Dell complaints

[3.5YR Dell Vet]

Background:
I was recruited by Dell in spring of 2000 while still in school at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. Started in November of 2000. Should have been October, but Dell screwed me there too - should have known then that this was a bad place to work. Another topic for another thread. I was hired as a blue badge (a Dell employee, not Spherion) and hit the floor. Worked my way to SR II (highest level sales rep), had been a mentor since my 6 month on the floor, and was shooting for Coach.

The Setup:
In September of 2003, managers in AO1 were asked to get 10 volunteers to go to the call center in Toronto, Canada to help the sales force. The term was to be for the entire month of October and we would be in a hotel that Dell would pay for along with rental cars and a daily allowance for meals. Sounds great right? The perfect way to advance at Dell. I was one of the more senior reps on the floor and my manager and I were pretty close . . . I thought. He offered this to me like he was handing me the Golden Goose. I bought it. Told my g/f of 3 years that I needed this and that there was NO WAY that I would be denied coach when I returned in November. She and I agreed that it was the right thing to do, even though a month was a long time to be away.

All ten volunteers were required to apply for a Dell Corporate American Express credit card for the trip. This was so that all the expenses could be tracked, even though we would be required to keep all receipts and ALCOHOL was strictly forbidden on the card. That was fine with us. I applied for the card and put my address as “1 Dell Pky.” with the rest of the AO1 address and my telephone number as the 1-800 number with my extension. I wanted to make it clear that this card was a “Dell” card and not for personal use. I didn’t use ANY of my personal information other than my name and SSN. The cards arrived the day before we were to leave and we were set to go.

The Trip:
This was fairly uneventful. Dell had made reservations for all of us at a nice hotel not too far from the office. The rooms were FAR nicer than I expected. Each of us had our own suite with a kitchen, living room, and separate bedroom. The rooms were about $300.00 USD/night. I thought Dell was the greatest. We got 5 rental cars, one car for every other person. We all thought that was reasonable. All the gas and rental car fees were taken care of on the card. The hotel was put on the card. All our meals were put on the card. When we wanted to drink with our dinners, we were all VERY careful to ask for a separate check for the drinks. This caused havoc with the servers, but it had to be done. Well, everything went great for the whole month. The numbers for the Toronto call center jumped to record highs, and we were getting emails of praise from the powers that be back in Nashville.

The Return:
We all got back and were happy to be home with our loved ones (some had kids that they had not seen in a month). The first work day after we returned, all of us spent the majority of the day organizing all of our receipts and stapling them to 8 ½” x 11” sheets of blank paper to turn them in. We all made photo copies of the papers (which were generally about 20 pages long with an average of 5 receipts per page) and turned them in to the appropriate individual. We also found out that there was a hiring freeze that had occurred while we were away. Translation: No promotions to coach for any of us. Well, ok, it was fourth quarter and they needed all hands on deck to handle the expected call volume. We swallowed that and figured that in Q1 we would all be immediately promoted to coach.

