Dell Hell - a consumer nightmare

Dell Hell - a consumer nightmare

Dell Hell - a consumer nightmare

Please post if possible. Thank you. Dell Hell -- A consumer horror story Karen A January 27, 2004

In October of 2003, I made the huge mistake of buying a Dell home computer. Most people are familiar with Dell's television commercial where the young intern shows how Dell's computers are put through a torture test to ensure that the computers are well made. What Dell doesn't tell you is that Dell will often put their customers through torture tests of unbelievable proportions. Earlier today I counted 289 complaints filed at www.complaints.com against Dell. I'm not the only one who has had significant problems with Dell. But stick with me, I promise you that what has happened to me beats all. A week or so after ordering the computer from Dell, I received a telephone call from Airborne Express, the company who delivers computers for Dell, stating they could not find me. Apparently, Dell had given Airborne Express the wrong address. To add insult to injury, the packing slip was issued under the name of Karen Stevens. My name is Karen Anderson. I telephoned Dell's customer service to alert them to the error. The following is an abbreviated version of the lengthy conversation I had with Dell's customer service, or rather Dell's customer disservice. I was asked for my zip code and other information before I was allowed to explain the problem. However, because I was not allowed to explain the problem in advance the Dell rep could not find the account. I finally was able to tell him to look under Karen Stevens. "For some reason, Dell put my account under the name of Karen Stevens," I explained. "My name is Karen Anderson and I need this to be corrected." "We're very sorry, Mrs. Stevens," the Dell rep said after finding the account under the name of Stevens. "My name is Anderson," I stated AGAIN. "Please! You have put my account under a wrong name. I am Karen Anderson." "We cannot change your name, Mrs. Stevens, because we don't know who you are," the Dell rep said. To say that I was shocked at such a stupid response would be a gross understatement. Only it gets much worse. "Excuse me, you have already changed my name and you sent me a $1500 computer using the wrong name and wrong address without knowing who I am," I said. "We're very sorry, Mrs. Stevens," the rep repeated. "My name is ANDERSON. Stop calling me Stevens! Listen, I have not yet paid for the computer. Mrs. Stevens will not pay you because she does not exist. Karen Anderson will pay you but you have to change the name on the account." "You can pay the account, Mrs. Stevens, I mean, Anderson. The name is not important," the service rep said. "This is outrageous. I have never heard anything so stupid in my life! I want my name corrected on the account! There is also the issue of $210 in rebates promised to me by Dell. I will not be able to cash a rebate check issued to Karen Stevens." "We're very sorry, Mrs. Stevens, but we don't know who you are," the Dell rep continued. This call continued on for at least another hour with no results. My head was pounding and I was in tears. I was finally given another number to call. This number was for Dell's customer care. "What can we do for you, Mrs. Stevens?" Dell's customer care rep asked. "My name is ANDERSON! It is not STEVENS!" This call continued for another hour with no results. I was exhausted, angry, frustrated beyond words, my head was pounding, and I was crying my eyes out. I called Dell the next day. After explaining the problem and going back and forth for over an hour, it was more of the same only worse. The following day I took two Advil in advance and I called Dell again. It only got worse. This time one of Dell's customer service reps asked, "Why do you want to change your name Mrs. Stevens?" I gasped! "Are you dense?" I asked. "I don't want to change my name. DELL CHANGED MY NAME!" "We don't know who you are, Mrs. Stevens. We cannot change your name." "You already changed my name. And stop calling me Stevens. My name is ANDERSON!" I hung up. I called back and asked to speak to a manager. No luck. Customers are not allowed to talk to managers or anyone with authority. "We're very sorry, Mrs. Stevens, but there is no one else you can talk to." I went on the Internet and tried to find the corporate headquarters. No luck. I called the number I found listed for Dell on the Better Business Bureau's website (I was aghast to see that Dell is a member of the Better Business Bureau) and when I called the number, it contained the same automated menu as the customer care number. Dell's management and corporate headquarters makes very sure they don't ever have to deal with the customers. I called Dell back and talked to another Dell customer care rep. She told me to call yet another number, then press option 4, option 2, and option 4. She promised me that this would get me to exactly the right person who could fix the problem. I did exactly as instructed. Using the number and the options given to me I ended up in the customer care section reserved for businesses who own over 2500 computers. This nightmare continued for quite some time. Hours of each day were devoted to dealing with Dell and every single day ended in frustration beyond words. It has been hell! Finally, someone said they would change my name if I faxed them a copy of my driver's license and social security number to prove who I am. Isn't it funny, in a sick sort of way, that none of this was required before they sent me a $1500 computer to the wrong address and to a person who doesn't exist? I complied or at least I tried to comply. The fax number given to me was busy for hours and hours and hours. I simply could not get a fax to go through. I called Dell back. Keep in mind that each and every time I call Dell I have to go through a lengthy automated option menu and then I am put on hold for quite some time. Dell tried to blame my fax for their busy signal but then given Dell's history I expected a stupid excuse. Finally, while on the phone with a Dell customer care rep, who probably put their phone back on the hook, I was able to get the fax to go through. After several more horrifying telephone calls to Dell, I was finally assured that everything had been corrected. Regarding the rebate, I was told to send the rebate center a letter explaining everything along with the rebate form and packing slip. I was assured that everything would be fine now and that my name had been corrected to Anderson. I complied hoping that the nightmare was finally over. I couldn't have been more wrong and my hopes were soon dashed. The rebate form, my letters, and the packing slip were sent to Dell on November 3, 2003, via mail and fax. After waiting for more than two months I had still not received a rebate check from Dell. I went to Dell's website to check the status. They had no record of me whatsoever. I was horrified beyond words! Here we go again, I thought! Keep in mind that all of the above is a condensed version of what has happened. I made so many telephone calls to Dell that I have literally lost track! On January 23, 2004, I called the Dell rebate department and told them what had been going on and that I was at the end of my rope in dealing with Dell. The service rep said her name was Latoya and there was no record of me but if I would fax everything to her that everything would be taken care of. She said she was very sorry for what I had gone through and incredibly she didn't call me Mrs. Stevens. I was thrilled! She stated I would receive an e-mail from Dell letting me know about the status of my rebate. On January 23, 2004, I faxed the rebate form, the letters I wrote to Dell, and the packing slip. Later that day I received an e-mail from Dell saying that they had received my Dell rebate documentation on January 23, 2004. Keep in mind that Dell requires that the rebate be submitted within 30 days of purchasing the computer. I wrote back and I stated, "Please be advised that the rebate request was actually made on November 3, 2003." On January 27, 2004, I received an e-mail from Dell that began: "KAREN STEVENS, [ephasis Dell's, not mine] the rebate center recently received your submission for the following [rebate]... We are currently reviewing this documentation... Please do not respond to this e-mail... your reply will not receive attention." Please note that I am back to Stevens. I called Dell. I asked to speak to Latoya. Guess what? I was told that there is no one in Dell's rebate department named Latoya. I told the service rep what happened as briefly as I could. "We're very sorry but the name on the packing slip is Stevens and we cannot change your name, Mrs. Stevens," Dell's service rep quipped. My head was spinning and I thought I would explode! "Why is Dell doing this to me?" I yelled. "Do you do this to everyone so you don't have to pay the rebate? My name is Anderson! I didn't change my name! Dell changed my name and Dell needs to correct Dell's mistake and issue me a rebate check as promised under the correct name of Karen Anderson!" "I am hanging up on you. Have a nice day," the rep stated and promptly hung up on me. I am still in Dell Hell. So now, I am sending this out over the Internet and I am asking you to please forward this to everyone as a warning about Dell Computer. I wouldn't wish this nightmare on anyone and I do not believe for one minute that I am an isolated incident. I am sending this report to ABC's 7 on your side, consumer magazines, computer magazines, the Better Business Bureau, newspapers, television consumer reporters, Dell's competitors, and anyone else I can think of. Please, if you value your sanity, do not buy anything from Dell Computer!!!!!! You run the serious risk of being put through Dell's torture chambers that Dell reserves exclusively for their customers! Believe me, it is no coincidence that Dell rhymes with Hell!

