Dear Mr. Dell
To: Michael Dell….
CC: Michael George, chief marketing officer and vice president for the U.S. consumer business, Dell
Gentlemen,
Your customer satisfaction is plummeting, your marketshare is shrinking, and your stock price is deflating.
Let me give you some indication of why, from one consumer’s perspective. I won’t bore you with all the details of my saga of Dell hell; you can read all about it here and here. The bottom line is that a low-price coupon may have gotten me to buy a Dell, but your product was a lemon and your customer service was appalling.
I shipped back my computer today and only — only — because I wrote an email to you, Mr. George, did I manage to get a refund. I’m typing this on an Apple Powerbook. I also have bought two more Apples for our home.
But you didn’t just lose three PC sales and me as a customer.
Today, when you lose a customer, you don’t lose just that customer, you risk losing that customer’s friends. And thanks to the internet and blogs and consumer rate-and-review services, your customers have lots and lots of friends all around the world.
I blog. And I shared the story of my Dell travails here. The topic resonated with hundreds more people. Go read the many comments here and here. Too busy? Then have an intern or an MBA do it for you.
And then have them read all the many posts of other bloggers who pointed to my posts and shared their dissatisfaction with your products, service, and brand and, in many cases, announced that they were no longer going to buy your name: See some of those posts here or here and you’ll learn a lot.
Heard of those new podcast things? Well, you’re in one.
Now go read the press this generated, because the press is reading blogs, even if you’re not: here (where Fast company turned consumer dissatisfaction into a verb: you got Dell’d), here (ZDnet not just in America but in India, where your many customer-service people are probably reading this, even if you’re not), here (a mainstream newspaper), here (an influential online news service), here (a consumer PC magazine), here (BusinessWeek, guys), and plenty more here: Just Google it; you should be doing that every day.
Or nevermind the press and even the blogs and just go to a food court to listen to what your customers are really saying about you. A VC in Toronto named Rick Segal happened to be in his building’s food court when he witnessed this scene:
I happened to be sitting across from a couple of bank tellers from TD Canada Trust, the bank in our building. These two ladies I’d seen before so I knew where they worked.Lady one: I was going to buy a new Dell but did you hear about Jeff Jarvis and the absolute hell he is going through with them.
Lady two: Yeah, I know the IT guy told me that the cobler blog was recommending we stay away from Dell.
Okay, after you are done laughing at this; laughing at Scoble’s name being mangled, laughing at two random bank tellers talking about some one line blog entry about some guy pissed off about his Dell experience; after you are done: Pay Attention.
I’ll accept that an IT guy would be reading scoble’s blog. I’ll even accept the IT guy offering an opinion which, randomly, I overheard.
The pay attention part: Lots of people (Dell?) are making the assumption that “average people†or “the masses†don’t really see/read blogs so, we take a little heat and move on.
Big mistake.
At the same time, as the tech columnist in the Houston Chronicle reported, you closed down one of your consumer forums and your own spokesman said that you have a corporate policy of not talking to your customers on blogs.
Big mistakes.
So allow me to give you some friendly and free advice about these blog things. You can pay for more.
1. Read blogs. Go to Technorati, Icerocket, Google, Bloglines, Pubsub, and search for Dell and read what they’re saying about you. Get it out of your head that these are “bloggers,” just strange beasts blathering. These are consumers, your marketplace, your customers — if you’re lucky. They are just people. You surely spend a fortune on consumer research, on surveys and focus groups and thinktanks to find out what people are thinking. On blogs, they will tell you for free. All you have to do is read them. All you have to do is listen.
2. Talk with your consumers. One of your executives said you have a look-don’t-touch policy regarding blogs. How insulting that is: You ignore your consumers? You act as if we’re not here? How would you like it if you gave someone thousands of dollars and they ignored you? You’re not used to being treated that way. Neither are we. It’s just rude. These bloggers care enough to talk about your products and service and brands. The least you can do is engage them and join the conversation. You will learn more than any think tank can ever tell you about what the market thinks of your products. But go to the next step: Ask ask your consumers what they think you should do. You’ll end up with better products and you’ll do a better job selling them to more satisfied customers who can even help each other, if you’ll let them. It’s good business, gentlemen.
3. Blog. If Microsoft and Sun and even GM, fercapitalismsake, can have their smartest blogging. So why shouldn’t you? Or the better question: Why should you? Because it’s a fad? No. Because it will make you cool with your kids? No. Blog because it shows that you are open and unafraid — no, eager — to engage your consumers, eye-to-eye.
4. Listen to all your bad press and bad blog PR and consumer dissatisfaction and falling stock price and to the failure of your low-price strategy and use that blog to admit that you have a problem. Then show us how you are going to improve quality and let us help. Make better computers and hire customer service people who serve customers.
It sounds so simple, so downright silly, doesn’t it? But that’s what you’re not doing now. And that’s why you lost me as a customer. But if you join the conversation your customers are having without you, it may not be too late.
Sincerely,
Jeff Jarvis
P.S. I have one Dell left in the house, my son’s. And just last night, he said he had to buy a fan to put under his machine to suck the heat out so the graphics card won’t overheat and slow down every time he plays a game. He looked online and found that people have complained to Dell… but no one would listen. Do you hear us now?
August 17th, 2005 at 8:13 am
I bought a new (used) laptop last week. While browsing the ads I found a few Dell’s. I rejected them out of hand due to the Jarvis DELL HELL saga.
I didn’t know Dell had dropped the ball as far as quality was concerned. A few years ago, I would still be in the dark. The new grapevine is a great thing for consumers.
The ripples from the new media have far reaching consequences.
I get asked a lot for computer advice and I will not recommend Dell products anymore until they get their act together.
“Cute” marketing campaigns with telegenic college-age models will not save Dell’s keister.
Dell ignores their customer base at their own peril, as do all companies.
It’s a new age…adapt or die.
It’s late, I feel the flu coming on, I hope the above post made some sense.
August 17th, 2005 at 8:33 am
Jeff, your Dell Hell entries are a lesson for all of us in business. Thank you for being so public and clear in your communication. You showing how blogging can give consumers a voice and force a company to take notice - albiet too late in the case of Dell. The commercial and social arrogance of many global companies is all too often masked by cute advertising. Your voice of one has woken many who had given up.
August 17th, 2005 at 8:53 am
Excellent summary, Jeff. Count me in as another about-to-buy-a-Dell guy who got cold feet after reading about your experience.
Oh, you might want to fix the typo in this sentence:
“But you didn’t just lose three PC sales and you me as a customer.”
Can I be your editor?
August 17th, 2005 at 9:32 am
Having been through one Dell hell, I would have made more of a point of the laughably inept/useless/overpriced “home service”. One problem with Dell’s direct sales strategy is the inability to have something like Apple’s Genius bars. (Where you can actually get help). By the way, it’s travail, not trevail.
August 17th, 2005 at 10:08 am
I’m curious- Will Jeff decide he really likes the Powerbook and start singing it’s praises? If he find problems with the “Book” or service and blogs about it, will Apple respond? If so, will Apple notice? Will Sony notice and send him a laptop?
It seems kinda brain dead not to respond to this things.
August 17th, 2005 at 10:36 am
Great letter.
Now everybody must spread the word about it, so that Dell people can never escape the Buzz.
I blogged about it and asked everyone to blog about it too.
August 17th, 2005 at 10:41 am
Thank you, my editors, for the edits.
August 17th, 2005 at 10:52 am
I love my Dell. I have three desktops at home, a Dell PDA, and around twenty units at my offices including laptops and two servers… I’m sorry you had such a terrible experience with them, but I’ve never had any major problems at all. I hope you have better luck with your new rig.
August 17th, 2005 at 11:02 am
When a customer receives an unusual service - good or bad - they will often talk about it.
A customer can undermine you or be an advocate for you. No company should aim for satisfied customers. That target is too low and a slight miss brings you into the unhappy zone with him.
Aim for delighted. Think about what you’d like your customer to say about you.
Then do what’s necessary to get them to say it…
August 17th, 2005 at 11:15 am
“your customers have lots and lots of friends all around the world.”
- people have a elephant memory for thing going wrong!
- 6th degrees of separation: thru internet you will have a much chance that some one knows some one who is going thru a Dell Hell!
August 17th, 2005 at 11:20 am
Jeff, if you really want to get to the folks at Dell, you might want to send a head-up to the pople at the Austin American-Stateman. Since Dell is headquartered in nearby Round Rock, any sort of story or blurb in that paper or on their website (www.austin360.com) about growing dissatisfaction with Dell due to poor customer service would be seen not only by the firms executives, but by thousands of the company’s employees, who might help put some internal pressure on Dell to clean up its act.
August 17th, 2005 at 11:28 am
Too bad you had a bad experience with em’, I know thier customer service has really gone down in quality these last few years but then so has everyone’s…
If you really want to get a PC done right shop around for a good local PC repairman or learn to build/repair one yourself.
Often times you can build a PC for noticably less than a high end Dell (minus those crazy cupons of course, I used one myself recently to get a BFG7800GT for $345 shipped when they were selling for $420 elswhere! but I’d never buy a whole PC other than a laptop from them….), those low end bundles are usually unbeatable, but then you get what you pay for…
August 17th, 2005 at 11:30 am
My “Dell Hell” was sub-contracted to Dell Financial Services. AFTER Dell shipped me a laptop, and later, a flat-panel TV, I received mail from DFS, stating much less desirable payment options than those advertised by Dell.
An angry letter to Dell Customer Service got a telephone response with an apology but denial of responsibility.
Never again, Dell!
August 17th, 2005 at 11:46 am
We’re currently on our second Dell PC and in need of a new desktop or laptop, or, likely, both. I’d like a wireless laptop for my blogging and my wife would sure enjoy having a desktop PC freed up for her, as I spend a lot of time on our sole PC now and it frustrates her to no end.
