Dell's Terrible Customer Service

[suzyq]

I must have been on the phone for a good half hour dialing 800 numbers speaking to customer service people who were next to impossible to understand, switched to the sales department who said hello (I think) than switched me to somewhere in la la land.

Looked in the manual that came with my Inspiron 1100 and found the name of what I needed - something called a modem connector - emailed Dell and you wouldn't believe the replies that I received, nothing, absolutely nothing to do with what I had written.

Finnally emailed them that I'd had it with Dell.  Are all computer companies this unresponsive, maybe it's typical of all companies.  Who said "what a revoltin predicament this is"?

I would love to be able to speak with customer service people who understand and speak English, and listen, really listen to the customer.  We can  dream, I guess.

Bet you have stories of your own.   

[Cato]

I must have been on the phone for a good half hour dialing 800 numbers speaking to customer service people who were next to impossible to understand, switched to the sales department who said hello (I think) than switched me to somewhere in la la land.

Looked in the manual that came with my Inspiron 1100 and found the name of what I needed - something called a modem connector - emailed Dell and you wouldn't believe the replies that I received, nothing, absolutely nothing to do with what I had written.

Finnally emailed them that I'd had it with Dell.  Are all computer companies this unresponsive, maybe it's typical of all companies.  Who said "what a revoltin predicament this is"?

I would love to be able to speak with customer service people who understand and speak English, and listen, really listen to the customer.  We can  dream, I guess.

Bet you have stories of your own.   

Dell's problem is that uses junk from Bill Gates.

I have a Macintosh.  It has never had a freeze, crash, meltdown, or infection.

Earlier I had an Apple IIGS: in 20 years it never froze, never crashed, never got a virus.

It is a mystery why anybody continues to buy anything else.   

[Mark]

It is a mystery why anybody continues to buy anything else.  

Not to me: Apple machines account for less than 5% of the world's computers. Personally, I'd rather use a computer that's compatible with those owned by the majority of users. Evidently, a lot of businesses and individuals feel the same way. Besides which, the extortionate cost of Apple's products is a turn-off for anyone with more sense than money. However, and by way of balance, they do look nice. Not what I need a computer to do, but it appeals to some, I suppose.

As for Dell, I've heard awful things before now about their so-called 'customer service'. People simply don't realise there are many better, cheaper ways to acquire the specification of PC that you want. I'd not touch Dell for one reason in particular: they lock you in on the upgrades front by using non-standard components, so you can't just nip down to your nearest PC World or shop around online for the parts you want then install them yourself. That's the real shocker.

[DavidW]

Not to me: Apple machines account for less than 5% of the world's computers. Personally, I'd rather use a computer that's compatible with those owned by the majority of users. Evidently, a lot of businesses and individuals feel the same way.

That's what you call circular reasoning.  You don't buy a computer to fit in, nor do you buy it to feel part of an exclusive club (a jab at some mac users).  It is a tool.  Your choice should reflect what you want to do with the machine, and that is all.  What you want to do with it --> software --> OS choice.  Mac is the only computer I can think of though where you are not restricted in software choice because nearly every operating system supports the Intel based Mac architecture.

Besides which, the extortionate cost of Apple's products is a turn-off for anyone with more sense than money. However, and by way of balance, they do look nice. Not what I need a computer to do, but it appeals to some, I suppose.

That's very misleading-- Macs start at midrange, and their specs are similar to pcs at the same price.  The only deviations from that rule was when they tried to offer an inferior bargain type like the mini.

As for Dell, I've heard awful things before now about their so-called 'customer service'. People simply don't realise there are many better, cheaper ways to acquire the specification of PC that you want. I'd not touch Dell for one reason in particular: they lock you in on the upgrades front by using non-standard components, so you can't just nip down to your nearest PC World or shop around online for the parts you want then install them yourself. That's the real shocker.

Yeah they suck, the laptop I had of theirs was blah.  I like the HP Pavilions that I've had, but I think I'll be going with acer for my next pc.

[DavidW]

Earlier I had an Apple IIGS: in 20 years it never froze, never crashed, never got a virus.

It is a mystery why anybody continues to buy anything else.   

I had a Mac (high school graduation gift) still works like a charm, while other pcs that were newer have given up the ghost.   I've chosen the pc in recent years because it's cheaper, being a poor grad student that was the most important factor for me.

