Yeah, you really got it tough.
Posted on 01/06/2010 4:30:29 PM PST by snippy_about_it
Please excuse this vanity but I have the need to shout from the rooftops in frustration, Dell Computer Company has gone to Hell.
Oh my gawd. I have had the worst time with these people. I have owned Dell computers for over 20 years but never again.
I have some Alienware on order from them and have since October. OCTOBER people. It has been delayed yet again. This is the fourth delay with no notice and no explaination.
The only reason we know it is delayed is by checking the status which always changes right before the ship date.
You see we don't lead a life of such luxury that we can take of work anytime we want so we have to plan ahead. We therefore check the expected date of shipment and put in for a day off so we can be here for delivery.
Low and behold it was delayed from an original ship date of 11/19 to 12/23 to 1/6 and now to 1/22.
But wait, there's more.
THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS!!!!!!!
Good luck getting anyone who has English as their first language or can do any more than tell you what you already know....the new ship date.
They can not tell you the rhyme or reason behind the delay so I cannot determine if the computer will ever be delivered.
I have spent on average two hours on hold with about 5 different "customer care" workers as they pretend to understand my frustration and move me up the chain.
Oh yes, they ask for your phone number and email in case you get disconnected. We did, after two hours but did they call back? No. Did they send me an email? No. They simply hung up on me.
Tonight they actually asked me after being on hold and on my third person to call back in two hours. I said, pardon me? They said in their usual un-understandable accent, yes sir, we have making change and cannot see order, call back two hours.
I told them to go to hell.
I can't take it anymore. There is absolutely no where to turn and no one to speak to. Last night they said they would send me to the "specialized queue" and when I got there the lady said, oh yes, the problem we have been having with Alienware is..bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. That's when I was disconnected.
Tonight I asked to get back in the specialized queue. They had no idea what I was talking about.
There is no service any longer. They all suck.
Thanks for listening. It's more than Dell is doing.
I don't feel any better.
If you learn the major languages of India you should do much better with customer service.
>>If you learn the major languages of India you should do much better with customer service.<<
HAHAHAHA!
That is EXACTLY what I was thinking!
I have several friends that own dell computers. Some several. Every single one of them will not do it again. I just helped a guy choose a computer to replace his Dell Laptop.
I got both of my Bare Bones pc’s within about 8 days of placing the order @ pricewatch.com with a few other parts from newegg.com.
I would not even consider owning a name brand pc at this point.
Dell has indeed gone downhill. Not sure of the reason but it was right around the time they moved support and production offshore.
Do you have an Nvidia card in the computer? Nvidia has been notorious for promising cutting edge cards even as their foundary partners are unable to produce the chips in quantity.
I’d change the order to an ATI 5800 or 5900-series card, if so.
I think there stock will continue to fall if we have to all learn Hindi or whatever in order to get better customer service.
I suppose though Dell is just looking to the future when there are no more white guys with jobs to buy computers.
We are the last of the dinosaurs and therefore unimportant to the rest of the world.
Building your own from scratch is more fun. I figure out what I want, what I want to spend; read the reviews; find the best prices, and get it. Pick up some extra stuff for when things break down, and start planning early for the next build. ...Probably not what you want to hear, or not even something that applies to you, but it’s the only thing I have to say when it comes to getting computers. ...I hope you get things worked out.
Sorry Dell closed it’s customer service center in Twin Falls, Idaho last year or the year before so you have to deal with India.
By the way, Michael Dell partnered up with George Soros on purchasing a bunch of mortgages from IndyMac. They are foreclosing on them every chance they get because the FDIC is forced to give them 80%-95% of the original value of the loan, not the distressed price Dell/Soros bought them for.
I’m currently hoping that my Dell laptop survives long enough for my newegg-ordered parts to get to me for my first custom build gaming system. I’m getting one component per paycheck. The HAF 932 case should be here tomorrow.
Yes on the Nvidia card.
The thing is, why can’t Dell simply tell me that is the problem. Yes having the delay is frustrating but their lack of communication is awful and just plain shameful for an American company.
LOL.
I think he was thinking of a very specific context when he made that statement, but thanks for putting the bigger issues into perspective ;)
I KNOW how you feel my friend. I wrote a diatribe of my at http://www.tableofwisdom.com/MrArbitrage_Stock_Picks.html
over a year ago. Since it is mine, I’ll just paste it below to add to yours.
I am about to purchase a new PC this month and it will probably be an HP - but definitely not a DELL. They are like the GM of PCs. Good luck!
Dell: “Dude, You’re getting a ...”
by MrArbitrage
I’m writing as one who is objective on Dell stock. I have never been long nor have I ever been short DELL as I don’t see a great deal of investment potential in the “screw driver shops”. The margins in this business will not get better. I did purchase a Dell desktop about 2 years ago and it went through 2 mother boards in 1 year – now it makes some really crazy, LOUD noises when I download from the Internet. It sounds more like an old washing machine than a computer.