The Ultimate Screwing:
As the months of Q4 passed, MANDATORY OT and all, we did our jobs and kept our heads down. However, in January, I began to receive past due notices from Amex at my HOME ADDRESS!!! The bill was for over $3,000.00. I was puzzled because I had not given my home address on the application. I called Amex immediately and notified them that I was not responsible for the charges on that card. They needed to call their contact at Dell and straighten this out. The next day, in the middle of the Q4 push with the phones ringing off the hook, I brought the letter to my manager and said I was confused, worried, and pretty upset. He said what managers always says,”Get on the phone and take calls, I’ll handle this”.
Well, a few weeks later, I get another letter. The difference was that this was a COLLECTIONS LETTER!!! Now I was PISSED! I stormed into the office the next day and demanded that this be taken care of BEFORE I GET ON THE PHONE. I was not going to take ONE ACD until I had WRITTEN confirmation that the bill had been paid. So now the BS starts. My manager tells me that I had never turned in my receipts. WHAT!? The problem with this little turd of a lie was that ALL TEN of us were told the same thing. I can buy that ONE of us didn’t turn in our receipts, but ALL TEN? Come on. Oh, did I forget to mention that the other nine “volunteers” were getting the same letters and collections notices? Hmmmmmmmm. So then the ASMs were involved. Why they were not involved from the first letter I don’t know.
Ok, now a few more weeks go by and I am STILL getting collections letters for my Amex bill. I bring the letter into my manager – just I have all the previous letters. This time I tell him that I am getting EXTREMELY upset. He repeats what all managers do, ”Get on the phone and take calls, I’ll handle this”. He comes back to me later that day and tells me that they are working on it and will have it resolved soon. I have had it with the same old song and dance. I call HR and ask to meet with the director of HR. The next day I am in a conference room with him and tell him the entire story. His words to me, “That’s horrible. I am so sorry you’ve ad to go through all this. However, there is nothing that I can do for you”. WHAAAAAAAT!!!??? Then I realize that the only two things HR is responsible for at Dell is keeping the company out of harms way when it comes to the latest politically correct policy, and firing people. That’s it, nothing more. Dell HR is there for the company, not the customer and CERTAAINLY not the employee.
A few days later I am informed that the bill has been paid. I breathe a deep sigh of relief and I am thankful that this entire ordeal is over. Then, I get ANOTHER letter from a collections company. We’re going on March now. This one is for about $300.00. I call them to tell them that it has been paid. They tell me the bill for the charges on the card has been paid. They are trying to collect the LATE FEES that have accrued due to the amount of time that lapsed between Amex billing and the actual payment of the balance. Dell looked at the total and only paid the charges from the trip – they willfully ignored the late fees. At this point I’m starting to get snappy with customers on the phone. Why should I take care of them when Dell can’t even take care of me? I’m feeling betrayed by the company that I had allegiance to. I did everything that was ever asked of me, and then volunteered for more. Why am I being treated this way by my company?
I go back and start asking why the ENTIRE balance of the outstanding bill was not paid. The woman I talk to at 8-4040 says that it is Dell policy not to pay late fees on company Amex cards. Well, I understand this . . . when the managers and ASMs don’t turn in their receipts on time. But when it’s Dell’s fault – THEY need to pay the late fees. “I’m sorry, that’s just not possible sir.” You’ve got to be kidding me!!! Dell screws up and doesn’t pay my bill on time for a credit card they told me I had to get, and all charges are for items authorized by Dell. I didn’t get to pick my hotel. I didn’t get to pick my airline or my reservations for my flights. Good policy. Black and white. No room for exceptions. Just fantastic.
Now my manager is being considered for an ASM position at the new call center in Oregon. He’s never in AO1 and I have no one to roll my issues up to. I talk to the manager on the team next to mine. He says I should go to the ombudsman. I’m thinking, “Is he crazy? They’ll fire me before I can even get a meeting!” Then he tells me, “There are lots of people that have used the ombudsman, people that I know, and they are still here”. Ok this gives me confidence. I make the call.
The ombudsman tells me to bring all the paperwork I have to our meeting. I have everything in my desk. All I need is the letters I gave to my manager. So I call him on his cell phone in Oregon. He tells me he’s house shopping and needs to make this quick. I ask him where the letters are and he tells me they are on his desk in the corner. I walk over to his desk and look. I couldn’t believe my eyes. In the corner were roughly 10 letters, most of them un-opened. You can see the progression from looking at them. At the bottom of the stack are letters with American Express printed on the envelopes. There are about 4 of these. Then, as you work to the top of the stack (the most recently postmarked letters) they change to letters with the collection company’s return address. All with my name on them and the address is “1 Dell Pky.” I’ve never even seen these! This just gets better and better. When I call my manager back, this time almost screaming at him, I ask why these are on his desk. He tells me that he was, “Waiting for a few more to come in before he took them to the ASM” Wha huh???
So I go and meet with the ombudsman. I tell her my story. She is pretty surprised. The story is fairly unbelievable, except for the fact that I have all the documentation to back it up. She asks me what I want. I tell her I want the late bill paid AND a signed letter from the Dell CFO to Amex stating that all late charges are Dell’s fault and that my credit should be cleared of any delinquent bills. She tells me she’ll check it all out.
In the meantime, I pay the $300+ in late fees so I can just get the collections agency off my back. BTW, they were calling EVREY day by then. I just want to stop damaging my credit and get this done with.
A week or so later I meet with my ASM. She hands me a piece of paper that states that all charges were Dell’s fault. I can’t believe it. The ASM asks if there will be anything else. She is visibly ticked off that I have bucked the system and have forced management’s hand into doing something. Even though it’s taken months and an ombudsman to do so. I tell her I would like to be reimbursed for the $300+ I had to pay the collections company. She says that I will be reimbursed. At this point, I have had it and I say that I would like it in writing and I want a deadline for the reimbursement. I tell her, “Every time Dell has asked me to do something, they have put a deadline on when it must be completed by. It is not unreasonable for me to ask the same thing in return.” Her face turned bright red and she leaned across the table and said, “The employment contract you signed never had an end date on it.” I couldn’t believe it. She just threatened to fire me! Well, at least I got my piece of paper for Amex and I knew where I stood at Dell. I was never going to get anywhere at this company after this ordeal. I had beaten the system, ever so slightly, but I had beaten it. They can’t have someone like me around.