[Mark]

David, I actually agree with you (but I felt a tribal urge to sling some mud back at the Apple fanboys - I know, very childish). I wish there was just one OS, one brand of machine and everything worked seamlessly together. But then, I'm a hopeless idealist.

Anyway, this thread is about Dell's customer service. Let's try to keep it that way.

[Saul]

And you get indians who speak English with a thick accent and you try to understand what they're saying.

[Harry]

When I replaced my computers some months ago, Dell was in the running, so I decided to call their customer services for small businesses, for I had some questions. Needless to say, it was a disaster. First you have to go through a menu taking you 6 minutes or so, and finally to talk to someone that has not the foggiest idea how to answer your question, and has only a rudimentary knowledge of the Queens English. Not to mention the impossibility to get your own configuration, etc, etc.
I bought HP computers and laptops, good gear, good service.

[suzyq]

When I replaced my computers some months ago, Dell was in the running, so I decided to call their customer services for small businesses, for I had some questions. Needless to say, it was a disaster. First you have to go through a menu taking you 6 minutes or so, and finally to talk to someone that has not the foggiest idea how to answer your question, and has only a rudimentary knowledge of the Queens English. Not to mention the impossibility to get your own configuration, etc, etc.
I bought HP computers and laptops, good gear, good service.

Harry - how true - that interminable menu, only to end up with garbled english and has you mentioned customer service clerks who haven't a clue.

When my laptop gives out, I will not, ever, buy a Dell.  My brother has a HP laptop and is very happy with it.

[DavidW]

David, I actually agree with you (but I felt a tribal urge to sling some mud back at the Apple fanboys - I know, very childish). I wish there was just one OS, one brand of machine and everything worked seamlessly together. But then, I'm a hopeless idealist.

The Mac is the closest I can think for it.  You can boot

* Mac
* XP
* Vista
* Linux
* BSD

Okay doesn't anyone use BeOS anymore, or anything else?  Could I call it a day on that?  Obviously the software that is dependent on hardware choices not compatible with Mac will give you headaches, but besides that it would seem liberating.  And alot of windows software runs on Mac, nearly all gnu software that you find on linux runs on every os including Mac and Windows.

[suzyq]

Happy ending - went to Compu Serv and the knowledgeble people their were able to help me. 

Bought a Phone Line Cord for about $10 including tax and my laptop works just fine.  Should have gone to Compu Serv in the first place.

Bet Dell would have charged twice the amount plus tax and postage, so "all's well that ends well".

Just hope that I never have to deal with Dell again.  Thanks everybody for being there.

[DavidW]

Bought a Phone Line Cord for about $10 including tax and my laptop works just fine.  Should have gone to Compu Serv in the first place.

As much as I hate Dell, I don't think it's fair to slap them in this case.  The people who are responsible for helping you troubleshoot hooking up your computer to the net is your isp customer service and not dell.

[m_gigena]

That's what you call circular reasoning.  You don't buy a computer to fit in, nor do you buy it to feel part of an exclusive club (a jab at some mac users).  It is a tool.  Your choice should reflect what you want to do with the machine, and that is all.

Perhaps there are some network externalities you want to take advantage of?

[knight66]

I have Dell equipment. When I initially needed replacement ink, I innocently phoned them. I got some oburate automaton in India who would not proceed with my order until I had hauled out all the components to tell him the serial numbers. I was furious. I never ordered from them again, the ink was absurdly expensive anyway.

When I do replace the system, it will not be with Dell.

Mike

[DavidW]

Perhaps there are some network externalities you want to take advantage of?

You're going to rephrase how you said that because I'm not understanding you, sorry.

[m_gigena]

You're going to rephrase how you said that because I'm not understanding you, sorry.

I'm sorry. I was supporting Mark's idea:

Apple machines account for less than 5% of the world's computers. Personally, I'd rather use a computer that's compatible with those owned by the majority of users.

This is what wikipedia has to say about network externalities:

A network effect is a characteristic that causes a good or service to have a value to a potential customer which depends on the number of other customers who own the good or are users of the service. In other words, the number of prior adopters is a term in the value available to the next adopter.

One consequence of a network effect is that the purchase of a good by one individual indirectly benefits others who own the good — for example by purchasing a telephone a person makes other telephones more useful. This type of side-effect in a transaction is known as an externality in economics, and externalities arising from network effects are known as network externalities. The resulting bandwagon effect is an example of a positive feedback loop.