Yes, they were “gracious” enough to replace the motherboards after I haggled with the company and got passed around to a few different departments. I had to wait a few days for some sub-contractor to come out and repair it. He was very nice. He said this motherboard problem was widespread that year and he repairs these all the time because the parts (I forget what he called them but they look like AA batteries cut in half) were not adequate to handle the…” I said “why didn’t they have a recall?” He said that it’s cheaper for them to send out repair people to each location per incident and have the technician repair them onsite.
Keep in mind, this computer is now a few years old (and out of warranty). I thought surely they wouldn’t make this mistake again – but about a month ago I was talking with someone in the course of business who told me they had just bought a brand new Dell this year and to my surprise – he said he has already had the motherboard of all things – replaced.
Prior to my Dell experience, I had always bought Gateway, since 1996. Their customer service was wonderful. My laptop is a Gateway. I had nothing but good experiences with GTW. I am going to be purchasing a new notebook computer this Christmas. I would automatically buy a Gateway but I’m going to do some homework just to make certain they’re still as good as they were before the acquisition by Acer.
One good portent regarding Gateway is that I recently called their technical support department to help me with a possible virus and I was very pleased to talk with a kind young AMERICAN from the mid-west! That was actually an improvement that resulted after the acquisition. The tech support was good before but it was re-routed through Bombay and depending on who picked up the phone, it was at times hard trying to understand their English.
If my research on Gateway under new ownership returns favorable results, I will probably buy the new notebook from them. If not, I’ll look at HP. One thing I can say for certain is that I will never buy one from Dell. I should have been skeptical from the beginning when they were running those commercials with that kid who acted like a stoner and whom later was arrested for Marajuna. Instead of the slogan being “dude – you’re getting a Dell” it should have been “dude – you’re getting a crap box”.
Contact: mrarbitrage@tableofwisdom.com
Thanks pallis.
We are looking at that option or having a local person build one for us.
Thank you for your service. I see you served around the same time as my husband.
I had no idea he was doing anything with Soros. A good reason not to buy from Dell anyway I guess. Thanks.
Your experience may be nothing more than just another example. My company is taking a beating from our customers taking their business to China and elsewhere overseas. But there is ALWAYS a downside. And the downsides become worse than any benefits in time. It will just take time.
By the time you get it - it will be obsolete!
Randall I have to tell you, my frustration is also exacerbated by the fact I quit smoking 10 days ago! My husband would like to build his own but he’s an old programmer not a techie.
Good luck with your build.
Yes, with a purchase this large I use my amex for protection. They haven’t billed for it.
LOL. In our case it would now be “Dude, you’re not getting anything!”
After buying only Dell computers for years and recommending them to friends, we will never ATTEMPT to buy another product from them and discourage friends from it as well. I think the problem starts in their production facilities and grows when you have to talk to customer no-service offshore. It’s just not worth it.
LOL. I wouldn’t be surprised.
You are not alone.
We knew there had been issues with Alienware in the past but now Dell was selling and supporting Alienware so we thought it was safe to buy it through them. We had no idea how far downhill Dell had gone in their customer service and support.
I tried to order a video card from them over the phone. They could not give me any assistance in picking the correct one for my computer.
I order only from tigerdirect now because they can tell me what fits in my computer.
ping
I then spoke to a sales person who said that he called the warehouse in my city and told me they had one in inventory and would ship it in one day and I would get it within three days. I got his name and telephone extension only to be told by customer care in India that it was a fake extension I was given, didn't work and I was lied to. I tried one last time and got connected to the Philippines where a salesperson offered to get me the same monitor in three days if I paid the difference between the sales price I paid for it and the current price, all while some woman could be heard singing and talking in the background.
This was the third monitor I ordered from Dell over ten plus years, the previous ones arrived quickly. Dell absolutely sucks now and my experience with them was one of the worst customer service experiences that I have every had.
How’s Apple doing these days with their computers? I’ve been a Dell customer for many years, but am moving on.
I prefer to build my own machines plus I can pick the components that will work with Linux. The only store bought machine I would get is Apple. But PC side, I build my own.
The UPS man told me it was in the local depot. It was about 20 miles away. Called the 800 number. Absolutely no help. Didn't care. Their message to me was plain: it sucks to be you.
Thankfully, I knew someone who worked at the local UPS depot. Gave me a number. Fifteen minutes later, the package was located, and I picked it up that night.
My opinion of UPS has plummeted. If I didn't have to deal with them, I wouldn't.
"Sucks to be you." Yeah, love that customer service.
My kids’ stepmom has very generously been giving them Dells for Christmas gifts for the last ten years. At first it seemed like a great idea, but the reliability of the machines has turned into a disappointment, and the customer service is a disaster.
What’s interesting is that if you call customer service, they will ask you “Is this a personal computer or for business use?” or words to that effect. If you answer “personal,” you’ll be shunted to Bangalore, where some very snotty and incompetent CSRs will fail to handle your problem.
If you answer “business,” however, they’ll roll out the red carpet for you. First they say, “If this account is with a company with less than 5000 employees, press 1. If this account is with a company with 5000-10000 employees, press 2. If this account is with a company with over 10000 employees, press three.” If you press three, they set off fireworks and send over a bottle of champagne while they wait on you hand and foot. And they’ll do it in ENGLISH.
my household has 4 apple laptops running snow leopard, 1 dell netbook running Snow Leopard, 1 self-built PC (windows XP), 1 self built Linux, and 1 apple desktop.
