Dell complaints

[Licky_201]

According to a recent press release, Dell is aiming to delight you with a new premium customer service offering—for a price.

Would you like to contact the same "dedicated" team of customer service reps every time you call? Would you like those reps to be "empowered to address a comprehensive range of issues?" Would you like those reps to be "based in North America?" All this can be yours, if you're willing to pay extra for it.

From Dell's press release (emphasis ours):


Dell's new premium support service is to provide a dedicated team of technical professionals which customers can contact directly for support of any Dell-branded product. This new fee-based offering is designed specifically for those customers who want to engage with the same dedicated team each time they have an issue with any of their in-warranty Dell-branded products.
The premium service offer provides household support by an advanced support team in North America for one year. The technicians are empowered to address a comprehensive range of issues across the breadth of Dell's product line.

"Our commitment to a great customer experience has never been stronger," said Ray Roman, vice president Dell global consumer services and support. . "This premium service is all about making the tech support experience more personal; users who want high-touch support can now receive it. We're excited to bring them to the market."

We wonder how they're going to upsell this service.
You: "Can I speak to your supervisor?"
Dell: "Ha, ha, ha! That'll cost you."

[FallenAngel]

As long as I was with the company, they had bantered about this very thing often. For a while, they didn't have to push the issue because they had badged Canadian call centers to help the "North America" contingency. Now that that is all but dead, and even more American sites closing or consolidating, it's no surprise that they'd enact this now.

It's amusing to me in the same light, because I can't keep track of how many times I've seen and/or heard people saying, "I'd gladly pay more for support as long as they guaranteed it'd be in North America!".

Well, time to put up or shut up I suppose. Their wishes have been granted it seems. It's just a matter of seeing how many were just talking to hear themselves speak.

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

Hopefully, nobody at this point will believe Dell when they say "premium service". They've been saying that all along, all the while demonstrating increasingly "substandard service".

Customers wanting better service, and "willing to pay for it" as they say, would best be directed to local brick-and-mortar retailers, which charge another couple hundred $ going in, but won't hang up on you or speak an undecipherable dialect when you come back with a problem.
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Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[FallenAngel]

The phrase, "You get what you pay for" doesn't wash anymore. It's now become, "You get what we give you, and make more money doing it".

Maybe it's time for people to go back to ghost boxes and create a surge of demand for custom builders (like myself lol), and be willing to pay the extra cash for it up front, and one time only?

Perhaps it's that time.

[Licky_201]

I had to laugh at the press release. For some reason I find it sad that anyone paying $1000 or more for a product would have to pay for a level of customer service that we all grew up accustomed to.

I am not a tech wizard but all in all, the 8 machines I purchased from Dell over the years performed quite well for me with minimal problems. What drove me away from Dell and to HP was the poor customer service and the recent attitude of the company.

As a businessman, I think Dell or any other computer company has basically two options to grow their business on a consistant basis....they can attack the marketplace on price which will work in the short run however most would then look for things to take out of the product. Or they can offer the best customer service in the industry and create a satisfied customer base that would be likely to repeat purchased with the company when needed. To do this is costly to short term thinking but in the long run it's a simple path to success. Companies like Dell, United Airlines, all cellphone companies, all cable companies and many more have chosen to take a short term approach and wonder why their business and profits are declining. The end result is a catch - 22....lower costs by closing plants, cutting employees and outsourcing the only real communication the company has with its customers...which in turn adversly affects the bottom line. And to top it off, the executives give themselves bonuses for doing just that.

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

'Executive bonuses' comes as close to defining the problem as anything.

Example: My 1998 Dell cost $2000, refurb, and it was the fastest machine they sold at the time. Discount the fact it was refurb, it still works, I'm using it now.

Today, to get the same performance (relative to today's standard) and the same longevity, you'd have to buy FOUR $1000 Dells--one to use and the others for spare parts.

So the price has declined by half and the integrity has declined by FOUR TIMES, while executive compensation has gone only one direction, up.

I don't have to editorially exaggerate to make it emphatically apparent what is happening.
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Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[CLCP4ME]

Dell computers just aren't worth what you pay for them. If service is an important aspect of the purchase package then you're definitely not getting what you paid for, then again maybe you are. I know I wouldn't buy a Dell, in fact 3 months after I started working at Dell I bought a really nice HP Desktop. Never had any issues and it's still working great. It was also half the price of an equivalent Dell system which would have cost almost $3000. I'd also enjoy pointing out that I used some of my Dell bonus this year to buy a nice little Toshiba notebook that works like a charm. YUP, just to recap I used Dell money to buy an HP desktop and a Toshiba laptop..........and it feels good!!!!!!!!

[Bane]

The differences between OEM's are minimal. Heck, the portables are mostly built by the same contractors. It's not like you can slice bread a whole lot of different ways when you're serving up bologna sandwiches.

Dell has room for improvements to be sure however they aren't trailing anyone. If you gave me that Toshiba notebook it'd be on Ebay within the hour.

[HellResident]

Sounds Like Hell On Call (HOC-a lugie) when it started off. They were to be the "Premium unlimited Service " until Hell figured out that if you give someone unlimited support,they might decide to use it. Then it became per incident with "Decrements" to 1 year plans and slimmed down scope of support.
If you buy service from Hell they will not give you what you paid for. Guaranteed.


HellNoLongerResident

[CLCP4ME]

[hotrodlincoln]

[hiwaystar]

Hey guys check out these babys they are what i sell in my shop had very little trouble out of the 250 I've sold. remember i run a small local shop.

jettaus.com
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I don't give a damn what it was desiged to do.
what can it do?