance that that results in. Think of it this way, we’re the ones wasting our time (and time IS money) while Dell saves the money by paying idiots overseas to waste our time.
I bought 3 Dell laptops at one time. One for me and one for each of my two children. The first mistake I made was that I paid CASH for them. DON’T EVER PAY CASH TO DELL. You have no recourse once you do. Well, I didn’t like my computer as soon as I got it. I told her that I need to click and go, but you would click and wait and wait and wait, and then finally — no, wait, and wait, and wait, then maybe — no, wait, and wait, and wait — yes, finally it got there. Well, that’s not click and be there. I wanted to return it for a better model. NO, the people in India would not have it. After one year, we have replaced the hard drive, replaced the keyboard, replaced screws, replaced rubber pieces, replaced the power cord — and I’m sure we’re not done yet because I have another three years of service (lucky me). But this is the good part of my story.
When I needed the keyboard, power cord and screws and rubber pieces, that took a 1-1/2 hour conversation to — you guessed it — India. Then it took another 8 phone calls and two on-line conversations and — you guessed it — I still don’t have what I need. But they are “so, sorry,” (and you hear the words, “so, sorry” more than anything else and I can’t tell you how many times you get to hear them say that). But you haven’t heard the best one yet. The reason they tell me that I didn’t get my parts is — and this is good — because the computer system that Dell utilizes has a glitch in it that deletes part of the order, so they will have to order it again — and again — and again — etc. I sincerely believe this is Dell’s way to avoiding honoring the warranty by not sending me what I ordered and then thinking that I might go away.
Now what do you think these parts cost? Well, the keyboard is $10.95. The power cord runs about the same. But the screws and rubber pieces make up the bulk of the $228. I don’t even believe that for a second. Lucky for me it’s under warranty? I really have some accounting issues with this one.
How about last week when I called Dell because my daughter’s laptop wasn’t able to connect to the internet. I spent a very lengthy time online (3 hours), and eventually was told that I would have to reinstall windows. Well, Dell doesn’t send you that disk with your computer, so you have to WAIT until they ship it. (I think they believe that maybe you’ll never need it while your computer is under warranty and then by the time you do, your warranty will expire and you can BUY it from them. I have an issue with not getting a disk for EVERYTHING they have on my computer because after all, I PAID for it.) One disk shipped to me took 4 days (but I got a keyboard overnight – go figure!!) Then I called to install it because I couldn’t figure out how to do the “repair.” Well, this guy (from India) took me through part of it, (you see, the first time it asks you if you want to “repair” or “reinstall,” you have to tell it “reinstall” and then later you tell it to “repair.” Makes no sense to me but I think that’s a Microsoft issue) and then he just disconnected the phone call without any notice. Of course, you know, it started to have problems, so I had to go and make another call to connect to a Dell online representative. Well, it’s a half hour wait (each and every time) just to connect to one. I told them what it was doing. I asked if I was going to lose anything on my laptop because if so, I needed to back it up. From day one they assured me that was not the case. By the time this person was done, I was completely locked out of my computer. Then he told me I would probably lose everything (a little late, you think). Then he gave me the phone number of the “experts at Dell.” What was I talking to, “the idiots at Dell?” Then I spent another four hours on the phone with a “supervisor” getting my laptop back up and running. The total amount of my time when my laptop didn’t connect to the internet? About 10 hours with Dell. The actual time it took to correct the problem once I got someone who knew what they were doing? About 10 minutes. I guess Dell can afford this when they’re paying people in India. The problem is, I’m the one losing money dealing with these incompetent people. But Dell doesn’t care about that because they have my money, and they’re honoring their warranty, and they don’t care about me as a customer, so my hands are tied.
I have never gotten service the first time, or second, or third, or…NEVER. I tell every prospective customer I see at any Dell kiosk in a mall that it is the last time they will EVER speak to someone in this country, the last time they will EVER speak to someone who speaks fluent English. It is the last time they will get ANY service. It is the last time they will see their money because there is no such thing as a “refund” with Dell if you are not satisfied, there is no such thing as return the product and get your money back, there is no such thing as satisfaction guaranteed. It is the last time they will have their sane state of mind, and they will spend the remainder of their days on earth regretting the day they purchased a Dell.
