MAD AT DELL? - CALL Complaint Escalation Department

[dahunan]

I just posted this in the speaker thread, but feel it is important enough to be by itself.
I went through hell and back trying to get my money off of a hold DELL put on it for the speakers

Horrible story I do not want to regurgitate here...

BUT... If you need your money back or have a complaint about something that can actually be resolved (not, "I deserve the speakers damni it")

Call the DELL corporate office switchboard and ask for the Complaint Escalation Department
Then the number I had to press was 3 to get to the right operator in that department.
We conference called my credit card company and they took the hold off of my money while we were on the phone. Dell Customer service had not been able to do it for over two weeks (order was cancelled on 12/21 and they were not going to get my money back to me until January 7th or the 8th)

Here is the corporate number
1-512-338-4400 (Cost less than a dollar worth of long distance and headache was gone)

 

[Jfur]

thanks so much, I really need this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rbV5]

Not me, Dell been berry good to me.....awesome deals on speakers, pda, memory...good job Dell!

oops, forgot...kill deal on a monitor too!

 

[flenn]

Dell CS sucks, plain and simple. I've gotten plenty of great deals there lately, but if you have to call them about a problem or issue, you'll be hating life.

 

[Holycrap]

I had some hassle with a refurbed system I purchased from them, and got really pissed b/c at the time there was no support for W2K even though they shipped the system with it . . you'd spend 1/2 an hour on hold after punching the number for W2K support, and then you'd end up on the line with folks who couldn't help with W2K.

A fax to them pointing out the shortcomings and breach of contract got me a call back in 2 days, support for my issue, and a $125 refund to my credit card.

 

[Bean_Counter]

I couldn't agree more that Dell CS Sucks. I could write pages about my experience with Dell Tech Support and Dell C.S., but will try to summarize. In October I bought a Dimension 4300 and in December I bought two more for Xmas presents. Two of the three were not set up properly and after spending at least 20 hours on hold waiting for tech support and 20 hours talking to them and trying to set up my systems, I reformatted the HD's and reinstalled all software, they work fine now.

I called tech support to complain about the systems and was told that I could have returned the systems. I also complained about the 30 - 45 minute hold times for tech support and was told that I should be grateful, that hold times sometimes take as long as 2 hours. Finally, at times I would call in in my cell phone after holding on my other phone for 30 - 45 minutes and would get right through on my cell phone. I asked why the initial call was not answered, and was told that calls get routed to different queus when you call Dell and that sometimes I just got into a longer queue.

At this time, the computers work fine (keep my fingers crossed), but I sure went through a lot of headaches to get them to work and feel that the tech support I got from Dell was piss poor. I believe that most of the people that I talked to at tech support could not take the cover off the computer if their life depended on it and, in some cases, I think the support personnel were unable to read or understand the manuals that they were referencing.

If you are condsidering buying a Dell system, beware.

 

[anti4]

Dell sucks altogether. With Tech support, after keeping my on for about a week, off and on. They still couldn't fix their mess ups, to make a long story short. I went out and got a real computer.

 

[LawrenceIsMyName26]

Yikes I just purchased a new dell system!! Hope nothing goes wrong!

 

[Patryn]

I ordered a monitor from Dell and it got here *very* quick. I ordered it on a Saturday and had it on Tuesday. It arrived 2 days before they said it might ship. Not bad for free shipping. I'd definately buy periphials from them again.

 

[Yo2]

This should be in the brag and moan section

Also - I cannot believe that this thread is developing. First off Dell has many of the hottest deals of the year, and so naturally many people order there and get these deals. As with any transaction, errors can happen and should be addressed, but I have ordered from them time and time again, and even things did not work out initially they always addressed them to my satifaction.

Yo

 

[SeiyaMan]

Dude, you should've NOT gotten a Dell :|

 

[SimMike2]

I like Dell. I got some fantastic deals over the past few months. I didn't get the speakers while some people got them. Guess what, I am not bitter about this. I am happy some people actually received the speakers. Maybe next time I will be the lucky one.

If people pursue these complaints to the bitter end, nobody is going to sneak through and get a good deal at Dell. They will simply cancel all orders.

 

[Vegito]

Just because your hot deal didn't go through and other people's did, it's not their fault.. anyway I agree with Yo2...

Dell uses a clone deploy system, similar to ghost where 1 system has a standard built and all they do is use SYSPREP from microsoft and deploy the images on to every single system.. thats why you'll see drivers for crap you never order.

I never use their built cuz they load a bunch of crap but what I do is make a image of their built and if something goes wrong, i can load their image and start from scratch to trouble shoot.

I hate how dell builds their system but its pretty reliable for me.. I spend over 300 grand on dell systems and i got pics to prove it... got a nice little server farm... i have an avg of 1 server per 2 user and 1 T1 per 3 users. They build their system around their parts so unless you really know how to upgrade or work them, ur screwed.

