Customer Service? Not in Ireland or Canada or Texas!

Dell was accused this past week of "taking the money and running" in Ottawa, Canada as a result of closures at yet another call center. A similar center was closed in Edmonton, Canada recently in seemingly similar sweetheart deals.

Another 250 jobs were lost in Ireland.

These loses and others were announced in the plans by Dell to shed over 8,000 jobs worldwide. A plant in Texas, home state to the company, will see the loss of some 900 jobs and was announced earlier this month.

Most of the loses are in the customer service sector of Dell and much of the work is going to India to the great distress of many frustrated Dell customers.

I posted comments on the Direct2Dell blog on that topic and stated that I never had a problem understanding anyone, and if I did Texans can talk pretty funny too, eh? So who cares, as long as they HELP....

The shocking thing to me about it all is that Customer Service is the biggest source of woe for Dell and it seems a desperate move to axe jobs in the english speaking world. Do executives have no ability to look at the long term?

Dell should suck it up, keep moving ahead with good products and good service at competitive prices and build for the long term future... that will mean taking loses, quarter after quarter till things get better both within Dell and globally, but they still make buckets of money every year and that is what they seem to be focused on, the old mantra of "share price and investors first, customers last" which drives much of American industry.

delldellhelldell hell

Dell in Competition for "Worst Company in America"

Way to go Dell! Yet again we dredge up more evidence of the continuing failure of Dell to make inroads with the consumer... the endless drivel served up on the Direct2Dell website somehow manages to ignore the reality on the ground. Kind of like watching President Bush when he talks about the situation in Iraq, lots of truth in there but a pretty fair amount of dis-connect, propaganda and half truths as well. (And keep in mind please that I support the war in Iraq and have always done so!)

So this week we bring you a bit of fun... over at http://consumerist.com Dell is featured in Round 19 of "Worst Company in America" and in this fantasy league styled series of articles they have Dell squaring off against Home Depot, no slouches themselves at crap customer service and shoddy products!

Here is the summary of Dell... Quote: "Formerly the king of direct to customer PC sales, Dell now has a well-deserved reputation for abysmal bad customer service ever since they outsourced their Home and Home Office customer service departments (secret trick: always order from Small Business, it's US based and the reps and techs still know what they're doing). Horror stories of botched warranty repairs abound. Just Google "Dell Hell" and you'll know what the company is so reviled." End Quote.

delldellhelldell hell

Dell Hell - By the Numbers 8

It's been a long time since I rounded up the numbers on Dell Hell... this was always one of my favourite ones to write just because numbers often tell a story of their own..

First lets have a look at the good old "My PC is on Fire" parody of the Numa Numa song on Youtube...

338,546 - Number of views of this parody on Youtube
64,924 - Number of views since August 2007
8,000 - Approx. number of views per month

So this old, dated video parody is still turning out (and turning away) about 8,000 customers per month! Well done to whoever created it, the social networking sites are more than able to kick a company in the balls long after the fact, something the nobs at Dell should try to keep in mind!

2- Number of lawsuits or subpeonas issued/expanded involving Dell in the last month, details are here and here.

+900 - Jobs lost in Edmonton Canada after Dell closed a "top performing" call centre there.

$1 - Per year lease negotiated by Dell with the City of Edmonton for Dell setting up shop there.

$1.1 million - 5 year tax rebate given to Dell to operate in Edmonton.

6.4 % - Percentage of profit Dell fell short on in the fourth quarter 2007 filings.

336,000 - Hits on Google for the words Dell Hell.

3,480 - Hits on Google for the word DellHell (obviously I should change my site name and keywords!).

283,000 - Hits on Google for the words I Hate Dell.

717 - Number of articles at Ripoffreport.com about Dell ripping off customers.

This site is well worth reading for anyone considering buying a Dell computer or other product! Just the sort of complaints you can find in the hundreds at Dells' own website Direct2Dell but without the useless blather from Lionel and company about how sorry they are and how they intend to fix it... yeah, right, like we haven't been hearing that for the last year or so.

2,483 - Links at Technorati to blogs with the words Dell Hell in them.

And that just about wraps it up today, it is the closing days of the ski season and I want to get in as much skiing as I can!

delldellhelldell hell

Dellhell Twice in One Day? Try every day for 8 months!!!

Sometimes you have to laugh just to keep from crying... it is hard to understand how, after spending tens of millions of dollars to "turn around" customer service at Dell, they can still provide us with such shocking examples of how not to run a business....

The following article is taken from good old consumerist.com and once again provides us with a sterling example of what it is like to try to do business (or not) with Dell. Buyer Beware!

A woman who inherited a phone number from a previous employee at her workplace has been plagued for 8 months by daily phone calls from Dell debt collectors, despite her MANY efforts to clear the fog from the heads of the morons who are running the show on the other end of the phone.

No word yet from Dell mouthpiece Lionel Menchacha but that is not surprising, what could you possibly say about it that might make her feel better?

delldellhell

Dellhell Twice in One Day!

Wow, great day to decide to google the Dell news! This article was just posted this afternoon on Consumerist.com and speaks directly to the nightmare known as Dellhell!

Also getting some healthy readership numbers in the first hours of publication, this article which is 45 minutes old has had 4500 views and 47 comments!

