(Sorry for the length, but…)
Dell Computer<!—-><!—-> <!—->
Round Rock, <!—-><!—-> <!—->Texas<!—-><!—-><!—-><!—->
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<!—->May 26, 2009<!—-> <!—-><!—->
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Dear Sir or Madam,<!—-><!—->
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In all humility, I offer you the following lesson in “how to lose a loyal customerâ€, perhaps you will find it of value in the future.<!—-> <!—->
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I am a 3rd time Dell owner, and have always recommended your products to friends and colleagues. When I purchased my most recent laptop, my second such from Dell (a Studio 1535), I did so in what now appears to be the mistaken belief that you retained the qualities and service that I had experienced in the past. <!—-> <!—->
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From the start this laptop was, as the popular term has it, a dog. I had repeated driver corruption issues, and was told by tech services that they had no explanation, and then that I had a virus (incorrect). After reinstalling the drivers for (as I recall) the fifth time, it was revealed to me that there had in fact been a driver issue which was since resolved. Shortly thereafter, my “media controls†went bad and I was instructed by tech services on how to disassemble my laptop, repair the bad connection and reassemble it. Fair enough, but not a good sign. <!—-> <!—->
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After approximately six months of ownership, the DVD drive failed. I was informed it would have to be returned for service. I asked several times about the preservation of my installed software and files and was advised to remove my hard drive before shipping. I was reassured that upon reinstallation I would be ready to go. After 2 weeks (for a 5-6 day repair) my laptop was returned to me.<!—-> <!—->
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Let me preface the next comment by mentioning that I am one of those people who takes meticulous care of their property. The laptop I sent you was cosmetically flawless. I am guessing that in the service department they pop the cases apart, toss them together and then randomly remove them for reassembly. I make this guess because the case my laptop lives in now is scratched top and bottom and has the Intel sticker conspicuously pealed off, with only a gooey residue in it’s place (precisely why I never removed mine). I probably do not need to mention how utterly insulting it is to return a pristine product for service and get one in return which is less so. This is particularly unadvisable when dealing with someone who has to send his laptop in for repeated manufacturing faults, but I imagine you know that. <!—-> <!—->
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All this, however, is merely preamble for the true measure of how not to treat a customer who is already raw. Upon unpacking my computer… it was dead. Would not boot or run at all and gave repeated error messages.<!—-> <!—->
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I started a chat session with tech service that lasted an hour and ultimately concluded that I would need to do a complete reinstall of my hard drive. In the event that you aren’t aware, this means not only the better part of a day wasted but more importantly all the files I had tried so hard to preserve are now lost. When I asked whether there was any solution to this, I was advised that only if I wished to pay for special service… that’s right… pay Dell to preserve the files they had caused by utter negligence to be lost. Maybe it’s me, I’m sure you have a perfectly reasonable explanation of why I shouldn’t expect a product to return from factory service in good working order but it eludes me.<!—-><!—->
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I was also assured a phone call from a senior technical manager to make sure that my software installation went smoothly (so far it hasn’t after 2 hours) but not surprisingly that call has yet to come.<!—-> <!—->
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In utter disgust and exasperation, I made a phone call to customer “serviceâ€, who managed to disconnect me twice and transfer me four times (“Bremâ€, “Dennisâ€, “Nichan†and “Sidâ€), all of whom assured me they were transferring me to someone who they had already briefed on my situation and of course none of whom had a clue why I was calling. The final conversation was with Sid, with whom I was “disconnected†but apparently lacked the motivation to retrieve my number and call me back. I would be remiss if I also didn’t suggest that a high tech leader like Dell might have a phone system that wouldn’t make a third world nation blush with shame. I don’t think could clearly understand 1/3 of what was being said to me, accents aside. My closest analogy would literally be <!—->Dixie<!—-> cups and string, but those seem less likely to drop calls.<!—-> <!—->
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I apologize if I sound unusually sarcastic or antagonistic in tone but as I write this, I have now invested approximately 4 hours in getting my laptop, fresh from Dell service, to work as well as it did when I sent it in, not to mention having some lovely scratches to remind me of this whole experience. It would not be a stretch to say that this as been the singularly poorest experience I have ever had with anyone short of a purchase made at a run down pawn shop in my college years. <!—-> <!—->
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Sadly, it seems that other than advising you that this will undoubtedly be my last Dell purchase the only way I can return these many favors is by making sure that everyone on my mailing list (if I can ever get it recovered) receives a copy of this letter, including my colleagues at MSDN (Microsoft Developer’s Network).<!—-><!—->
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Sincerely, <!—-> <!—->
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Paul Berendsohn<!—-><!—->
(service tag XXXXXX )<!—-><!—->
President<!—-><!—->
Berendsohn Brothers, LLC<!—-><!—->
[email protected] <!—-><!—->
Edited 5/27/2009 6:48 am ET by PaulBinCT
Replies
I have one Dell Computer (laptop). While it is a decent computer, I have had the need to contact their customer service and the lack of true service has left me with the idea of avoiding dell in the future. I have since purchased 2 desktops and one laptop, none of which are from dell.
