Dell Hell (5,500 hysterical words worth)
by maven Tim Hughes
Jeff Jarvis' 2005 Dell Hell series post is now a piece of Internet folklore both as a piece of consumer generated media that sparked a movement and for proving that the speed of the Internet can be faster than the speed of light. I have just completed seven weeks of my own Dell Hell that I want to share with you. Just like the inferno of Dante’s 14th century visions, so too there are nine circles to my Dell Hell story.
Dell Hell Circle 1 - The purchase and delivery
I had been contemplating a new computer for some months. I was constantly changing my mind on what I wanted. One week I was convinced I should have a high end desktop replacement laptop. 17" screen and processing power as good as a mid/low end desktop. The next I was contemplating near gaming level quality desktops. One week I was trying to convince myself to join the Apple revolution. The next I was back in PC land wondering why anyone would buy a Mac when they cost more than the PC equivalent. I was on cnet.com everyday reading reviews and trying to decide. I called Dell. They told me that they had the best after care service and that PCs were cheaper than Mac. I visited JB Hi-Fi (like a Best Buy in Australia). They told me they would beat any price from Dell. I called Apple. Their sales pitch was simple. When asked "why should I buy a Mac compared to a PC" Scott from Apple replied (in words that now haunt my waking hours) "because it will work the moment you take it out of the box".
In the end I chose a mid range Dell desktop. Above the features of a just for Office and Internet Machine but below video editing and gaming. I chose an Inspiron desktop with 500gb hard drive 4gb of RAM and an intel i3-550 (3.2GHz) processor. I called Dell. The decision was made, the credit card charged, a tweet sent and invoice received. In a second area that would haunt my waking hours, the tweet I sent said “for better or worse just bought a dell inspiron desktop for home. It is bigger, faster, cheaper but does not look as good as an iMac”
My order included peripherals like logitech speakers and a belkin wireless dongle. Therefore Dell insisted that I receive three separate deliveries on three separate days. It felt like a delivery person was calling me every 5 mins to set up a time. Final result was that someone had to be home on Wed, Thurs and Friday between 9 and 12 to receive each delivery. Phrase that another way, to receive my Dell computer a family member or I had to devote 9 hours (a full day of work) over three days. This instantly destroys the benefits of home delivery. Suddenly offline options I passed on where I could simple drive to the store and collect my purchase (a less than 1 hour committment) looked...well ...9 times easier than buying a Dell.
Dell Hell Circle 2 - The install
With all the boxes in front of me the process of installation began. I had forgotten how much has to be done to put together a computer. Aside from the physical unpacking of the boxes and plugging in of cables (1 hour) there is 3 plus hours of downloading, updating and activating to do. I don't understand why a one hour old computer needs to download updates to both Windows 7, Microsoft Office and McAfee. If it needs updating it means that out of date versions of Windows, virus protection and Office are shipped on brand new machines. Then I had to add the basics - skype, firefox, chrome, itunes, live messenger, adobe reader etc. Each time I added a program I had to pause and tell Windows "yes please let this program load". Finally it was time to import my data from a maxdor external hard drive. Almost five hours after having ripped off the first piece of packing tape I have a fully stocked computer with different user profiles set up, with data downloaded, with access levels set, programs updated and a nice slide slow of family images running in the background. All in time for my first blue screen of death.
Dell Hell Circle 3 - proving you have a problem
I experienced four blue screens of death within the first 12 hours of finishing the computer set-up. They occurred during online sessions using video or audio - watching the Daily Show, watching youtube videos, using skype and playing music in itunes all brought on the blue screen. I call Dell and describe my problem. They reply with a sentence that would crush anyone ever contemplating that computers make your life easier. "Of course I can help you sir. Have you got a spare four hours to go through the proper test"?
That's right, to just diagnose the problem will take me four hours of time. Four hours. I needed to allocate nine hours to delivery and five hours to set up. Now I need to find another four to diagnose the problem. We reach a compromise. I would run the diagnostic test on the computer and write down any error codes. Dell would then call me back at 5pm to go through the results. The next four to five hours are among the most farcical of my life. I have eight adults and eight kids over for a long weekend BBQ where instead of a sporting event, holiday or other middle class chitchat dominating the conversation we all take turns to see how the Dell is doing. To glance at the very slow moving percentage counter indicating progress in the test and to take down the incomprehensible string of numbers and letters that identifies what is wrong.
5pm comes around. I have two error codes on my list and am waiting for Dell to call. They don't. By 6pm I call Dell and read out the error code. In a flash my problem is diagnosed. My hard drive needs replacing. The fix is to send an operating system re-installation disk to me and a hard drive to a technician. The technician will then come over to install the new hard drive on the machine and operating system on the hard drive.
"Why can't you send the operating system to the technician so we can be sure both arrive at the same time", I ask.
"Because", replies Dell "we are not allowed to give operating system disks to technicians".
Do you believe this? Microsoft or Dell don't trust the technicians they use to look after an operating system disk. They don’t trust the people they trust to come into my home after hours to keep operating disks out of the hands of counterfeiters. Anyway we close the call and hour 19 of hell with a committment of Dell to send up the items and have a technician call me
Dell Hell Circle 4 - installing the new hard drive round 1
The day has come for the technician to come to my house but there is no sign of the operating system disk. So I call Dell.
"Where's the disk" I ask.
"DHL are sending it to you", they reply.
"When?" I ask "I need it to arrive before the technician does".
"Hmmm", they moan "I don't know, hopefully DHL will deliver it today. But if they don't we can take you step by step over the phone how to install it yourself. Should only take 20mins"
I don't know what your experiences are like but the two times I have installed an operating system took on average 4 hours and half a bottle of recovery scotch each time.
"No way" I say "I want the technician to install it to make sure it works. Can you call DHL and find out when they are delivering".
"Sorry Sir I can't do that"
"Can you give me the DHL tracking number - I will call them myself"
"Sorry Sir I don't have a tracking number"
"Then how do you know they are delivering the disk"
"......."
"Listen" I say to fill the silence, "I will call DHL - do you have a phone number?”
This they have. I them call DHL who are 100% certain that there is no Dell deliveries planned today for my name or address or suburb or post code or star sign. Nothing. I call the technician. He says not to worry as he will pick up a disk from the warehouse - something he has done many times before (despite the 'no disks to technician rules').
I return home planning to send the technician away if there is no disk but of course sitting on my table at home is a DHL delivery envelope containing a disk. Dell may be paranoid about giving disks to technicians but it is ok to give them to DHL with no tracking code and with DHL having no idea whether or not they have it.
So my problem should be over, right? I have a technician, a hard drive and a disk. I sit down, glass of after work wine in hand, prepared to wait for an hour or so for the technician to complete his task. Wrong.