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OMG this is so true and so like Dell. It's so f'in bad that you literally have to plan to take a day off work if you know that you need to call them.

Here is an issue they never fixed to this day, just one of many many bad experience I have had, and for some dumb reason I keep going back for more...hmmmmmm maybe I better stop that now. OK back in oh I think it was the end of 2005 or 2006 they were selling computers that came with 18 months of Norton 2005 Anti spyware addition free. OK so it comes with the PC 2 ways. One is pre loaded on Factory image file that is on the hard drive in a hidden partition that will ( if working properly) will restore your computer completely back to the way it was the day you opened the box. In the box they also included the CD for the same NIS 05 anti spyware. Now if you ran the DELL PC restore from the partition on the hard drive, it would never ask you for the Symantec product key. It would just give you the 18 month subscription. No matter how many times you run that restore Dell factory reset, it would start you over and give you the 18 months again...OK here were the story gets interesting. If your hard drive fails you need to install a new one. A new one is blank and lacks the DELL factory PC restore partition. So what do you do, well simple, you use the Norton AV CD that came with the system right? LOL, OK so run the CD, but guess what, the CD was defective. Not the actual CD I held in my hand but the image file on the CD that Dell was mass producing and distributing. When you install from the disk, the portion of the program that would integrate with your email client and the adware portion (I think it was) would just say "refreshing" when you tried to do the updates. Now remember the copy of the image file in the secret partition of the Dell Factory restore section of the hard drive worked perfect! But the CD version failed. I called and called and called (and I called dell on their crap!) OK so I would call and say "NIS 2005 anti spyware edition CD that was included with my PC purchase is defective" "OK Mr.. Shaffer, we will send you a new one", says, dell. Now keep in mind I have left out all the parts so far of how long it took me in the dell robo phone hell to get to that point of hearing Mr.. raheed shaheed

(cleverly nick named Bob) to tell me that he would be sending me that replacement part.