I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
Found a great website that lists the email addresses for Michael Dell, the VP for marketing and the VP for consumer affairs... let's see if they get bounced back :PPaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
Funny, Had the similar experience w/ HP after switching from Dell. Unfortunately I get the feeling this type of customer service is industry wide.
dell stock has been downgraded because of lowered quality standards and lower customer service rankings.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
michael has made his mark and his money, now he doesn't care.
"If you have enough energy you can solve a lot of other problems." - Charlie Munger, Berkshire Hathaway.
We have an abundant supply of domestic natural gas. Let's get busy solving problems.
So, how close did you actually come to smashing the thing to smithereens?
That sucks big time! What a bunch of idiots.
Been thinking laptop lately..............Dell actually...........no more!
"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking." — Sherlock Holmes, 1896
Update:
I sent that letter to Michael Dell and several VPs. Within an hour I had a reply from a VP promising me action (what that might be at this point I haven't a clue, as I am not sending the computer back, I have already spent 6 hours reinstalling software). This morning I had 3 more emails from another VP and the head of tech support so if nothing else comes of this maybe it will be a good wake up call.. gotta love the internet ;)
Keep you all posted.PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
In times past it has been quite the reputible company I myself have purchased from them on multiple occasions. This shall give me considerable pause to do so again. I too have reccomended them to a host of friends and wiil no longer do so. It remains to be seen as to whether or not the company is able to resurect the quality controlls it was once well known for H.P. anyone...
That's a good example of how to write letter to get action, well done. Let's see if the Dell execs act on it.
Did it have Vista loaded on it? My HP LT with Vista has always had a problem retaining drivers for anything I plug into the the USB ports.
Yeah, it has Vista but I don't believe that has any bearing on it. After having to reinstall the drivers maybe 5 times, someone at tech support finally let slip that there had been driver issues and they had been corrected... I'll keep everyone posted on whether anything substantial comes of this.PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
Soooo, you're not going to be the next featured 'laptop hunter' on the PC ads?Hope that Dell steps up and takes care of it for you.If not, I understand that Festool is coming out with a laptop this year :)How's the MS development coming along?'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
View Image
Festool laptops? Great!
"If you have enough energy you can solve a lot of other problems." - Charlie Munger, Berkshire Hathaway.
We have an abundant supply of domestic natural gas. Let's get busy solving problems.
Did you make your purchase from Dell Home Users (or whatever they call it) or Business?
I've come to the opinion that there are 2 distinctly different business units at Dell now. One for home & small office which seems to do poorly in cust. serv. and the business unit that I dealt with on my last PC-buy and had stellar service. (I must say that I've had no tech issues yet and only delath with them on purchases issues.)
Hard to explain why they have 2 different service levels though.
I think it was the business group, but can't say for sure. I'm curious what the various muckety mucks are going to propose, nor am I sure that there's anything to be done anymore to be frank. But, sure seems like things are buzzing...PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
Vista has everything to do with it.Drivers are software.Losing drivers is a software issue.Maybe Dell has mucked around with the vista that they install on their computers, and that caused the issue. (Which they say they have fixed.)...Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy..You are always welcome at Quittintime
OK, just got the promised phone call from The Big Kahuna of customer service... they are sending me a new laptop, or if mine is no longer current, an upgrade. Much more than I expected. I'm supposed to get a phone call later with the exact details.
On the bright side, I'm getting to be expert at installing software ...PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
That's great. Any hope for your data?
TFB (Bill)
Nah, already gone... the frustrating thing is that it's there (I can see the file folders) but because of whatever service did, they are unaccessable or corrupt. But under the circumstances, I think Dell did right by me, or says they will... I'll keep you all posted.PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
Wow! That's pretty impressive. Hope their follow through is as good as the wind up.
Depending on how valuable the inaccessible data is there are data recovery methods as well as companies that do it for you that you can use to try to recover the data on your drive. The ones I had try to recover a failled HDD were no data no pay so if they were unsuccessful there was no charge to you. CBL Data Recovery and Action Front Data recovery were the 2 and were estimating around $1500 if successful. A lot of it depends on your geographic luck as to who is nearby or shipping costs. Google Data Recovery and your nearest big city and go from there.
Yeah I've dealt with those firms. This stuff is mostly emails which aren't the end of the world and lots of Chief Arch files etc that I hope to be able to copy from my desktop PC but what a time waster. Spent over 10 hrs reconstituting things before I got word they were going to replace it, so no point continuing...PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
I had a Gateway years ago. Bought it from their store in Burlington MA. it needed service after a few years and they installed used parts into it. Oh I was upset all right after they pointed out the fine print.
A friend of mine had his Gateway box hanging over the road in front of his house from a rope. He attached many plastic lemons to it with strings. He mail ordered it. Funniest thing you ever wanted to see. Gateway didn't see the humor in it when he sent them the picture.
I'm not a fan of mail order computers because of the above. Dell could be the best thing on the market but I only buy local, face to face with someone standing in front of me and from whom I can get service from directly. I'm not going toe to toe with some barely understandable customer service rep from god knows where.
It would not be the first or last electronic device I put a bullet thru or pounded to death with a ball peen hammer. Yes I did send the beat unit back back to the company with a very nice note telling them that they were not successful in their repair attempt and to please try again. The expression on the local post office clerks face was priceless when he heard all the loose parts floating around in the box.