Five mins and two sips of wine late I hear the technician say "Mate, you are not going to believe this".
Pause the story for a second. What do you think it is that I am not going to believe? To date I have been dumb enough to believe that a Dell would work out of the box, that a four hour test would take four hours, that technicians would have all the parts in one go rather than having to co-ordinate delivery schedules, that between them Dell and DHL would know where a package is. So what is there left that I would not believe....?
"They sent me the wrong hard drive. You have a 500gb desktop drive. They've sent me a 250gb notebook drive."
"......"
My turn for silence. He is right - I am not going to believe it. The technician packs up, writes out a job summary saying wrong part and heads home. I....call....Dell (again)
Dell Hell Circle 5 - installing the new hard drive round 2
After 30 mins on hold Dell answer, acknowledge the problem and agree to send a new technician on Friday (it is Wed night by now). I hang up, expel a series of curses, pour my glass of wine down the sink and turn to the recovery scotch.
Next morning I receive a call from the new technician.
"I have the part and am coming tomorrow at 830am" he says.
"Great - but before you do please double check that you have a 500gb hard drive for a desktop" I plead.
"Will do" he says.
While he is checking I go back to work. Then the most frustrating moments in customer service in my life occur.
At 2pm I receive a phone call from Dell. Not a Dell person but a Dell machine. An auto call. The machines says "hello customer. We have been trying to resolve a problem you have reported. Has the matter been resolved? Press 1 for yes and 2 for no".
I look at my phone, press 2 and put it back to my ear. The machine says "That's good news, we will now close the matter".
I have been looking for a definition of hell. Now I have it. It is when things around you are so screwed up that they take more than 5,000 words and 20 mins to describe but in one second a computer can make it even worse by telling you that everything is fine.
I look at my phone in disbelief. Surely not. Surely Dell has not closed the matter. Surely. I call the technician as I don't want to be on hold with Dell. He reassures me that everything is fine, that he has the right part and is coming tomorrow. Time passes....
At 4pm I receive a call from Dell. Not a person. The machine. The auto voice tones again "hello customer. We have been trying to resolve a problem you have reported. Has the matter been resolved? Press 1 for yes and 2 for no".
I take the phone a way from my ear and put it on the desk. With the deliberate and slow movements of a brain surgeon plucking at a tumour I slowly lower my finger towards the "2". I pause before pressing to make sure I am 2-ward bound and nowhere near the "1" just in case it was user error last time. I press the "2", visually confirm it was a 2 I pressed and put the phone back to my ear.
The machine says "that's good news, we will now close the matter".
Pause the story. Freeze frame on me looking at the phone. With a number "2" staring back at me. Looking at the clock knowing that if I can't fix this in an hour or so the technician will not come tomorrow and I have another weekend of useless Dell bricks on my desk. Looking at the wall wondering if the satisfaction of seeing my Nokia shattered into a million pieces against it would last long enough for me to forget how much a new mobile phone will cost. Unpause as I do what needs to be done.
I...Call....Dell
20 mins on hold
5 mins for him to read up on my account
10 mins for me to tell the story to get him up to date. Then this exchange:
Me "is the matter cancelled"
Dell "no it is still open"
Me "are you sure, because the machine called me and said it would cancel the matter"
Dell "don't worry it is not cancelled"
Me "is the technician still coming"
Dell " yes"
I hang up and call technician
Me "are you still coming"
Technician "No, Dell cancelled the matter"
Freeze frame again. Time to check off how many ways Dell now hates me
My Dell Desktop hates me. Check
Dell warehouse parts team hate me. Check
Dell to DHL delivery team hate me. Check
Dell automated lady robot calling machine hates me. Double check
Dell customer care and support don't hate me they are just clueless. Triple check
To cut an already too long story a little bit shorter let me summarise the next 3 hours of this story in a tweet-esque 140 characters.
"Called Dell. Hold 20 min. Hung up. Called Dell. Hold 15 mins. Hung up. Called Dell. Hold 40 mins. Reopened matter. Technician visit back on"
Dell Hell Circle 6 - technician tries to install new hard drive and Windows 7
10am Friday morning and technician arrives for 930am appointment. I lead him to the machine. 45 mins later he leaves with the hard drive installed and Windows 7 loaded. I am looking at my computer turned on and an apparently functional Windows 7. I have work to do so put off until tomorrow the massive install and customise job.
10am Saturday. I am sitting at desktop with a list of 15 things to do starting with install Office, working through downloading skype and firefox and ending with creating different user accounts. Any guesses how far I got down that list before problems started? Anyone? I don't need to say it do I. Before I had completed the first task (downloading and activating Office) problems emerged. Two in particular.
The document preview feature in Windows was not working. This is the piece where when you hover over a program icon in the desktop bar you see a preview of the open files, docs or windows. This is indicative of a graphics driver problem. Could also indicate a corruption in the operating system. Either way the graphics card and Windows have expressed displeasure with each other. Secondly I could not figure out how to add my Product Identifier to a downloaded version of Office. So...I....Call....Dell. 15 mins on hold later I am back talking to customer care.
We try a different approach this time. Using gotoassist the Dell agent takes control of my computer. He has three goals - fix the driver or Windows problem, install Office and install the driver for the built-in webcam. I go and get my book, put the phone on speaker and sit - half watching the screen and half reading my book. I try to get comfortable.
For the first 20 mins he works on Office. Trying different download options and different activation options. None of them work. In fact as we head toward the 20 minute mark he still has not asked me for the product activation key - a sure sign that he is a long way from getting Office set up. Meanwhile Windows is clearly showing signs of distress with the graphics card - as evidenced by the preview problem and a barrage of warning prompts. He decides to turn his attention to that problem and return to Office later. He asks me to insert the Dell driver and resources disk.
I turn a page of my book and continue efforts to try and get comfortable.
For the next 20 minutes he clicks, prompts, cajoles and all but begs Windows and the graphics card to be friends. But they steadfastly refuse. Like a determined international negotiator I see him do everything imaginable not once but twice and thrice to get these two components talking together. But like some old blood feud they reject all signs of peace talks and compromise preferring to shout objections and warnings at me and the Dell support agent. He asks me to reboot the computer.
I am still reading but have given up on being comfortable.
Another pause. I hate the "please reboot" approach to fixing computers. Though it often works it makes no sense to me that we have a PC system that is so fragile that it needs turning off to fix it.
So I reboot. Two thinks happen on restart. Neither of them good. First the war between the graphics card and Windows continues with each sending pop up warning shots at the other. Secondly the internet now won't connect meaning I can't reconnect the gotoassist and give back control of the screen to the Dell agent.