As Americans, we need to take a stand. We need to do EVERYTHING in our power to put a stop to the big, bad Dell Corporation that is partly to blame for the sad state of affairs in this country job wise, and is definitely to blame for the terrible computers that it produces and the terrible “service” that they give us. It does not seem that we’re going to get help from our government unless there is a major uprise of all dissatisfied Dell customers. We need to contact the U.S. attorney general, the attorney general in the state that you are in, and copy all of those to Dell (but only if you feel like it because they don’t deserve this courtesy) and to the attorney general in the state of Texas. Since Dell is a publicly traded company, you can also contact the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. They have obligations to us and they need to be forced to step up to the plate if they want to be a “U.S. Corporation.” We spend our U.S. dollars and we should be given U.S. service!!
Anything short of this will only lead to more dissatisfied customers while Dell keeps putting our money in their bank account. WE need to take a stand. If our forefathers could take on England, we certainly can take on Dell!!
“Your confidence in Dell is our number one priority.”
That’s what it said in my first email from Dell. It was from Sunitha, the first customer service rep I talked to.
I have the utmost confidence in Dell, confidence that they’ll screw something up and not care.
It all started when I ordered a new notebook on 9/22/2006.
I ordered it over the phone and was kind of suprised at how far off the shipping date was. After thinking about it for a bit I decided I needed something sooner, so I went out and bought something locally. The trouble started before I even got home from the store. I called Dell back to cancel the order. After wading through their phone menus I was notified that customer service was closed. I called back and again went back through the menus to the small business order division and was told that only the sales rep that took my order or the customer service dept. could cancel it, of course she was gone until Monday. I told him customer service was closed and he assured me that must be a different customer service because he was sure there’s was still open. He transferred the call. They were closed. I called back one more time, explained the situation again, (oh and of course every time I talked to someone new they tried to get me to NOT cancel by saying the expected ship date was worst case and it would probably ship sooner), and sisnce he couldn’t cancel the order I asked to speak to his supervisor. After waiting several minutes I finally got the supervisor, who not only said the date was worst case but asked when I needed it. Hmmm, why didn’t the sales rep ask when I needed it after I voiced my displeasure at the ship date? The supervisor said he would take care of it. The next day I checked my bank account and the amount still showed as pending, which wasn’t suprising, but expected to see the same amount as a pending credit. I called Dell customer service, (this was Sunitha), and was told the order had been cancelled. I asked about the money and THOUGHT she said it would be taken care of within 4 hours. That’s when I got that first email. I let things slide for a couple of days but I had to pay some bills and I’m buying a car and it was still pending which was tying up my available balance, so on Wednesday I tried calling Rashed Kahn, because Sunitha had given his name and extension to contact as her case manager. After calling and getting his voice mail all day long and leaving messages, which STILL have not been responded to, I decided to call customer support again. This time it was Pankaj and he told me it would be resolved within 48 hours and that I shouldn’t have been told 4 hours, well now I’m guessing she probably said 48 hours also, but with the strong accents and the bad overseas phone connections you can never really be sure what was said, either way it had been well past 48 hours and I told Panjak that another 48 was unacceptable and asked to speak to his supervisor. I couldn’t quite catch her name but she was no help and eventually either she hung up on me, (and no I wasn’t being at all abusive), or we just lost our connection. At that point I called my bank and was told that there was nothing they could do without something from Dell and that the money would be freed up when the transaction expires, which could take a week. So today I checked, still pending. I called Dell again, this time speaking to Sunney and basically was told the same thing. It would be resolved within 48 hours. I once again told him that 48 hours wasn’t good enough and asked how he could guarantee me it would be resolved within 48 hours since previously I had been told the same thing and it was still unresolved. That’s when I got my favorite answer yet, “we already filled out the forms”. FILLED OUT THE FORMS???!!!
