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.
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.