We are now an hour into this circle of Hell and things are getting worse rather than better. And I have reached my limit.
"I want a refund" I blurt out faster and more angrily than intended. I prepare myself for a fight. I mentally write out a script of the legal and consumer affairs arguments I will mount. No need.
"Of course sir. I will start the refund process immediately" he says.
He sounded - I imagine - like one of the Chilean miners did stepping out of the Pegasus tube. So full of relief that he no longer had to deal with hell and could get back to his life. The Dell Agent had spent almost an hour and he too had no idea what was wrong or how to fix it. He clearly had to wait for me to ask for a refund before offering it - meaning that until I asked he would be forced to spend hours and hours working on this curse computer. Never have I come across a retailer so determined to give me my money back.
Now all I have to survive is the refund process. What could possibly go wrong in getting this computer back to Dell and money back into my account? Surely hell is almost over? Right? Wrong.
Dell Hell Circle 7 – getting them to pick up the computer
In preparation for the refund process, Dell called me on a Tuesday to tell me that on Friday I would receive an email telling me how the refund process would work. That should have been a warning sign right there. In my world it takes about 3 minutes to send an email I have sent before. I have an email template stored somewhere the step to send it is
- Open email template
- Add personalized pieces
- Press send
Maybe 2 minutes but certainly no more than 4 minutes. If we assume (and it is an easy assumption) that Dell have had to send out refund process emails before, what are they going to do with the other 4318 minutes (3 days less 2 minutes) it was going to take to send this mail. In the end it didn’t matter as I never received this email anyway. I thought that getting this email would be the hard part. That following this email would be the path to this circle of Hell. But Dell Hell has a sense of humour. Hell tricks you in to thinking that pain is going to come from one direction and instead sends it from another. I may not have received the instruction email so instead Dell was going to call me every day and feed me with so much contradictory incompetence that I became convinced it was deliberate. That just like the final help desk person I spoke to seem relieved when I asked for a refund, the refund process was designed to have me say – “I give up, send it back, keep my money”.
It all started with a phone call that my wife picked up.
“Hi, this is Dell, I am calling to organize the pick up of your computer for a return. Which courier company do you want to use”. That’s right, Dell was asking my wife the name of her preferred courier company.
“Don’t care” Says my wife “you just send me one and I will give them the parcels”
“You have to pick one, there are two to choose from”
“I don’t care”
“Pick one”
“Why”
“Pick one”
“OK – I pick AirExpress – now what”
“You need to call them to organize for a time for them to pick it up” said Dell
“No – you call them and send them to me”
“Sorry you have to call”
So my wife chooses AirExpress at random and is given the number by Dell. Remember this is a courier company recommended by Dell. She calls AirExpress – they go down the process for booking a pick up then get stuck. Here is the exchange
“What is the post [zip] code for Dell” asks Air Express
“I have no idea. Why do you need it? Surely you have delivered to Dell before”
“We can’t start a delivery without a post code”
Even though AirExpress is a Dell Recommended courier and makes part of its living sending Dell packages all across Australia – they do not know the post code or address
So….I [this time my wife]….call[s]….Dell
On Friday my wife spoke with Dell, confirmed the delivery address, wrote it down, read it back to Dell, double checked, triple checked, called AirExpress and booked the pick up for Monday. All good – right? Wrong. On the day of the collection we were missing a consignment number. Dell had not given us a consignment number. This resulted in a comedy or errors
-Two or three calls to Dell to find a consignment number
-Dell saying they would email one IN TWO DAYS TIME (again about 2875 minutes longer that it takes most people to send an email)
-AirExpress saying on the phone they weren’t sure where the delivery guy was (in case he had on)
-Delivery guy called to apologise – he had forgotten our pick up but was on the way
-We call Dell – begging for a consignment number
-Delivery guy arrives – sorry for being late (30 mins outside the three hour window) but he has plenty of stickers with Dell consignment numbers. He sticks one on each box and heads off
Hours of waiting, calls and frustration but by the afternoon of October 18th the boxes are on the way to Dell. All good. Right? Wrong.
Dell Hell Circle 8 – convincing Dell they have the boxes part 1
Reminder – for the last 27 days I have battled with a busted Dell. Devoted 19 hours to collection and set up. Countless other hours to failed attempts to fix and run around chasing Dell and AirExpress to pick up and process my refund. The boxes are now on the way to Dell and I am back to looking for a new computer.
On Oct 19 – the next day – I get a voicemail message from a call from Schenker logistics (an agent for Dell).
“Hi, I am calling on behalf of Dell to organise the collection of your computer. Please call me back on [redacted]”
I ignore it
On Wed Oct 20 – the day after – I get an email from Schenker – saying “please call us to organise the collection of your computer”
They already have it, so I ignore it
On Friday Oct 22 – I pick up a call from Schenker
“Hi…[yadda yadda]…pick up…[blah blah]..your computer”
“Why are you calling me, someone came to my house and picked up the computer on Monday.”
“……” silence from the person at Schenker
“Did you pick up my computer?” I ask
“No”
“Do you have my computer?”
“ No”
“What is your role in all this?”
“We are Dell’s logistics provider”
“Then how come you have no idea who picked up my computer?”
After a brief exchange they left the call to investigate. I realised I could not ignore this any longer. Come Monday I knew what I would have to do.
Monday….I….call…Dell (it is now Oct 26)
“Do you have my computer?” I ask
“No”
“Then where is it?”
“The courier company must have it?”
Pause again. For the next five minutes I entered a twilight zone where the Dell rep tried to convince me that for seven days AirExpress was holding onto the package. That a global courier company, whose job it is to deliver stuff has nothing better to do that hold onto my two boxes.
I begged him to call AirExpress and check.
“I can’t”
So I did. Using my conference phone I called AirExpress and conferenced in the Dell customer care agent. Within 2 minutes AirExpress has confirmed that the Parcels were delivered early on the 19th. Within 5 minutes both Dell and I had an email from AirExpress (called a POD or Proof of Delivery) containing the date of delivery, name of person who signed, delivery address and scores of different reference, consignment, manifest, event and reference numbers.
Dell then appoints a new person to manage this for me and I look forward to tomorrow where things will be resolved. Right? Wrong
It’s Tuesday Oct 27 and I call Dell
Despite the fact that they have had my returned computer for 8 days, now have a POD, Dell is still not sure if they have the computer. After 10 minutes for frustrating conversation where I beg the Dell person to call the warehouse we end up in this exchange
Dell “what address did you send it to”
Me ‘it’s in the POD”
Dell “Oh…where did you get that address from”
Me “you gave it to me”
Dell “that’s not the right address”
Me “please kill me”
The conversation then descended into levels of farce and hell that even now I still can’t imagine where I had to convince Dell that this warehouse exists, that they asked me to send stuff to it and that through the power of Google I can see is a legitimate handling centre for Dell.