I don’t think a week goes by that we do not receive a Dell email offering big discounts on their products. But we’ve been a tad reluctant to remain loyal Dell customers, as we’ve read the bad press of late and, frankly, your post, Jeff, may have sealed the deal for us.
I’ve posted on customer service nightmares with other services and products, and pointed in my blog to what seems a significant deterioration in the Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma programs that not too long ago were being zealously embraced by most major Fortune 500 companies. Indeed, my wife just recently bought and received a defective Motorola cell phone!
So on the strength of your credibility, Jeff, we’ll look elsewhere for our next PC(s).
August 17th, 2005 at 11:55 am
Jeff, in suggestion nr. 2: “…But go to the next step: Ask ask your consumers…”
Asking once is enough
Seriously, excellent letter, can’t wait to see if there will be a response.
August 17th, 2005 at 12:00 pm
I too have been warning people away from Dells, after the appauling service and quailty of their products.
After 11 years of using PCs, it only took 1 year with a Dell and now I’m using an ibook. So I’ll give Dell some credit for helping me discover Apple.
August 17th, 2005 at 12:02 pm
Thanks for this eloquent explanation of Dell Hell. I’ve been there too. I am currently in HP IPAQ 2755 hell and might as well be talking to me dog about getting the problem solved. At least he listens.
I wonder if anyone can name a computer manufacturer who provides GOOD service. I’d buy my next hardware from them if I could see proof from a bunch of people that they’ve had good customer service experiences with one company.
The customer service problem goes well beyond Dell. Bad service, uncaring, ignorant and arrogant service and tech support is rampant.
I wonder just what kind of wake up call will convince companies that we’re sick and tired and not going to take it anymore?
A Dell boycott maybe?
August 17th, 2005 at 12:04 pm
I have a few nightmare stories without ever buying a computer from Dell. My roommate in college ordered a Dell. It came in, we turned it on, the lights went on but the CD-ROM drive wasn’t working. Luckily I have been inside computers, having always built every one I owned, except my laptop and an Alienware I bought (which has since been replaced with another custom built one). The power wasn’t connected to the CD-ROM drive. Who, being a typical user, would have known to check this? This was Fall 1998.
After reading this, I’m even more glad I build my own
August 17th, 2005 at 12:13 pm
This would have been more compelling if it had not been a blatant “hire-me-as-an-intermediary-to-bloggers” letter. Blogging has nothing to do with your issues, nor does it have anything to do with the real solution: make sure you have a machine that works.
August 17th, 2005 at 12:16 pm
No, Ed, I gave them all the advice they need for free.
August 17th, 2005 at 12:36 pm
Jeff,
After dealing with their terrible customer service and products I not only got rid of my Dell and switched to an Apple, but I also sold all of my Dell stock.
August 17th, 2005 at 12:48 pm
I don’t think the point is that Jeff had a bad experience and others had better experience (I have three Dell products, and I’m happy with them).
The point is that this is what happens when companies ignore the conversation. The negative talk doesn’t go away. Instead, it becomes the dominant key message attached to that company, no matter how many marketing dollars are spent on TV commercials and newspaper inserts.
You can’t buy and control a one-way conversation anymore. Some companies just aren’t getting it.
August 17th, 2005 at 1:17 pm
I am on hold right now with Dell. We ordered a Dell Inspiron 8000 in July. The wireless network card does not work and has not worked from day 1. We stayed on the phone with Dell, Dell sent a service technician to our home—he replaced the card but could not get it to work. We stayed on the phone MORE with Dell and they finally issued a pickup or at least had us call DHL for our pickup. Computer was returned to Memphis TN on Friday, August 12, 2005 and returned to us on Monday, August 15, 2005.
COMPUTER STILL DOES NOT WORK. All we want is to return it for a full refund. But Dell thinks we should pay 15% to return it. I will not pay this as the computer was faulty before we ever received it.
Does anyone have any contact email addresses (for Michael Dell) or phone numbers for Dell in Texas or just in the USA? Any help would be appreciated!
August 17th, 2005 at 1:20 pm
It’s like the United Airlines stories in Cluetrain. It would be funny, but those online follies happened 10 years ago and that just makes this pathetic.
August 17th, 2005 at 1:25 pm
I know exactly how you feel, Jeff, in a sort of inverse way. After ten years of assorted Dells (which were always great for me) I got cognitive dissonance with everyone telling me how great Apple was. So I bought my first Mac, an iBook.
And I ended up in 18 months of Apple Hell, before I decided it was rotten to the core. Oh, the machine worked according to the specification, sure, but the service and support, the interface - the whole ‘paradigm’ - didn’t. And it felt as slow (and less useful) than my 5 year old Dell laptop.
Dell never did me wrong, that’s not why I switched; I simply listened to the ‘buzz’. I was disillusioned within the first month with Mac, but stuck it out for another year and more, just in case I ‘got it’.
I didn’t. This year I switched back to Dell. A server and two workstations at work, and - two months ago, ah bliss - a laptop for myself. Goodbye iBook, no hard feelings. Except I only managed to sell off the iBook for the price of the original extended warranty. I bought an iBook, and 18 months later, with 18 months to run on the warranty, it was worth nothing.
It’s not all happy between me and Dell. I’m fed up with the Indian support lines, the heavy accents I can’t understand, the staff who are obviously under pressure, with heavy-handed sales technique. But nothing that Apple don’t do worse in my experience. Don’t want to sound rude, but rural Irish and French accents can sound just as tricky to my British ears.
Moral: I dunno. Other grass may be greener, but it just might turn out to be astroturf.
August 17th, 2005 at 1:42 pm
Sorry about all your Dell problems…but at least you don’t have a Gateway.
My first computer was a gateway, and it was the worst purchase I ever made. When I went to college, I decided to give Dell a try. Maybe 2001 was a good year, because my Dell is one of the best computers I’ve ever had. Everything still runs just as well as it used to, hell, I even dropped the moniter on a hardwood floor, cracked the casing, and it still works.
True, all the customer service representatives may be Indian (dots, not feathers), but at least you can get in touch with them. While the gateway was non-existent and left me on hold for hours at a time, the very helpful dell reps hold a special place in my heart for retreiving a Medical Ethics term paper from deep within the reaches of a Dell Desktop. Heck, they even got it to work afterwards too.
Anyway, I do believe that it would be a good thing if Dell designated someone to respond to blogs. Then I could get payed for how I waste my time daily.
August 17th, 2005 at 2:28 pm
I went through 14 hours of customer service, but ultimately beat the system by instructing the phone rep in what she should be doing. I was horribly dissatisfied with my service, but ultimately I got an incredible system at a great price. Their service sucks, and they are losing customers to it, but as long as they win on pricing they are still going to sell a lot of computers.
August 17th, 2005 at 2:35 pm
Jeff,
Although I am a loyal reader of your site, I only glossed over the various Dell posts over the past few weeks (months?) because they didn’t really interest me, until I finally read this one. Without knowing the specifics of your problem, I will say that I’m sorry you got a bad product and poor customer service, but that I personally have never had a problem with Dell. I’ve owned their PCs in my home for years and we have had them at our office for even longer. I have in the past and would in the future recommend them to others.
I only once had to use their customer service, but they actually were quite helpful to me when I called at 1 in the morning after screwing with my setup so that I couldn’t get on the Internet anymore and the Indian gentleman (who admittedly was tough to understand) told me about the Restore function that got me back to a state before I had screwed everything up. So I just want some of your readers to realize that others have had better experiences with Dell (and it seems to me that you might be just as likely to experience the same thing with Apple, HP, or Gateway.. but maybe not.)
August 17th, 2005 at 2:48 pm
I was considering a Dell, but have enjoyed my 4-year old Vaio laptop and after reading this thread, I’m sticking with what I know. I’ll be buying a Vaio RA842G desktop.
But I will ask this: how in the world could you have bought an Apple after the way in which Apple has treated bloggers? If you rake Dell for its neglect of consumers and bloggers, why would you support a company that is legally hostile to bloggers?
August 17th, 2005 at 3:00 pm
I just sent back my Inspiron 1150 after six-months of misery. The machine worked for two weeks without a problem, then after Dell admitted a HD problem shipped a replacement which never worked properly.
My own “Dell Hell” ensued. Finally, after numerous letters went unanswered I filed a complaint with my state Attorney General, the FTC (over Dell Financial’s harassing actions) and hired a lawyer to oversee my self-handling of the complaint.
The thing is, even if Dell promised to fix or replace the laptop, I don’t really want anything to do with the–ever again.
Doesn’t matter anyway, I still have had no response from Dell.
August 17th, 2005 at 3:28 pm
Just last week I bought a new computer. Despite advertisments for Dell computers that were far cheaper than other brands, I didn’t even consider purchasing one. Instead I went with a Compaq/HP machine and I’m very pleased with it. Your Dell Hell posts were a huge part of my decision to not go with Dell. Those, and the google results I found when I punched in those words. Thanks for exposing their ineptness. You saved me a lot of headaches, I’m sure.
August 17th, 2005 at 3:55 pm
Interesting letter and meme, however, I have had the same type of experience with my first Apple. I penned a letter to Mr. Jobs and am awaiting a response and a $4,500+ check (computer cost + my time).
The whole sad saga has been blogged about at my blog.
I guess Dell’s lemon and Apple’s lemon will cancel one another out. As I’ve state at my blog, I will never own an Apple again. Yes, it was Halo Hell.
Ken Leebow
PS. I have had people tell me that they will not buy Apple because of my experience. And that’s a good thing.