The Wrap-up:
Well, everyone else who went on the trip paid their collections fees just like I did. No one else went to the ombudsman. In fact, only 2 other reps stayed with the company long enough for all of this to pan out. Everyone else left in the months following the Canada fiasco. We all had our credit hit, and I was the only one who pushed hard enough to get a letter clearing my name. I left Dell in June of 2004 after they restructured the floor into the two sales queues. I was put on a crappy team that got 2-11 PM schedules for 3 months at a time. There was no light at the end of the tunnel, with the exception of quitting. It was fun at the end. When people called in and complained about the India tech support I told them the truth. “Sir, in an effort to save operating expenses; Dell has moved all Home sales tech support over seas. I don’t like it either. I have to talk to the same people when I call for support.” When people would call in and ask why their sales rep sold them a bunch of stuff they didn’t need, I would tell them, “Well, we get paid based on how many peripherals we sell you and if we can get you to finance the system though us. When you ordered we were having a contest on printers. The fact that you got 3 printers is probably not an accident. The sales rep was just trying to win the contest.” It was fun and since I was quitting I didn’t care. It was my tiny contribution to screwing Dell back 1/1000000000000 as much as they screwed me.

The Moral:
GET IT IN WRITING!!! This is true for any company – but especially when dealing with Dell. If you are asked to do anything that is above and beyond normal day to day operations, make them put it in writing. If you EVER get a corporate card with Dell, photocopy all receipts and get a written document from the person that collects those receipts. You’ll probably still get screwed, but at least you’ll have documentation of them breaking their promise. VERBAL PROMISES AT DELL ARE WORTH LESS THAN THE AIR THEY ARE SPOKEN WITH.


Now let’s see if anyone can top that!
_________________
At Dell, even if you're right - they bend you over.

[paul_dellcc]

Fuckin' eh

That surely wins the prize.

I thought mine was a horror story but when I read yours...holy shit

The only thing I disagree with is about paying the late fees. I know it's a pain in the ass to get those phone calls but if you pay them in some way you are recognizing it's your fault and not Dell's...

I'm glad to hear you could sort it out and finally quit.

DellDirectSales: you can see how bad it is that you feel relieved when you quit...
_________________
I see DELL people!!

If we don't remember our past, we can't understand our present and we can put in danger our future...

[3.5YR Dell Vet]

Thanks for the reply.

I think this one might take the prize for some time to come.

I look forward to shedding some light in the forum. Since I worked the system for a VERY long time - I have some insight others may not.

As far as paying the late fees, I wanted to stop the hemorrhaging on my credit report.

What if Dell never conceded to giving me the letter? My spite would have only hurt me and it would be MY credit that is affected. Not Dell's.

At some point you have to admit to yourself that Dell is bigger, has better resources, and an endless source of funds.

Dell VS Individual?

Dell wins EVERY time.
_________________
At Dell, even if you're right - they bend you over.

[paul_dellcc]

No problem

[3.5YR Dell Vet]

Paul -

A lot of people think that if a person or a company does something wrong that you can take them to court and "Kick their butt!"

SOOOOOOOO not true.

First off, Dell would BURY me in court. They would submit requests for continuance for oddball reasons forever. Then they would file motion after motion after motion, all based on rock solid legal precedence.

They could keep this out of court for YEARS. Over what, $300.00?

My retainer for an attorney would be ten times that.

What you HAVE to understand is that corporations like this have you by the short and curly’s when you work for them.

Accept it or quit.

Read my signature.
_________________
At Dell, even if you're right - they bend you over.

[paul_dellcc]

Yes I know and I understand it, and if it were $10 I'll do it anyway.

I'm so stubborn that I don't care

I wanna kick their asses

As you can see, I'm not thinking with my brain...f*ck Dell

BTW, welcome to the forum.
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I see DELL people!!

If we don't remember our past, we can't understand our present and we can put in danger our future...

[PokeyJoe]

Worked with Dell for 5 years (97-2002).

