Poor Customer Care

Dear Dell, (Caveat: I do NOT believe blogs are the place to air such grievance, but I have exhausted all options to the point that I am beginning to doubt that there actually IS a Dell HQ in Plano, Texas.) 

The problems began literally within a couple of days of placing our order, when Dell Customer Service voice messages informed me that one of the largest computer manufacturing firms IN THE WORLD does not work on weekends (unless they want your sale, that is). I wish I, a small business owner, had the luxury of telling my colleagues and partners that their concerns will have to wait until Monday morning, Central Standard Time. It all goes down hill from there and has cost me tens, if not hundreds of FTE hours and production time and money. Again, this started Week One and delayed our operations.

Dealing with Dell Customer Care has been like being trapped on the set of "American Horror Story: Asylum." I wish I were being funny. The maze of confusion and obfuscation that Philippines and India-based Customer Care Reps trap your customers in is borderline abusive to the consumer.

I have lost all confidence that Dell Computer Corporation is up to the task of providing my business technology solution. I am a tech startup and recently ordered nearly $40,000.00 worth of equipment from Dell. It has been an absolute disaster and Dells Customer Service and Resolution Specialist seem to have one overriding priority: KEEP GRAVELY DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS AS FAR AWAY FROM DELL CORPORATE HQ AS POSSIBLE AND PROLONG RESOLUTION OF THEIR CASE UNTIL THE CUSTOMER EVENTUALLY GIVES UP IN FRUSTRATION. 

So that I do not repeat myself (again), here is a compilation of my email communication w/ Dell (Philippines and India), since I made my unfortunate and regrettable decision to place my confidence in Dell's apparently long lost reputation for excellence and customer connectivity. FWIW, I order thousands of dollars of equipment and supplies each month from Amazon (direct), Costco, and a number of other vendors. HP, too. ALL of the preceding have levels of customer service that should be the envy of Dell. I have lost (literally) hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in productivity to a company that can afford gross inefficiencies (apparently). I cannot afford such things and Dell has done a simply OUTSTANDING job at keeping me (military retiree/officer/veteran owned small business) as far away from anyone at Dell whose job it is to be alert to customer satisfaction. 

Please read every word of the following:

From: F
Subject: Re: Dell Inc SR#-CUSTOMER REPLY
Date: April 22, 2014 at 2:45:39 PM EDT
To: Dell
Cc: Dell

Ms. A,
Your offer of $2500.00 credit is a kind gesture, but falls well short of the time and money that Dell has cost my new startup. My investors are paying me not to spend tens of hours on the phone and in email trying to correct Dell's empirically provable inefficiencies that have cost me, my company and my investors REAL time and money. The offer of $2500.00 for my time and productivity lost is almost insulting. And, while I understand that my purchase falls outside Dell's 30-day window for "customer" satisfaction, my company and its employees (most of all, its CEO) have yet to experience 30-days of practical use of our order due to continuous issues in shipments, returns, and accounting. I am presently being billed for 5 monitors and keyboard mouse combos which are only in my possession because:
- Dell shipped them to my billing address and NOT to either of our two physical addresses.
- Dell REFUSED to pick up the items that THEY misshipped, saying that Dell's carrier, FedEx, would not pick them up as they were shipped to a UPS Store, which is patently false because the VERY FedEx delivery driver who deals with THAT UPS store said that FedEx has no such policy and he makes deliveries to the UPS Store EVERY DAY. The UPS Store manager confirmed this information promptly. FedEx will pick up from ANY ADDRESS, even if that address is UPS Corporate Headquarters. The Dell Customer Service Representative told me that Dell would just consider the shipment of monitors and keyboard/mouse combos "LOST" and not retrieve them. It's not that easy. The equipment had already been signed for by UPS Store that accepted this delivery (on my behalf, as they are authorized to do). So, Dell would not pick up the equipment; would not order pick up by FedEx; would not budge from their policy and pay UPS to return the equipment; and, the UPS Store would not take "custody" of the equipment; so, I HAD TO PICK UP ALL OF THE EQUIPMENT FROM THE UPS STORE ON MY TIME AND TRANSPORT IT TO MY HOME OFFICE! It sits in my home right now. I neither want it, nor am I willing to pay for it. I have recently offered to keep one each of the monitors and keyboard/mouse combos and asked that Dell ONLY pick up 4 of each from my home office, which I asked them to do AFTER I returned from visiting my development center in Colorado Springs, to which the equipment should have been delivered in the first place. Despite these very detailed and AGREED UPON telephonic instructions with a fellow named, the very day AFTER I LEFT FOR COLORADO SPRINGS, a UPS delivery man came TO MY HOME (after I was told by Dell that they did not deal with UPS and could not pick up the equipment from a UPS Store) and handed my wife two shipping labels, one of which was labeled "Dell Precision 4800 Laptops" and the other, "Dell Piece Parts." I had to explain (over the phone from a few thousand miles away) to my wife that I was attempting to return monitors and keyboard/mouse combos, not "Laptops" and "Piece Parts" (the latter of which is meaningless and impossible to account for). I also had to explain to her that I needed to return the monitors. The next day UPS dropped off two new shipping labels; one labeled "Dell Flat Panel Monitor" (I HAD to explain this to my wife, who had to explain it to UPS... she is NOT an employee of mine, nor was she at all familiar with this situation... ANOTHER hour of my time lost!); the other was STILL labeled "Dell Piece Parts" (and I still can only ASSUME that this was intended for the Keyboard/Mouse combos). The problem with number 6, above, is that... I was NOT home (as I told the Dell rep I would NOT be home) and I had to translate everything to my wife, which was exactly the situation I was trying to avoid. 