August 17th, 2005 at 3:56 pm
My brother-in-law has always been a big Dell fan. That is, until his latest Dell went on the blink and he found himself in “Dell Hell.” He experienced much of what your posts have described and has since been telling everyone to never buy a Dell. This is a huge turnaround for him and a great loss for Dell as he was such an ambassador before. He said he feels tricked because he had been such a fan only to have to experience a merry-go-round of buck passing and nobody wanting to help. Thanks for sharing your experiences, Jeff. You speak for many unknown to you.
August 17th, 2005 at 5:51 pm
Apples generally don’t break all that often, but when they do, lord do they break.
Personally, I’m never buying another OEM box. I just built my first computer from the ground up, and for the $1,000 I spent I wouldn’t have gotten 1/2 the performance from an OEM maker.
August 17th, 2005 at 5:53 pm
I recently bought an Inspiron 9200. In the past I have experienced great customer service from Dell. I think there CD/DVD drives and keyboards are unreliable but they have always fixed them.
What I hate about Dell is that my laptop came preloaded with ADWARE (MyWebSearch or some such horror). When I discovered that, I cursed Michael Dell for a week and told everyone I knew how pathetic Dell is.
My next bad experience came when we ordered a laptop for one of our mobile users. We specifically told them not to load AOL because it interferes with our corporate VPN. But alas, AOL was installed and ready to go.
I’m just waiting for Apple to switch to Intel chips and then I’m changing ships.
Michael Dell: How could you preload ADWARE on my $2,000 laptop? How dare you! Why do you elect to compromise your integrity and customer satisfaction for short term profits?
August 17th, 2005 at 7:02 pm
I may well be the sole voice in the wilderness with something good to say about Dell. I bought a new desktop system a week ago and I’m absolutely thrilled with it.
Initial impressions here: http://www.nevon.net/experimental/2005/08/new_dell_rig_in.html
Mind you, I have had no dealings with anyone at any Dell customer service location, just the sales guys and the website…
August 17th, 2005 at 7:19 pm
Jeff, best luck with the Apple, hopefully you won’t be one of the people who run into horror stories with their support either.
(not as frequent as with other manufacturers, but Apple support has it’s issues too, as does some of their hardware, especially the first gen G5 iMacs)
August 17th, 2005 at 7:39 pm
Don’t forget the old customer service adage…: “you get great service, you tell a few people, you get horrible service you tell everyyyyyyyyyyyone”
August 17th, 2005 at 7:51 pm
Neville: I listened to your podcast on this. Of course, buying is easy. And if the machine doesn’t break, you’ll be OK. But if it does break, well, don’t say I didn’t warn you….
August 17th, 2005 at 7:53 pm
Paco from Canada had trouble posting this but I enjoyed the email so much, I’ll post it for him (making me wish I’d made my service calls in German)….
I live in Canada, and have had great Dell customer service with complete care at home repair. They fix and replace everything no problem. However I have a secret, I speak French, so instead of dealing with Apu, I deal with someone who I can understand.
That being said, I’m buying a new laptop, and it won’t be Dell. Why? Dell Hell stories. I just don’t trust the company anymore because of all of the horror stories i’ve heard and read (blogs, customer reviews).
If I buy another Dell, and go through hell which was universally forecast, I will never forgive myself. Plus Dell techs, replaced about 10 parts on my laptop, on 10 visits (inspiron 8000 total 5000$ canadian not a cheap one)
so much for quality parts, durability sucks.
Adieu Dell
August 18th, 2005 at 7:50 am
Thanks, Jeff. Everyone keeps telling me that…
August 18th, 2005 at 7:53 am
A month ago I bought a new Dell laptop and I love that machine. 2 weeks later I managed to ruin my keyboard by accidently emptying a Coke onto it. I immediatly called Dell support, asking for a new keyboard. No questions where asked, the next day UPS delivered a brand new keyboard, without additional costs.
I LOVE DELL AND I’M NOT ASHAMED OF IT!
Their website sucks bigtime though..
August 18th, 2005 at 7:54 am
I am typing this comment on an HP laptop. But for awful customer service, it would have been a Dell. My order was placed, then canceled for a minor bookeeping reason. The DellHell of trying to get my order reinstated was by far one of my worst customer service experiences ever. Ever.
Why HP? No reason other than it wasn’t Dell, and I needed something fast. My thought at the time: “If this is how Dell treats me when I’m trying to give them $2,000, what happens if I actually have a problem?”
Hop onto the Cluetrain, folks. Markets are conversations. The marketplace is speaking loud and clear here.
August 18th, 2005 at 12:32 pm
Yes, it’s bad not to pay attention to customer comments, whether in blogs, customer forums, or in the press. And yes, people are coming to understand that Dell can suck.
But self-important “The Blogosphere Is Changing EVERYTHING!!!11!1!1!” kerfuffle doesn’t help your case. Get over yourself!
August 18th, 2005 at 1:51 pm
Dude, get an Apple.
August 18th, 2005 at 1:56 pm
Sometimes Dell’s incompetence actually works in the customer’s favor. Okay, maybe 1% of the time, but still…
A few years ago a friend ordered a Dell desktop and monitor. Showed up a few days later and everything was fine. The next week, another IDENTICAL PC and monitor arrived. She called Dell to tell them they made a mistake and to come pick it up, and they told her just to keep it! So I think her mom got a new PC too. But of course they now hate Dell like everyone else anyway.
August 18th, 2005 at 1:57 pm
How old are you, Andrew? Let me only explain to you that Jeff comes from a time when little people at the street-level could only dream about telling ignoramus corporations how rotten they were. If you’re young, you will not understand what a big deal it is that the voice of dissatisfaction can be massed so effectively. You will not understand that this really is something new.
Unless you hear it on a blog, of course.
August 18th, 2005 at 2:14 pm
I buy Dells for my corporation. And they work very well. My “secret”?
I buy Gold Level Support. It costs $50 or so. It lets you jump the queue, and you supposedly get someone who knows what they are doing. And, generally - they do.
Also, I am NOT impressed with Inspirons - the build quality on Latitudes seems to be much better.
August 18th, 2005 at 2:36 pm
Billy, Ralph Nader published “Unsafe At Any Speed” a decade before I was born, and that was pretty damn effective.
Yes, blogs are new. Hooray! Long live the Great Blogosphere Revolution! But to claim that nothing like this has ever happened before is pure folly.
August 18th, 2005 at 4:20 pm
Well Jeff, you found the ultimate answer to your problem : Apple computers
August 18th, 2005 at 7:04 pm
HI.
it seems amazingteh differences between Dell UK and dell US over here dells customer service could still do with a touch up such as UK call centers etc.. but its not as bad as most other PC comps. as for teh quality of their machines i am MD or CEO of a software company here in teh UK and we have about 500 workstaions and run about 50 servers at any one time. they are all dell machines and all servers run on linux whilst we are still limited to windows on the workstaions. the point is that in the 10 years we have run on dell we have had one hardware failure and that was a backup hard drive.
i just hope that dell UK/EU does not fall to the standards you seem to have in the US
August 18th, 2005 at 11:26 pm
My wife and I both got Dell laptops about three months ago. Hers up and stopped working about two weeks ago and we got her a powerbook. Mine still works, but will soon be replaced with another powerbook.
Frankly, Dell computers cannot be trusted. Apple, despite all the mistakes they’ve made over the years, is doing a terrific job.
August 18th, 2005 at 11:58 pm
Jeff, I am sorry to hear of your terrible experience…but for every person like you, there is one for Apple, one for HP/Compaq, and so on. And of course, there is the opposite.
There are people like me. I have a Dell Dimension 8200, Pentiium 2.4GHz with 512MB Ram and a 64MB Nvidea GPU, plus DVD+R out of the box. It now has 3×80GB HDD, 1GB RAM, 256MB ATI Sapphire, and has a SCSI controller and USB 2.0 (USB 2.0 was just hitting the market when I bought this system for $1600.)
I run Apache 2, PHP 5 and MySQL. And while running as an ultrapeer in a popular P2P program, in addition to 63 other running processes, I can play Battlefield Vietnam, BF:2, Medal of Honor, or whatever…all at the same time.
When I first got it, the burner did not work…after 10 minutes of talking to CS, I was transferred to someone who knew the difference between RAM and ROM…and 10 minutes after that, I had a new burner on the way. The box has worked like a champ since…although I wish it had more PCI slots, and I wish I had NEVER installed Norton AV (I run TrendMicro now,) it has been a great system, and couples nicely with my (perfect) Dell Axim x50V…
August 19th, 2005 at 12:10 am
I have never owned a Dell, but I have helped several people through Dell Hell. Not good experiences.
I have been an executive in two major suppliers to Dell. They really do go out of their way to try to get the best quality parts at the price points they choose, and the Dell procuremnet team spends a lot of time on supplier quality. However, no matter how good the parts are, it doesn’t help the after sales service.
I work in the PC component industry, and I have used a lot of laptop brands and have helped a lot of people with even more. For me, the best experience has been IBM (now Lenovo) Thinkpad - for myself (currently, a T42), my kids (X31, T23, t20, …), my parents (t23s), my employees, …
I always buy the better lines - currently T-series or X series thinkpads. Tough, generally well designed, easily serviced anywhere in the world. I had a motherboard replaced in Thailand a couple of years ago, and a display replaced in Japan before that, even though I buy al my systems in the US.
I have had some bad experiences with the I and R series thinkpads (”consumer level”) because they are not designed by IBM/Lenovo (I think the I series was just a relabelled Acer, and I can’t remember who did my R series).
I don’t always buy new (for the kids), but I always buy thinkpad. They sometimes cost more, but they are worth every penny (and if you buy used, the warranty is usually transferrable).
