Complaint Review: Dell Computers

After writing and not recieving a response from Dell's "award winning" customer service department yet again, I decided to let other people know that Dell is not all it is cracked up to be. Of course, this is only my experience and I know of larger businesses who have bought multiple computers from Dell and have had no problems at all and excellent service.

I also know companies who have had to have their lawyers contact Dell in order to get any kind of response. Don't get ready for a refund if you are totally unsatisfied with your Dell Computer. So far, all I have seen people get is a bunch of free software (which is nice, but no refund).

The following is my account of my experience with Dell and is to be taken for what it is worth to you: My computer freezes up and shuts down for no reason. It commits random acts of wierdness, sometimes refusing to shut down or going into a state where it's not exactly on and it's not exactly off so I have to unplug the computer from behind. Then, at startup during the error check for improper shut-down every single time it freezes up yet again causing another improper shutdown. It does this several times each time I use it. This has happened from the very beginning (which was also around the time my monitor broke and I had to return it with MUCH trouble and stress from the Dell Service Department) way before I installed anything on this computer so I know the problems were not caused by me. I hate this computer.

I have been ripped off and will never buy another Dell. Somehow, they talked me into the music package. I still have no idea how my computer went from around the $1,200 mark (the newer version is now on sale for $999) to $2,200. I really got duped on that one. I was so nervous from buying on the phone that I didn't realize what was going on until it was too late. Imagine paying $2,200.00 for a computer that is barely useable.

Going through the stress of making monthly payments to a company who boasts great customer service but leaves you on hold for up to 45 minutes at a time only to be finally serviced by a rude and entirely inappropriate guy named Lew (along with a string of other "customer service" representatives who do nothing but transfer you from one person to another in a frantic attempt to break you down until you hang up so that they won't have to answer any of your questions because, like Lew, they have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

Imagine placing call after call and sending email after email to a company who never responds, all the while the problem with your lemon of a computer getting worse and worse. I would also like to mention that they people were much nicer and more willing to call, email and help when I was trying to buy my computer, even somehow suckering me into a $2,200 computer that I could have bought for around $1,000. Also, they are a lot more willing to call me when I run a few days late on a payment (they continually call 3-4 times per day every single day - at 7:30 in the morning and up to after 9:00 at night), but seem to somehow not be able to get a real person to speak to me when I call.

The representatives sure aren't busy when there is money to be collected. Forget the poor little customer who is plunking down $70 a month on a computer that can barely carry out the most basic operation without shutting down. Anyway, like I said, take it for what it is worth.

I really don't know what other brand I would have bought if I hadn't bought a Dell. And it sure does look cool. Even though, for the extra money I paid for the music package all I got was a tiny microphone, a subwoofer (I think that is what it is) and a CD burning program - I didn't even get the burner because I already had one.