ok, so i recently placed my first order ever with dell. problem was, i screwed up and needed to cancel it and reenter it to get a coupon deal and some fatca$h. OMFG, what an incredible pain in the ass!!! it is next to impossible to find anything about cancelling an order or contacting customer service on their site! at the egg it is super-clear how to cancel, when you can cancel, and how to contact them direct (via email or phone). order status is available almost real time AND they use a decent shipper (fedex) who usually beats, rather than misses, their already aggressive delivery schedule. after i FINALLY found an 800 number on dells site (no way to cancel online), and waded thru their horrible menu system, and waited on hold for 10-15 minutes, i got ahold of some woman in india. she had a very hard time understanding me and after 10 minutes finally determined that she couldn't process my request, and then she transferred me somewhere else (back to the US, i think) ... and i was promptly disconnected! called a second time, miraculously got somebody (again in india) who knew what they were doing, and promised to cancel the order. didn't give me any kind of confirmation number or anything, or send email confirmation of my request. i proceeded to enter a new order thinking everything was resolved.
well, this morning i checked to verify that the first order had been cancelled. turns out half the order had shipped and the other half had been cancelled. no confirmation email to me about either. so, back to the web site and finally find what looks like a US number for US customer service. this time i reach someone in austin and am able to explain the screw-up and get it resolved (i'll either refuse the shipment or, if i'm not home, send it back without opening it). also discover that somehow dell has stuck a cookie on my box flagging me as a business customer, which is why i had such a hard time finding anything on the site - they were using this cookie to determine where to direct me, never mind i had placed the order thru the home site.
long story short, dells web page is awful and once you've placed an order they seem to have little interested in providing further service. my experience with their over-seas support solidifies my opinion about sending service jobs off-shore - it's a lousy idea on many levels. and yesterday i saw where dell now as >50% of their workforce offshore. methinks this will be the last time i purchase from dell.
/rant mode off
joe
well, this morning i checked to verify that the first order had been cancelled. turns out half the order had shipped and the other half had been cancelled. no confirmation email to me about either. so, back to the web site and finally find what looks like a US number for US customer service. this time i reach someone in austin and am able to explain the screw-up and get it resolved (i'll either refuse the shipment or, if i'm not home, send it back without opening it). also discover that somehow dell has stuck a cookie on my box flagging me as a business customer, which is why i had such a hard time finding anything on the site - they were using this cookie to determine where to direct me, never mind i had placed the order thru the home site.
long story short, dells web page is awful and once you've placed an order they seem to have little interested in providing further service. my experience with their over-seas support solidifies my opinion about sending service jobs off-shore - it's a lousy idea on many levels. and yesterday i saw where dell now as >50% of their workforce offshore. methinks this will be the last time i purchase from dell.
/rant mode off
joe