I generally get reasonable tech support. In the US, I usually talk to support in Atlanta or in Canada, but once in a while I get Dublin. I have talked to some really incredible IBM tech support people (people who have actuially worked on PCs themselves and can think beyond the canned scripts). I have also had to endure a few clueless people who can barely read the scripts(When my idiot detector goes off, I just hang up and call back — hold times are usually under 5 minutes, often under 2).
I am not saying IBM support is perfect. I have had support people tell me to reformat my hard drive to fix a driver problem. The repair group isn’t without a few warts either — I had two motherboards replaced on my t40 in less than a month last year, and they “lost” my laptop for a week a couple of years ago), but it is sure better than I have experienced with other PC companies.
Also, I saw a concern voiced about the Lenovo acquisition of Thinkpad. Personally, I am not worried a bit. In fact, it might be the best thing for Thinkpad.
I have personally talked to some of the Lenovo executives about the acquisition. Lenovo has been one of the biggest PC companies in China for some time, and they are deeply committed to be in the PC business. I think they will put the focus and investment into Thinkpad to allow it to really flourish. But, we will have to watch and see how they do…
Most people don’t realize, but almost all of IBM’s thinkpads have been built in China for several years. Most of them are built in a very modern facility in Shenzhen (just a few minutes from Hong Kong, on a good traffic day), which I happened to drive past this morning (I am on a business trip in China). That plant now has a shiny new “Lenovo” sign on it, Thinkpads are still rolling down the lines, and their employees say that nothing is really changing in the products.
As an aside, over 90% of all notebooks in the world are built in China now, mostly by ODM companies who build for many brands. Companies like Quanta, Asustech, etc who build for HP,. Sony. Even some Dells and thinkpads. In fact, Lenovo and Dell are the only big PC companies I can think of who still build most of their own laptops in their own factories in China.
The thinkpad design team in Japan was also part of the Lenovo deal, so I don’t expect there to be any problem with the designs going downhill either. For those people who have experienced overheating on laptops, it is almost purely a design issue, and no amount of “repair” can fix a bad design.
I worked for IBM for many years, and the pressure on the PC division to cut cost, reduce service, etc. was always pretty intense because they weren’t making the profits IBM expected. I really liked IBM, but IBM just couldn’t understand how to play in a low margin, high volume market like PCs. I often thought that Thinkpad succeeded more “despite” being in IBM than “because” it was in IBM. (I could tell you stories about some of the amazingly subversive tactics some IBM employees / teams had to use to defend their products and customers against idiotic directives from some IBM executives who couldn’t see past the quarterly financials…)
August 19th, 2005 at 2:41 am
Hi everyone, I work for Dell Tech Support.
Now I’m not here to advertise for Dell, because I think it was a bad move for them to downgrade the consumer side of business (Dell is mostly concentrating on the business/government side now). Everyone should do what Jeremy R has done. If you still like Dell, then they still have the best customer service; that is if you buy the Gold Support contract. It means you’ll talk to someone in the States, every technician is Microsoft Certified, there is 2 minutes or less queue wait-times (usually none), and we provide seamless support (we’ll support anything attached or installed on your Dell, then if we can’t solve it, we’ll conference in the 3rd party support for help).
August 19th, 2005 at 6:04 am
Dellman: what kind of crap is that: We are blackmailed into paying more to get acceptable service? I paid a fortune to get the at home service. But that wasn’t’ enough. I have to buy gold. The fact that gold srevice even exists is an admission that the rest of the service is tin. Therein lies Dell’s precise problem: We treat you like crap… unless you pay up. I know you come in with the best of intentions but that really gets my goat; it is the best indication of the worst of dell.
August 19th, 2005 at 6:32 am
People should really stop complaining and learn how to put togerther their PC’s from loose parts, firstly because it isn’t difficult at all, and secendly because it’s cheaper than having some dufus doing it for you and you paying him money indicrectly, as this probably adds up to the price.
August 19th, 2005 at 8:36 am
Customer service shouldn’t have “levels”. It should be first rate all the time for every customer. Any company that resorts to making their customers pay for good service deserves what it gets - loss of business. I was getting ready to buy a Dell, but not anymore. Sorry Dell, you snooze you lose.
August 19th, 2005 at 9:07 am
When a manufacturer or reseller blunder and really screw up a customers order and/or purchase experience, they have a 15 second grace period to turn that very negative experience into perhaps the best customer experience for said customer. However, most larger companies like Dell, don’t really givea rats ass and neither would you if you were shipping 2.3 million units a day worldwide. Fact is for companies the size of Dell it’s all about the bottom line, no innovation, just profit margins.
August 19th, 2005 at 9:20 am
I’ve also had problems with Dell service. Never mind that I have difficulty communicating with tech support people with thick foreign accents; they know less about my Dell than I do. When I call tech support, I’ve already research the knowledge base; in other words, calling tech support is a last resort. Yet, when I tell the tech that I am somewhat knowledgeable and need Level Two tech support. they cannot provide it.
I’ve had a new Dell Latitude x300 for about a year — my fourth Dell computer. The wireless card is defective and Dell refuses to acknowledge my troubles. The slough it off on my wireless router company. I’ve given up. My next machine will be another — as yet undetermined — brand; but it will not be a Dell.
August 19th, 2005 at 11:02 am
My dell computer was really messed up one time and the tech guy was very helpful and nice. He walked me thru all the steps needed to make the computer work again. Everyone has bad days, give them a break.
August 19th, 2005 at 11:06 am
Like I said, I’m not here to advertise for them. The fact is, you really need to run a big corporation to get the best service. We treat big businesses like gods because that’s where most of Dell’s money comes from. We’d rather lose a few customers who buy 1 or 2 systems a year than a huge business that spends a million dollars a week on our stuff.
August 19th, 2005 at 11:12 am
Kevin: I’ve been building my own PC’s since 1990, and I have never seen anyone, anywhere, who built their own laptop. It’s probably happened, I guess, but it would be nothing in the world like building a desktop box.
Jeff’s problem began with a laptop.
August 19th, 2005 at 11:29 am
I have 2 Dell desktops and 2 laptops and have never had any problems. The one time I needed customer service they were slow to respond, but I think my expectations have been lowered and I was not overly dismayed. I was actually amused by the service rep…”My name is Mahatma, but you can call me Michael”. Despite my own experience, I can’t ignore the clarity of the mesages listed here. I’m beginning to feel that I have been lucky and I am not inclined to trust my luck with Dell in the future.
August 19th, 2005 at 11:47 am
“Customer service shouldn’t have “levelsâ€. It should be first rate all the time for every customer. ”
And there should be a chocolate-shake dispenser on every corner.
That won’t happen, either.
August 19th, 2005 at 11:57 am
I would love my voice to be heard as well….thank you for finally giving a voice to the DELL NIGHTMARE. Here is my letter to Dell outlining my list of issues:
Dell Customer Support –
OptiPlex GX260
Service Tag: 7P4GQ11
I purchased A Dell Otiplex in 8/5/2002 with the most expensive warranty in home warranty.
On 05/29/2003 it would no longer work.
From that point on over 50 calls or more were made to Dell.
I would say without exaggeration that we have spent over 100 hours dealing with this issue. These calls were incredibly frustrating. We were made to tear the computer part, take parts out, test different functions. We were hung up numerous times, Could not understand many of your technicians as their English was not very good; We were told that technicians would call us back – they did not. The list is endless in terms of our time spent and incredible frustration.
Two mother board were replaced- one on 9/21/2003 - another on 2/20/04.
At both times your in home technicians would not stay until windows booted up, saying that “we do not do software.â€
When we tried to load the Windows System CD, it said a file was missing. Once again called technical support. They said the CD was bad and sent us a new one.
Received the CD and loaded Windows. This now is September of 2003.
We called Dell again (many different numbers – all technicians giving us different numbers)
I was told that no disks could be sent to us. I also had purchased windows XP Professional and was told that I would have to re-purchase this. (Unbelievable, is this really legal?)
I kept trying different avenues. Finally got a technician that said she would put all the files I needed on a list that I could download as no cd could be sent to me. The one caveat that they would only work if I saved them to a 3.5†disk. I asked her, “would they fit.†She said yes. When I saw the list of the files, I knew immediately that they were too big for a disk. How she could not know this being a technical support person is beyond me.
I then called again. The new person I got said he would send me a CD with the drivers.
We spent approx. 3-4 hours trying to load the drivers and get the computer to work.
We finally broke down and decided to try the DELL Customer Support Nightmare again. We got a hold of another technician and we were told we received the wrong CD for the wrong model of computer.
We still cannot use our computer.
Your company in my opinion has the absolute worst customer service I have ever experienced.
I would like at the very least my warranty extended to cover an additional 9 months. But what I would really like is a computer that works.
As I’ve talked to other Dell owners, I have heard similar nightmares from them as well. How you can run a company like this is amazing to me. When someone spends over $2000 for a computer and pays for the most expensive warranty because they NEED their computer to run a business, one would hope that when your computer malfunctions that you FIX IT!!! Not make the user go through absolute torture!
August 19th, 2005 at 12:47 pm
Thanks for venting the frustration many of us have experienced with Dell Jeff. I’ve personally used and supported countless brands of computing equipment over the years and I am still bullish on the quality and value of the Dell brand, but I admit Customer Service is diminishing year by year and now it’s become a problem for me in performing my business.
What galls me is that Dell provides the same crappy customer service to its business customers that it does to its consumer business. A tech clueless family member has had better luck getting good help from certain staff members in Hyderabad for issues concerning his personal Dimension than I have had in pursuing issues for my business, as a skilled IT administrator. I’m patient in letting them work through their script even though I already understand the root cause of the issue and in the end they still have no clue how to proceed when they get to the end of their list. I’m forced to request a supervisor or 2nd level support, but that’s not much help either. Getting a decent, out-of-the-box thinking support rep is a hit and miss proposition, but now and then I work with an outstanding person, like the individual that helped me recover a mission critical NAS server that I personally pooched. They got me back in business on Christmas Eve in less than an hour so I could be back at home with my family. Luckily with certain enterprise focused products they still get you in touch with SMEs rather quickly.