You should have spent some time and familiarized yourself with the tons of information regarding corporate charge cards and the expectations placed upon you when you applied for a Dell AMEX card (I had one and I used it for travelling to Nashville when I helped train).

By the terms of the agreement, YOU are responsible for all charges. Dell would have reimbursed you for business related expenses. And you COULD have bought dinner in a strip club, as long as you paid the bill. YOU were responsible. Not Dell. You signed the contract. Not Dell. You put the wrong freaking address on the application. Not Dell.

Here's some free legal advise. Next time, read the damn contract before you sign it.

Personally, I'm glad you didn't get anywhere at Dell. They already have enough idiots working there.

[paul_dellcc]

When the Dell trainers came to Argentina from Utah they had Amexs. That's all they used to pay, no cash. They didn't pick the hotel, Dell did.

All was going to be paid by Dell, not them. I don't understand. And if 3.5YR Dell Vet had signed a contract, Dell wouldn't have paid the $3000.00 to Amex don't you think

BTW, there is no need to be rude.
_________________
I see DELL people!!

If we don't remember our past, we can't understand our present and we can put in danger our future...

[drudixon]

I don't think u can file continuance in Small Claims. Remember, most companies would rather sell than face court.

[paul_dellcc]

Doesn't matter if they file motion after motion after motion, someday you'll win.

It depends on how patient you are.
_________________
I see DELL people!!

If we don't remember our past, we can't understand our present and we can put in danger our future...

[3.5YR Dell Vet]

Sorry if I came off a little terse Paul. The whole thing still gets me peeved even after all this time. I apologize if I came across rude. I was simply trying to play devil’s advocate.

Both of my parents are attorneys. My father is the one that suggested that I pay the $300.00 to the collections agency and be done with it. He knows better than anyone what would have happened had I taken the plunge. He let me make the choice, but he told me what the consequences would be if I let my spite for the company consume me.

I was all hot for blood when all this happened - then he talked some sense into me. If I took them to court, I needed to have another job when I did it b/c my employment at Dell (which in TN is "At Will") would have been terminated. No, they would not have fired me for taking them to court – they would have used one of a million other reasons to get rid of me. Anyone who works at Dell knows that they can bust you at any time due to the outlandish number of policies on the books.

Basically, it came down to opportunity cost. Was I willing to lose my job and spend hours if not days in court over $300? To me, the answer was no. Someone else may be willing to go thru the entire process and cut their nose off to spite their face . . . I was not. Besides, I got the letter I needed to clear my credit. Why be greedy?

This does not mean that I concede to them. It just means that there was a line that I was not willing to cross. As I mentioned in my first post, my ASM all but threatened to fire me when I tried to play hardball with them the way they had done to me. And all I did was ask for a deadline for the money to get paid back.

It's a double standard, and it always weighs-in in Dell's favor.
_________________
At Dell, even if you're right - they bend you over.

[paul_dellcc]

Sorry 3.5YR Dell Vet, the rude comment was directed to PokeyJoe, not you.

I said before that I agree with you. When I think about it, when the hot for blood dissapears, I realise that what you did is what I should you if I were in your shoes.

I hope I expressed myself correctly this time
_________________
I see DELL people!!

If we don't remember our past, we can't understand our present and we can put in danger our future...

[jimizs]

Sorry to hear about your story on how Dell screwed you, But when I quit, They owed me almost $ 24,000.00 and won't even give me a meeting w/ the omsbud people. Hundreds of systems I sold never made it onto my sales records. They just keep saying that they will get back w/ me. Its been a year now.. Guess everyone involved is no longer there so it has been forgotten. I can't get emails answered and phone calls just get transfered and then someone will just get back with me.

Working with Dell is definately an experience- especially in the wallet.

Jimizs

Dell will pee on you and tell you its raining....

[systek]

[3.5YR Dell Vet]

First of all, you must have some serious personal issues to get so mad at a complete stranger. Get some help man.

Secondly, how in the hell is it my fault that they did not pay my bill on time? That they lost my reciepts?

The only reason you haven't had problems is that you didn't have a completely incompetent moron handling the reciepts (something none of us has control of).

My issue is that even after Dell knew they had screwed up, it took an ombudzman to get them to even acknowledge something happened.

If they really cared about their employees, they would do everything possible to correct the mistake rather than try and sweep it under the carpet and stonewall anyone that tries to resolve the issue.

Oh, and don't forget to get some help.
_________________
At Dell, even if you're right - they bend you over.