Customer Support Complaints, Post Here

I've been a loyal, even ardent supporter of Dell for 11 years.

However, over the last month my faith has been tested....I bought a new machine from Dell France, which, when it arrived would not boot into Windows.

5 fruitless hours on the phone to tech support (during which I was told that my warranty was useless and offered a better one at a knock down price) eventually resulted in an agreement 'exceptionally' to returm my machine to the factory for repair.

Alas, after a week away, it was returned in exactly the same unusable state as it left in, with a ticket to say 'Tests ok'

At this point I gave up and took it to a local shop. It didn't take the shop long to discover that the connector to the hard drive was broken.There's no way it could have worked in the factory. They mended it for 30€, and I'm actually very happy with it now.

But, it feels like I've let Dell off the hook, and I don't know how, or with whom, I can address my negative and expensive experience. Not the Support service for sure. They just seemed to give a scripted response, and when I challenged them (in a gentle way) they became nervous and verbally aggressive. One woman begged me to give her a good report in any complaint I might make.

Any suggestions?

I am a long-time Dell buyer and user.  I chose Dell because they built good machines and provided good customer service.  It has been a while since I ordered from Dell because their systems have worked so well in the past.  I used to order for my office in a past job.  I have two Dell computers now and just purchased my daughter one from a major electronics store.  I just ordered a new desk top in November 2009.  This order has been delayed several times.  And after reading some of the replies to this thread, I have no confidence that I will ever see this order, because they told me the same thing they tell others.  (Your model was well-priced, popular.  Your order is a priority.  There should be no further delay.)  As an American, I would like to talk to someone who speaks English in a way that I can understand or at least is sympathetic to my issue.  If the order is delayed again, I will cancel it.  Either way, I do not intend to purchase a Dell computer again.  Customer service, which used to be a reason to buy a Dell, is now their biggest liability.  I am really sorry about this.  Dell used to be a company that did things right.  Will anyone from Dell management read this?  I doubt it.  But if they do, they really need to think about their business model right now, because it is going down all of the time.

I am a long-time Dell buyer and user.  I chose Dell because they built good machines and provided good customer service.  It has been a while since I ordered from Dell because their systems have worked so well in the past.  I used to order for my office in a past job.  I have two Dell computers now and just purchased my daughter one from a major electronics store.  I just ordered a new desk top in November 2009.  This order has been delayed several times.  And after reading some of the replies to this thread, I have no confidence that I will ever see this order, because they told me the same thing they tell others.  (Your model was well-priced, popular.  Your order is a priority.  There should be no further delay.)  As an American, I would like to talk to someone who speaks English in a way that I can understand or at least is sympathetic to my issue.  If the order is delayed again, I will cancel it.  Either way, I do not intend to purchase a Dell computer again.  Customer service, which used to be a reason to buy a Dell, is now their biggest liability.  I am really sorry about this.  Dell used to be a company that did things right.  Will anyone from Dell management read this?  I doubt it.  But if they do, they really need to think about their business model right now, because it is going down all of the time.

I  just hope when you cancel you aren't told you cant cause its in production (with no ship date of course) and that they will charge  you a restock fee.  This has happened to others in your exact situation.   I've been waiting almost 3 months for a replacement on my unit that was under warranty.  I completely agree that it would be nice to speak to an american rather then these indian techs and customer service folks.  They may be fine for other nationalities, however it takes me forever to get them to understand my language and I can barely understand them most of the time.    The whole system they have is beyond frustrating.

If the order has been delayed beyond thirty days and the purchaser did not approve those delays, he/she is legally entitled a full refund with no fees deducted.

If there is an issue an getting this done, save the documentation of your order date and date of delivery. If Dell does not give full credit on the return, dispute it with the credit card and provide the documentation of the order date and delivery date and the previous attempt to cancel.

Good luck.

Nobody can deny that DELL has really gone down hill over the last few months, this thread proves it without doubt, starting in Jan 2004 there are 2 pages of complaints the other 9 pages are from November 2009 to now. Nobody can say this is because people who get bad service are more likely to complain. DELL just dont care anymore. People really need to stop giving DELL more and more time to provide these machines and start canceling right away because if they keep getting away with it and keeping the sale more people are going to suffer the same.

... truncated ...  Will anyone from Dell management read this?  I doubt it.  But if they do, they really need to think about their business model right now, because it is going down all of the time.

One way to try to get Dell executives to read these complaints is to print out a few pages of this thread and send that to individual executives. I would suspect that if enough people did that it would have to come up at some point in one of the board meetings and when something comes up at a board meeting it usually results in some kind of action being taken further down the ladder. 

It seems, though, that a big step forward would be for Dell to take a closer look at the English language training that is provided to those that the contractor is using to fulfill the contract they signed with Dell to provide the telephone support. That is, if there is any English language training being provided after the contractor hires an employee. But that should be another issue for Dell to be looking into, if they aren't already.