So I meant what Cato says is not always true. Even though Macs can be more stable and safe, it is not the most popular choice. So to be able to interact with most people (exchange files and documents, work together, etc) you need to connect to their network, using the same software and platforms.
In this case, there is an awful trade off, having to choose between a good system or better connectivity.

[DavidW]

So I meant what Cato says is not always true. Even though Macs can be more stable and safe, it is not the most popular choice. So to be able to interact with most people (exchange files and documents, work together, etc) you need to connect to their network, using the same software and platforms.
In this case, there is an awful trade off, having to choose between a good system or better connectivity.

Okay that makes sense now.  But let me say this-- the only real lockin that I've seen across the board is MS Office.  But you can run MS Office on all of the platforms (on linux you need emulation though), and Open Office supports the MS Office formats.  So I have to disagree with that you need the same software and platforms to work together with out people.

Your argument would have been true a decade ago, but it's just not terribly valid now.  The truth is that for the most part running non-Windows OSs does not cut down on working together.  The formats are supported on other OSs.  It's easy on all platforms (especially linux) to set up samba servers to communicate with windows machines.  Now that Mac has bought cups, everything but windows will use a unified framework for printing services-- CUPS (it was accepted in unix/linux, but now it will include Mac as well).  The open formats are usable on all OSs, the evil proprietary formats are usually supported as well.  I could just go on and on, it's really not the computer world that it used to be.

What it comes down to in choice is really what do you want to do with your computer?

[Michel]

Mark,

You obviously know nothing if you think Mac's and Windows systems find it hard to work together. I have a Mac and am never limited. I use Open office, which is free, and works completely with Microsoft office, which is the main thing most home users would need.

The only slight annoyance is the lack of online poker sites that support the Mac; for this reason, on my Macbook I have boot camp, which means that I dual boot both XP and OSX, which is cool.

Macs no doubt work better than Windows, and once you get used to them, you never go back. And David is totally right, they aren't expensive anymore. My Macbook only cost £600 due to the fabulous student discount they give. You can't get anything better for the money.

[m_gigena]

Okay that makes sense now.  But let me say this-- the only real lockin that I've seen across the board is MS Office.  But you can run MS Office on all of the platforms (on linux you need emulation though), and Open Office supports the MS Office formats.  So I have to disagree with that you need the same software and platforms to work together with out people.

Your argument would have been true a decade ago, but it's just not terribly valid now.  The truth is that for the most part running non-Windows OSs does not cut down on working together.  The formats are supported on other OSs.  It's easy on all platforms (especially linux) to set up samba servers to communicate with windows machines.  Now that Mac has bought cups, everything but windows will use a unified framework for printing services-- CUPS (it was accepted in unix/linux, but now it will include Mac as well).  The open formats are usable on all OSs, the evil proprietary formats are usually supported as well.  I could just go on and on, it's really not the computer world that it used to be.

I used Windows 3.11, 95, 98 and I'm under XP now. I never looked for alternate OS, so what you just said is new to me. I realize now informatics progress is doing very well in what refers to reducing lock-ins and sunk costs. But other facet is revealed now: the cost of changing systems.
My university was very innovative here when the e-ducativa platform was installed. It's a website-like system which connects professors and students very efficiently. So, many professors learned how to manage it and it became a very important part of some courses at uni. A better platform was developed recently and the university tried to implement it, but the teaching stuff was divided in those who want the change, and those who don't want to spend time learning a new system. According to which group was a majority in each faculty, now they use one system or the other.

Lock-in is not just pecuniary, and many people prefer to keep using a platform they already learnt and know than switching to one that offers to be more efficient. In many cases, just the fear that something may go wrong under the new option is dismissive enough.

[DavidW]

Lock-in is not just pecuniary, and many people prefer to keep using a platform they already learnt and know than switching to one that offers to be more efficient. In many cases, just the fear that something may go wrong under the new option is dismissive enough.

They can be whiny assholes as much as they want, but eventually they will just close their big mouths and accept change, because change is inevitable.  How many hardcore pure dos, no windows, users do you know of today?  I'm sure when Windows was first released, changing from dos was hard and slow going at first, but now hello where did the dos users go?

Eventually the need for upgrade outweighs the delight in sloth and the upgrade is made.   Lockin by laziness is only transitory.