Presently I’m battling an issue with our Dell Inspiron 700m notebooks. They have an audio design flaw that makes the internal sound processor useless for recoding audio and thus, internet telephony. This problem is well documented on Dell Forums, blogs, and other Internet sites, but Dell publicly has not come clean about this. Support reps have admitted there is a flaw in the 700M, but Dell has yet to come up with a solution for its Customers and it would seem hasn’t yet acknowledged the issue in a general support bulletin. I reported the problem the other day and after much persistence got to a support supervisor who knew nothing of the issue and couldn’t find any information on it in their system. I find that interesting considering the issue must have been reported by thousands of customers, but apparently their CRM systems are so poor one can not do simple searches effectively. In any case, this person sounded committed to pursuing my issue with higher-ups and promised a call back the next day. It never came. I’m guessing he took it to management who told him to stand down on this one. Take a look at http://www.recall700m.com to read more about this problem and the buzz it’s created.
August 19th, 2005 at 3:42 pm
I bought my first Dell over nine years ago when Dell was small company and gave good quality service and I was able to speak to an American technician who spoked English that I could understand. The second Dell was seven years ago. but still I had good service. Then three years ago I bought this 8200 Dimension Dell and my troubles begans. I had major problems and the vaious people I spoked too couldn’t talk English that I could understand. Spent hours and hours on the telephone with various foreign technicians and supervisors with no results until I finally brought in a local PC techician at my own expense who once was a local ontsite technician for Dell. I spent another thousand dollars and I refurbished the new Dell computer with quality parts and now it runs pretty good without the help of Dell.
So Mr. Dell, I shall never buy another Dell product again. I have forewarned others not to buy Dell products, because of my troubles with Dell. Since you love foreign cheap labor, then that it is what we get, cheap computers with cheap unable to speak English speakers who live in India, Pakistan, or some other sing song country. (My name is Bob, may I help you. in a sing song tone. What kind of BS are you trying to prove.?)
Incidentally Mr. Dell, I understand you had to satisfied your big business customers with American quality technicians when they told you either American service technician, or no more business with your company. Trouble with your company Mr. Dell, you got to big for your britches and you wanted to cut cost by hiring cheap help in foreign countries; however, you are charging big time bucks for worthless service. The bell curve has caught up with you as it is now going down and hopefully your demise.
Bill
August 19th, 2005 at 4:47 pm
I used to work for Dell, in their corporate technical support department. I watched as a department that was focused on both customer satisfaction and employee empowerment got sucked into the corporate maelstrom. I watched them stop promoting supervisors and managers from within, and watched them cut the training budget on a monthly basis, and watched them outsource to companies who only cared about call turnover. I watched the emphasis on solving problems shift to an emphasis on call turnover.
And still, I thought it was a good place to work, right up until Michael Dell said that anyone who wanted to be able to fix or modify their computer “freaks”. Yes, that’s right, the owner and CEO insulted half his tech support department, at a minimum.
I got out, and I’m not sorry, because while I was on those phones, metrics or not, I gave every customer the very best support that I was capable of. Too bad Dell doesn’t see things that way.
August 19th, 2005 at 4:59 pm
Someone should ask Michael Dell about the time that the president of Compuadd had the Austin Texas police come and remove him from the HQ building. I worked for Compuadd when that happened. It was hilarious. Michael Dell was an obnoxious used car salesman back then, and it appears that he hasn’t changed one bit. I have never bought a Dell, and never will, because of their Bangalor tech support, their inherent lack of quality, and the way they are ruining the entire US computer industry. Their servers suck, too. “Hardware problem? No, you have to reinstall Windows 2000 Server, then rebuild your entire SQL2000 Enterprise database from the ground up, then…” That was the last time that the company I used to work for bought Dell, and that was before I started working for them.
August 19th, 2005 at 5:32 pm
Recently I was told that in Australia service relating to Apple has gone to hell. And the reason given was that the whole service side of Apple here has been replaced with Dell employees! Not sure if this is rumour or reality. But seemed to resonate when I read the above.
August 19th, 2005 at 5:58 pm
I only had to read 3 entries before it came to me. A blog just destroyed a huge company in a single shot.
I found it hilarious and scary.
I would like to destroy every company that has customer support farmed out to India.
Why? Because that’s where my job went.
What company should we target 1st to bring back our jobs?
August 19th, 2005 at 6:00 pm
“A blog just destroyed a huge company in a single shot.”
Dell was destroyed?
What a delusional soul you are.
August 19th, 2005 at 11:36 pm
My family has bought 6 or 7 Dells in the last 6 or 7 years for homes & business. And as I was deciding what to get to replace my circa 1999 Dell tower - the decision was going to be which higher-end Dell laptop I got - Jeff’s saga with Dell was going on at the same time. A bit of research into “switching” and a seriously fun trip to the local Apple store later, needless to say I’m writing this from my new iBook (and I am totally creeped out and NOT into the ‘Cult of Mac’ mindset). And needless to say, no one in my family - and probably in my circle of friends - will ever buy a Dell again. Ed, you really think a single blog post took down (you use the past tense) a company? Oh, please. It’s the story that was told, the consistent dismal and/or nonexistent response from the company, the fact that they refuse to listen to customers - even extremely high-profile customers - that’s leading to the slow, creeping terrible word-of-mouth that Dell is getting and will continue to get from this and similar incidents that will spell trouble for them. Dell revolutionized the industry, but they absolutely cannot survive on momentum from past successes alone if they put out mediocre-to-crappy products and are completely aloof. Word of mouth spreads exponentially but builds slowly & powerfully - and Dell may finally recognize that in a few quarters as more people talk, and more people get to the point of a purchase decision on a computer, and they do not choose a Dell.
August 20th, 2005 at 12:54 am
Last year I had the unfortunate experience of working for Dell in Small Business Sales for about 1.5 months. I was in between jobs and Christmas was coming and I was desperate, okay. Now, I’ve never been much of a salesman - I really stink at it. And Dell is all about high pressure, bait and switch sales tactics. Part of my problem was that I was making logical recommendations based on what the customers actually needed. Needless to say my sales weren’t as high as my co-workers and I received a good talking to about it. Among other things, my supervisor told me, and I quote, “They (the customers on the phone) don’t know what they want until we sell it to them.” When I finally landed a real job I left Dell with such a bad taste in my mouth that I’ll never own one of their machines. The arrogance and smugness of Dell’s corporate culture must be experienced to be believed.
August 20th, 2005 at 2:42 am
I was in Iraq with the 4th Infantry Division working in an automations tent. At the time all the laptops we had over there were Dells. I decided then that they were pieces of crap. We were constantly replacing parts. A lot of guys were buying laptops on line, 2 people that I worked with purchased Dell’s online. I thought it was hillarious that both laptops were broken when they arrived. I bought a Sony vaio and am still happy with it 2 years later.
August 20th, 2005 at 3:55 am
Your letter to Mr Dell is spot on!!!!
I’m going thru DellHell right now!!!! Details of the saga that has cost my company a pille of money are at, not to mention the emotional wear & tear on me & my team:
http://geekgirl2.com/musingsandephemera/2005/08/another-week-in-dell-hell.html
PS: I’m also telling everyone I know about my DellHell too
August 20th, 2005 at 3:59 am
Addendum to previous comment:
MY COMPANY BUYS DELL GOLD LEVEL SUPPORT & THEY STILL TREAT US LIKE SH**!!!
So buying highly expensive support will do you no good if you are in DellHell
August 20th, 2005 at 11:31 am
Do not bother purchasing complete care on any of Dell’s products. They have not lived up to the promise of that warranty for my Inspiron 8600 notebook. It will not turn on and it has been three days of absolute hell trying to get it fixed. I have been lied to, told its a third party (that Dell sold my warranty to) problem, promised a call, and still my notebook will not turn on that I paid well over 3000.00 for.
It is outrageous.
My past service experience with them has been mixed. Sometimes they respond, but it is always after hours of phone time and irritating people with accents that I cant understand that are either asian or mexican. I have no issues with these people other than if Dell is going to require me to do technical work, I should at least be speaking to someone that can speak english in a manner any other english speaking person can understand. I am not paying for a complete care warranty to have to jump through hoops with someone I cannot understand. I am paying for complete care for COMPLETE CARE.
It is going to really be a shame if Dell goes the way of Gateway.
August 20th, 2005 at 12:05 pm
Dell has unbeleivably horrible customer support. My 2 year old laptop, still under warranty broke down. I called Dell, and the technician was barely listening to me, after 2 years this issue was unresolved and he said that he will be sending me a box and shipping label so that I can send it in to be repaird. Two weeks later, this box never came. I called Dell, again, and they had no record of this conversation taking place!!!
So, I had to spend an additional 2 hours with a new incompetent technican, again, the problem was unresolved, the technician told me he needs to talk to his supervisor on how to fix this problem and PROMISED to call be back within 20 minutes, of course I didn’t beleive him, so I asked for a phone number and name to call him back in case he doesnt uphold his promise- he wouldn’t give it to me AND HE NEVER CALLED ME BACK!!!
“Dude, you’r getting a Dell” has turned to “Dude, your getting a Disaster!!”
August 21st, 2005 at 1:12 am
I purchased a new Inspiron laptop almost 3 years ago. After a short time, the mouse went out and the computer had to be sent in - a few months later, same scenario. The harddrive crashed twice and had to be replaced both times. The keyboard also had to be replaced. I think my computer has been sent in about 4 times - I’d have to look at my records. They’ve also sent about 8 power cords because they are of such poor design/quality that they don’t last.
