[sigrekatonov]

The university gets Dells often, and they dont' seem to have a problem.

JM

[NarhozNic]

I'm typing on a dell right now. It's lasted my three years without any problems.

[DEMassteers]

Dell laptops are shite.

[mortgrhhh]

All the Dells I've dealt with have been fine. Sometimes **** happens, but you're well within your rights to get pissed off, demand remuneration, and swear never to deal with them again.

[strongjannabiz]

Dogbert customer service.

[sztc38tg]

You get bad instances of customer service with any company, no matter how good their track record.

I'm not sure about the repeated com problems, though. Your dad must have pissed off the gods.

[12Cickprior]

I bought a Dell laptop once. On delivery, the screen was obviously defect (horrible image quality), but you could still use it.

Having seen this, I decided that Dell probably did not take quality too serious, and decided to get a refund. Also contributing to this decision was the fact that the laptop seemed very plastic-cheep. The sales conditions said that I could cancel the purchase if the delivered computer was defect, but their customer service said they had the right to repair it first.

But their sales conditions also said you could return it if the Windows EULA was not acceptable. They were not happy about that, and I think they routed that one all the way up through their management, but had to relent because their terms were so clear . 0wn3d by their own dirty tricks (imposing extra conditions after the sale) .

[DenisLevvin]

Dell XPS 600 here

called once, they were johnny on the spot

[ZanazaKar]

Originally posted by Platypus Rex
Dell XPS 600 here

called once, they were johnny on the spot The original computer was an XPS 600. The replacement they sent was an XPS 700, which is way larger, heavier, and uglier...

[cajonnmu]

Originally posted by Asher

The original computer was an XPS 600. The replacement they sent was an XPS 700, which is way larger, heavier, and uglier... so it was less gay

[gabbaman]

Originally posted by Lord Avalon
Dogbert customer service. Customer: Hey my computer...

Dogbert: Shut up and reboot!

Customer: Hey it work...

Dogbert: Shut up and hang up!

[dxpfmP0l]

This reminds me of the ECS K7S5A mobo days... lots of people had problems with them, but of course a majority got a working one. Tech forums were filled by idiots of the latter category, calling noob anyone that experienced defects.

[scoundtrack]

That's some lousy customer service... and the sad thing is, it wouldn't have been hard for them to avoid. That's the main story in customer service that places that give "good service" get and places that give normally good service but end up with a bad rep because of instances like this, don't get.

1. Figure out what is wrong.
2. Figure out if you can fix it.
3a. If you can fix it, fix it. No matter what.
3b. If you can't fix it, find out what you can do to ameliorate the situation.
4. Give the customer a reason to come back, regardless of the resolution of 3.

Now, there's some complication; usually "what's wrong" is not the first thing out of the customer's mouth ["My computer is broken" isn't the problem in the above case, but the problem is the computer KEEPS breaking, for example].

Focussing on fixing the problem, rather than "why" there is a problem, is the way to "good" customer service - or even "excellent" service.

Dell, in your case, needs to either just re-replace the computer [preferably with a slghtly better model to compensate for the trouble] or figure out some way to get a tech out without the parts that are on backorder. They make tons of computers every day, they have plenty of them (and plenty of parts...) More than likely in your case the problem was the tech, not Dell - they probably subcontract the tech service, and that tech was out of parts.

Yet another reason subcontracting with techs is an iffy business - perhaps Dell is normally VERY good at dealing with things, but if they aren't REALLY careful with their subcontractors, they take the hit when it may not be their fault (in one sense). The customer service agent needs to a) realize the problem, and b) be empowered to fix it.

Empowerment is probably the bulk of the problem, anyway. The people that work under me know that they are empowered to fix most customer service issues; and many will on their own. In my opinion, any situation in which I have to be called over is already a failed situation. Dell needs to empower their CSA's, at some level at least, to fix problems with whatever means necessary. Anything less creates just this sort of problem.

[Rounteetepe]

You know me, always bashing PC companies.

[AAAESLLESO]

I believe that you can call, when you place an order, and request that the computer be left bare.

[drexigordiche]

Michael Dell actually called my dad personally tonight to make sure there were no problems with the new computer, to ensure that he was satisfied. You're kidding, right? You're just checking if we're reading your posts? If you're not kidding, it means Dell really cares about what Fortune magazine writes about them.

[Spalax]

Originally posted by nostromo
You're kidding, right? You're just checking if we're reading your posts? If you're not kidding, it means Dell really cares about what Fortune magazine writes about them. No, I'm not kidding. He called and spoke a few minutes with my dad.

[sDePrx59]

Originally posted by Asher
Michael Dell actually called my dad personally tonight to make sure there were no problems with the new computer, to ensure that he was satisfied.

He mentioned the one thing he hated was all of the pre-loaded software he didn't want (McAffe, etc) -- Dell said that they plan to provide an option in the "near future" to ship the system bare. I guarantee you that it was not Michael Dell. Granted I have no way to actually guarantee that, but you know what I mean. You cannot either..?

[Crazykz]

Michael Dell has to call a lot of people every day then.

[bZEUWO4F]

Maybe Dell hired another person called Michael Dell just for this purpose?