Through the power of Google I found out that this place was a DHL Supply Chain Logistics office run for Dell. It is a place that deals with Dell returns every day. When I called DHL they said it is even run by Dell. DHL says Dell has the computer. Dell has no idea where it is. No one can give me a number for the physical location.
I called the DHL centre (let’s call them DHL/Dell) again. They send me another confirmation that they have the computer. Here is the beauty of this exchange - the person from DHL/Dell who sent me the confirmation that she had received a delivery did so from this email address “DSC AU Dell Helpdesk (DHL AU) [dellhelpdeskau@dhl.com]”. The Dell call centre does not believe this warehouse is a legitimate place or that it exists yet the team their carries the support tag “AU Dell Helpdesk”. I am sure there is a joke somewhere concluding that there is a Dell Helpdesk but even Dell don’t believe it exists.
Dell calls DHL/Dell to confirm the goods are there and then calls me to tell me that the consignment number is wrong. That the consignment number sent by DHL/Dell to Dell and me in an email and screenshot is now wrong. This is the number I quoted to DHL/Dell but when Dell tells the same number to DHL/Dell it does not work. I am now convinced that the customer care team at Dell are US marines fired because of torturing people in Abu Ghraib.
Together I get Dell to conference me in to a call with DHL/Dell. Instead of initiating a conference call, Dell forwards me to DHL/Dell and drops off the call. I am seconds away from getting Dell and DHL/Dell to talk together but clearly the thought of getting close to reaching a conclusion and making me happy so scared Dell that they dropped of the call.
Now I have schedule for Dell to call DHL/Dell later to
- Agree with each other they exist
- Agree that they have my computer.
Finally - 45 minutes later – we are all agreed. The stock is there. DHL/Dell has physically located the items and confirmed this with Dell. It has taken me 2-3 hours and more than half a dozen calls with Dell, DHL, Air Express and others to convince Dell that the warehouse that they asked me to send the computer to exists, has the two boxes and can ….send it on to somewhere else.
Meanwhile I get another call from Schenker to organise a pick up of my Logitech speakers that were collected two weeks ago.
Pause here. How does Dell make money? Seriously. Their job is to build and send out computers. Clearly they have screwed up the build and send out part in my case. But in the follow up they have to pay for a courier from my place to DHL. Have to pay DHL to mind it for a week. Pay the person on the phone with me trying to track it down. All so they can pay someone else to pick it up from DHL and take it to another warehouse. Plus pay a logistics company to call me every few days to organise to pick up a computer that has already been picked up.
Unpause – Dell tell me it will take 2-4 working days once the boxes have arrived at the right warehouse. They will call me on Friday to update.
Surely now it is all fixed? Surely I am moments away from Dell collecting the boxes and sending me my money? Right? Wrong.
Dell Hell Circle 9 – convincing Dell they have the boxes part 2
Slow forward to Tuesday 2 November. Based on the Dell timeline I should be moments away from receiving an email that the boxes have been collected and money is on the way. I receive an email from Dell saying that someone turned up to the DHL/Dell warehouse to collect the goods but they (Dell) were told (by DHL/Dell) that the goods were not there.
All my time in conf calls, email chasing and getting Dell and DHL/Dell to talk to each other during Dell Hell Circle 8 were a complete waste of time. I am back to square one. DHL/Dell have had my goods for 14 days and still I am no closer to getting my money. I lose it by email. I write back giving Dell until Friday (3 days) to find the boxes and process my refund or I will start suing.
Meanwhile I get back on the phone. After a long time on the phone and email I find the guy at DHL/Dell who says he doesn’t have the goods. He tells me he gave them back to AirExpress. I call back AirExpress and have them kick off an item search investigation. As that is going on the DHL/Dell guy decides to physically walk the warehouse. A day after assuring me he sent the goods back with AirExpress he finds the goods at the DHL/Dell warehouse in the “quarantine area”. It is Thursday 4 November at 3.41pm. DHL/Dell writes to Dell to confirm this. Dell writes back to confirm the confirmation. 17 days and 6 hours after it landed at a warehouse that Dell originally said did not exist I have managed to get people from Dell, DHL/Dell and AirExpress to all agree that the goods are there and ready for processing.
I write back to Dell reminding them that while this is great news, they have 25 hours (until 5pm Friday) to confirm the refund or I start suing.
So Dell has agreed the goods are returned. They know I am angry and ready to sue. The cc line in the email exchanges has scores of people from half a dozen companies. Surely everything is done? Surely it is just a matter of counting my refund and going shopping again? Surely my 43 days and 9 circles of Dell hell are over? Right?...Right!!! Yes….right!
Leaving Hell
At 4.16pm on Friday, 44 minutes before the deadline I imposed Dell emailed me confirming that a refund is on the way. I check my online bank statement and the credit has been processed. Hell is (mostly) over. I have not yet received the refund for some of the accessories but who cares. At this point I am willing to give up on the $120 in peripherals and regain my life.
Oh – do you want the punchline? On Monday morning I see that Apple has dropped the price of iMacs by 10% because of the rise of the AUD. Maybe Hell has a sense of humour or realises that there is only so mcuh you can do to one guy.
Time to go shopping for a Mac.
Timothy Hughes
Travel Industry Blogger
Have you had a similar experience with Dell, or another company? Join us or login to review them, or add your comments below.



Comments
I don't know whether to laugh
I don't know whether to laugh or cry. This is unbelievable!! Your perserverance and patience will surely be rewarded somewhere in this life or beyond. Amazing!! And great timing - was just looking into purchase of a laptop - I'll be Mac all the way (desk top is a Dell!)
I am writing this on a Dell
I am writing this on a Dell laptop which as 6 minutes battery life. To be fair that could be partly my fault but I know all too well the pain of dealing with Dell. It took them 2 weeks to send me a replacement laptop charger (the original broke after a month).
Oh Tim, you poor, poor
Oh Tim, you poor, poor bastard. I laughed and almost cried in reading of your Dell Hell. I felt your pain and wanted to scream in frustation. I have just started typing a string of adjectives to describe reading about this experience but then came to the realisation that there are just not enough! Henceforth I do hearby swear never to touch a Dell product ever again! And I will be telling every person I know to do the same thing.
I know you're a reasonable bloke having seen you present at a few conferences and I follow your blog ang tweets but how you are still sane is a mystery.
I hope to god you find peace.....in a Mac.....or anything other than a Dell
Dude... You got a Dell...
Dude... You got a Dell...