They have a lot of manuals online and you should check their forums, plagues of people with trouble. Personally I done so many VRM CPU upgrades and RAID systems upgrades on dells that I dont need their tech support... my 2 calls to dell in the past 4 year was to find out if they had SCSI raid drivers for Windows 9x and why the hibernation on the notebook wasn't working. Both time they didn't have an answer which SUCKED so I stop calling them..

 

[LawrenceIsMyName26]

Its true Dell does have some of the hottest deals and thats one of the reasons I bought from Dell. I have had no previous problems with Dell and they were always quick to deliever your stuff. Lets hope they don't screw up my new system.

 

[Snuffaluffaguss]

No problems here, good deals have been very very nice

 

[vsfoxe]

I've had limited experience with Dell, but 80% of that experience has proven to be negative, mismanaged, exasperating, and not worth it. I think picking up the phone to call Dell about a problem (they generate much more than their fair share!) is similar to shooting yourself in the KNEE to commit suicide.

They have a 5.4 Reseller Rating. Must be from the old days?

Has everyone given them their appropriate rating at ResellerRatings.com?

 

[SpeedTester]

I've never had one problem dealing with Dell, you got to use your head when calling them, DONT call
them at prime hours. You cant expect someone to pick up the phone instantly at prime hours.
Dell reps have always been very responsive and helpful and all my problem were solved the day I called.

 

[John P]

I ordered an 8 port switch and 2 USB Ethernet adaptors. I got no confirmation email, no cancellation email and no replies to half a dozen emails inquiring about the order. I had a HUGE ordeal (way too long to get into) trying to return a defective CDRW that resulted in a erroneous $257 charge to my CC, thank goodnes for AMEX customer service. Dell took 4 months to credit the amount even with AMEX on their butts. Dell is by far the worst mail order company I have ever dealt with, simply horrible.

 

[cmv]

Dell is ok in my book. Anyone huge company like Dell is going to screw up some of the time. I used to build computers for friends but now I just send them to Dell. If they want a rocking game machine it's worth building it but for a base system for someone who doesn't really need much more than a Celeron 466 to begin with Dell is just fine...

edit: Oh yeah, I even brought an Inspiron 4000 myself. I did try to contact my salesperson via email but received no reply. I've heard other people say that you can pretty much only get through to them via phone which really sucks. But hey, for the price, I'll take the suckage factor. I bet most of you will too. Customer service is over rated in my opinion. If you can't get a refund in time, go to your credit card company and bitch to them. That'll speed Dell up.

 

[Jono182]

not so sure about their customer service, but in my expierence, their tech support has been great. we were having a huge problem with our poweredge 2300 not even booting a while ago, and dell promptly sent us a new motherboard, scsi backplane, scsi hard drive, and cpu so that we could isolate which component was causing the problem. they shipped the parts overnight delivery and even offered to send out a field technician to install them. they're great in my opinion.

-jon

 

[Justincase]

That number is going to get hammered to death on Monday.

>>>Dell is by far the worst mail order company I have ever dealt with, simply horrible.<<<

Agreed. No other company even comes close.

 

[abraxxus]

gotta chime in an say dell CS sux. I had a hard time dealing with them. I couldnt get thru via email, they wont let u speak to a supervisor, keep transferring, etc.

There are, without any doubt, some really great deals at Dell, but they come with a price. Piss poor CS. If you are considering buying DElls for business purposes, it might be better to go elsewhere and spend the few bucks.

 

[cmv]

<< There are, without any doubt, some really great deals at Dell, but they come with a price. Piss poor CS. If you are considering buying DElls for business purposes, it might be better to go elsewhere and spend the few bucks. >>


Actually if you work for a decent sized business you get your own representative inside Dell assigned too you. Dell takes care of their business customers. I think with the economic downturn and all the dumb things that have come out of Dell (mispricing, etc) that the shoddy quality of their current consumer level customer service isn't surprising... Not to excuse bad customer service but it just isn't suprising that it sucks at the moment. Within 6 months I would expect it to get much better. By all means don't deal with them but do look at the big picture.

 

[mrkshp@aol.com]

Every time I called dells sales team I got someone from USA who I could understand. As soon as I have problems, I get a person who I can hardly understand. Its like dell wants us to feel warm and fuzzy when buying their product but as soon as we get their product, we loose the priority of being an american and get shuffled to----well whom ever. I'm not against India or Indonesians, I just want to speak to someone who can understand me and I can understand them. All I get from Customer Service from Dell is a person saying"Rest assure, we will take care of any problems that you have" and "Thank you for choosing Dell". What ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice sham on me, fool me thrice, The fight is on!!!!!!!!!!! I know I'm a little person who don't have a lot of pull, however I know I can stop at least 100 people from buying Dell. That is $60,000 in business. Its a sham that they try to save $30.00 (LONG STORY) and because of that, they will loose the minimum of $60,000. I know I wont be able to prove it, but I will know in my heart that my campaign agents Dell will have an effect. I wont stop until death. Who is with me?