But Raheed, I mean Bob, Its not another one of the same CD's from the same lot I want. You have already sent me 8 of them and they all do the same thing. The image file is defective and you guys are copying the bad imaging file and pressing out and distributing millions of CD's with that bad image files on them. Oh but wait, that would mean.....dare I say it, a RECALL. Well we cant have that can we, that would cost the company to much money. So lets loose this guy in robo phone hell, red tape, and any other thing we can throw at him and see if he goes away. But guess what ...I don't go away! I stay on them and stay on them...and hmmm I have about 12 copies of that bad image file now...worthless pieces of doo doo. So I get all the way to the top. I supposedly get a guy in tech that is setting up a computer and emulating all the steps exactly as I have done to replicate the issue so they can see that its real and address it. Oh the lies.......mind you all I want is the AV program I was promised when I bought the computer ..LOL and I am just a sick glutton for punishment to have spent an entire month on the phone to try and get a $59 copy of Norton, but dam it when you know your right, you know your right. I'm a PC tech of many years and its so funny how each time I called back I would have to start at the very beginning with each phone rep all the way from " can I have your express service code" Express service code my ass. These guys are buffoons and I am really done with them. If I buy something I just figure " if it works, it works" if it doesn't, I sure as hell am NOT calling them! They have lost control of their own system. It has grown into a monster that is bigger then the people that run it. Karen Anderson's ...oh wait I'm sorry ms. Stevens...LOL fully demonstrates that! And its true......even if she was creating that story with fictitious characters, ( but I belive it) ..so many of us know that god awful truth...it's true! It makes me sick to think about calling them for anything. Just the thought of calling......arghhhhhhhh.I could go on all day and tell you guys so many stories and I wish I had time to sit down and type it all out in detail but unfortunately I don't! The bottom line is ...Dell SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you like to be abused, buy a Dell, oh and if you really like being abused then add a "dell preferred charge account" to the mess. You'll have loads of fun as you have to repeatedly log into one redundant web page after another while you just try to find some simple info like " what's my balance and when is my next payment due?" Oh and don't sign up for the protection plan...they will lie to you about that. I was told "add this and if you loose your job they will make your payments" Well, make my payments they did! After "claim form hell" that is, but they also said " ANY THING you buy on your dell preferred account is protected for 36 months." I asked the lady, so for any reason my computer gets broken, say my kid runs by and knocks it off the table, they will replace it? "YES" she says! Absolutely! The only thing not covered is if I intentionally break it! EVERY THING ELSE IS COVERED! OK great and all of this for 89c per $100 on my account...sounds good. Ha ha ha shame on me, even the welcome letter said " as a bonus people enrolled in credit protection get 36 months that protects items you buy with your Dell preferred account. So that seems to go along with what the lady said to me on the phone. So I continue in my Dell bliss thinking I'm covered if I drop my laptop. Well break a screen and find out..its only covered in an Earthquake or fire, a fire that I can prove with police records or theft that I also can prove with police records... oh and even if I can prove one of those events, now I'm back to "claim form hell". So now here I sit with a useless laptop with a cracked screen. Anyone want a good deal on a Dell? Its a damm good thing I cant reach through the phone, cause if I could, oh boy, I don't want to go there! OK so I gotta quit now even though I could go on for days. Do your self a favor, order from that egg catalogue or someone that sells parts and build your own computer. Yea some of Dells computers work good. I am typing this on an XPS 400 that has been rock solid, so when their products work, they work..... BUT god forbid you ever have to call them, then the nightmare begins, they get one thing off or one thing wrong and they are stuck like a broken record and no one can help you because its not in their cue card. Like I said the system has run away from them. And what's with farming all these jobs out to India? I am not racist, but damm man, I want to talk to somebody who speak English well enough that I can understand what they are saying especially if they are in technical support....come-on.... technical support, shouldn't that be a top requirement for the job of tech support people..what a joke. They have the sales lines ring in the USA, of course, but then after that, its off to India to handle your bumm mother board, or screwed up invoice, or missing rebate check (that some one in Pakistan is no doubt cashing)

OH man I just HATE Dell so much right now...I gotta go before I bust vein or two in my head just thinking about it! OMG I'm outta here!

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Thank you! I know I am not the only one but one of huge number of unsatisfied consumers that have purchased Dell products. Mine was a laptop that failed miserably within months of purchase with limited use. I want to see Dell held accoutable for the products that they sell and their lack of customer service. I encourge everyone to write and document their complaints. I WILL NEVER BUY NOR RECOMMEND ANYONE TO BUY A DELL COMPUTER!!!!!!

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How to get Dells Attention go to www.oag.state.ny.us/dell_comp/index.html

This is the NY State Attorney Greneral Site for Dell Complaints. Also notice they have won one suit against Dell and are preparing another. If you live in NY complain here, if not complain to the Attorney General Bureau od Frauduent business practices in your state. If each state gets enough complaints they will sue as NY did and win as NY did. The more complaints the better. Pass this on to everyone you know that has a problem with Dell. Make it cost them in fines and legal fees. Hit there profit and Loss and you WILL get there attention.