Another problem with #6, above, is that there is NO WAY I could prepare 4 27" Dell Flat Screen Monitors and 4 Logitech Keyboard/Mouse combos for reshipment with ONLY TWO SHIPPING LABELS. more time lost.

I have attached every piece of correspondence SINCE MY EXPERIENCE WITH DELL BEGAN. This is completely unsatisfactory for a company of Dell's longevity and legacy in the market place. Even restaurants do better at correcting their mistakes than Dell has attempted to do and, I can assure you, their profit margins are much narrower than Dell's. I am afraid that your offer of $2500.00 in "in store" credit sorely misses the mark and only assures me that I will lose the equivalent of time and money trying to manage accepting your offer. Dell will have to do much better than that. Here is a reasonable counter offer:

$5000.00 in credit (still nowhere near the equivalent amount of time, productivity, and investment dollar value my company has lost to Dell). Compensate my company for the excess monitors and keyboard-mouse combos that were incorrectly shipped and which are sitting in boxes in my home office. I simply DO NOT HAVE the excess time that Dell requires OF ME TO FIX THEIR MISTAKE. It is actually very arrogant that Dell expects that I should do the work to fix THEIR mistake after several misleading and failed attempts to HELP YOU DO YOUR JOBS! One Dell Rep (as the attached documentation supports) was already willing to tell me that Dell would consider the equipment "Lost." Well, it was NOT lost, it was delivered to the wrong address and PROPERLY accounted for by the UPS Store Manager, who expected ME to pick it up and take into my custody after Dell REFUSED to do so (see above). I will not make any further effort to return JUST the monitors and keyboard-mouse combos. It is completely unconscionable that I should be paying for them (WHICH I AM!) when they should never have been placed on my books to begin with. So, I will NOT pay for them and if the only way for me to NOT pay for them is to not pay for any of my order, I will default to my intention to return the entirety of my order (EACH AND EVERY PIECE OF DELL hardware order under my Customer Number) to Dell and ask for a FULL REFUND. Replace the defective monitor that was sent to Red Solutions' Colorado Springs office. PUT ME IN TOUCH, IMMEDIATELY, WITH A DELL REPRESENTATIVE FROM DELL CORPORATE HQ IN PLANO, TEXAS. I have been bumped from one Dell Customer Service Rep and his or her supervisor and supervisor's supervisor on all of these issues (not to mention the unexplained cancellation of our Precision 4800 laptops; which had to be resolved in an equally inefficient manner that caused a TWO WEEK DELAY in my company's operations!). It is unacceptable that it is IMPOSSIBLE to speak to ANYONE from Dell Corporate HQ when the offshore Customer Support organization has failed this clearly and badly. I request that this be resolved according to my VERY REASONABLE request, above, or I will seek another vendor, return ALL of the Dell hardware ordered, and seek restitution for time, money, and productivity lost to Dell's sorely disconnected stance from this customer... and MANY OTHERS as my research indicates. I have been hesitant to "use" this, but for sake, you people are damaging my attempt to create a business for which I have worked very hard and sacrificed much. I do not want to hear ONE MORE DELL CUSTOMER SUPPORT REPRESENTATIVE that they "understand my frustration" I WILL CERTAINLY RETURN the order JUST FOR THAT. Clearly, Dell DOES NOT understand my frustration and I DO NOT NEED Dell to "understand" my frustration, I NEED DELL TO FIX THIS PROBLEM. I am beyond frustration, any amount of which is not your concern. I just need you to DO YOUR JOBS so that I can do mine.
F, CEO

