Mattazuma's Revenge: Dell Twists the Knife

February 2010

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So, in my previous post, I talked about how Dell pushed out my order date by eleven days between when I placed my order and when I received my confirmation and how Dell would not let me pay to upgrade my shipping.

Well, this process has become much more interesting and annoying.

After my first post, I received a direct message on Twitter and a comment on the post from Dell's "Chief Blogger" volunteering to help. I sent him my order number and didn't think anything more about it. Last Friday (2/13), I received an e-mail from a Dell "Executive Support Resolver" asking for my phone number so she could call me and talk about my order.

Yesterday (2/16) I spoke on the phone with the "Resolver" and she volunteered to upgrade my shipping to next day. I was very happy about this, obviously, since my estimated ship date was on 2/17. Before we ended the call she told me she had checked her system and saw nothing that would hold up shipment.

I checked the Dell website this morning and shipment was still estimated for today. At 1PM I received an E-Mail from Dell telling me my shipment had been delayed. The new estimated ship date is March 5. Which is 16 days later than the previous estimate and 28 days later than the shipping estimate when I placed my order.

To put it mildly, this did not make me very happy. I called my "Executive Support Resolver" to ask her what happened to my order. After a few apologies, she said some very interesting things. She said Dell's order tracking system will not update an estimated ship date until you have reached that day. So, even if Dell knows internally a component is going to push your delivery back weeks they won't tell you until the day you think your PC is going to be shipped.

The other interesting thing she told me is that Dell customer service is also in the dark about any shipping date problems until the estimated ship date is reached. So, before the estimated ship date, whatever a Dell customer service person tells you about system delivery is just to placate you, they really have no idea when your system will be shipped.

I also found out that my "Executive Support Resolver" does not have a supervisor. Which is convenient for her.

I'm not sure what to do next.

FYI - It is a Studio XPS 435MT.

Amusingly, the current (on 2/17) ship date for this PC on Dell's site is also March 5. http://is.gd/jUq7 What's the over/under for when a new order actually ships, April 1?

Comments

Serves you right. Maybe now you'll think twice before bad-mouthing Dell and Coke!

Posted by: Coke_Fiend | February 18, 2009 at 10:53 AM

It was most certainly a big mistake to buy a PC from Dell. It sounds like what you ordered could have been home-built for somewhere in the realm of $600, while using much better parts (Dell is legendary for dumping shit into a metal case and shipping it).

Posted by: D Shizzle | February 25, 2009 at 03:30 PM

I too have ordered the Studio XPS 435MT on Feb 15th, with an estimated ship date of March 3rd, which I thought was outlandish, but expected it to arrive earlier. On March 3rd I received an automated voice message stating my order has been delayed, and if I don't receive it in the next 5-7 business days to call customer service. In the meantime I was already in contact with customer service 4 different times and received 4 different answers. The most recent one is a shortage on parts and an estimated delivery date of March 27th. No that's not a typo, a full 6 weeks from the original order date! If I don't receive it next week like 2 of the 4 CSRs told me, I will definitely be cancelling my order. This is ridiculous!

Posted by: Hating Dell These Days | March 06, 2009 at 08:16 AM

Wanna hear a horror story ? I ordered a monitor 65 days ago and it still hasnt shipped. I have been told it would ship next day about 50 days ago. Apparently the monitor I ordered has been discontinued but since dell charges your card as soon as you place the order they already have my money. I will never even consider a purchase from dell ever again. They just passed AT&T and Charter as the worst company in the world. Godspeed dell on their way to bankruptcy.

Posted by: Me | March 25, 2009 at 12:44 AM

i like dell may be u understand
if u understand say understand if u not understand say dont understand if u understand and say dont understand how dell come to knw that u understand taht u understand!
understand

Posted by: used computer | June 17, 2009 at 06:39 AM