Yeah, tried to buy a Dell
Yeah, tried to buy a Dell laptop about ten years ago. They sent it to the Holiday Inn instead and refused to believe that it hadn't arrived.
Sent from my MacBook Pro.
Circle 2 looks to be your
Circle 2 looks to be your inexperience rather than Dell's fault. The rest of the circles, not surprising. Dell, frankly, sucks.
You were a little off base on
If were Micheal Dell I would
If were Micheal Dell I would forward this story to every member of my executive team with instructions to tell me what happened in their respective business units to allow this sort of behavior and what will be done to fix it.
Any corporation that treats customers like this is not long for this world.
Thanks to all (this is Tim).
Thanks to all (this is Tim). I sent the post to michael@dell.com and bcc'd everyone involved anywhere in this hell dance. Will let all know if I get a reply
I agree with you and
I agree with you and commentator one before you (this is Tim) that it is "normal" that software needs updating and that this is not a specific Dell problem. But why is that as we enter the fourth decade of the personal computer that we still need to spend hours and hours setting up a fully functional machine.
I worked for Dell tech
I worked for Dell tech support for eight years. This is an accurate, believable description of events.
I am writing this comment on my MacBook.
Dude....what was I
Dude....what was I thinking???
OMG, you have no ideas the
OMG, you have no ideas the anxiety your article has caused. It took me two years to get over my experience in dealing with Dell.... and now, it's all rushing back. My heart rate has doubled and my blood pressure has just gone through the roof. My stomach is in knots and my jaw is cramped by clenching my teeth.
You have my sympathies. Dealing with Dell was one of the single worst experiences of my life, and I will NOT buy another one when this one finally craps out.
I only went (about) to the
I only went (about) to the fifth circle, but I could feel the demonic vistas opening beneath my feet before I managed to get clear.. incredible that they are still in business..
I think i got lucky with
I think i got lucky with dell...in that they screwed up my order before they charged me so i got out before it went horribly wrong!
In case it helps, I just
In case it helps, I just bought a 27" i7-2.93 iMac, had OWC stuff in a faster-than-Apple's-Toshiba SSD, add an eSATA port and take it to 12GB of RAM (which did take a few extra day VS geting it from the Apple store, but it's a BTO anyway due to the i7 CPU), and after taking it out of the box (fully patched, except a single iPhoto update) and plugging in the power cord (only cable I needed) it took me under an hour to migrate everything (75GB) off my Macbook Pro using Migration Assistant and my eSATA-based ime Machine disk. Everything worked just fine. Yes, it cost more. But my several year old MBP had also never crashed, locked up, or had a hardware issue (and etains a larger part of its original value). I know I've gotten the money's worth in no lost time from system issues. I expect the iMac will be the same. My time is worth real money to me, and it sounds like Dell screwed you out of 7 weeks of your life. :(
That's what you get for
That's what you get for buying from Dell.
If you think Mac is much better, wait until you need a replacement part.
Once about five or six years
Once about five or six years ago I had a Dell laptop that I discovered (because it failed) had never had its video card screwed in place with any screws. Over some time it worked its way loose from its socket and the screen blanked out. However the machine was about a month out of warranty and I could verify it was still running, so I opened it up to have a look, found the missing screws and reseated the video card. I rang Dell and got them to deliver me four new screws for my video card.
Two days later, I got the screws. Each of the four screws was shipped individually in a small plastic dime bag, each of these bags placed inside one of those wrinkly foam lined boxes that you might find an entire video card shipped in.
How they make profit off such appalling logistics is anyone's guess.
I did this song and dance
You went with a lowend PC
You went with a lowend PC company and got what you paid for, and somehow this applies to all PCs leaving you running for a Mac?
I can sympathize with your frustration but your generalization that Dell = ALL PC's is way off. I have had great service experience with Gateway although nowadays I build my own PCs.
Anyways, just my 2 cents, hope your mac works beautifully. Oh and amazing job remembering all the details of how long each call took and how much time was spent, haha I don't have the memory for that.
Wow.. I must live in some
Wow.. I must live in some alternate universe. I have bought Dells for myself, helped family members set them up, bought them and set them up at two start-ups I ran, and yet never had these issues. Shipping issues happen with any big distributor, it is not common, in my experience with Dell.
Also, you chose to buy from a shipment process, versus going into the store, so you should not be upset you had to be at home. It was your choice. It does stink that everything didn't come on the same day, but that may just be because you are in Australia.. in the US I always got the periphals with the system. It could have been the shipment process not Dell directly.
I will say when they outsourced & offshored - I got turned off by them, but their machines work. Sounds like you had an issue and weren't technical enough to handle fixing it yourself. In that case, yes, it is unfortunate, but you have to wait for the technician. They don't let the technicians have your licensed install disk per Microsoft's rules.
It sounds like you are used to the simplicity of Macs. That simplicity costs $. You bought an Inspiron - not equal $ compared to the Mac. Just not comparable.
You were used to how the process worked with a Mac, and unfortunately had a bad experience, but I promise it is not the common.
I neither work for Dell, own stock, nor like big companies like them, but I thought this blog deserved balance from someone who has done tons of Dell purchases and setups.
Oh my god, what a post! I
Oh my god, what a post! I know what you mean, I have similar experiences.
I wrote about it too in my blog, but as I'm Dutch you may have problems understanding it. But you should check it anyway, as there's a picture of the Dell Bug that crawled out.
It appears to be Chinese, it was about as large as my thumb, it was alife and it can't be undone by an update.
A rolled up newspaper took care about the life bug, but to counter all the other bugs inside I needed about 3 full workweeks in which I did nothing but repairing my new Dell (I'm a webdesigner and I know my way around computers) and another 4 days by a technician. Dell refused any help. Now it does function, although I still get a blue screen of death now and then, destroying all the work I did in the hours before.
Link to my blogpost about Dell: http://www.darelings.nl/2010/07/dell-hell/
I am very sorry to read about
I am very sorry to read about this experience, as Dell takes customer experience very seriously. We have been making changes to processes to enhance our relationships (http://en.community.dell.com/dell-groups/customer-advisory-panel/b/weblog/archive/2010/07/16/cap-update-procedural-changes-empower-customer-care-teams-to-resolve-customer-issues-on-the-first-call.aspx). However, there is more work to do. Per my tweet from @DellCares, please don't hesitate to reach out if you need help in the future. I have also shared your blog with the appropriate leaders, as it is important that the voice of our customers that should steer our decisions.
Thanks again for your feedback.
Amy Bivin
Social Outreach Services (SOS)
Dell, Inc.
...so sorry for bring back
...so sorry for bring back bad memories!
Amy - nice to hear from you.