I blogged some months back on the power of social networking sites and others to share news, good and bad, and the potential effect of that information spreading... so hats off to consumerist.com... a modern day Samizdat of the consumer world...

And so it is...

delldellhell

Go Away

A new strategy at Dell in Customer Service? With direct2dell and other customer points of contact such as the forums, overflowing with complaints from angry customers, has the old "write to the ceo" (EECB's as they are known) friendly corporate image had an overhaul?

This article published online at one of my favorite sites consumerist.com highlights the change in the relationship between Dell and its customer base.

While I can understand that the sheer volume of complaints alone would prohibit even the most diligent CEO from answering personally, it highlights the ongoing problem of customer service and the deteriorating attitude at Dell towards the consumer market.

My own experiences with the Executive Escalation team is one of deny, deny, deny... from fear of the many pending or active civil suits against the Inspiron line is my best guess.

Dellhell is not a thing of the past and the many people who responded to the consumerist.com article are testimony to that! To this time point there have been over 3800 views and 35 comments on an article that is hours old.

Yikes...

delldellhell

Come on Dell, this is wearing a bit thin now!

The ski season is in full swing and I am very busy this season, being at a new resort here in Canada and trying to come to grips with all that entails...

It has been awhile since I payed any attention to this blog and just as long since I bothered with Dell and the train wreck they are.

So what is new? Nothing apparently, and that is glaringly obvious by a quick browse of google news.

Here is just one item making the rounds and it is a case of "same shit different day"... and the comments from Don Tennants' readers are quite telling as well. I like the bit "You were robbed or ripped off, you just got unlucky"...

BEGIN QUOTED ITEM

Don Tennant

Stirring IT Up
February 7, 2008 - 11:14 A.M.
Dear Michael Dell
9 comments

I heard from a very unhappy Dell customer last night. It's not exactly uncommon for me to hear from very unhappy Dell customers, but I found this case interesting because the customer copied me on a letter she sent to Michael Dell.

At issue is an Inspiron 9300 notebook that developed major problems just a few days after the warranty expired. Here's the letter:

Dear Mr. Dell:

About two years ago, I purchased an Inspiron 9300. At the time of purchase, I invested in a two-year warranty.

I have had no problems with my machine. In fact, I have enjoyed using it. I am an IT Solutions Architect for AT&T and frequently work from home. Our work laptops are also from Dell, and I've had a good experience with your products - until now.

A few days after my warranty expired, my screen developed some ugly vertical lines that are visible when in the desktop mode and online. I have never dropped my machine. I don't travel with it; use my work laptop for that purpose. Naturally, I was surprised and troubled.

So I went to a local Dell repair service and showed my computer screen to them. They told me that there would be a charge because it was out of warranty. I could hardly believe it. I contacted Customer Service at Dell (Case #172854100). I received the same response from them and the case was considered closed (08/23/07). I was an unhappy customer.

Now the vertical line damage has inched across about 1/3 of my machine since August. At first I was so mad that the company would not honor the warranty that I vowed never to buy another Dell. I was just going to wait until this machine crashed completely and purchase a new one from your competitors, but then something happened that changed my mind.

A dear friend of mind came to visit. It just so happens she is from Houston and her daughters attend your alma mater, Memorial High School, where I understand you are their most famous alumnus.

I showed her my computer and told her about my unhappy experience. She said, "What? Just write Mr. Dell a letter, and he'll get someone to help you. He wants to keep his customers."

So, here I am. I thought I would try her advice. On December 10, I spoke to a Cristina, and she reopened a new case (18188127). I hope that you will be able to help me. It doesn't seem right that a machine develops a serious problem scarcely out of warranty and the company doesn't want to take care of its good customers.

Thanks very much. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

[Name, address, phone number and e-mail address supplied]

cc: Don Tennant, Vice President/Editorial Director, Computerworld & InfoWorld

It will be interesting to see whether Michael Dell responds. In the meantime, what do you think? Clearly, Dell has no legal obligation to honor an expired warranty. But should a reputable company be expected to take care of a customer when serious problems develop just a few days after the expiration date? Does good business sense dictate that you demonstrate you really care by helping the customer out, or that you avoid setting a precedent that could backfire on you when a few days stretch into a few weeks or longer?

What People Are Saying

Man....can we say get a
Submitted by Anonymous on February 8, 2008 - 2:27 P.M.

Man....can we say get a life. The system was out of warranty, get over it. If they had only gotten a one year warranty, would there be a complaint that the system was only a year out of warranty? Whatever warranty you had gotten, the system was going to fail at that point no matter what. It would have been either in warranty, or out of warranty, nothing in the middle. There is also an option to get a 3 year warranty from Dell (and knowing ATT thats is probably what they get). So why wouldnt an IT Solutions whatever at ATT follow the guidelines of their own company if you did put that much faith into Dell? Sounds to me like you are just complaining to complain. You were robbed or ripped off, you just got unlucky. Its life, it happens. Of course, your probably the same person who argues over a ten cent price difference at a grocery store too.


How is Dell going to stay in business?
Submitted by sdevlin on February 8, 2008 - 1:49 P.M.

