Why Is Getting A Dell Refund Such A Dreadful Ordeal?

New York Times:

The service sector is the biggest part of the American economy. So why do so many companies stink at the basics of customer interaction?

Read the whole story at New York Times

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Comments

[sammyin]

11:52 AM on 08/01/2012

You know, It is Easy to Point a Finger, but just because you have purchased a Computer from any brand does not mean that you own the company and they will do whatever you want; Honestly, how many of you have actually gone through EULA (End User License Agreement) when you purchased something from any brand? And Talking about Outsourcing to India, 90% of the world's top providers have Outsourced to INDIA, you know why? Because they are the smartest brains around; I am not so proud of saying it being an American myself but it is a FACT! And you have to bite on it. Take a look at NASA, 48% of work power of NASA is Indian Capacity; Now, Talking about Dell, I have owned a HP, an Apple, A Sony and a Dell. My dell is 8 months old, 2 days outside the box my HDD Crashed, I called them on the correct number through their website, got to the right department at one go because of that, told them what was wrong, did a few steps with the guy on the phone, one day later a guy came and replaced the motherboard and the HDD and moreover I got another call asking me if it is fine, now if that is not Customer Service, I don't know what is. I really love my Dell 14z and Recommend Dell to Anyone who breathes. Just because you purchased a Dell, you don;t own them.

[Kofender]

09:42 AM on 07/24/2012

My experiences with Dell products (never by choice) have been consistently bad. It has been documented how the company knowingly sent out computers with bad motherboards and then mostly refused to repair (and then only under the greatest duress). At one time, I loved its advertising ("Dude, you're getting a Dell"), but the company has failed to live up to its promise. Outsourcing customer service only served to take a bad situation and make it worse. I have learned my lesson. I've refused to use any Dell product (apparently I'm not alone). I find it similar to what happened with General Motors. Once upon a time it built great cars. Then it invented planned obsolescence. Then it built lousy cars and burned an entire generation of buyers (the baby boomers). Now, no matter what it does, we haven't forgotten. I absolutely refuse to buy anything made by GM. It can promise it's changed, but I can never believe it. The same scenario holds true for Dell.

[KeyopsBack]

08:52 AM on 07/23/2012

When you call Dell you get new Dell-I.

[frank1946]

08:07 AM on 07/23/2012

Too many layers of marketing, service and doublespeak !

Used to buy alot of Dell Desktops, got tired of hype and rejections.

Ditto HP ! America is having a hard time just doing the basic issues in business.

Excellence ? Not in this Century !

[chefmike]

02:38 AM on 07/23/2012

Michael Dell: big time GOP supporter.

[MichaelMcKLA]

01:56 AM on 07/23/2012

Maybe Dell is just trying to hang on to the bucks for a while longer. AOL did the same thing years ago when members tried to cancel. It got them in trouble with attorneys general across the country.

[ResearchtheFacts]

12:05 AM on 07/23/2012

Take a look at what Dell is selling for top dollar and the response from another unsatisfied customer http://youtu.be/28PpakxBsHk

[mr whiteffolks]

10:30 PM on 07/22/2012

Maybe they're hoping you give up on the refund !

[ResearchtheFacts]

09:17 PM on 07/22/2012

Dell sells junk that lights up. The cheapest components and the complaints are so many it would be every computer sold at this point. My friend works in computer repairsand most of the computers brought in Dells. Over-priced junk and they had the nerve to knock off the case for Macs. Did Apple say a word?  No.  Anyone who looks at that Dell 13 or 15z can see it is a Mac knock off, only thing they couldn't get it to work. The battery life was reported by WSJ to poor on their ultrabook.  How do you mess that up?

Smart people don't buy Dells.

[scotts1]

05:31 PM on 07/22/2012

mY best advice...buy localy..costco samsclub etc....i love dell.......

[jalaroc]

03:56 PM on 07/22/2012

I bought a laptop through dell once and it was one of the worst experiences I ever had as a consumer. I suspect that they don't really care about you as a customer unless you spend over a certain dollar amount annually. It was telling that after dell shipped its call center jobs overseas to india, there was a huge increase in customer service complaints but dell only bothered bringing back corporate accounts call centers and left everyone else's in india. I usually buy my desk tops through alienware and my most recent one was bought after dell acquired them. The experience was irritating because it seemed like I was required to do my order through a dell representative who didn't seem to know or care what alienware was. When I've gone back to get drivers, it sends me to the dell web site and the id tag or whatever on the computer isn't acknowledged, the drivers have been out of date (had to go to the manufacturer's web site), and the whole experience was depersonalized. Alienware has suffered a significant degradation in customer service since being acquired by dell.

[jdshaw]

12:53 PM on 07/22/2012

Twenty years ago Dell was a great company. Now it's pathetic. Their products fail after a couple years. They don't honor warranties. Their customer support is now a third party - iYogi located in India.

[Afsal Ismail]

12:59 PM on 07/22/2012

When they thrived near the top for so long as a company they feel they can afford to get a little sloppy.

Hopefully Dell can pull themselves back. We don't want to see more tech companies going the RIM route. We need the competition to drive innovations.