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Delayed Order (twice) - Exceptions get Free Shipping?
I ordered a Dell XPS 14z Laptop back on 2/13/2012 to replace my broken HP. As a Graduate Student, I am always in dire need of my computer. However, I thought the week and a half sacrifice would be worth a better product. Unfortunately, that week and a half expected wait has turned into a much longer wait. While my expected delivery date was 2/22/2012, it did not arrive by 2/22/2012. I was put in touch with a customer service representative in the beginning of my order, and he kept in touch with me regarding the progress of my order that first week. He checked the reason for delay and asked for my order to be expedited without my bugging him.Then, he told me that a back-order on screens was the reason that my order would be delayed until 3/1/2012. Once learning of the delay, I attempted to contact him via phone, leaving a message at his extension and sending an e-mail requesting compensation for my wait. I never received a reply.
This morning, 3/1/2012, I received an automated call from Dell about my order being delayed once more. I called Dell and was transferred to four different representatives, being dropped twice. I finally got into contact with someone, asking for some sort of discount since my order has taken roughly a month (a fact that one of the Dell representatives brought up to me and thought was ridiculous). The reply I received from the last person I talked to was that I would receive free next day shipping. Originally, I elected for Next Day shipping, and with my first delay, they put the order on priority shipping for free. The person whom I talked with claimed that I was an exception for receiving free Next-Day shipping as a compensation.
I am waiting a month for a laptop and have received less than 1% off of my total order, only in the form of shipping costs. A typical business (even one without ethics) would take off a portion of their mistake. I should have received at the very least, free shipping and a subtracted amount for the backordered screens.
Backorders happen, however, if an order is going to be delayed, the business should delay it the appropriate amount of time it takes to receive the backordered product. If they need to delay it again because of ANOTHER planning error, then there should be compensation for wait.
Instead of ethical treatment as a patient customer, I was encountered with rhetoric claiming that I was an exception to receive 25 dollars off of an expensive product. That reflects poorly on a company.
I do not see myself buying another product from Dell.
As a consumer, it is hard to place ethics in a choice. Unfortunately, this company has been reported to have used slave labor and like all other electronic companies in its purchases of certain metals, funds the Civil War and atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, to add all of these unavoidable factors in the computer industry -- they also treat their customers poorly. Obviously the bottom line rules.
jerryuop
6 Posts
0
March 1st, 2012 18:00
I ordered an Alienware m17x on February 4th. It was supposed to arrive by the 21st, delayed once to the 28th, and delayed a second time until March 6th. The Dell "customer service" is terrible. When I originally ordered the laptop, the incorrect price was displayed and a customer service representative had to manually adjust the price from his end. If I had not called, the price would have been $300 higher. Trying to locate the status of the order is a nightmare as well. Dell, supposedly a tech company, requires you to look your order up by customer number and order number. I can't believe that I can log into pretty much every other site on the internet and receive a username and password, but here I need to have an order number. Even though I used Dell financing to pay for the computer, I was forced to manually add the computer to my order list (was displayed as "no current orders").
When I received the first delay message, I was disappointed, but not too much. I ordered a nice computer and I was willing to wait an extra week for it. I confirmed that I was "ok" with this delay and went my merry way. The very next day, I received a phone call warning me that they would cancel the order if I did not confirm the delay yet again. Apparently, I wasted my time with the first confirmation. As the 2/28/2012 date was coming closer, I noticed that my order was still not in production and called to get an explanation.
The response I received was incredibly generic such as "perhaps there were many orders in line before yours that has caused this delay". Shouldn't this be taken into account when the original delivery date is given? The representative (obviously foreign and reading a scripted response) was nice, but unable to provide any real information. I also find it annoying that the number to call to order a computer is open almost all day while the "already ordered" representatives are available during a limited call window. This feels to me like an insult: apparently, potential sales are more important than the customers who have already ordered.
A week later I received another phone call telling me that my order was, again, delayed. Again, no reason was given, but I still wanted the computer. As of March 1st, my computer is "in production" and the person I talked to claimed that "Your computer is in the final stage of being boxed for shipping". What is that? Just tell me it hasn't been shipped yet. Don't give me some line of bull about it being in the final stages of being boxed. I feel like I'm being treated like an idiot.
It's not like we're getting a huge deal from Dell. They are using cheap labor and call centers in India while charging a premium price for their laptops. Seriously, if you want to talk with someone from the United States, you have to pay a few hundred dollars for "North American tech support". A $3000 laptop should come with someone who speaks English for free.
I still have hopes that the computer will be awesome, but the lack of customer service has put a bad taste in my mouth before the computer has even arrived. God forbid there's an actual problem with the computer itself. As of now, I am not exactly going to recommend to any of my friends that they buy an Alienware computer. It's not worth the headache.
robert p
9.4K Posts
0
March 2nd, 2012 06:00
Hi Marti3jb,
Sorry you are having problems with your computer order. I may be able to assist. Please contact me privately by clicking on my name in blue, then on the next page, click the envelope icon that says "start conversation", and send me your information. Thanks.
Regards,
Robert
ref 21011713
CommanderMan30
3 Posts
0
October 15th, 2012 19:00
I ordered an Alienware M17x R4 worth $4200. Even though 99.9% of the world would not even consider buying a laptop for that price, I have received worst customer service than you would receive for buying a $300 computer! I ordered my laptop on September 23rd and was told that it would come AT THE LATEST October 8th many times. Two days before my laptops (supposed) delivery date, Dell called and told me that my laptop had been delayed and that they would call me two days after my original delivery date to inform me of my new delivery date!! When they called back they told me that my new delivery date would be November 1st (nearly a month late!!!!). At first I thought that this was a joke! I told them that I would like compensation for the huge delay, so they told me that I would receive a call in three hours (turned out to be two days) to see what they could give me. When they called back they told me that they could give me $100 (2.2% off) which was a joke! I then told them that I would like an upgrade from a GTX 675M to a GTX 680M, which they instantly said that they couldn't do because the laptop had already been built, meanwhile they had told me, literally two minutes before hand, that the laptop's production had not yet began. I called them on it, and asked for a new manager. The new manager was not in, so they told me that I would receive a call within 24 hours (turned out to be 5 days). Since then I have been calling back and fourth with Dell for the last week! I know that Alienware is the number one laptop brand in the world (only reason why I didn't cancel my order right away), but if it wasn't I would have been a lost customer on the day of October 6th! Worst Customer Service Guarenteed! You would think that a customer who pays a huge price for a laptop would at least receive DECENT service!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Never in my entire life have I encountered a company that cares less about its customers!!!