Might be nice to see a Dell rep blog post on this issue of oversight of language training of those that are on the front lines of the PR battle for Dell. Or has one been done? And I don't think it's an oversight on my part to state this is a PR issue, is it? A customer's first interaction with the Dell system may very well be that person hired by the contractor in India, or whatever nation it may be.

I have had the same issue as you and many others.  I heard the horror stories before I bought and decided to anyway.  Big mistake! I was actually pleasantly surprised when my original order of an XPS 9000 arrived only a week late on Dec 19 when I placed the order at the end of November.  However,  The computer was damaged either at the dell packaging facility or during delivery, so I had to send it back. 

I was told my replacement would be a "rush" order and I would receive it on the 31st of Dec or earlier.  I have yet to receive an updated shipping date and the replacement is still in production!  You are right on with the futility of trying to get any information from the call center.  I don't even know why they have one!  I called in the  first time and they said they would send an email to see what the delay was for and to get an estimated delivery date for me and to call back in 24-48 hrs.  I called back 3 days later and after 20 minutes (at least) I finally was able to talk to someone and they saw that an email was sent, but hadn't received a response.  So I'm told to call back again.  How many hours of my life do I have to waste trying to figure out what is going on?!?  I don't know any other company that has no idea when they will be able to ship something to you.  At the very least they will say the product is backordered and may not be available for 3 months ect, AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE.  Not give you some absolutely bogus and false delivery date.  I would wager Dells estimated delivery dates at checkout are inaccurate 90% of the time or more.  Why do they even have them? 

I will not be surprised if it is 8 weeks or more before I get a working computer.

At this point I may decide to return the system.  I have been told I can't cancel once it is in production, but if this is possible, that is something I would also be interested in

Exactly what I was alluding to in my previous postin this thread.

Might be a good idea to provide some information from a site that is providing legal advice related to this issue of cancelling an order, and this is what is written on one such site.

Catalog and Internet Orders

If you order goods by mail, phone, computer, or fax, the Federal Trade Commission's "mail or telephone order rule" requires that the seller ship to you within the time promised or, if no time was stated, within 30 days. (This rule does not apply to photo development, magazine subscriptions, or orders for seeds or plants.)

If the seller cannot ship within those times, the seller must send you a notice with a new shipping date and offer you the option of canceling your order and getting a refund or accepting the new date. If you opt for the new shipping date, but the seller can't meet it, the seller must send you a notice requesting your signature to agree to yet a third date. If you don't return the notice, your order must be automatically canceled and your money refunded. The seller must issue the refund promptly -- within seven days if you paid by check or money order and within one billing cycle if you charged your purchase.

Source is here >> http://public.findlaw.com/consumer/cancel-contract.html

Of course, that doesn't cover an item ordered through a retail outlet. I see some information posted above on a point of law, but I don't yet have any link to a page on a site that covers that point. In the United States I know that state laws are frequently what a consumer must refer to. Federal law may step in when a product is shipped over state lines, but I do not know for sure.

I'm just trying to see if we can come up with some links to substantiate legal claims. Every little bit helps, yes?

Exactly what I was alluding to in my previous postin this thread.

No slight to your previous post intended, . Not at all. Just figured folks might feel some sort of compilation of references on all these issues might be a good idea. I reckon there are all sorts of issues those lawyer types will refer to if you go talking about bringing the law down on somebody's head. Just trying to build an archive, so to speak. And this will go into my inbox where the archive will be when this post gets buried in about two or three more pages, unless all these complaints suddenly cease. Be nice if that happened, wouldn't it?

I am *highly* dissatisfied with the customer service of Dell.  On two completely separate orders from Dell for completely separate products, I have had the orders delayed.  And then delayed again.  On the first order (a couple years ago) it was not as important, so I called in, was told to wait, and did so.  Now, the same thing is happening again, except this time I am losing money because the order is getting delayed.  Repeatedly calling results in no answers and just a waste of my time while I am transferred around to different representatives who are not at all helpful.  "I'm sorry" does not cut it.  Now I am out several hundred dollars and am no closer to getting my order from Dell.  However, I am much closer to getting my product thanks to another company who will ship the item to me next week.  I will never order from Dell again and I would not be surprised if they delete this post.

While I do not know specifically who in Dell can help you, I would recommend on eof two things.

1.) Try the Unresolved Issues link below (very bottom line of this page) to see if you can expedite a NEW replacement.

OR....

2.) Contact you Credit card company and dispute the charge. The fact that you paid for a system and it is over a month later and you have never had a working system should be enough factual evidence to win the dispute.

I would choose number 2 and then buy something locally... Sad that I say that, because I generally do support Dell, but they have done you (and your kids)  wrong here....

I have been a Dell user/purchaser for years and I am writing this because I can't believe how disappointed I am with their customer service. For the first time in years and many desktop and laptops later I cannot believe the poor service I am receiving from them. I purchased a Dell Inspiron 537ST as a Christmas gift for my children through their ship a pc in 48 hours program, I figured a custom built desktop would take too long and the machine they had available was sufficient enough for my purpose.