The frontline financing and customer support people most customers are dealing with are either unreachable or unhelpful.

I was trying to remember how long I have been a Dell customer, and I can only guess at 10 years. I can say I've purchased over 50 Dell computers between my family and small business, and intended to purchase a Latitude XT and another Latitude notebook this year. However, Dell Financial utterly destroyed my customer loyalty in one long phone call Feb. 7th 6pm est.

In January, I contacted Dell immediately after I discovered an $83 charge from late December. I was certain it was just an error, and would be handled quickly. Instead, they set the account on hold until the dispute could be handled and transferred me to the fraud department.

I was informed that I would need to fill out an affidavit and return it. This is more personal effort than I've experienced with other companies, but ok. When I receive the forms in the mail, there was not a postage paid return envelope (how rude), AND the form requires notary! FOR 83 Dollars?

I call 1.800.283.2210 where a service rep I can hardly understands tells me nothing can be done, and by the way they are adding late charges on my account. I ask to speak to his manger. The manager, (Andrew, employee #592647) tells me again nothing can be done unless I pay the money and then they will remove the late fees and correct my credit report. I calmly explain to him there are 2 options, he can take care of this error and I will continue to be a happy and loyal Dell customer, or I will pay the money cancel the account and not buy anything from Dell again. He says, sorry you feel that way, give me your bank account and routing number to pay the $83 and I'll drop the late fess assessed.

I can not express how angry and disappointed I am with Dell.
Greiving Ex-Dell Customer

END QUOTED ITEM

delldellhell

Dell ranked 25th out of 36 in Canadian Customer Service

Way to go Dell, despite the best efforts of Michael Dell and all the propoganda pouring out of Round Rock touting the supposed "turn around", Dell managed to place a lowly 25th (out of 36 companies reviewed) in a recent survey of customer service in Canada.

So much for all the bullshit coming from Lionel Menchacha and Richard@dell and the propoganda machine known as Direct2Dell.

The survey, titled "How may I help you?" was conducted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and here is a summary of the survey as quoted from the CBC website.

QUOTE

Working with the CBC Research Department, we developed a unique set of standards that evaluate everything from the interactive voice response system that answers most calls these days, to the time you're left waiting on hold. We also measured the effectiveness of the operator - how well they understood the caller, how well the caller could understand the operator, and their demeanour.

We called each company three times: once during a weekday, once at night and once on the weekend. Our call researchers kept detailed notes of each call and then scored the company's performance out of 100. You can see how each company performed by clicking their name in the chart below.

END QUOTE

delldellhell

Think Dell is Back on Track?

Don't let the successes on the business side of Dell con you into thinking that things are better at Dell for the average guy... this exchange today on the Miami Herald website is clear evidence that without friends in high places, your chances of getting A) A machine that works, and B) Customer service that works, are Buckley's as my Australian friends would say... and imagine if they didn't have the extended warranty with "next day service".

BEGIN

A formula to mess up computer: two video cards
Posted on Sat, Nov. 17, 2007

• Q: About two years ago, we bought a top-of-the-line Dell computer for our small business. We also purchased a three-year extended warranty; it's supposed to give us next- day service if there's a problem.

Everything was fine until Oct. 10 when the computer crashed.

We called Dell. After going through extensive troubleshooting, it decided to order a new power supply and motherboard. A few days later, a tech arrived to install them; it still didn't work.

Dell sent out a tech and parts twice more. Once, we got the computer running, but it crashed again the next day.

Dell sent us a refurbished replacement. After five days, it wouldn't power up. Dell said it would send us our third motherboard and power supply. The tech still couldn't get it to turn on.

Spending so much time on this isn't exactly helping our business. Perhaps Action Line can persuade Dell to fix it once and for all?

Jane Firebaugh,

Miami

• A: We can. It's working now; this time, we hope it's a permanent fix.

We forwarded your e-mail to Dell, which responded promptly. Another tech was dispatched, and, for a while, he couldn't get it to work, either. Then, he had an idea: Maybe the problem was caused by having two video cards. He took one out, and the computer worked. He tried with the other one; the computer still worked. It seemed that having two working cards installed was at the root of the trouble.

Dell followed up and gave you a better number to call if it happens again. We all hope you won't need it.

END

So... to sum up, DEll sold a flawed design to a customer and then proceeded to offer "refurbished motherboards" among other repair solutions to them on an ad nauseum basis... seems awfully familiar!

delldellhell

Dude, Dell has a Headache too!

Well, just like in real life, the folks living in the rarified heights of Round Rock have found out that your past deeds have a way of catching up to you.

Yet another lawsuit is in the making, this time in New Mexico and Dell is once again being called to the dock for it's shoddy (illegal??) business practices! Can anyone say "Weasels".

GREAT NEWS, and I can't wait to hear the spin Lionel Menchacha puts on this one for his damage control department otherwise known as Direct2Dell... maybe it should be called "direct2dock" in honor of their many appearances in courts around the country.

BEGIN QUOTED ARTICLE

AG King wants NM lawyer to launch class action v. Dell
by Rob Luke

SANTA FE -- New Mexico Attorney General Gary King is supporting a lawsuit brought against an online computer retailer by an Albuquerque lawyer claiming unfair trading practices.