Amy - nice to hear from you. I dont think procedural change can fix the systemic malaise I encountered. There was a failure at every point except sale. Delivery, care, fix, return. There needs to be a complete rethink of post sale business. For example - the link you provided to the community update requires me to create an account and login. Something I am not going to do.
@fellow dell hell sufferer
@fellow dell hell sufferer from Holland. I can't read Dutch but a picture tells a thousand words. Thanks for sharing
yeah, cause that makes it all
yeah, cause that makes it all better adn okay there. How about some compensation for the poor guy?
OR
Just making a product that works in the first place, adn the systems in place to deal with real issues?
Hi - I'm one of the people
Hi - I'm one of the people that owns/runs Customer Underground. Just a note to say how grateful we are to all of you for sharing your views on this story.
Thanks to Tim Hughes for the incredible effort of reducing this all to writing.
And please let's keep the debate going on this.
I have to agree with some of the other commentators - nice words aren't going to change Dell's conduct / business practices (I, too, am a former Dell user turned Mac user). It's only major customer revolt coupled with specific feedback like Tim's that's going to make the company wake up and realise their current model of customer service is simply unsustainable commercially, (to say nothing of outrageously unacceptable, personally).
Tim, your experience is
Tim, your experience is absolutely astounding. I can't believe it. Hats off to you for persisting through it all. Talk about above the call of duty. I'd say 99% of people would have caved in at the first glass of wine.
I think the most telling question you pose for Dell, is how does a company like that expect to make money when there is so much wasted time to-ing and fro-ing. Hundreds or thousands of dollars have been spent (not) trying to support a sale which was ultimately worth zero to them. Companies like Dell certainly face considerable challenges in keeping track of how their computers are put together with the millions of configurations which that results in. They may have that under control but sound like everything else has fallen apart.
I personally use Dell computers and have done so for the last 10 years: new and refurbished, laptop, netbook and desktop. Generally, I've been happy with the way they have performed. My experiences with support have been reasonable - knowing the spec on parts which are 8 years old is pretty impressive. Its hard to say how widespread problems such as yours are but it does sound a very large warning bell for anyone who wants something which just works.
Thanks for the story!
I only got about halfway
I only got about halfway through this story before having to skip to the end. This is unbelievable, incredible. My laptop died a month ago and I was considering replacing it with a Dell, but this story has convinced me otherwise. Now there is no way in Hell I am getting a Dell.
This is awful, but not that
This is awful, but not that surprising. In the future, I'd recommend learning how to do your own build in the future and order parts from Newegg. Best prices, selection, and customer service on the internet, hands down. They don't jerk you around, you can always ship something back, and there's always a competent person to talk to.
Doing your own build is easier than you might expect, and you can purchase bare bones systems in which you only need to add a few components.
Just something to keep in mind.
Well my experiences with Mac
Well my experiences with Mac equal yours with Dell... hey just have better marketing that makes you think youare part of a trendy hip new world of ultra smart and attractive human beings, superior to the entire human race in every way. The first Mac was listed for $666 dolars. Jobs has horns. The end is nye....
Dell has been "Fixing their
Dell has been "Fixing their customer service problems" for years. The problem is epidemic throughout the company. Their employees are too stressed to deliver any consistency on customer service (which is why Michael Dell hides from them). Their management has no courage or ethics (its actually written into their "code of conduct"). Dell has no substance.
- Written from my last Dell device.
Maybe Michael Dell will
Maybe Michael Dell will feature in an episode of "Undercover Boss" and sees the true face of Dell Inc.
So sorry for Tim. To hear of
So sorry for Tim. To hear of his bad experience with this company. I would not wish it to my worst enemy. If one is to work out the cost of Tim's time, it is probably going to work out greater than the difference between equivalent Dell and Mac. Nevertheless, I would have sent a bill to Dell for my time. I use an Inspiron D430 laptop at work and it takes 10-20 minutes to boot up each morning. A friend with MacBook never shuts down and puts it to sleep each day for instant boot-up. I'm using this method but it still takes up to 10 minutes from standby mode to wake up (when docked to the company network).
I've also had my share of PC/Windows-based desktop/laptops. I'm now shopping for a new computer and will now decide on a MacBook Pro.
Last of the dollars have
Last of the dollars have arrived
All - on Nov 16 - 28 days after my boxes arrived at Dell they have finally refunded the payments for the two third party items (speakers and wireless dongle). I am finally made whole (except for the cost of phone calls, bubble wrap, time spent, marriage counselling, Valium and the voodoo priest I called in to put a curse on them)
Dell is not an exception,
Dell is not an exception, there are many organisations across a range of industries who in pursuit of cutting costs & maximising profits have forgotten the most basic of rules - Customer Is King!
From Tim’s example, it is easy to blame the front line employees for incompetence. But from experience there are fundamental weaknesses in such organisations that result in the type of experience Tim had.
The issues can be summarised as follows:
1) Organisation Structure: Fragmented organisation structures and no “end to end” ownership of issues
2) Leadership: Management teams who are disconnected from customers
3) Metrics: Operational measures that are internally focused and not focused on measuring true customer experience
4) Process: Poor process, with too many hand-offs and a lack of empowerment of front line employees to resolve problems
5) Technology: Systems and tools that are not integrated resulting in “leakage” of information between organisations
To create a truly customer centric organisation you need to put the customer at the fore front of everything an organisation stands for. To end on a brighter note, there are many examples of organisations who have got this right, for example Zappos and NewEgg etc
Hi, Very well written and
Hi, Very well written and expressed. I have faced such problems with both Dell and HP. I only trust local assemblers, now who give me the configuration I need and come within 2 hours and repair the machines. But I guess this is possible only in India. My personal desktop which is localy assembled has been running perfectly without a single instance of any problem for the last 3 years and I am getting a high end gamming machine assembled now at 25% lesser cost than Dell or HP. My laptop is an acer and has been running perfectly well for the last one year (since I purchased it from the shop). I am a leadership trainer and have trained over 4000 people in the industry in India in different capacities (Software programming, Business Development, Franchising, Application Software, Advocacy and Leadership Development) with a lot of following. I will circulate your experience to all my ex colleagues - more than 5000 that I am connected to and request them not to entertain Dell either in personal capacity or in their organisation. Such organisations should not only be shut down but also be made to pay 3 times the purchase amount as harrasment charges and another 3 times the cost as opportunity and time lost.
Thank you for documenting it so well.
Regards
Kushal
(kusghosh@gmail.com)
Very thoughtful comment & I
Err just bought a Dell, was
Err just bought a Dell, was told about 5-7 days for delivery and would receive an order number and confirmation by email... order tracking system today tells me 45 days and I got no email confirmation ... not a promising start
What you fail to recognise is
What you fail to recognise is he is comparing this to a Mac. All Macs (at least in the UK) are shipped up to date to the last week or so software-wise.
