Dell poor customer service from overseas, total disregard for consumers Austin Texas
On May 25th, I made a purchase of a digital SLR camera and lens from a very nice sales agent from Austin, Texas. Laura stated that one of my items was out of stock (the lens) and it would ship in 1 week. She also said that the main item (the digital SLR camera) was going to ship the next day and I should receive it in 3 - 5 days. I agreed to the delay of the lens only and we completed the contract.
When I went on-line to check the order, I found that the scheduled ship date was June 12th! This is nearly 3 weeks after I placed the order. I also found that they had already added this to my DFS (Dell Financial Services) account and I was paying interest for it. This is in violation of the "contract" I made with the sales agent regarding shipment and billing.
I contacted customer service, which seems to be in India as they do not speak English very well. Not only are they very, very rude, but they refused to help me. I contacted DFS about the credit issue and received an email back which was not even close to what I was complaining about. I sent an email to the sales rep, and she promised she would resolve this and get back to me the same day. (Yah right). I sent an email to her supervisor Marisela_Lopez@Dell.com and she has yet to respond. I am not surprised that this has happened. It is just more of Dell screwing with consumers.
Another issue to be aware of is their "rebate" program. I purchased a maintenance agreement (call me stupid) and I was supposed to have received a $75 credit towards a further purchase. When I did not get it within the time period specified, I contacted customer service (in India) and was given a run around and was actually hung up on. I called back and believe it or not, I got it corrected. They agreed to credit it to my DFS account as I was trying to purchase the item stated above and wanted to use it against the purchase.
I have always purchased my computers from Dell. Until this incident, I have always been pleased with their service - but i must admit I never had to deal with their customer service (or lack of it). I am going to have to reconsider my further dealings with Dell as their customer support is deplorable. I also plan on contacting the IT Department of my company - TYCO International, regarding this issue. Maybe it is time that we look for another vendor for our computers and peripherals.
The New York State Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, has filed a lawsuit against the company stating "that the company engaged in deceptive financing practices." http://www.crn.com/hardware/199601141 . In the lawsuit, the New York attorney general said that consumers "who purchase Dell's products often find that many of the benefits and inducements featured in Dell's advertisements are illusory."
Dell, wake up and smell the coffee before it is too late and you find yourself out of business.
Gary
Clifton Springs, New York
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Gary
Clifton Springs,New York,
U.S.A.
It just gets better every day
#3Author of original report
Fri, June 01, 2007
I swear Dell must have hired a bunch of newbies to staff their customer service department.
As I stated above, the deal with sales was to ship the camera body right away and then to ship the lens in about a week. After contacting them numerous times, and deals including ordering on separate orders, etc., someone from customer service (in the US) contacted me and stated the camera body packaged and was shipping that same day. He provided me with a tracking number - so I went to the DHL website and guess what? The camer body had shipped on the 26th (5 days ago)! This is just as sales had promised it would. So, their website did not show the proper info, the customer service and sales department had not clue that it had been shipped.
Anyways, the camera body arrived today (June 1st). I went to the website to find and print out the mail-in $80.00 rebate form from the camera manufacturer. What I found was that, to get this rebate, I also needed to purchase a printer! Now I was really upset. Had I known this, I would have purchased the camera and lens as one unit. I called CS and spoke with a very nice rep in India. She apologized and agreed to credit my account for the $80.00. Now I just need to see if this actually goes through.
I think the problem with Dell is turn over and the lack of training/understanding by employees. Yesterday, it was announced that Dell is going to lay off 1/10 of their workforce (which is mainly temps anyways). They are trying to cut costs to make Wall Street happy when they should be focusing on customer satisfaction.
Come on Dell, refocus your priorities before it is too late. I will add to this post when I have anymore info to share.
Gary
Clifton Springs,New York,
U.S.A.
Here we go again, they must share customer service reps with Vonage
#3Author of original report
Fri, June 01, 2007
Since customer service totally blew me off, and I have yet to receive an email back for the complaints I have filed, I called sales regarding this issue. They suggested I reorder the camera and the lens in 2 separate orders and refuse the 1st order when it arrives. They claim that they have no way to cancel the 1st order even though it will not ship for 12 more days - BULL!! What they are trying to do is to get me to buy 2 cameras - pay for 2 cameras with my DFS, and then they will credit me for 1 when it is returned. My problem is - they will add it to my DFS account, charge me interest for it until they 'receive' the one camera back.
They must think I was brought up in the sticks or something like that. They have computers (duh) and phones (duh) and they can cancel an order before it is shipped. They think that I am stupid enough to pay finance charges on a $700 order - over $14 just because they are too d**n lazy to do their jobs and make this customer happy.
I have now lost all respect and loyalty for Dell. I hope that they close their doors tomorrow, I will not shed a tear. I am filing a complaint with the BBB and the New York State Attorney General. Maybe they will listen to them.