Dell Complaint

**** UPDATE ******

In all fairness to Dell, after we wrote and sent them this letter, they allowed us to return the laptop. They said it would take 30 days for the refund to go through, so we are still waiting for that. So, the moral of the story is, write to customer service- don't bother trying to talk to one of the customer service reps over the phone. I don't think they have the autonomy to issue refunds and are impossible to talk with.

**** UPDATE ******

Michael Dell
Dell Corporate Headquarters
Dell Computer Inc.
One Dell Way
Round Rock TX 78682

“It's through curiosity and looking at opportunities in new ways that we've always mapped our path at Dell. There's always an opportunity to make a difference.” –Michael Dell

Michael Dell/Customer Service:

As an IT professional, I have been a loyal Dell customer for over six years; my last four laptops have been Dell. I purchase a new laptop approximately every 2-3 years, and that system is usually close to the top-of-the-line available on the market. My husband is also an IT professional and has purchased numerous Dell products. In the past, we have been very happy with your product and your customer service.

We recently purchased a Dell XPS M1530 on 8/25/2008 which we received on 9/9/2008. We previously contacted Dell because we were unhappy with the glossy display, and they told us that they couldn’t help us. Today, 9/28/2008, we contacted Dell because the hard drive failed, and the computer will no longer boot properly. Overall, we are extremely dissatisfied with the system and would like to replace it with a different Dell system. However, we were informed that we could not return the system because the 21 days from invoice date (9/5/2008) had expired (by two days). It has been less than 21 days since the receipt of the laptop (9/9/2008 – 9/28/2008). We received an email confirming purchase of the system on 9/6/2008, but at no time did we receive a document that was entitled “Invoice.” Since the term invoice is ambiguous and the dating of the invoice is rather random, it only makes sense to honor the return based on when the system was signed for and received. Furthermore, Dell should handle this problem because a brand new laptop hard drive should not fail within the first month after it was built.

You are about to lose a loyal customer of six years over a dispute of two days. I am losing valuable data and software applications due to Dell’s poor product quality of this particular system. We have invested a lot of time and money getting this laptop up to working condition, and now all that is going to waste.

I am also unhappy with your level of customer service. Previously, when I dealt with Dell customer service, they were always able to help me resolve my problem. Now, all I keep hearing is no and why nothing can be done. Your representatives have difficulty understanding even basic issues that we want resolved because of language barriers, and we keep getting put on hold and passed around to the next representative because no one takes the accountability to do the right thing. That is unacceptable.

I would like to see the Dell I used to know come back and remedy this situation. I switched from IBM brand laptops to Dell because of an IBM customer service failure with a lemon of a laptop. I encouraged family, friends, and colleagues not to buy IBM ThinkPads (while they were still on the market) due to my experience. I don’t want this to happen with Dell because of my experience with the new XPS M1530. I am actually typing this letter on my old laptop, a Dell Latitude D610. If this issue is not resolved, I will be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Affairs. And, I will no longer be a Dell customer. I would like to continue my relationship with Dell as a loyal customer, but I would like to see that Dell is still loyal to its customers as well.

“Our business is about technology, yes. But it's also about operations and customer relationships.” – Michael Dell

Sincerely,
Pamela Karr Wisniewski


**** UPDATE ******

In all fairness to Dell, after we wrote and sent them this letter, they allowed us to return the laptop. They said it would take 30 days for the refund to go through, so we are still waiting for that. So, the moral of the story is, write to customer service- don't bother trying to talk to one of the customer service reps over the phone. I don't think they have the autonomy to issue refunds and are impossible to talk with.

**** UPDATE ******