Customer Robert Fiser brought a class action suit against Dell Computer Corp. in 2004 for anti-consumer violations over disputes about data-storage capacity on a computer he purchased. The Court of Appeals dismissed, saying he was bound by arbitration agreements, and he appealed to the NM Supreme Court.

King filed an amicus curiae brief last Thursday with the NM Supreme Court supporting Fiser's appeal. "Merchants cannot, in a contract of adhesion, unilaterally set terms that will allow them to skim a few dollars from a large number of consumers with impunity," the brief concluded.

In an accompanying release, King said the Appeals Court wrongly applied Texas law, not New Mexico law, when dismissing Fiser's original appeal. The appellate court ruled that Fiser was bound to arbitrate his dispute with Dell because of a provision on the shipped computer's packaging slip.

"We want to make sure that consumers are clearly and fairly informed about what policies and terms they agree to when they order a product over the internet," King's release stated. "In this case, disclosure to the consumer is an important issue."

END

delldellhell

Dude, I Already Have a Headache

George Gombossy of Consumer Watchdog posted a great article today on courant.com titled "Dude, You Might Be Getting A Headache With That Dell" and it is worth passing on, and my only comment is "Dude, I already have a headache"....

BEGIN
Dell has become one of the most well-known computer companies in the country. Unfortunately it's also establishing a reputation as the most troublesome among the top brands.

Purchasers of Dell computers from Connecticut and throughout the country are increasingly complaining about misleading advertising, equipment failures and, most serious of all, unreliable customer and technical services.

Rescuecom, a national computer repair franchise, analyzed its tens of thousands of records and reported this week that among the five top brands, Dell computers had the greatest likelihood of needing service.

The survey, based on each brand's market share, showed that Apple computers - by a huge margin - were the least prone to problems.

Computers by Lenovo and IBM came in second, followed by HP, Gateway and then Dell. Last year, the first time Rescuecom provided its analysis, Dell was in fourth place with Gateway in fifth.

"Results of the report - based on 46,000 service calls to RESCUECOM - provide computer users with unique insight about the likelihood that they will require support beyond what is provided by the PC maker's warranty," the company said.

Complaints that I have received this year back up the report's findings on Dell. Of the six complaints I have received about computer reliability and marketing issues, all involved Dell computers.

But all these complaints, said Rescuecom owner David Milman, don't mean that consumers and businesses should stop buying Dell products.

Milman said Dells are still relatively cheap and well built compared to lesser-known brands. He said customers just need to know that advertised prices, financing, warranties, at-home repairs and technical help will probably not live up to Dell's promises.

For their part, Dell officials concede there have been problems as the company continues to grow, but they insist customer service is important.

"The customer experience is Dell's No. 1 priority," said Jodi Zweifler of Dell's global communications, as she promised to look into the complaints from Connecticut residents I sent her. A future Watchdog column will update how the complaints from these customers were resolved:

Gus Vaughan of Cromwell said he bought his computer in May, and within a few days it developed severe problems, including locking up. He and his wife, Joanne, spent more than 12 hours on the phone working with technicians, trying to solve the problem. Those efforts ultimately included taking apart the computer.

When the telephone consultations didn't work, Dell sent a repairman to their home, who discovered the computer had serious hardware problems. After more phone calls, Dell decided to send the couple a new computer, which took almost two months to arrive.

Frances Wilson of Bristol paid full price for a computer by check three years ago. Nevertheless, Wilson, 88, started receiving bills from Dell. She wrote to the president of Dell, as well as to several other officials at the company without getting any results.

She said she finally had to hire her accountant to write several more letters to Dell before it stopped demanding that she pay $300, which she did not owe to the company.

Marion Bradley of North Branford, another senior, said she had a "Dell from Hell" right out of the box. Her son set up the computer for her, but several programs would not work. She called Dell in March and was told she had to hire an "expert" for $138 to help her.

Bradley, the retired head of the English department at North Branford High School, said the calls to those experts were worthless. Her daughter-in-law finally was able to fix the computer after spending several hours with it.

When she bought her computer she was told there would be no interest charges if she made all payments on time. She said she made timely payments but still got billed for interest, which she is disputing.

Gregory Burr of Westbrook tried to be a nice guy when he bought his Dell last year. He wanted to pay by credit card, but the Dell salesman asked that Burr instead sign up for a Dell loan so the company would not have to pay the credit card company a fee. Burr agreed.

That act of kindness turned into a nightmare as Burr's name got mixed up with another customer's account and he spent months trying to clear his credit.

These types of problems resulted in a lawsuit by the New York attorney general's office against Dell and Dell Financial Services, which is jointly owned by Dell and consumer financing company CIT.

The suit accuses Dell of luring customers with zero percent financing and then charging them high rates. It also accuses the company and Dell Financial Services of fraud, false advertising and deceptive business practices.

"While even one dissatisfied customer is too many, the allegations in the AG's filing are based upon a small fraction of Dell's consumer transactions in New York," Dell said in response to the suit.

Well actually, there were 700 complaints in New York and, as we're learning, several in Connecticut.

END

delldellhell

"I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."

No, that isn't me whining about Dell...