BTW, I went apple (from all PCs) due to I was spending WAY too much time with patches, viruses, and poor quality of software for video editing, manipulating pictures, etc.
In general, Apple is 100% opposite of Dell. i had an iPhone 6 months out of warranty that went out, went to the genius bar, they replaced it free...btw, they said the reason they were replacing it was “because were not jerks”
They also replaced a power supply for free (out of warranty). Of course, if you go in acting like a jerk, they *dont* have to act reasonable, either.....
Cancel the payment already.
Email them and tell them that you are canceling your order. It will then show up in two days. It always works for me.
I totally understand your frustration. Having just had in the last few months the occasion to purchase several computers for my business. I realize Dell has major problems, but then so do all the other computer manufacturers. They are all getting their parts from China and their customer service/tech staff from India and are at the mercy of China’s low quality and India’s language barrier.
After a lot of research I decided to put all my eggs in Dell’s basket and called their order department and told them how many and what computers I wanted to order. I also told them (by the way.... it seems their entire sales staff is USA based) that I would give them the order for this and future orders (it will be sometime before I have the illusive future orders, but for now it seemed to be leverage)if I could have a prompt ship date and North American tech support for a 4 year service plan. No problem, they said. If you insist, it seems they have that option. When I had the inevitable problems crop up with making my peripherals and software work on Windows 7, my tech support (they call it “your North American Tech Team Red”)was reached with no more than 3 or 4 minutes hold, and they worked with me on each of the problems, patiently till resolved. Oh, I have no doubt the cheap Chinese parts will go bad, but they will cover them all and send a local tech company guy out to replace within 24 hours if necessary. About all I can hope for and better that having to lug a machine in to Best Buy for the same sort of inevitable repairs, I guess.
But them the story turns just before Christmas. In November my school teacher son told me that his old HP computer had crashed. I figured that a new one would make a great Christmas gift, and he would be in heaven with a Dell XPS Gaming model... not quit Alienware, but he next best thing to it. I ordered and they promised to have it here by Dec 24th.
But at the last minute they sent an email saying shipment would be delayed till after Dec 31st. I spent 6 hours on the phone working my way up the chain of Indian service reps who all read me their scripts saying “sorry, but...”, and not at all understanding why Christmas gifts had to be given on Christmas Day.
I went shopping at Best Buy and found a replacement (they actually had the same model with more memory and a much better graphics card for a lower price.
I took great satisfaction in then calling Dell and canceling my order. The next day I got notice that Dell had shipped afterall, I wanted to shout “why didn’t you just say so when I called you yesterday instead of telling me “sorry, but....” but I told them when it arrived I was sending it right back and I so wanted to tell them where they could put it when it arrived back, but it being Christmas and all, I toned down my rant. They had the gall to offer me a whopping $50 if I would accept the shipment ... can you believe that.
I said, “sorry no deal, and not only have you lost this sale and will have to eat the shipping both ways, but I will think long and hard before giving you any future orders.”
Oh, I know, I’ll most likely still buy Dells in the future, as I already said, the alternatives, especially when an off-the-shelf model is not going to be right. But it was nice to give them back some of their own medicine for once.
From my understanding, you just have to be a mac fan to be a mac fan. They cost more, but everyone i talk to says they are great. I personally cant use a computer if i dont have a right button on my mouse.
If you want to stick to a PC go to tigerdirect and have them build one for you. You can get good stuff without spending as much.
“Good luck getting anyone who has English as their first language . . . .”
A few years back I called Dell to order a replacement power cord and got some gal who must have been located in Vietnam who had no idea what I was talking about and couldn’t seem to grasp the concept of transferring me to someone I could converse with (like maybe “Steve” from Bombay).
I’ll never buy Dell again.
Try www.cyberpowerpc.com
Great prices, great rigs...
My company uses offshore labor and sends them through "accent neutralization." I still find 95% them very practically impossible to understand.
And technical service.
I understand your frustration. It sounds like the run around I’ve been getting. From India to what I thought was Mexico but you say it’s El Salvador. Either way it isn’t good.
You know carton, it would be easier if they would just say that when you call. “Sucks to be you”. LOL. At least that would be quicker and it is the same result!
Apple is having all kinds of problems with their new Imacs , etc...Same sh** no matter what company you buy from . All made in China probably with child labor .
Bought a DELL about 3 years ago. NEVER AGAIN. You want to know where mine is sitting? With its 5 year warranty? IN MY LAKE BEHIND MY HOUSE.
TOTAL GARBAGE.
I got so fed up with it breaking down, blue screen, and retarded help or lack there of from India...I used to be on the phone up to 3-4 hrs at a time with India and their tech support.
NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN.
F-ck Dell.
There are always bigger issues and different perspectives to any situation. It also helps not to take ones words out of context or to at least use entire sentences when quoting someone.
I know he meant it as an insult but he doesn’t know my history and therefore speaks to an empty wind.
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