Picked an Alienware Aurora R10 from Dell's website, customized it and was checking out the cart when a person by the name of Joseph S called my cellphone and asked me to close my browser so he could continue the purchase for me (you’ll find out that I shouldn’t have done that). I honestly didn't like how my number was used like that, but I didn't object to it. Joseph verified the specs 3 times (please remember this, very important!) over the phone and sent me a final invoice and the transaction was done for a total of $2612.

The next morning (around 10 AM) I logged into my Dell account to see if I should make further changes/upgrades to my order before it gets shipped, when I noticed a cheaper deal for an exact same machine. It costs $2173 and was equipped with an additional 2TB SATA drive. I called Joseph's extension and left a VM. Called couple of hours later to follow up, but nothing. 

5 hours later I called sales to get someone else to process the deal I found and cancel my first order. This time I was told that a message was sent to Joseph internally and he will call me back shortly. I was told there is no need to cancel my first order. But Joseph never called. Two hours later, I called sales at Dell to cancel the order so I could process the deal I found on my own. Guess who picked up the phone at sales this time...Joseph! 

I explained what is happening and asked him to either adjust the price based on the deal I had found or cancel the order and process the deal that was sitting in my cart. He verified everything and promised a call back in 30 minutes. He never called back!

The next morning, I called Dell's sales department again to cancel the order and process the deal. I was told the deal is gone!

So, I contacted customer care and spoke with John and explained the situation and asked to cancel the order. He hardly said more than 3 words. He replied "ok, I'll cancel your order".

Dell, our customer care reps do care, but too shy to express it!

Two days later, I got an invoice from Dell financial for my purchase and an email from Dell to rate my interaction with John from Hyderabad, India.

I called Dell finance dept and explained that I’ve already canceled the order. They put me on a long hold and then I was told that I am being transferred to sales, but she didn't tell me why. The person from sales was none other than….. Joseph! 

He pretended to be someone else and didn't introduce himself. Made up a story about how that salesperson (himself) who processed the order was dealing with some family emergency and unable to call me back, however, the price will be adjusted based on the deal I found for $2173. I acted as if I don’t know its him. But, I asked to receive an email or some kind of invoice for the price adjustment. The no name man (Joseph) advised me that an email will be sent within 24 hrs. 

2 days later and still nothing!

I called Dell’s sales department again, explained my story and surprise surprise, there is no price adjustment on my file!

I asked to speak to a manager and was transferred to Chandrama S. While explaining the story, there was a dog barking literally into the phone on his end. The sound was so loud that I had to stop talking. He would then apologize, put the phone down (not on hold) and I could hear everything as he was trying to kick the dog out or something. At least twice, I had the pleasure of being barked at during my story telling.

Dell, come for a personal computer, stay for a personal experience!. 

He asked to provide him with proof of my story, which I did have (I didn’t know I was responsible for it, but I always record/save everything) and then we started negotiating!

Yup, haggling over the cost as if I was bargaining over the price of a used Van with the owner! He kept saying “but the deal is gone” despite being provided the evidence of my claim and insisted that “there is nothing he can do about that deal”.

At first, his offers were more than the cost I was getting on my end if I were to purchase the machine from Dell’s website (ya, it was that kind of negotiation). Then, he asked if I use Anti-Virus software. I said “no, never use it and please make sure it’s not pre-installed on my machine”, to which he replied, “I can give you two-years subscription for free, how about that?” (Yes, this really happened!)

Dell, don’t tell us what you want, we’ll give you what we think you need. Or maybe it was Lenin? Or Dell not sure!

At the end, he offered $200 off my purchase, only if I agree to keep the Alienware that was already purchased. I didn’t agree to it, but I asked him to call me back the next day. 

(That is $200 off of $2612 but the deal I found was $2173 plus an additional 2TB HDD)

The next day, I discovered that Mr. Joseph, forgot to even include liquid cooling to my order that I had confirmed with him 3 times over the phone (remember at the beginning of my story!) YAAAAY

Dell, you ask for a gaming machine, we give you kinder surprise!. 

I contacted Mr. Chandu and explained that there is no way this $200 makes sense now. Plus, it’s really insulting to me that I have to even negotiate over this issue. So, I asked him to cancel the order (how many times have I asked that?) and requested to speak with someone overseeing sales team! 

This time I was contacted by Mr. Satish A. I explained, in details, yet again, what I experienced. He offered to donate, I mean, knock off $250. Again, I explained that… the deal I had found was cheaper, included additional 2TB HDD, the neglect wasn’t on my part and lastly, liquid cooling is missing from my order. So, he offered to call me back the next day and left no contact information.

He called the next day to partly put the blame on me that I should have written down the order ID of the deal I found (What is even that?) or some other internal stuff that he could forward to marketing team to match the price. 

Dell, we treat our customers as if they work here!

Again, this was not my fault and I DID forward proof and verification with details of what was discussed with Joseph, so what on earth was he asking me for? Bottom line, marketing department doesn’t allow price reduction on my order.

I didn’t want to be a pain for Satish, plus I was tired of talking to Dell for a week on daily bases for an hour, so I proposed an idea that they should cancel my first order so we can process a new one. I even allowed Satish to be fully in charge of the cost and adjust the price considering my horrible experience. We said goodbye and off he goes to work my quote. 

I received two quotes from Chandu (the first manager) but Satish was the one who called to follow up. He told me he was going home, but he’ll call me back the next day. I was advised, the quotes included two different options for me to choose from and the costs were adjusted to compensate for my experience!

(drum roll) 

The total price on both quotes….. were exactly the same as what I got on my end from Dell’s website! 

If anyone, ANYONE would go on Dell’s website and pick an Alienware machine R10 and configure it based on the quotes they sent me, they get literally to the last cent, the exact same price! $2096.99 is what they sent me, $2096.99 is what I see on the website! 

Dell, if our sales reps don’t insult you enough, our managers will. 

I asked, for a hundred times, to cancel the order and I was told, it was never canceled and was in fact SHIPPED.

Today, I had the pleasure of meeting the Purolator guy whom, despite my apologies, gave me this silent angry look for 2 minutes, made a hulk transforming noise while lifting up the heavy box and walked away slowly.   

I have recordings, screenshots, emails and all the evidence confirming the validity of all my claims here. If anyone is interested.