That is Micheal Dell talking about Apple way back in 1997. Read on courtesy of Rob Mead at Tech.co.uk

BEGIN

In 1997 Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, told IT executives what he would do to Apple to save the company from financial ruin. "What would I do?" he said. "I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."

Ten years on and that quote is coming back to haunt Michael Dell.

Apple has gone from strength to strength and now has a range of world-beating products from the iPod to the iPhone and the iMac.

Apple shares are now at their highest ever level at $167.91 (£82.32), with analysts predicting Apple's strongest quarter ever.

Dell, meanwhile, is in the doldrums. It's been squeezed by a growing number of strong, low-cost competitors and has been tainted with poor customer service rankings and a range of unremarkable products.

Its shares currently stand at $27.95 (£13.70) apiece.

Maybe it's time that Michael Dell gave his shareholders their money back.

END QUOTED ARTICLE

And here is a link to a parent article that also has some very telling and entertaining comments from readers...


delldellhell

Incompetent or just Crooked?

Well, in case you are thinking that Micheal Dell is bringing dell customer service up to at least an acceptable standard... think again!

Despite the hundreds of millions spent by Dell to turn around customer service they are , if anything, going backwards... have a read of this story on Consumerist.com

BEGIN
Nobody at Dell can help Kevin return two broken hard drives. Kevin's Seagate 320GB FreeAgent drive refuses to power on, and his 160GB Western Digital won't boot. Kevin sent Dell a note after wrangling with eleven CSRs over five hours:

I called tonight due to 2 harddrives I purchased 26 days ago. Both drives have completely failed. One is knocking and the other won't power on at all. I called Dell and have been transferred to 11 people and 3 different calls:

1st Call - 48 Minutes (Disconnected during transfer)
2nd Call - 91 Minutes (Disconnected trying to transfer me)
3rd Call: 138 Minutes - Disconnected during transfer.

I am fed up and it is absolutely ridiculous. They have no idea what department to send me to. So far I have talked to:
"Customer Care"
"Dell Care"
"Business Sales"
"Hardware support"
"Desktop Support"
"Technical Support"

I have 4 different case numbers they have assigned me and still nothing to show for it. They can't even tell me who I need to talk to or what I need to do to get the parts replaced. I have spent close to $240.00 and wasted hours of my time away from my family trying to repair this issue.

The original hard drive I ordered is an external drive that I was able to connect and move all of my data to... Then it just wouldn't power on. Tried multiple power outlets, will not power up. I have lost all of my data there.

Then I purchased an internal drive, I have had it less than a month and it is knocking and won't boot. I am very dissatisfied and the award winning customer care has to be the farthest from the truth.

Case #: 1734xxx82
Order Numbers:
718xxx24 - 160GB
710xxx785 - 320GB

The note didn't get Dell's attention, but a complaint to the Better Business Bureau did. A Dell representative called Kevin to arrange the returns:

BUT!!!! 30 minutes into the call as she is taking my address info and giving her apologetic speech...Oh wait! I'm sorry Mr. Hatfield but we can't replace these. Have a nice day.

Hopefully one of Dell's damage control ninjas can explain exactly which Dell department, if any, is responsible for handling busted hard drives.
END

So all I can say is way to go Dell! You make my job of trashing your company so much easier.. and you are so deserving of it that it is a pleasure!


delldellhell

Dell Hell - By the Numbers 7

Well, lets get September rolling with a look at the numbers...

7 - Number of times Dell contacted us this summer

0 - Number of new solutions offered by Dell to our problems

20 - Percentage drop in sales of notebooks this year at Dell

3-1 - Amount HP is outselling Dell in notebook computers

1058 - Number of comments (mostly negative) on direct2dell re: delays on shipping. A record even for the sorry state of Dell...

5 - responses by Dell to the 1058 comments

0 - responses by Dell to the 1058 that might be useful

887,000 - Number of notebooks Dell sold in the quarter (-20%)

1,100,000 - Number of notebooks Apple sold in the quarter (+42%)

2,400,000 - Number of notebooks HP sold in the quarter

?? - If I put a number here I'd just be guessing at how many days delay there is for Dell's new colored laptops but have a read of the direct2dell blog and see what you come up with... many are waiting over two months at the moment by my understanding.

Not only do they sell Edsels they also borrow from Henry Ford too... "you can have any color you want, as long as its black"!

No wonder Mac sales are up 42%, Customer Service, despite $150 Million spent this year on revamping, is still in the toilet and then to make matters worse they start targeting students with offers for colored laptops they know they can't reasonably supply.

Apple, Lenovo, HP et al are picking off Dell's market share as a result...


delldellhell

Apple shows the way, Dell lost in the woods.

A very interesting lesson in Customer Service and core values was highlighted yesterday by the announcement by Apple that they would be refunding customers who purchased iphones from Apple in the last two months.

The phones were originally priced at $200 above current prices and the thousands of customers who bought phones at the inflated price will now receive a $100 rebate on the phones purchased at the higher price.

Wait a minute... a company sells a product, then decides to lower prices and in order not to loose customers who previously bought products at the higher price, are VOLUNTEERING to rebate customers???????

Who would have thought.

