Dell Hell

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Dell has the worst customer service of any company that I have ever
dealt with.

My journey into Dell Hell began a little over a week ago, when I
ordered an Inspiron 8600 from the Dell website. I wanted a unit with
the newest in processor technology and wireless capabilities, while
having parallel and serial ports to run some of my older peripherals.
The 360 degree product tour showed that the 8600 had the required
ports.

A couple of days later a Dell catalog came in the mail. There was a
chart in the catalog that showed the 8600 as not having parallel or
serial ports. I went back to the Dell website to look at the 360
degree product tour and, sure enough, the ports were there. I took a
screen shot of the rear view shown in the product tour.

Then I called Dell customer service to see what they had to say about
the ports. I was passed around to a number of different people, none
of them could give me a definitive answer concerning the ports.

After many emails and phone calls it was established that the 8600 no
longer ships with parallel and serial ports, although it apparently
did so not too long ago. I asked what they were going to do for me,
given the fact that I had ordered the unit based on information from
their website. The woman who was handling my call put me on hold and
never came back on the line. This was the first of three times that I
would be treated this way by Dell customer service people.

Finally an email was sent to me apologizing for the confusion about
the ports and offering a discount of $75.00 on the purchase of a port
replicator, which would give me back the ports that I had already paid
for. When I called to purchase the port replicator, I was told that
the $75.00 would be taken off the full price of the unit ($199.00) and
not the price of the unit that I would have paid if I had ordered it
with the 8600 in the first place ($119.00). Through Dell's
generosity, I was now going to pay $124.00 for a unit that would have
cost me $119.00, if ordered with the machine that I already thought
had the ports on it that the replicator was replicating.

It turned out not to matter, anyway - because the guy that I placed
the order with lost the order and nobody can find any record of it. I
figured I'd just wait on that until the 8600 came.

Today, April 5, the day that my 8600 was supposed to ship - I got an
email telling me that it would not be shipping for up to two weeks.
When I called to find out the specific problem that was holding up
completion of the order, no one could give me any information. During
two separate phone sessions the customer service people put me on hold
and then never came back on. I was never able to determine what was
causing the delay. If I had gotten that information perhaps I could
have substituted another component that was in stock and thus get the
order out in a timely manner.

But I was not given the opportunity to do this. The customer service
people were unfailingly polite while failing entirely at their duties.

This experiment with using offshore customer service people is a
failure. The people do not extend themselves to help remedy the
situation. They are not confrontational but allow the customer to
hang on the line until they go away. They are very difficult to
understand.

I feel that I was lied to by Dell about the shipping date. I feel
that I was deceived by Dell about the ports contained in the unit. I
feel that Dell's commitment to customer service and satisfaction is
beneath contempt.

I am not going to make any further phone calls or send any more
emails. I am going to wait twenty four hours to get a satisfactory
reply from Dell, and then I am going to go out and buy an IBM.

I am also going to post this message on the laptop forums and send it
out to a number of the computer magazines. And every chance I get I
will badmouth Dell. You deserve it.



(sent this day to Dell customer service)

Tom WAtson
Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker (ret)
Real Email is: tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet
Website: http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

after all the bs just cancel the order

"Tom Watson" <notme@erehwon.com> wrote in message
news:au0470p03uljstc3etqmnj3ufnpr49oc54@4ax.com...
> Dell has the worst customer service of any company that I have ever
> dealt with.
>
> My journey into Dell Hell began a little over a week ago, when I
> ordered an Inspiron 8600 from the Dell website. I wanted a unit with
> the newest in processor technology and wireless capabilities, while
> having parallel and serial ports to run some of my older peripherals.
> The 360 degree product tour showed that the 8600 had the required
> ports.
>
> A couple of days later a Dell catalog came in the mail. There was a
> chart in the catalog that showed the 8600 as not having parallel or
> serial ports. I went back to the Dell website to look at the 360
> degree product tour and, sure enough, the ports were there. I took a
> screen shot of the rear view shown in the product tour.
>
> Then I called Dell customer service to see what they had to say about
> the ports. I was passed around to a number of different people, none
> of them could give me a definitive answer concerning the ports.
>
> After many emails and phone calls it was established that the 8600 no
> longer ships with parallel and serial ports, although it apparently
> did so not too long ago. I asked what they were going to do for me,
> given the fact that I had ordered the unit based on information from
> their website. The woman who was handling my call put me on hold and
> never came back on the line. This was the first of three times that I
> would be treated this way by Dell customer service people.
>
> Finally an email was sent to me apologizing for the confusion about
> the ports and offering a discount of $75.00 on the purchase of a port
> replicator, which would give me back the ports that I had already paid
> for. When I called to purchase the port replicator, I was told that
> the $75.00 would be taken off the full price of the unit ($199.00) and
> not the price of the unit that I would have paid if I had ordered it
> with the 8600 in the first place ($119.00). Through Dell's
> generosity, I was now going to pay $124.00 for a unit that would have
> cost me $119.00, if ordered with the machine that I already thought
> had the ports on it that the replicator was replicating.
>
> It turned out not to matter, anyway - because the guy that I placed
> the order with lost the order and nobody can find any record of it. I
> figured I'd just wait on that until the 8600 came.
>
> Today, April 5, the day that my 8600 was supposed to ship - I got an
> email telling me that it would not be shipping for up to two weeks.
> When I called to find out the specific problem that was holding up
> completion of the order, no one could give me any information. During
> two separate phone sessions the customer service people put me on hold
> and then never came back on. I was never able to determine what was
> causing the delay. If I had gotten that information perhaps I could
> have substituted another component that was in stock and thus get the
> order out in a timely manner.
>
> But I was not given the opportunity to do this. The customer service
> people were unfailingly polite while failing entirely at their duties.
>
> This experiment with using offshore customer service people is a
> failure. The people do not extend themselves to help remedy the
> situation. They are not confrontational but allow the customer to
> hang on the line until they go away. They are very difficult to
> understand.
>
> I feel that I was lied to by Dell about the shipping date. I feel
> that I was deceived by Dell about the ports contained in the unit. I
> feel that Dell's commitment to customer service and satisfaction is
> beneath contempt.
>
> I am not going to make any further phone calls or send any more
> emails. I am going to wait twenty four hours to get a satisfactory
> reply from Dell, and then I am going to go out and buy an IBM.
>
> I am also going to post this message on the laptop forums and send it
> out to a number of the computer magazines. And every chance I get I
> will badmouth Dell. You deserve it.
>
>
>
> (sent this day to Dell customer service)
>
> Tom WAtson
> Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker (ret)
> Real Email is: tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet
> Website: http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1