I told him filling out the forms wasn’t taking action and I wanted to speak to the dept that actually does the work, after getting more runaround I asked to speak to his supervisor. He said hold on 1 to 2 minutes and after about 5-6 minutes I was on the phone with his supervisor. He gave me the same runaround, except that he was inconsistent with his statements. Sometimes it was, “we don’t have a direct number for that department”, others it was “no one in that department is picking up the phone”. And of course he gave me the same line they all did, “let me call you back within two days”. I asked to speak to HIS supervisor, I was planning on going right up the chain, he asked me to hold for a couple of minutes, came back after about minutes and said he was transferring me. What did I get? Dumped into some voicemail, where I was given the option to “press 0 for more help”. I pressed 0 at which point I was cut off, I looked at my phone and I’d been on the phone for over an hour. I’m through with Dell, I’ve bought their computers before and never had trouble, (because I never needed support), and I think in general their products are probably as good as most and better than some. But their support network is terrible. My only instance dealing with tech support was when I was helping a friend out by setting up her wireless router. She had “gold” support and it was a complete nightmare just trying to get the right department for wireless routers since her main purchase was a notebook and all the numbers I had to enter kept causing me to get transferred back to the notebook tech support people. Not to mention having to repeat the steps to check the router again and again, long after I knew it was defective. So, never again will I deal with Dell. I’m going back to building my own computers. At least then I know I’ll get good service.
p.s. An added thought. Don’t you think it’s kind of funny that if you call Dell to buy something, you get someone that sounds like a regualr rosy-cheeked, red-blooded American? But then when you need help you’re lucky if you can even understand what they’re saying? I’m guessing if Dell used the same approach to sales that they do to customer service they’d be in Chapter 11 by now.
Has anybody reported Dell to the BBB? I had trouble with Capitol One, the huge credit card company. I reported the problem to the BBB after trying unsuccessfully several times to handle the problem myself. The problem was solved within 2 weeks and I even received an apology for the situation. I think maybe in some of these cases getting the BBB involved might help a lot, just an idea. This kind of stuff just really gets my goat. Gateway is just as bad BTW.
what computer shall i purchase.got dell 2 times won’t talk to india when i have problems,really pissed off .Don’t ever think that Dell is it.Believe me after 8 years and gooing thru2 I Is NOt.Thought they were done with the India tribe years ago when they were recieving complaints.So
The fan mounting bracket is held to the fan by snap clips. A simple pocket screwdriver is used to pop the snaps out of the way (also requires 3 hands!). And do ONE side at a time! Similiar mounts are used in Antec cases, and a number of other manufacturer’s cases.
Dell builds in Texas because of Texas’ 38% rule (To be sold as “NEW” in Texas, the product MUST contain a minimum of 38% NEW unused parts. The remainder of the parts may be “pulls” or refurbished parts!!!!!)
Bruce
Dell lied about putting non dell memory chips inside. Standard sd ram and up will function on a dell computer. However the agp port is non standard and that can’t be changed..
i just orded a new e1405, after the order and payment i needed to change the delivery address to my place of employment, since it needed to be signed for and there was someone there from 6am to 5pm. got in an online chat session with a rep and got the ship to address changed, the new address showed up on my system page and i was sent an email telling me that my laptop had shipped and the address that it was shipped to (my work address) UPS said that it was out for delivery, it never showed. got home and here was a note on my front door from UPS that they had tried to deliver. it’s 8pm when i get home, i call UPS and play fone tag for awhile before i get a human voice. nope, can’t pick it up saturday morning, there is no one at the terminal on weekends, so i explain the situation and ask that they change the shipping address to my work place, not a problem, but rather than getting it monday it will be tuesday before the changes filter down. i call dell and get a woman in india explain the problem and she can’t seem to understand what i’m trying to tell her. she keeps offering to change the delivery address to my billing address(home) i finally give up on her. send dell an email explaining the problem, get a reply that they will change the ship to address to my home address. now mind u that the laptop is sitting out at the UPS terminal doing who knows what waiting to be delivered. i write another email that gets an automated response that tells me nothing other than show how totally screwed up that dell really is. UPS will probably try to deliver the laptop 2 more times to my home address no matter what i do and since i won’t be here (i’ll be at my work address) it will probably get returned after 3 tries, in which case i home mikie dell shoves it up his ass.
i’ve fell in dell hell already and i don’t even have the laptop yet.