Now, is there anything to be learned by all this? Well, Apple sold 42% more laptops this quarter than they did last year, so obviously something is being done right...

Dell on the other hand? Well, stay tuned tomorrow when we do our monthly review of the numbers...

delldellhell

The Sounds of Silence or is it One Hand Clapping

Well, I thought I would hold off on my next blog until I heard back from the two Escalation team members from Dell who recently contacted me. Oddly, after contacting me, they never did reply back. So, instead I will share with you the email I sent to them and let you decide if a response was warranted. Ronak who is the recipient of the following letter is a member of the Escalation team at Dell... and for the record I did eventually hear from Robin Chacko's supervisor... he offered me a %10 discount on a refurbished motherboard!

EMAIL TO "Ronak" who has never been heard from since....

Hi Ronak: I have been in touch with your colleague Robin_Chacko@dell.com on 08/16/07 about this issue and it seems more than one person from Dell has responded to our contacts. Here (below) is the email I sent to Robin Chacko...

I have yet to hear back from her on the email sent, so I am not sure if you were intending to take over from her? If so, I am available at this return email or by phone xxx xxx-xxxx

regards, duff sigurdson

BEGIN

Hello Robin: We are pleased but most puzzled to hear from Dell again. I trust you are up to speed on our file so I won't repeat it all here, except in summary FYI with my suggestions for a solution below that....

After speaking at length and over a period of months with as diverse a crowd as Lionel Menchaca at direct2dell, another on-line bigwig known as Richard@dell, the Better Business Bureau, and a number of senior staff at Dell Canada, we had reached the conclusion that Dell was not willing to do more to solve our problem other than to sell us a refurbished motherboard for our problematic 9100.

This was unsatisfactory to us as we feel that the problem is directly related to the design and manufacture of the model and a replacement mob (at $700 installed), was not a solution, i.e. replacing a known faulty part with another faulty part that has been "remanufactured" is not a workable fix!

The computer was approximately 2 1/2 years old when it failed and it was a top of the line Inspiron 9100. Hardly the typical life span one would expect from a flagship model from the world's (then) leading computer manufacturer.

Dell has taken old, loyal customers (my wife and I who have been with your company since the early days), and potential new customers (my daughter and her network of friends who follow this saga), and turned them in to a customer relations nightmare... (see www.dellhellrevisited.blogspot.com)

Our position is you have sold us an "EDSEL" and although we understand the tightrope you are walking what with all the class action suits surrounding the inspiron line, we believe Dell should replace the faulty computer with a model which you are confident will not die a premature death.

No need for a "mea culpa" or anything else... just a "hey, your computer sucked, we are sorry you got stuck in dell hell, and we DO want you all as future customers..."

I will mention here that many similar cases to ours have been resolved (usually by members of the Executive Escalation Team) by replacing faulty computers EVEN when out of warranty, You can read examples in the dell forums.

What we don't want is for Dell to tell us they are cutting off the topic and consider the case closed as unresolved (Richard@Dell online back in early June), AND THEN contact us again to follow up (Early July), fail to follow up THAT call (mid July), and then wind up here in another email to someone at your end (Mid August).

BTW, A tech called two nights ago (see my latest posts at direct2dell in the "Real People are here and they are Listening" section). I almost cried when he wanted to "review" my problem but I stayed polite, answered his questions and listened to his offer to sell me a refurbished motherboard. It all seemed a bit pointless and so it was.

In any case, I noted yesterday that despite the $150 million invested in customer service in the last while, Dells' ratings dropped this year to the same levels as during the Customer Service crisis at Dell in 2005. Somehow this doesn't surprise me.

When you compare the cost to dell of replacing our faulty 9100 with that money and those figures, and you add in the bonus that you would be "doing the right thing", it is a no brainer... Dell won't recognize that the computer is an "edsel" and that is fine by us, but Dell should recognize that the computer should have lasted longer than it did, that we are valued customers and that it is worth keeping us. Selling us a top of the line model at top of the line prices, and after it dies 2.5 years later saying "so sad, too bad" is not on the list of "Tips for Good Customer Relations".

I look forward to hearing your solutions to this issue, a fresh set of eyes and ears is often the way out of the woods.

regards, duff sigurdson


delldellhell

News... not really, but dishonest, Yes

Two interesting things crossed my desk today, one was the Saturday edition of the fine Canadian newspaper the National Post. On page FW3 of the Financial Post Weekend section was a header article titled "Buy that shiny, new laptop, but avoid extended warranties, consumer groups caution".

The other was the Dell advertising flyer which came with one of the many papers I like to read on Saturdays.

The first of the two, the article on extended warranties, wasn't news to me, but is worth passing on to less savvy consumers! We don't need extended warranties regarding computers, we need lemon laws similar to those in place in the auto industry!

The second was the flyer out today in the Canadian papers and front and center on the first page is a pitch to students for Dell laptops with 8 color choices prominently displayed... this despite the fact that Dell admits on the company blog Direct2Dell that they are running so far behind on these painted accessories that they cannot predict when you might recieve an order placed today. Never mind "back to school" perhaps they will be ready to ship by "graduation"...

