Excellent Service From A Bad Experience

I have run IT departments for over 20 years and have stood by Dell and the excellent standardization and dependability. 

Recently, I purchased a Latitude 15 5000 Series  for my wife.  Unfortunately there were several OOTB failures (wireless card - drivers - sever BSOD and updates).

After calling CS - and waiting on the phone for 45 minutes - i am connected with a CSR (i do not remember his name - ridiculously heavy accent) he took another 20 minutes of my time - only to tell me he had to let me go and finish the RMA then email me.  I refused to be let go - so he reluctantly agreed to let me stay on the phone - another 20 minutes later the call was disconneted - no follow up emails with RMA number - nothing. 65 minutes wasted - during a work day - beautiful.

This was the cap to a year of similar stories from Dell.

So I called in again - another 15 minutes on hold and was greeted by Sheryl A. - who was courteous - professional and clearly had been empowered to take care of customers.  After listening to my story and the steps that I took, she DID NOT insist on putting me through the mill of Tech Support and trouble shooting. She was able to determine that I knew what I was talking about, wasn't trying to run up Dell's warranty costs - i was simply a tech savvy customer who wanted a machine that worked out of the box. Within 10 minutes - she had issued an RMA - and stayed with me to ensure the label arrived in my email. She was also honest - and told me it could be up to 30 days before my money was returned. Not a happy answer, but I loved the honesty. So, a week later - I get a personal email from Sheryl - advising that she had tracked the package - let me know when they should have it and that she would follow up until I was credited.

My Service Request Number:
My Original Order Number: 

Sheryl, and those like her, are the hope for Dell's abysmal customer service reputation. She saved, unknowingly, a future purchase stream of about 100 units per year (the average qty I purchase and or recommend to purchase) and historic purchases over the last 7 years of 2,500 units. I was ready to wipe my hands of Dell, Sheryl changed my mind. Sheryl earned one more shot for Dell from me. 

I hope that whoever is leading the CS function at Dell takes care of Sheryl and those like her. Figures out her methods and techniques and teaches them to others. There are far too many pressures in this market to allow the CS function to become the joke of the industry.  Beware. And please let Sheryl's manager know that they have a real winner there. And if there is any record of the other guy who worked  my order,  you should seriously consider re-training or showing him the way to another career that suits him better.

Thank you.