Yet Another Dell Customer Service Failure

I blew up my PC two weeks ago.  Long story, but I killed it good and repairing it wasn't an option.

Nine days ago, on February 2, I ordered a new PC from Dell, I got a fancy new Core i7 system with a 23" monitor for $950, which was a very good price.  When I placed my order, Dell's website said it was going to ship on February 6, so I chose the free standard shipping.

Once the order made its way into their system my ship time was pushed out until February 17.  I called and complained about the shipping bait and switch and the customer service guy told me "it's just an estimate it may ship sooner".  So, I believed him and sat on my hands.

It's now a week later and it hasn't shipped. I am suffering major PC withdrawal symptoms.  So I call Dell again to upgrade my shipping to 1 day.  The nice gentleman on the phone tells me that for "security and privacy issues" I cannot change my order in any way, including upgrading my shipping.

This is terrible customer service.  First they misled me on the ship date and then they won't take my money to upgrade the shipping.

I have bought Dell PCs and monitors in the past, and still may in the future, but if I have a critical need for something in the future, I certainly am going to be more wary about buying from Dell.

Comments

[Lionel Menchaca]

Sorry to hear about this. I just responded to your tweet. Please dm me @LionelatDell your order number and we'll see if we can get things straightened out.

Sincerely,

Lionel Menchaca
Chief Blogger, Dell Inc.

[sirfwalgman]

What model did you get.

[cheap computers]

haha....you done a great job dude. keep it up in future too.

[Joe Martinez]

Just searched Google about Dell delays and saw your post. We ordered an Inspiron for our daughter on 7/24, with an estimated delivery date of 8/12 (which seemed long enough). Didn't think it was worth the extra cost to one day ship it. On 8/6 I got an email saying Order Delayed with the delivery adjusted to 8/19. No reason for delay given. On 8/12 I got another Order Delayed email that said "Supply Shortage" and said under the FTC's Mail Order Rule they had to hear back from me to consent to the delay or the order would be canceled. They gave a new estimated delivery date of 8/19. I responded within an hour of their email consenting (grudgingly) to their new delay. Now that it is 8/19, I checked my order status and now it says 8/28! This time they didn't send me a notice. They also mysteriously changed the order to show a new "order date" of 8/12. What the heck is going on with their processes? I think this probably is a violation of the Mail Order Rule. I saw that Dell got hit with a $800K fine from the FTC about ten years ago for violating this rule. I have been a pretty loyal customer, and am an exec at a large multinational company that is a large Dell customer. Not that my company would be affected by my personal purchase, but it is always good to maintain goodwill with your customers. But the sad part is that this is my daughter's first computer and she is checking at the door every day for the delivery, wanting desperately to get it before she gets back to school so she can use it during the remaining week or two before she goes back. Hopefully she doesn't grow up hating Dell and badmouthing them to her tech savvy friends!

Did the Dell blogger help you out?

[Resume writing]

I hear of many similar stories of service runarounds like this from many of the PC companies. That's one reason I'd buy a Macintosh, especially if there's an Apple store nearby. You can meet face-to-face with competent personal to get your problems resolved.

[refurbished computers]

I found very useful information out here as i am an IT manager at an outsourcing company i needed to know the above techniques to manage the whole system at ease.

[Resmes]

SAD. Even I faced this.:(

Jessica