Offering something for sale that you know you can't really deliver on, is dishonest behavior where I come from, not sure how they would treat people like that in most of Texas, but I expect it wouldn't be politely.

delldellhell

Escalating Frustration

Wow, I should get an "abused customer of the month" award from Dell. Acting on behalf of my daughter, I have been a BUSY boy.

After Lionel sent of his query, the calls and emails from Dell are coming fast and furious of late!

Three from the escalation team alone in the past two days, two agents and one manager, so far they have offered to sell me a refurbished motherboard! But they have thrown the 10% discount on the table AGAIN. We already said thanks but no thanks to that one a few months ago... you can buy a NEW motherboard on ebay or from half a dozen companies for LESS than the refurbished unit from DELL.

And why would you replace a faulty part with another faulty part that has been "refurbished"? That is NOT a solution.

I suspect their legal woes, what with Class Action suits underway or pending on several Inspiron laptops, may frighten them away from acknowledging any fault in a model by replacing it out of warranty...although they have done so in some cases.

As it is Dell can hardly afford more bad publicity, Dell shares were down today 3% on news of supply woes at Dell. Coming on top of several other issues clouding the Dell situation, such as the paint fiasco of recent days, a massive battery recall and computers spontaneously combusting last year and most serious of all, the ongoing SEC investigation, things are tough in Texas.

I suspect each of the people from Dell that I have spoken to recently would privately agree that Dell should do something here to correct our problem, no one in their right mind would say it is okay for a top of the line, flagship model to expire after 2.5 years .

I also suspect any competent technician could have (and by reports some did) tell Dell that putting that chip in that board in a laptop was trouble in the first place. I took the trouble to read up on putting 3.2 Pentium 4 chips intended for desktops into notebooks. It was and is trouble and a bit of reading also shows it is not confined to my computer, a quick read of Dell forums, the direct2dell website and many other sites using keywords such as "Dell 9100 motherboard problem" or "9100 overheating" will make the point.

Stay tuned, I always ask them to respond to my last when I am contacted by them so I expect to hear from someone again in the next few days.

delldellhell

Dell Hell - By the Numbers 6

I have been trolling the news in the last few days, knowing I should dig up some ammo and these numbers caught my eye...

-5.1% - Percentage Dell is down in Customer Service ratings this year. Similar figures were seen at the height of Dells Customer Service woes in 2005.

$150,000,000 - Dollars spent by Dell this year to turn around Customer Service

$150,000,000 - Money apparently wasted by Dell this year on Customer Service

48.5 million - Dollars owed to ex Dell CEO Rollins by Dell for Stock Options currently being held up by the late filings due at the SEC

7.9 million - Last month's similar, but separate agreement on dollars to be paid to Rollins for a similar reason

3 - Number of years Mr Rollins was at the helm at Dell

3 - Number of months between SEC filings for listed companies. (each quarter or every ninety days)

14 - Number of months since Dell last filed (June 2006)

%11.9 to %15.2 - Jump in share market for HP in Latin America

%8.5 to %6.8 - Decline in share market for Dell in Latin America

and last but no least, my personal favorite...

273,622 - Number of hits on Youtube for My PC is on Fire video

32,041 - Number of views on Youtube for My PC is on Fire video since June 14/07

delldellhell

Hold the Press - Dell Finally Calls!

Great excitement today, Dell calls and speaks with my daughter. She asks them to call me in her stead.

Early this evening PST, I get a call from a Technical Support guy in India, he starts by saying that he has spoken to my daughter and is now phoning me in accordance with that conversation and then his next question is "what can I do for you?" and I replied "I don't know, you called me".

That threw him...

So then he reviews the file with me for a half hour or so, offers to sell me a refurbished hard drive and then to his credit, listens to my side of things.

Well, now he is out of his depth and he says he wants to speak with his manager and would I hold the line? He came back on pretty quick with a solution that still has me laughing... "I will put a note on your file that Dell will not contact you unless they have a solution to the problem".

Can it get any sillier? Stay Tuned....

delldellhell

Lionel Must Hate Me

So, I am back in the Northern Hemisphere! I cut short the season in NZ... not much snow and not much prospect of it either... and just when I was starting to get on a roll with the Kiwis' in regards putting out the word on CS issues at Dell and the problems with computers from the Inspiron Line. There are only 4 million people in NZ so I figured 500 this year would be a good start, but more likely it was only a couple of hundred. I plan to go back next season...

Anyway, poor old Lionel over at Direct2Dell, I had been posting there prior to starting this blog in the hope that the powers that be in the Great State of Texas would be straight shooters, they weren't... And Lionel, due to his job as the go to guy (or whipping post as may be on occasion) at Direct2dell, was getting frustrated towards the end cause I am pig headed, yet articulate and tactful, for the most part.

So my last two posts to Direct2Dell in the previous week have finally gotten a response from Lionel and he too is puzzled by the contact, believing as we did, that the issue was dead between Dell and three customers. I count my daughter and wife in this, as two of three customers BTW , just so we know how the math is working. (Come to think of it, my wife works for a huge multinational as a technical writer and presenter of teaching materials to the workforce, I wonder how many of her colleagues she has spoken to about our problems with Dell? I'll have to ask her one day and add them to the tally of people we are potentially turning away from purchasing Dell products. SCORE!)