I received the desktop in time to be under the Christmas tree. We tried setting the new system up on the December 28th. We plugged the system in and nothing! It wouldn't turn on. I then proceeded to call technical support where the tech put me through a series of checks to see if we could get the system up and running. After 45 minutes she realized that nothing was going to work so since the machine was new and was still covered under the 30 day warranty (what a joke!) instead of sending the part she believed it to be they would replace the entire system, which I felt they should have done anyway since our "brand" new machine never worked. I was then transferred from technical support to customer care to process the request for a new cpu that I was told would take anywhere between 7 to 10 days.

Seven to ten days came and went. I decided to go the live chat route to follow up and see what the delay was. It was here where I was informed that my order was a "system swap"  (the first I had heard of this) and that it would take up to 21 days before I received my new system. I couldn't believe it. I had the first one delivered within 48 hours I couldn't understand why they just couldn't ship another one out and she proceeded to tell me that was the procedure for a "system swap".

I made another call to the technical support personnel on Thursday, January 21st where I was told that they would follow up and see what the delay was and they would guarantee a return call (even though it would be a Saturday). Well I did receive a call back only to be told that no progress had been made and that they didn't really have any further information for me. It was then I informed the tech that I felt I had been patient enough and that this was really ridiculous and I wanted to cancel the order. She then told me she would have to transfer me to customer care only to realize that it was Saturday and no one would be there until Monday.

Today, Monday January 25th I called to cancel this order. I was passed between customer care and technical support everytime I mentioned the word CANCEL. One customer care rep didn't even take the time to listen to the fact that I wanted to cancel the order. She was given the service tag and immediately said she wasn't the correct person and was transferring me to a tech person. She did not even give me the opportunity to tell her I was calling to cancel this order.

It was obvious to me that tech/customer care person (#5) wasn't paying attention to what I was saying or took the time to read the case because he then informed me I was over my 30 day warranty. I then told him there was no way I was going by a 30 day warranty since the machine I received from them never worked and that I had been in constant contact with them well before this 30 day warranty was expired. That was when he transferred me to someone (#6) who informed me that my system was in the process of getting "rebuilt". I couldn't believe it!  Why would my system need to be rebuilt? I was told that when they do a system swap they take a refurbished machine and custom build it. Refurbished!! That was my breaking point! I asked why would I receive a refurbished machine since the brand new one I received didn't work from the get go. He then informed me that they just don't have machines sitting on shelf waiting to be shipped. I then asked well then how did I get one that was not custom built shipped within 48 hours. There was silence on the other end of the phone. I then asked it probably would have been easier if I returned the "brand" new I got and just reorder from their ship in 48 hour program. To that, his response was that he was not really sure. I then informed him that I didn't care if it was being rebuilt or not I received a desktop that did not work from the minute we took it out of the box and I was not accepting a refurbished machine. I told him I wanted to cancel the order I was over this entire fiasco. He then transferred me to customer care (#7) who then DISCONNECTED me while transferring me again!  After 1 hour and 20 minutes of being connected to 8 different people the call got DISCONNECTED!!!! Unbelievable, I was becoming more and more frustrated.

I had to go pick up my children so I decided to continue the chaos on my cell phone. Once again, after telling customer care person #9 I wanted to cancel I got transferred to tech person #10. It was then I was told that if I was absolutely sure I wanted to cancel the order (are you kidding me?) he wasn't the person to do the cancelling but he would talk to the proper people and personally stay involve to resolve this matter. After holding for about 3 minutes he came back on to tell me that he was not authorized to approve the cancellation but that he would follow up with me in 2 - 3 days to let me know the status. After a total of 2 hours, being transferred no less than 10 times, I am no closer to a solution. 

If anyone has any ideas or knows of an email or mail address where I could forward this to I would really appreciate it. I realize that in the world of Dell I am only one little unhappy customer but I really believe if enough people just let them know how they're really doing they just might listen a little closer.

While I do not know specifically who in Dell can help you, I would recommend on eof two things. 1.) Try the Unresolved Issues link below (very bottom line of this page) to see if you can expedite a NEW replacement. OR.... 2.) Contact you Credit card company and dispute the charge. The fact that you paid for a system and it is over a month later and you have never had a working system should be enough factual evidence to win the dispute. I would choose number 2 and then buy something locally... Sad that I say that, because I generally do support Dell, but they have done you (and your kids)  wrong here....

I am going to side with Hvoro on this one, option two will be the best course of action here.  I've been waiting on my Dell replacement since Oct. 22, 2009.  I tried the unresolved issues.  I got one email and nothing else.  I've written several emails to Michael Dell and the other top wigs of the company, which after the first one I got a call the next day....that was three weeks ago and still nothing.  Oh yes, I got a call last week and they said the order had been canceled yet again but reactivated and they wouldn't know anything until Tuesday of this week, because now another part, the graphics card was not available.  But of course it is expedited.  It's Tuesday so I'm waiting on the call and see what happens.  I will probably be shooting off another round of emails to coperate office.  I've taken to recording the calls now.  Will I ever see my replacement?  Will it work?  Will it have all its parts?  I'm not holding my breath.

Good luck to you,

Laura Roberts