I can’t stand calling customer service because I can’t understand them and it takes hours. The last time, after telling them the steps I’d taken, they wanted me to repeat each one - I was ready to scream. I try to e-mail but it takes about an hour to find the right site to do that.
Several months ago they sent an e-mail asking that I rate their service and when asked if I would purchase another Dell or recommend one, I said NO. Do you think I ever heard from them?
For all the trouble I’ve had, they should extend my warranty for another year. This computer has been somewhat like raising a child. I have to be here to greet the mailman. Everything they send has to be signed for (even an empty computer box) and then the parts must be returned and the delivery man has to sign my copy - so for every thing they send to me - I have to be here 2 times. The deliveryman and I have gotten to be big buddies. I bet he thinks Dells are awful too!
August 21st, 2005 at 8:38 am
Dell sucks I am sharing my experince with my disatisfaction with Dell I saw a ad for inspiron 6000 notebook with free shipping within 2-3 days, so I decided to purchase one and placed the order on July 9th, I was charged $19 extra when I questioned it they the salesman (chester ) told me shipping is free the $19 is for handling. I went home and checked my email it said that my estimate shipping date is July 25th so went back to my salesman Chester and asked him about what happend to 2 to 3 days shipping he smiled and confidently said yes sir your note book will be shipped in 2-3 days AS SOON AS IS BULIT AND COMES TO DELLS WAREHOUSE which will be less than 2 two weeks, its 2-3days from the time it arrives to the warehouse I could not belive what I was hearing, I said what if I cancel my order he said he would gladly do it without even trying to opplolgize and save the sale, well deiced I am going to keep the order and take action through a different way and called dell to address this issue, when I called Dell I had to go through a series of teleprompt to get to the person and when I finally got a person I explained my situation Customer service person said let me transfer to the right person and transferred my call to the begining of telepromt. It happened 3 times I had to start from the begining to get an human being. I was tired and frustarted next time I used a different approach I called and punched the #s to buy a notebook its so so quick (of course when mr Dell wants your money) I asked the persons name and ID and then explained my problem he was nice As I had got him by his B–LS. he could not do much but atlest explained that, thats how it works said your note book should be arrived before the day they promissed, I asked him can I get it earlier and can wanted to talk to his supervisor guess where the call went guys yep went to INDIA, do you think I got the results you guessed it right NOOOOO, So I decied that I am going to tell all my friends and webloggers about my experience TO YOU MR DELL it works I had two of my friends who wanted to dell but decided against it just coz of me, I have deciced to tell the whole world about your acts.
I wish I had know buzz machine by jeff earliers I would have not bought dell
The store address is
DELL DIRECT
2601 PRESTON RD
FRISCO TX
972-712-5844
August 21st, 2005 at 8:59 am
Dear Mr. Jarvis
In response to the blog on dell hell, i agree whole heartedly
that dell has dropped the ball. My wife had purchased 3
desktops from them with nothing but unfavorable results
as far as performance and customer assistance. i would tease
her by asking her”know what the problem is?” YOU DIDNT BUY
A GATEWAY…..which i have had for over 5 yrs and still running
strong……great blog, keep up the good work
August 21st, 2005 at 10:01 am
Since I’m known as the computer “geek” in my department at work, a friend came to me about her Dell problems. Seems that her computer at home stopped working (blue screen of death) so they called Dell Customer Service. A “very nice” woman from India told them that her hard drive had crashed and the only recourse was to have a tech come to their house and replace it. He would take her old hard drive with him could try to restore her data, but couldn’t guarantee it and it would cost $99. Naturally my friend was distraught about the possibility of losing all her files but felt she had no recourse other than to pay the $99.
I told her to call them back and ask for someone to walk her through reinstalling windows before she gave up her “broken” hard drive. After 3 hours of being transferred from one tech to another, she finally got someone to help her with this, and voilá, the computer worked and all her files were intact.
I was amazed at the bad advice she had received and how Dell found it to be easier to send a tech with a new hard drive than to just reinstall windows. Maybe “restoring data” for $99 is just another way to bring in revenue???
August 21st, 2005 at 10:27 am
I too entered Dell Hell last October trying to purchase several computers and related equipment. I spent six weeks waiting for hookup and finally sent the whole thing back. They still owe me money and the customer service (both here and in the sub-Asian continent) is totally laughable. No people skills and a complete inability to understand the problem.
Turns out that I got better equipment, better service and a much better price locally with someone knowledgeable enough to build my systems.
John Reedy
Lancaster, PA
August 21st, 2005 at 11:48 am
I am a lucky one. Corporate IT has the deal with Dell. So far my complaints with the current D600.
The system gets really hot. It is uncomfortable to work with.
2 harddrives later. IT tells me that they crash all the time
My Targus power supplies don’t work with it because Dell decided to put some sort of a chip into their power supplies to prevent 3rd party power supplies.
Now luckily I got IT to buy me a new IBM… make that Linevo
very nice. Wonder if anyone has a comparison between new Linevo’s and new Dell’s.
So far I am happy with my new ThinkPad.
Zoe
August 21st, 2005 at 1:19 pm
For the longest time I was a Dell’s fan and supporter. I bought first Latitude in 1999 and was very satisfied with it. After 4 years laptop got hit by lightning - my fault , still no complaints, I learnt the hard way about importance of surcharge protection.
So in 2003 I turned to Dell without thinking of course and got myself beautiful Inspiron 8500, Pentium 2.2GHz, 1GB of RAM, 64MB NVidia card, DVD burner - simply put - loaded at the time with all goodies I could afford and wanted- $2000.
Since the first start there were problems. PC stalled for no reason, I had to turn it of the hard way. No change after reformatting a HD and installing a fresh copy of XP without all their AOL and other “free” stuff.
Movie editing software was just to much for this configuration and never really worked.
I dont really have any experience with customer service because I gave up on them after first contact. It took forever to get to someone, they couldnt answer even simple questions and were talking to me like I was an illiterate idiot, who dont know crap about computers. And even though that english is my second language and I tried hard to understand - I couldnt. By the way I have no problem to communicate with english speaking people on daily bases. I felt like an idiot.
Finally - 2 months ago, motherboard went and that ended my hell with Dell. I didnt buy extended waranty, but seems like it wouldnt make a big difference.
Yes they made some money out of me, but they wont anymore.
Next time I will do my research before buying something which should work for much longer time than just two years.
Good luck.
August 21st, 2005 at 2:25 pm
Welcome to computer hell in general. As consumers demand more for less and competition forces prices down, well, something has to give. Consumer-grade PC’s are spec’d to a pricing sweet-spot based on target market. Uh, that’s you-get-what-you-pay-for. Included in that calculus is customer service or lack thereof depending on your point of view.
Don’t blame Dell or any one else for trying to stay in business. Every company has customer service issues. I have also seen consumers expect the sun, the moon and the stars for as long as they live over a $500.00 computer. This is unrealistic.
Every consumer is ultimately responsible for the buying decision they make. All computers are not made the same. Matching specs is a waste of time unless you REALLY know what is under the hood. All computer companies do not operate the same. Understand not only what you are buying, but from whom.
Dell is ultimately a business computer company and from my perspective of 20+ years in the business, pretty good at it.
I personally wouldn’t own a Gateway if you gave it to me nor would I own any computer that is bundled in a box at Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club or any such place. I would also be disinclined to purchase a Dell from one of the flyers I get from them. Why? Because I understand the limitations and compromises placed on the manufacturer to get a product into a pricing sweet spot.
I’d recommend to anyone considering the purchase of any item of considerable monetary cost that they first revisit the concept of “value”. Secondly, remember that YOUR time has value. You can make more money, but you cannot get back time.
If that item is a computer, be realistic in what it’s primary function is going to be. A video card for gaming can cost more than an entire computer so don’t expect a low-end computer to play Half Life 2 well, if at all. It will also probably choke hard on any 3-D rendering engine such as AutoCAD. It will however, surf the Internet and do word processing and spreadsheets quite well.
Back in the early 90’s when my company built “white-box” computers for resale (I am in private consultancy-only practice now), we used to joke that no matter what it said on the box, all parts came from the same garage in Taiwan. It is still not that for from the truth.
August 21st, 2005 at 5:05 pm
Okay, great article about Dell! I will say that all Dell’s aren’t that bad, especially, Desktops, but their notebooks are horrendous. I hate all the following brands of computers, and they’re Gateway, HP, Compaq, Apple, Dell, and Sony. The one computer company and notebook maker I will ever go with is Toshiba because they focus on innovation more than any other company out their in their screens with TruBrite, and utalizing every processor out their except for the horrible AMD!
August 21st, 2005 at 5:39 pm
I dont want to defend cheap PCs, but even for $500 you still should get decent machine and support.
I wouldnt buy a cheap laptop, because I expect it to work flawlesly.
But hey, maybe I am wrong maby we shouldnt expect too much of machines for $2000 or more.
Why dont we just hand Dell our money and then we wouldnt have to deal with poor quality of their products and ridiculous customer support. I am gonna think about it…
August 22nd, 2005 at 9:23 am
I’m a computer repairman. I have made most of my money off Dell, Gateway, and e-Machines. At the same time, I attended a technical college where half the classrooms were stocked with Dells; most of those were okay, but the lemons were throwaway. Just doorstops. Spend your money however you want, and when it turns out to be a POS, call PC Dave. Dell, Gateway, and e-Machines are now paying for my bachelor’s degree at a four-year college.
August 22nd, 2005 at 9:53 am
I work for the Air Force in a computer support shop, and we have been using old dells for a while. They seem to function well enough, but time has come to upgrade. Thanks for your informative blog on the degrading quality of dells product, we will not be using dell this upgrade if at all possible.