Lionel has said he will look into it and hopefully we may move on from all this! I can always find something else to blog about now that I have the basics of blogging down... but tell the truth, I don't think they will do anything other than re-agree to disagree.

It's good to be home!

delldellhell

Real People are Listening? Tommy, the Pinball Wizard Hired by Dell

Well, despite Dell's claim on the direct2dell blog that "Real People are Here and they are Listening" they don't mention they hired the Pinball Wizard himself... although he is Deaf, Dumb and Blind he does play mean pinball.

Sadly, he is unable to respond to even the simplest requests for information. Which seems to suit Dell just fine.

Dell contacted us on July 9th, they wanted to do a follow up because our complaint is listed as "unresolved". The technician wanted to arrange a time to call and see if he could find a solution. Wait a minute, didn't we already do this with technicians months ago? We already know what the problem is, they sold us an Edsel.

The dead motherboard will not be resurrected by a phone call, the refurbished motherboard they offered us for $700 is not a cure either... we know all this already. So why call in the first place you might ask?

Well, there is more! After struggling to find an appropriate time to call, the technician says he will "call back" and we haven't heard from his since!

Way to go Dell!

Well, how does the Pinball Wizard fit in to all this? I posted to dell's website direct2dell and asked Lionel what was going on? Haven't heard from him either so I can only assume he has been fired and replaced by "Tommy".

Perhaps the slogan should be "Real people are here, and we are listening, but we are deaf, dumb and blind and what's more, we don't give a shit!"

How can people screw up so badly? Customer Service is in it's infancy at Dell but this is ridiculous...

delldellhell

Dell Hell - By the Numbers 5

Well, you can buy the numbers too and Tarp.com can tell you what it will cost you! Thanks to my friends here at KiwiHost I got to hear about Tarp and the great work they do in the USA to show us the problems and solutions to customer service in a way we can understand. Good old numbers....

I have been waiting for a way to quantify what I am doing and now with the data from Tarp it has only gotten worse! Or better I suppose, from my point of view. All this adds up to....? Damned if I know, I am more confused than ever, but I am more certain than ever that my efforts are not misguided nor in vain.

5 to 6 - Number of times greater the cost to win a new customer than to keep an old one.

1 in 26 - Number of Kiwis that complain.

1 in 12 - Number of Americans who complain.

8 to 22 - Number of People an unhappy customer tells.

8 - Number of People a "happy" customer will tell about a big ticket purchase experience.

16 - Number of people an "unhappy" customer will tell about a big ticket purchase experience.

19 - Percent of customers with unresolved complaints who will no longer purchase products from that company.

9 - Percent of customers who are lost to a company, who do not even complain about the faulty product.

1 to 5 - Percent who complain to management or HQ in regards a faulty product.

8 - Percent more loyal after a customer complaint is resolved than if there had been no problem at all!

So what does this all tell me? Well, a few things stick out. According to these numbers had Dell fixed my daughters computer I would have been even more loyal to Dell than I was before (True, and I have been a customer going back to the early days!). Another thing is that Dell is only hearing 5% of the problem on the direct2dell site or on the community forums. The true numbers must be staggering!

Another thing is I am way out front on the unhappy customer tells 16 issue... I am way over 100 now, hell, two people have read this blog!

Sweet As.... as they say here in NZ... though they never do say sweet as what...

delldellhell

Dellhell DownUnder

Well, in case those living at the rarified heights of Round Rock, TX are chuckling to themselves, thinking this blog was a flash in the pan, I wanted to assure them and you, dear reader, that I have not disappeared, nor have I tired of my assault on Dellhell.

In fact, I am on a working holiday in New Zealand, and while downunder, I am doing my utmost to convince my Kiwi brethern to buy anything but Dell when they consider a purchase of computers or peripherals.

Now, with a population of some 3 million people and 40 million sheep, it isn't much of a market to worry about in the grand scheme of things, but it isn't about NZ per se, just like Dell, I am focused on overall numbers.

Dell ripped me (my daughter) off for $2600 and I am out for blood, every lost customer counts, Canadian, Kiwi, Aussie, makes no difference to me! Do you hear me in Texas? I am not going away, your problem with me gets worse by the day... not better and all because you place a buck before a customer, Assholes! It is easy to see why America is going down the tubes... Ford, Chrysler, Dell, just to name a few, with Corporate leaders like you guys who needs Dick Cheney or Bill Clinton to shoot friends or screw things?

I recently spoke at a customer service course for Ski Field employees (KiwiHost) and guess who I used as the posterchild for bad customer relations? No prize for guessing it was Dell.

My audience was a bunch of Kiwi's (the people, not the bird) and a small group of international ski pro's. I spoke of the appalling track record at Dell in regards customer service and thier refusal to deal with the results. Forget the lip service of Direct2Dell or Ideastorm, these are only relevant to the geeks and bloggers, Joe Kiwi is not impressed by this stuff anymore than Joe Average in America, all they want is a product that works from a company they can trust. They may have more sheep than cows in New Zealand but they know bullshit when they see it!

So, to sum up, I have not "gone away" I have only gone "downunder". I will be back, on the attack as and when I am able. Meanwhile be assured, I am spreading the word.

delldellhell