Policies and Procedures Are Not Customer Centered

I have spent the last hour on the phone with Dell Technical Support and Dell Replacement Department after being disconnected twice. I called because my Alienware Area 51m Laptop malfunctioned. It will not boot, the screen is black, and I only get beep codes. After several times trying to troubleshoot the problem with customer service, and being transferred to 5 different departments, I finally got them to send me a replacement. And just an FYI, this laptop has been glitchy since day one. Little things that shouldn't happen with an almost $3000 laptop. Also, the Alienware control center has a mind of its own. 1. Dell's 30-day return/replacement policy is not customer centered. Your clock starts from the second you buy the device, not when it is delivered. The transit time from Dell to my home counts against my 30 days. This is ridiculous! Additionally, the new laptop replacement counts in the original laptop's 30-day return policy. How can this be? It is a brand-new laptop. It should have a fresh new 30-day window for any issues with it! 2. If I return the laptop I have for a full refund and buy a new one on Dell.com, I can save $342.62 off my original purchase price for the same setup. Since I purchased the device with my Dell Credit Account, I was offered a $100 rebate off my Dell account. Here's the kicker! If I had purchased this device from Dell with my own bank-issued credit card, I was told I would be entitled to more than the $100 rebate, that he would be able to match the price difference. But, since I purchased it with my Dell Account, he said he was not authorized to provide this rebate that there would be so much paperwork and another department I would have to speak with to get more than $100. Why so many departments? Why can't you authorize a customer service representative to provide customer service? Why must I jump through hoops? 3. Your customer service representatives were very polite and handled everything within Dell's policies. That's the problem. The Dell policies give your reps and your company a bad name. I should not have such poor service from your company. I have spent over $5000 on 2 computers from you. I left HP after a decade of owning their computers and thousands of dollars spent with them due to the same customer service issues I'm not having with Dell. I have never bought another HP computer since. That was over 5 years ago. Your policies and practices have me reconsidering my purchase and loyalty to your company. Why should I be a loyal customer but get shafted by your policies? 4. Your advertisement touts the Alienware line as the best gaming computer around. It also advertises that the Alienware Area 51m is the most upgradable laptop on the market. Why then would you sell me a Samsung 970 PRO NVMe SSD which I purchased with my Dell rewards points when tech support tells me this drive may not be compatible with the "best and most upgradable laptop on the market"? Why are you selling an inferior product? Why can't you fix the issues? The support rep sent me to his manager so I could express my grievances with this process. The manager was polite and said he understood exactly where I was coming from having spent so much money on a computer. He assured me that Dell is always looking at customer feedback to adjust their practices. Who decided these practices were good customer service? You may need to look at your policy makers and ask some questions on what make a company poor, good, or great. You are definitely not achieving greatness with your current practices.