August 22nd, 2005 at 3:06 pm
Watch out for the Dell LCD W3000. I just bought one and cannot program the direct TV universal remote to the TV function. Experts in India were no help. Even when I got a U.S. technician on the phone we couldn’t get it to work. Direct TV doesn’t have Dell codes. So, I bought a “Harmony” remote and it too has trouble with Dell TV. Harmony technician says Dell TV’s are awful with respect to remote technology. Stick with Sony, Samsung, Panasonic or Sharp for success.
August 22nd, 2005 at 6:45 pm
I would like to say the same thing about Dell and their customer sevice. I bought a Dell Digital Jukebox back in June 2004 and everything ran smooth with it until January of 2005 and then it started to freeze up. I called Dell and since it was still under warrenty they sent me a refurbished Dell or a “used” one. Now it is August and there is a internal hard disk problem with my Jukebox. I have tried to call Dell several times and I either get transfered or they tell me that they will call me back and they never have. They told me that the best thing to do is buy and new one. Did I not read that the reason that Micheal Dell started his company was to give the customer what they wanted?
August 23rd, 2005 at 8:35 pm
I am so glad you have done this and are being held up as an example for all. I hope this inspires more people to blog about their terrible experiences.
You certainly inspired me - we have had a nightmare with Cingular - the service is actually ok and great coverage (in Bay Area) - but the customer service is atrocious. That merger is one of the worst handled perhaps ever. Whoever is in charge of the systems integration and customer service organizations need to be fired.
August 24th, 2005 at 12:40 pm
Thanks so much for giving me a place to rant!
I sent the following message from support.dell.com to BOTH technical and non-technical issue email addresses on 12/30/03. I’ve gotten no response. Obviously, we’ve given up and now use a ThinkPad while the Dell laptop collects dust.
Service tag: 8J13421
Express Service code: 18564940873
Order/Invoice number: 171852438
Our Inspiron 2650 laptop computer (model no PP04L) has not functioned properly in over a month, despite repeated calls to technical support and sending the system to be serviced. It essentially dies - no video, no sound, no fan, etc - and will not power back on. Sometimes taking the battery out and putting it back in gets it to power on normally but then the same thing will happen again within a few days. Eventually it would not power on EVER and we had to send it in because the troubleshooting over the phone was leading nowhere. At this point, we have a laptop that is unreliable and quite frustrating to deal with even though we still have several payments left since it was a $1500 machine!
I am frankly not content with the service I have received from Dell so far, and this is especially maddening because the reason we chose to purchase from Dell to begin with is the reputation of good service. The technical support seems to just want to get off the phone as quickly as possible without confirming that the problem has been fixed - this is based on 6 separate calls. The instructions given for airborne express to send the system were unclear and resulted in an extra week of waiting. The service team seemed a bit dishonest in its dealings - accusing first that something was spilled on the system based on the discoloration found on the motherboard and that we would have to pay $699 for them to repair the system. I know that nothing was spilled on this system. Any discoloration on the motherboard could be from manufacturing or from the natural condensation in the air or almost anything. Upon challenging this accusation, the person I spoke with came back telling me that actually the service team was able to fix the system by reseating the memory. It seems to me this troubleshooting should have been done before coming to the conclusion that the motherboard needed to be replaced. In any case, I was assured that the appropriate reliability testing was done to ensure the system would operate normally. After receiving the system, it worked properly for 5 days before having the same exact symptom as before. I again called technical support. While on the phone I took the battery out and replaced it, and this booted the system up. I was instructed how to run the Extended diagnostics and did so. The results showed NO errors… so all the hardware “appears” to be functioning normal. The system worked for 6 days. It is now dead again, and we are requesting from DELL a laptop computer that is reliable. This system was not inexpensive, and we have an express warranty/support contract. I look forward to learning how you are going to accomplish this.
August 24th, 2005 at 10:50 pm
I just did an entry discussing this case on my blog (http://hopesome.com/index.php?p=417#comments)
In Chinese, though
August 25th, 2005 at 10:55 am
Ditto! I ordered a Dell Axim about 2 years ago now on the strength of a money-saving bundled accessories coupon. I submitted the correct paperwork for the rebate THREE times, and each time the paid-to-ignore contract folks said we don’t have it. I FINALLY copied every danged thing, made a list of all my conversations, with date, time, names and what transpired, and wrote a letter to the general counsel of Dell. It didn’t even hit somebody’s desk before they called me, at home, in the evening, to ask how much the rebate should be. It’s too bad it had to come to that before they would bother to honor their rebate commitment.
August 25th, 2005 at 1:49 pm
I would like to know how to send an email directly to Michael Dell.
I, too, am a victim of Dell Hell.
Don James
August 26th, 2005 at 3:54 pm
Is Dell Financial customer support farmed out to India? Can’t seem to get anyone who I can understand or is knowlegable about my problem. They pulled a fast one on me and I thought I was getting a Dell for no interest until 2006. I hope Dell finds it’s way onto 60 minutes someday. If I did not pay so much for it I would fly down to Texas and throw it through the fucking front window just to express my dissapointment. I will however place “return to sender” on all the correspondence they send me trying to screw me over again.
August 27th, 2005 at 3:19 am
i have a good working laptop from dell ( four years old) with the docking station working under nt and 98 — when migrating to XP, the docking station is useless. Dell wont answer email, phone calls. The asian indian company which programmed the docking station answered email with tons of mispelling saying that XP automatically loading the driver for the docking station !!!
it is latitude cpx and docking dell latitute c/port II
August 27th, 2005 at 2:36 pm
I want to rant about Dell’s recent TV commercial that featured a “white,” clearly American customer service rep answering the phone in the customer service center while it was dark outside. Give me a break! This was an obvious case of false and misleading advertising! What Dell customer support is this?? When I have called Dell’s customer service, I get some “international” call center with individuals who barely could speak and understand English, and who were barely capable of even understanding the technical problem with my Dell Inspiron laptop. Why don’t they advertise this reality. I bought Dell products for years, based largely on its incredible customer service. Today, I wouldn’t buy a Dell computer because the company has destroyed its brand and ruined its identity as a great customer service company. Wake up Dell, you are cutting your own throat with your current crappy, “outsourced” customer service.
August 27th, 2005 at 6:07 pm
I send my Dell laptop for repair on August 15. I called Dell customer service like 10 times, and talked to online rep. like 5 times, they seem to have no idea where my laptop is. Everbody rep. says different things. ONe rep. said it was shipped, and i am suppose to get it within 2 business day. When i called dell after 2 business days, next rep. said he can’t locate it.
August 27th, 2005 at 6:13 pm
Dell had great customer service during 1998-early 2003. I have dell desktop, laptop, 2 Dell Axim. I was thinking of buying a Plasma tv from Dell before this problem i am having dell. After what is happening with my laptop right now, i will never buy any dell products again. My next laptop will be either IBM, Sony or Apple.
August 28th, 2005 at 11:45 am
I made the mistake of buying a Dell two months ago. I called them at 4:15 PM on 8/22. I was on hold for 28 minutes. Then when I got a rep I got alot of apologies but the help I got did not fix the problem. I was on the phone with 3 reps until 7:30. The problem still was not fixed and I was not getting any satisfaction so I decided I would call back and talk to someone else. I called back at 8:00PM and again was on hold for 20 minutes. Now they tell me that it is a software problem that will not let me access my printer or reinstall it. Again the call was an hour long. By this time I was tired after having worked all day and was losing patience. This computer is 2 months old and they tell me it will now cost me $99.00 an hour to fix the defective software that they installed. I was on the phone with them for an hour with no satisfaction. I will now hire a geek to come in and fix the problem again at my expense. I think that the support stinks. I asked to talk to a supervisor but was ignored. They are pros at apologizing and dodging your request. I am really sorry I bought a Dell and will make sure I will let everyone I know that I wished I now had bought the HP. I am thinking of calling a local TV station that has a trouble shooter for the public and start the ball rolling just to see how extensive the problem is in the Buffalo area. DELL- YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.
August 28th, 2005 at 11:52 am
Also why do you have to go for the gold contract when you want to talk to someone in the States. If you want to sell your computers we deserve to get the support you should be providing without paying through the nose for it. WE ARE AMERICANS buying your computers.
August 28th, 2005 at 9:45 pm
Just read the DellHell article in BusinessWeek, timely. Two days ago I spent three hours with Dell on the phone trying to get operating CD’s that had been lost for a two year old Dell PC out of warranty. Went back and forth between sales and tech support, many times outsourced so there were language and cultural misunderstandings. Result, offer by Dell to sell me CD’s with new licensing for $300-no thanks. Yeaterday, had to call Gateway on a laptop question. Two minute wait with problem resolved. Dell is having growing pains.
August 28th, 2005 at 11:11 pm
Say Company A and Company B sells a computer for almost the same price, and the computer look alike. How would a comsumer pick between these 2 companies? Customer services, Right? Say then, Company A went from excellent customer service to wrost customer service. Would a customer still buy company A’s customer? I think NOT.
Company A is Dell. Company B is Sony, IBM, Apple, etc.
It’s time to move on: Good bye Dell.
Brooklyn, NY…
August 28th, 2005 at 11:13 pm
I sent my computer for repair on Aug. 16. I called today (Aug. 28)… They still can’t locate my laptop. Is this what you call effency?
August 29th, 2005 at 1:17 am
Back before I retired (IT professional), some other people in the IT dept. had an acronym for DELL: Doesn’t Even Last Long. No real problem with my Dell Dim. 4700, other than the 2 front USB ports are dead..called their Tech Line…no help there (unit still under warranty). I found a few posts on one of Dell’s forums on similar USB port problems…no help there. Beginning to wonder if I made the right choice…if they can’t/won’t fix such a small problem, what happens if I have a big one?