On Apr 21, 2014, at 3:27 PM, Dell wrote:
Hi,
This is K the Supervisor you spoke with. I have attached the consolidated invoice copies of your orders. I know that you would like to return all these orders. I would like to offer $2,500 credit should you consider to keep the orders. I will request the credit in your behalf. I know that you have been dissatisfied so far with your experience with Dell. And we want to make it right for you.  Please reply back to us should you consider this offer or if you wish to proceed with returning all your orders. Once again we apologize for the inconvenience. Please feel free to reply back to us so as soon as possible so we can process the option you choose.
Regards,
K K A
Customer Care Analyst
Dell | CSMB Support Services Team
     

Begin forwarded message:
From: Me-Red
Subject: , CEO
Date: April 22, 2014 at 2:55:32 PM EDT
To: Dell Various Customer Care
Read this chain, starting at the bottom. You will see that this has been a continuous disruption to my business operation since the week we place our order. Dell can afford this level of inefficiency. I cannot. Please fix.
CEO
Red, Inc.

Begin forwarded message:
From: Me
Subject: Re: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:
Date: March 10, 2014 at 6:53:49 PM EDT
To: C
C,
That is unacceptable. What am I supposed to do with the items that are at the UPS store?
F
Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 10, 2014, at 5:42 PM, C at Dell Customer Care wrote:
Hi Mr. F,
I received an update regarding the pick-up and redelivery of Order Number. Unfortunately, I was informed that FedEx is not able to make any pickups at any UPS store. We do not have a way to send a pickup and redelivery request to UPS. Our only option, if it is not possible for you to go to the UPS store yourself, is to have another set of monitors shipped out. That normally takes 3 to 5 business days to process plus shipping time. Let me know if that is acceptable.
Regards,
C
Customer Care Associate

From: C
To: Me
Date: 3/6/2014 9:22:07 AM
Subject: RE: Re: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:
I'll send them your infomation.
Regards,
C
Customer Care Associate

--- Original Message ---
From: F
Received: 3/6/14 8:43:31 AM CST
To: CustomerCare
Subject: Re: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:
C,
How about someone from the Sales Team contact ME. I will cancel the whole order if they do not, soon. This whole experience has been nothing short of completely disappointing. My phone numbers are below. I am standing by for their call.
F W, CEO-President
Red Inc.

From: C
Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2014 at 7:38 PM
To: F
Subject: RE: Re: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:
Hi Mr. F,
I have sent the pickup and redelivery request for Order Number. I will be monitoring it. If in case the pickup/redelivery is not completed, I will need to have new monitors shipped out. We'll try a pickup/redelivery first as that will be faster if it is completed. I will still need you to contact our Sales team to reorder the M4800 laptops. I would like to apologize for any inconvenience.
Regards,
C
Customer Care Associate

--- Original Message ---
From: ME
Received: 3/6/14 7:06:21 AM CST
To: US_CustomerCare_BSD
CC: D
Subject: Re: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:
C,
The Tampa address, S. MacDill Ave.is a UPS store where I maintain mail services. The store operates Mon-Sat and is staffed during business hours. The link to the store is: HTTP://.........On the link, you will find their contact information and business hours. Unfortunately, I do not have access to their work schedule, nor do I know exactly who they will have on tomorrow, but SOMEONE WILL BE THERE. I was approved for the lease both on the phone and by email. This transaction has been about 3 or 4 different types of complete disappointments. I am considering canceling the order and switching to HP, whose service levels far exceed those of my Dell experience thus far. If I had know this, I would have gone to your competitors and paid cash. I still may do that, as this is completely unacceptable.
F CEO-President
Red Inc.