Also, Dell is perhaps the worst example of Customer Care on the planet, and Apple are up there with the best (size considered) so the conclusion was foregone. Sonys come with the most malware preinstalled, and HP cost the most. If you dont want to build one yourself, get a HP.
Dell really are cluelessThis
Dell really are clueless
This is an email I received yesterday. Yesterday is 2 months after i posted this Dell Hell Report
Morons
"Dear Customer
First and foremost thank you for choosing Dell. We are sending this courtesy email as it gives us an opportunity to touch base with our customers.
On top of that, this is to ascertain your overall satisfaction for the service rendered and product procured. We sincerely hope that your previous or recent interactions with Dell reflect your experience favorably.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require more information pertaining to technical or order related enquiries by replying to this e-mail. We will get back to you the soonest.
For more knowledgebase, please visit to :
http://supportapj.dell.com/support/topics/topic.aspx/ap/shared/support/en/country_selector?c=ap&l=en&s=gen&redirect=1
Also, feel free to drop us email at ANZCustCare@dell.com and it will be attended to the soonest.
We thank you for your continuous support and it will be always our pleasure to serve you better. We welcome your feedback as your customer experience is our number one priority and we are always striving for improvement in both our services and processes."
That really does add insult
That really does add insult to injury doesn't it! Entirely clueless - and also a great example of corporate gobbledegook ("why use one word when you could use ten?").
Hi Tim and Mel!Thanks for
Hi Tim and Mel!
Thanks for keeping this updated.
Speaks volumes about Dell's Customer Care department and also the organisation's philosophy of not caring about customers.
Michael Dell has made sure that I understand his philosophy well:
1. Write great books - all good to read, and create a lot of Aura for yourself - but never follow what you preach!
2. How does it matter is the customer is disgusted. Go one step further and insult him - get him as mad as possible - individuals dont matter, cheat them if possible in both time and money - that is probably the way the company will make part of the profit.
3. Employ and retain only those people, who are "yes men" and are spineless characters and are more mechanical than humane.
I think, it is a character and attitudes most corporate organisations and the leadership carry - there is no other reason for an organisation like Dell to be still able to sell their products. The buyers still do not seem to be concerned.
We probably need to publicize this site more and add a page on rating the customer happiness index on the support by such organisations.
It may be time that this issue gets a lot of publicity and comes to the notice of the masses.
Thanks for useful info and my
Thanks for useful info and my best greetings.
I got a similar nightmare from Dell.
I ordered a monitor it arrived after a month: no tracking was available; no call from Dell, the monitor finally arrived and luckily I was at home.
The monitor resulted faulty, I then found out that Dell sent me the wrong monitor!
I sent many e-mails and forwarded pictures plus I sent a letter to Dell headquarter in Sydney asking for what I paid for, finally I was contacted and I was assured that a replacement was arranged, beautiful!
Again: one more month and no tracking was available; the monitor arrived and luckily I was at home.
I very carefully unpacked it like I had a baby in my hands, I put the monitor on my desk and peeled out the protective transparent plastic film from all around the frame, surprise: the frame resulted broken!
I took pictures, e-mailed Dell and put the monitor back in its box.
Dell have not replayed to my e-mail in addition I tried to call them but after a half an hour I gave up since no one answered my call.
Surprise: after two weeks a kind lady called me "can we arrange to collect the faulty monitor?". I asked which monitor since I understood that she did not have any clue regarding my issue.
I then explained that now I got two faulty monitors and so I would need to talk to Dell prior to arrange for the pick up.
She insisted to collect the monitor, I said not! She said "then I tell Dell that you don't want to release the monitor" I replayed don't say that because Dell "won't understand" the reason.
End of call (I made the story short).
Now what do you guys suggest me since I see two options:
1) I sell both monitors if I get all my money back and goodbye Dell.
2) I take Dell to a small claims Tribunal since I gave them my money but in return I got "rubbish".
Thanks anyone and be aware of Dell!!
Hey Guest with monitor
Hey Guest with monitor problem
Best way to get your money back from Dell is to not give up. One customer care person has done you wrong. Wait tell mins, call back and speak to another. They cant help? Wait ten mins call back and speak to another. Wash rinse repeat. By that I mean, keep on trying again and again. If my experience with Dell taught me one thing it is that there is no consistency within the Dell team and very few people who understand what is going on . As a result if you keep calling and speak to different people you can expect different outcomes. Keep calling and good luck
(who knew this column would turn into an "ask tim")
Hi Tim thanks for feedback.I
Hi Tim thanks for feedback.
I would never espect that buying a monitor would have turned in a nightmare.
Dell no more!
I can only call Dell by my mobile, you know I had to call them to confirm my order which was already comfirmed by a bank transation, the call cost me $28!!!
Dell it is a total fail!
I called them two times regarding this issue but I totalled half an hour on the phone and no one answered, can you guess how much this "rubbish" monitor will cost to me??
Dell is the company which years ago was investigated for getting (bribe) millions of Dollars from Microsoft to make sure they only used Microsoft software and affiliated compatible (marketing bull) hardware.
Dell has became a huge company not because for accumulated skills but because of accumulated "bribes"!
Now they pay the price for it, I do agree that Dell staff's brains are not connected in any way, any one does what they can also I see almost all of them are a bunch of incompetent!
You couldn't believe it, one of those "morons" agreed and apologised to me for being an "incompetent"!!
I hate Dell, I wish they banckrupt!
Antony.
Dell writes to me asking for
Dell writes to me asking for feedback - Again
See below the latest email from DELL. A different support group to the last one - but again they are asking me for my feedback. They are desperate (it appears) to "learn more about [my] experience with Dell products".
At least this time I have been upgraded from Dear Customer to Dear Valued Customer.
All jokes aside - it shows another failed piece of infrastructure. It is stupid to write to a clearly unsatisfied customer. One that is so unsatisfied that he wrote to micheal@dell.com and 5 other @dell.com email address to say so. Bot more than that, it is stupid to write to them twice!. Here is the full text of the second email
"Dear Valued Customer,
At Dell, we are committed to improving your experience with our products and services. As part of this commitment, we are asking for your feedback to help us understand the things we are getting right and the things we need to improve.
Specifically, we would like to learn more about your experience with Dell products you purchased for home or personal use.
Please click the web address link below to take the survey.
http://survey.ccsurvey.com/dell0902a/survey.pl?ttudc634543353nhaxs
(If you are unable to open the survey, please copy and paste the entire web address into the address field of your browser.)
Satmetrix, a leading provider of customer loyalty programmes, is conducting this survey on our behalf. The survey will take about 10 minutes to complete. Your feedback is appreciated within the next 10 days.