August 29th, 2005 at 2:05 pm
I received my Dell Inspiron 600m laptop 8/26. Within an hour of delivery, as I tried to plug my wireless mouse receiver into the USB port, I realized that one of them wasn’t working. Now this was the least of my problems. If Dell actually picked up the phone, or accepted one of my chat requests and listened to my problem within a fairly decent time period, I wouldn’t be so angry. But they don’t. I called them, and all their representatives were busy, so I put it on speakerphone, AND I went on the website and waited for a chat to be accepted. The chat never got accepted, and I had to wait a full 45 minutes before someone picked up. The agent then informed me that there was the possibility that I would be receiving a refurbished system exchange for my new one. This was outrageous, and eventually, they agreed to build a new model for me. It will be coming two weeks later, and when it does, hopefully it will not come with ports that don’t work.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:32 pm
There was a time when my hubby and I would not consider anything but a Dell computer. Sadly, over time that has changed. Over time we heard the quality of Dell reportedly was not good.
I broke down and bought a Dell laptop because of a special deal I could get. I also purchased extended support for it. Everything went well until I had to contact Dell support. Our conversations were totally ineffective because I couldn’t understand them and they couldn’t understand me. This went on for 3 days, with each person trying to pass me off to someone else and me waiting in que lines to speak to someone I couldn’t understand who couldn’t understand me.
I bitterly complained to Dell. Who wants 3 years of techical support from someone in India still working on their English skills. Probably wouldn’t be bad if it were a social conversation, but not what I want in tech support! Did they hear me? I doubt it.
August 30th, 2005 at 11:42 am
My motherboard went 3 times in 4 months. Now it’s gone again. All I want is a new computer (not a refurbished one because I didn’t buy a refurbished one to begin with.) Will they talk to me? No…they put me on hold and then disconnect me. I am in dell hell and I want out. Someone please give me some ideas cheri557@maine.rr.com
August 30th, 2005 at 5:28 pm
my experience with “dell hell” included windows. i needed to install sp2, so downloaded and installed it. during the installation my dell locked up. was able to unlock and tried it again after going to windows site and printing out info on “installing sp2″. had to do this because Microsoft “customer service” said that all the information i needed was on the site. printed out the info, tried it again and again locked up. called Microsoft “customer service” and they said since my dell came with windows already loaded, that i needed to call dell. i called dell and they said since it was a windows problem i needed to call windows. while this was going on, my computer was useless and i lost valuable work time. i almost threw the dell out the window but the systems manager from my husbands company came over and worked some magic and got my computer working. however, i haven’t installed sp2 and i’m not going to. this is my 3rd dell and i will probably upgrade my computer in a year or two but i guarantee it won’t be a dell, and i may go to apple since i’m so disgusted with microsoft.
August 30th, 2005 at 9:55 pm
If you want customer service, don’t buy from a major manufacturer. Everyone knows that.
Buy from the shop down the road which puts them together themselves. Then it’s easy to return it when it breaks, and you will be talking to a real live person, not to someone in India.
You have been expecting ‘the machine’ to treat you like a human. That’s just stupid, you have yourself to blame for that.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:59 pm
I’m torn now. My family’s last three desktops have been Dell computers. When I buy a new one, my current gets handed down to my brother who hands his down to my mother (who has the least need for performance and speed), and I was about to buy Dell again.
I’ve rarely had to call Dell - the last time was in 2003, for a dead DVD drive. The tech I spoke to was in the U.S., listened to the troubleshooting I’d tried (and didn’t make me do it all again), recognized that I knew what he was going for when we went in the box to swap cables so didn’t talk to me like a novice, and when we confirmed it was the drive rather than the cables, had a new drive sent to me within a few days.
But things can change in two years. I guess I have to decide whether to rely on my own (but dated) experiences or anecdotal (yet more recent) stories from hell…
August 31st, 2005 at 11:24 am
DELL Products & Service - UK Experience
DELL Customer Care, Service & Support: Score 000/100!
Purchased System which included DELL GPD20C (Mitsubishi HL6945) Monitor at a cost of some 1,314 GBP in February 1994. Within an eighteen month subsequent period had two replacement Monitors shipped due to total failure, shortly thereafter the third Monitor failed - all assumed identical fault/failure. NONE of the Monitors shipped, including the original were new; ALL were used/repaired units! Monitor has remained in the box ever since - over the years, numerous e-mails/faxes/snail-mail have been directed to DELL UK & USA Headquarters for attention, also to Mitsubishi who deny having experienced any problems whatsoever with the particular chassis/Monitor build. All just “bilge†from my experience, I have had three Monitors and all having been previously repaired!
Have got absolutely NOWHERE in my efforts to attain a just outcome with DELL.
The moral, just like the majority of other sector dominant Companies, there is always another “sucker†around the corner. Think carefully about purchasing DELL!
! UPDATE !
Still on Dell’s case! Have repeatedly faxed DELL Texas HQ, which generated ‘ phoned communication from DELL Ireland, even received a letter from Janeann Dempsey from their ‘Executive Support Team’ …sent more letters etc., but there remains apathy of conscience to any responsibilities to the customer, where the passage of time should not negate liability. The FACTS are they NEVER supplied a NEW working Monitor from purchase, simply shipping older, repaired replacements …Model IDs & Serial Numbers are proof!
Anyone who would like to contact me about their issues with DELL products, then please feel free to e-mail mailbox@blue2ict.com
August 31st, 2005 at 12:18 pm
I’ve had the pleasure(!!) of using various laptops over the past few years, and but for Compaq, Dell would have taken the honors in terms of user unfriendliness and poor build quality.
Consider this: the volume control buttons only work when you are logged in and at the desktop (not even when the desktop is locked). What prevents Dell from rewiring those to the BIOS so that volume can be controlled in any OS/state as long as the system is powered up (look at how IBM handles it. They even have the display brightness work at hardware level).
Or just press the laptop lid gently and u can see outlines of your fingers on the display.
Kvetching apart, this post seems like a lesson to each and every corporation, American or not, tech or not, to take customers *seriously*. Unless you are a state monopoly in middle-of-nowhere in Afrika, customers are the ones who make or break your revenue numbers and they are your major ’stakeholders’. Keep customers happy and the cash registers would keep on ringing. Time for some Business 101s, eh?
PS: To set the record state, I did have problematic keyboard in a Dell notebook I used for a while. Had to call the customer support 2-3 times, and go thru the rigmarole of “Boot into DOS mode, press keys.. bla bla”, but managed to talk them into sending me a replacement keyboard. The delltech was there next day, and he fixed it in 5 mins flat. I guess I was one of the lucky ones
August 31st, 2005 at 1:15 pm
I am reading all of this while I am trying to chat with India. I bought a Dell notebook from my daughter to take to college. She used it 2 days before it wouldn’t work. She spent 4 hours on line with tech support in Bombay and they couldn’t get it to work. They were supposed to send someone to the house to fix it. They never called or showed up, in spite of at least 8 phone calls. All I want is to return this piece of crap and get my money back.
September 1st, 2005 at 12:02 am
I am all for helping out 3rd World Countries, I personally own a gallery/ shop that is sweatshop free product. I have seen the 60 Minutes shows on how farming out Customer Service to India is assisting them in getting out of poverty. They seem to be working so hard at losing their accents and their efforts are admirable. But at what cost domestically?
I called Dell last year to inquire about computers, and of course it was re-routed to India. I decided even tho the woman was lovely that if I am going to drop $1500 on a system I want to understand EXACTLY what I am getting. How irriating this barrier was with that issue but also, I felt like I was having a technical conversation 6000 miles away!
We have our own CS reps here in North America that are now unemployed due to outsourcing. It irritates me that at the end of the day, Mr. Dell isn’t employing overseas companies out of the goodness of his heart, but rather appeasing his shareholders and their bottom lines, needing unrealistic returns in an economy that has flat inflation rates by saving $. Ug. What a quandry. Or is it one?
Company after company are looking to overseas production at a cost to North American workers needing to make more than 4 cents a day. In our house we have a litany of products that we just don’t buy (Nike, Wal Mart shopping) because we don’t support their business models.
Dell Hell is unneccessary because at the end of the day your customer service people are your front lines. HP has similar problems ( my folks bought a lap top in Canada, took it to Arizona on their trip and the CS team there refused to receive the product defective because it wasn’t purchased in the States? please!) All companies have hellish responses now, and if you look at the quantity of product being produced, I am sure their Returns are not as high. Let this blog be a lesson to Big Business: we have outlets to communicate now, more powerful than the Ralph Naders.
Listen, be receptive to your customers, not shareholders. Be a leader in Technical Support (they say you can make the best impression with a customer during a RETURN).
LISTEN!!!
staci
September 1st, 2005 at 2:20 am
I have more Dell “customer service” than I want!
I am not a Dell customer–but I get plenty of calls from Dell customer service center in Bangalore. After many, many months and many, many, many phone calls from Dell, Inc in the wee hours of the morning–always having the caller quickly hang up–I finally got it figured out: The favorite bank of Dell Service Center employees in Bangalore has the same first seven digits as my local phone number here in the heart of Dell-Ville–Round Rock Texas. If any of the geniuses Dell hires hits the U.S. button on their phones rather than the local button while attempting to call their bank, they call me instead. Bangalore banking hours = Round Rock Texas sleeping (or attempting to sleep) hours. Needless to say, I have gotten very little help from Dell in resolving this problem. Any suggestions from anyone that won’t cost me any money?
September 1st, 2005 at 3:40 am
UK Customers, address for communication with DELL Direct is Boghall