From: CV
Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2014 at 3:42 PM
To: F
Subject: RE: FW: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:
Dell Inc. Service Request #
Dear Mr. WF,
Good day!  I am R, one of the Resolution Specialists here at Dell Customer Care who will be assisting you with your order inquiry. I received this email request from M yesterday. We sent out a replacement for the five Logitech Wireless Wave Combo MK550, replacement Order Number CCCC, which FedEx indicates was delivered at the Avenue address today. I sent an address change request to FedEx yesterday for Order Number. Unfortunately, it was too late to correct the shipping address and the order was delivered to the Tampa, FL address today, signed for by a Z. . I can have it picked up and redelivered to the address, but I will need you to provide a contact person for the pick up. Finally, I found that Order Number for the five Precision M4800 laptops has been cancelled. There seems to have been an issue with the lease, but since only Dell Financial Services has access to the lease account, I am unable to check for the specific reason. You may contact our Sales team again to reorder the laptops.
Regards,
C
Customer Care Associate

--- Original Message ---
From: “M"
Received: 3/5/14 6:25:03 PM CST
To: US_ABU_CustomerCare
CC: ”C", “N”, "S"
Subject: RE: FW: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:
Hi Team, The Contact person is F and you will be able to reach him on (O)  & Email address is.
Thank you for your assistance.
Best Regards,
M
Brand Certified | Social Media & Community Professional

Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2014 3:54 PM
To: M
Subject: RE: FW: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:
Hi M,
I am R, one of the Resolution Specialists here at Dell Customer Care. I have changed the shipping address on Order Number. I will monitor it as there is a chance that it could still get shipped to the old address. I will have it rerouted if that happens. I have sent a reroute request to FedEx for Order Number since it has already shipped. Order Number is a 3rd party product. Unfortunately we cannot reroute it. What we did is we set up an exchange order. Exchange Order Number:. I have opened a case on this concern, Service Request#. Do you know which customer I should contact? I also need their email address.
Regards,
C

--- Original Message ---
From: M
Received: 3/2/14 5:06:23 AM CST
To: US_ABU_CustomerCare
CC:"N", "S"
Subject: FW: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:
Dell - Internal Use - Confidential
Hi Team,
Customer #
Order #
Customer requested delivery address as below. The agent missed to update the same on the order. Please do the needful in getting the shipping address changed.
Thank you.
Best Regards,
M
Brand Certified | Social Media & Community Professional

From: F Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2014 4:37 PM
To: M
Subject: Re: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:
Mr. D
Please change immediately. Right now, Dell has the shipment going to a P.O. Box, not a physical address. Let me know when this action has been completed.
Thank you,
F, CEO-President

From:  M
Date: Saturday, March 1, 2014 at 1:33 PM
To: F
Subject: RE: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID: Please let me know the correct address for delivery, I'll get that updated through our Customer Care team.
Best Regards,
M
Brand Certified | Social Media & Community Professional
Dell | Coach | US Small Business Sales Chat

To: M
Subject: Re: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:  That's unacceptable. Dell is presently shipping the majority of my equipment to the WRONG address. Needs to be corrected now, not Monday. Thank you,
F

From: M Customer Care
Date: Saturday, March 1, 2014 at 1:29 PM
To: F
Cc: D
Subject: RE: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:
Hello F, Please accept my apology for the delay in responding to your email. I'm out of office and unfortunately unable to contact you. If you could let us know the issue I'll arrange a call first thing on Monday morning. Appreciate your patience. Thank you. Best Regards,
M
Brand Certified | Social Media & Community Professional
Dell | Coach | US Small Business Sales Chat

From: F
Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2014 8:49 AM
To: M
Cc: D
Subject: FW: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:
M,
If someone does not contact me within 3 hours, I am going to CANCEL THIS ENTIRE ORDER. I am NOT HAPPY with DELL right not, at all. Thank you,
F
CEO-President

From: F
Date: Saturday, March 1, 2014 at 7:46 AM
To: N
Subject: Re: Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID:
N, If someone does not contact me within 3 hours, I am going to CANCEL THIS ENTIRE ORDER. I am NOT HAPPY with DELL right not, at all. Thank you,
F