We look forward to receiving your feedback!
Yours sincerely
The Dell team "
Morons!
Tim I feel sorry because I
Tim I feel sorry because I know what were you expectations as a customer, you gave them your hard earned money in exchange to enjoy something you wanted to.
Dell's statements are pure ridicoulus scripts such as "Dear Valued Customer" this is a clear insult!
The saga continuesI wrote to
The saga continues
I wrote to replied to both of the emails I got from Dell asking for feedback. In those mails I told them to stop writing to me and to read this post. In one of the notes I cc'd michael@dell.com. This is email that gets to the "Executive Customer Support Team".
I got a response the next day from Mary at that office. She said
"Dear Tim,
Greetings from Dell. This is with reference to the email that reached our Corporate office. We appreciate you having taken the time to bring our attention to this incident.
Request already raised to suppress future emails to your email address.
Thank you."
Four days later I received an email from the Dell auto feedback system "reminding me" that they would "really appreciate my feedback". That is email number three to me asking me for feedback on a Dell I sent back more than 2 months ago. So I wrote to Mary at the "Executive Customer Support Team" asking "why am I still receiving emails". Here is her response
"Dear Tim,
Good day.
The mail suppression request will takes 5 to 7 working days to reflect in the system."
Goes beyond belief to think that it takes almost more than a week for Dell to delete anemail form a database. That nowhere in their system do they record that I do not have a Dell anymore. That they lost a lot of money on the transaction with me and that I have given negative feedback directly (to the more than ten people I spoke to on the phone) and indirectly (through this post.
Morons
I wouldn't hesitate to label
I wouldn't hesitate to label Dell as a scammer and as a fraud enterprise company.
Their communication system is all mess up plus all its representatives I have had chance to deal with are just as stupid as an empty carton box.
After a month since I enquired about the 1st. faulty and wrong model monitor that Dell sent to me I finally got a replacement monitor, but the nightmare goes even deeply!
I'll try to make the story as short as possible: the 2nd monitor resulted "broken" also they again sent to me a "wrong" monitor model, are they just stupid or what???
I immediately e-mailed to Dell and attached pictures, no feedback from them!
A stupid lady from a delivery company called me asking me to arrange for pick up the faulty monitor (the 1st. one) I told her the issue and that now I got two faulty monitors so that she should tell this to Dell otherwise they will think that the issue is resolved. She insisted that she would say I wouldn't give the monitor back without mentioning my issue, well done donkey!
After a month I received an e-mail from Dell asking me to arrange for the return of the 1st. faulty monitor. Yet they still have not aknowledged the issue or they just play up, whatever is it they are a bunch of clueless idiots!
Tim,The level of
Tim,
The level of ridiculousness and incompetence they are demonstrating in communications with you is truly staggering!! The passive automaton language adds insult to injury.
I respect your tenaciousness is continuing to communicate with them!
cheers,
Mel
Similar experiences on this
Similar experiences on this end, years ago. Dell is the primary reason I switched forever to Apple products.
Your rant was well felt. Keep fightin' the good fight.
Brent
Who reads such a long post???
Who reads such a long post??? Duh!!!
Your patience sir is truly
Your patience sir is truly astounding. Several years before I left home for college my family updated to a Dell with Windows XP home. It took years for anything seriously wrong to go, but I found it amusing that in some cases Dell was unwilling to assist us, but when we would take it to a friend of the family, he could fix our problems easily within an hour usually, and, on the last trip was kind enough to upgrade the internal harddrive to 1TB no charge.
i started to read your post,
i started to read your post, and i couldnt stop. it was amazing. i only just bought a dell laptop 3 days ago(online), they have already rung me up three times trying to upsell me trying to buy 400$ warranty & better insides. hopeully i dont get the experience that you have just had!
the world needs more people like to to stand and fight.
Just be very very aware of
Just be very very aware of Dell people, they are trained to be the best scammers out there.
My issue is still alive since last November, I paid for something and got another because Dell isn't able to deliver it, it isn't available anymore BUT Dell keep playing around with me and being not able to tell the truth.
Also they sent me a faulty product: Dell = scam!
Unethical SellingIt was
Unethical Selling
It was indeed an open and shut case.What sort of a selling practice is being followed at Dell? Delay sending quotations until the price is increased and then fail to honour a commitment? I am shocked that an organization which claims to a best practice leader plays these shady games with customers.
Shavir
P.S. I thought writing on the forum would be a good way to get my problem resolved - it only resulted in my post being deleted - which I find rather disturbing.
Shavir,my thread on Dell
Shavir,
my thread on Dell forum was deleted too, I'm not going to explain why as all of you can guess the reason.
Dell sent four (4) times a courier at my home aiming at delivering "warranty" and customer satisfation.
What a shame, I had to send the couriers back without delivery because Dell tried to pick up my wrong model and faulty monitor and then they would "act" as they finalised the task and leave me without money and monitor!
I can frankly define Dell as a thief and as a scammer.
Dell lately contacted me offering refund (we still don't know how genuine is it) but can you guess: I spent almost $30 on the phone by dealing with Dell's scammers, I spent almost $30 for delivering and now they pretend to refund my money I gave them almost 5 months ago??
I already bought another monitor, SHAME on you Dell.
Now I'm a bit busy with every day problems, but I wanna see how far this game will go!
I know how you feel Tim
I know how you feel Tim
Incredible. If they had
Incredible. If they had developed a proper product in the first place they would not have had to deal with all the other crap afterwards.
Tim your story is amazing and your perserverance astounds me, good on you for seeing it through.
BTW I bought a SONY all in one computer 2 years ago. Took an hour to set up and have never had a problem with it.
P.S. This post worries me as I'm expecting a Dell Alienware m14x any day now. :S
I currently have a similar
I currently have a similar issue with Dell. I bought a brand new XPS 15z and it sarted playing up 2 months after i had bought it. Its hard drive failed so I requested it to be replaced. Another 2 months later, the screen fails so it too was replaced. 2 weeks after that and the keboard temporarily fails. Yet another month later the Dell starts lagging with a horible buzzing sound every 10-15 seconds. By this point I've had enough so I call dell to have it refunded, but they refused. The only kind of refund they seem to repay is one in credit meaning they keep my money and force me to buy yet another Dell product. I have since emailed them requesting a refund and not one in credit.
To those who buy Mac's as a replacement. I wont buy one after this as i find they are too expensive and not very compatible for what i wold like to use it for. I know they are more than 10x more reliable than Dell (anything is) but i do not wish to spend a large amount of time finding a compatible application that works for a Mac. Sorry, not an Apple fan.
(Written from a fustrating and failing Dell)
Skating region increasing
Post new comment