Complaint Review: Dell Financial Services - Austin Texas

I too had a problem with Dell after years of satisfatory service. My problem was with the leasing department. After doing the run-around with them for a few months, I HAND-WROTE a letter directly to Michael Dell. 2 weeks later, I received a call from them that the problem was solved. You've got to be polite and stick to the facts. Going off half-cocked will never help. His address is: 1 Dell Way Round Rock, TX 78682

Pamela, I completely understand what you are going through with Dell. I bought my Dell using a payment plan and in the beginning I made numerous double payments in an effort to bring the balance down quicker. In time though, I was only able to make the agreed on monthly payment. I moved earlier this year, and contacted them to give my new contact information, and the statements began arriving at my new address, and I continued making my payments (on time). In July, for some unknown reason, I did not receive my statement for August. At that time I contacted Dell Financial to inquire about my statement. I was told a duplicate would be mailed to me. I waited..... and waited, no statement. Finally the first part of September, the phone calls started. I was called everyday for a week, and talked to a different "account rep" each time. And the majority could barely speak English. I was trying to determine why I did not receive my statement (and upset that my account was now considered "past due"). Nobody seemed to be able to be able to tell me why I had not gotten a statement. After many phone calls, I was finally connected to customer service. I was told that the last statement they had sent was returned to them by the post office. Did they bother trying to contact me? No. They have my phone number. They were able to talk to me numerous times, rudely at that to inform me that not only was I past due, but that I now owed a late fee. I told them to send me a statement & I'd be happy to get the account current, but that I would not give them my bank information over the phone. The person I talked to agreed when I said that it was their fault for not following up after I had contacted them initially asking where my statement was. She told me that they would waive the late fee if I brought the account up to date. I finally received my statement and saw that the late fee was still there. So I paid the amount, minus the $10 late fee. Since I was told it would be waived, I did not pay that part. Since that time (and my account is now current) I have been repeatedly harrassed by numerous people from Dell. They not only did not waive the late fee, but also as of the last statement I received last week (which is not due until 12/12/03) have added yet another $10 late payment fee -- and I must say that the last payment I sent in was posted on 11/9/03, 3 days before the due date. Yet another call came in 11/24 from some barely able to speak English rep telling me I owe $11.24 (which is not possible since my payment amount is an even dollar amount and the late fees are also in even dollar amounts). He argued with me for about 20 min, and even had the nerve to tell me that my last payment was not on his screen. I told him that's funny since I was looking at my statement while talking to him, and that payment was credited 11/9. He then went on to say that the numerous people who have told me that the initial $10 late payment fee was going to be removed from my account can't do it because only customer service can. I asked him why then are they all telling me that it will be removed. He couldn't answer, and again stated only customer service can do that. I asked him 3 times to connect me with customer service or at least give me the phone number and I'd call them myself. Each time he avoided answering, so I got pretty irate and told him that I was not paying that $10 or the 2nd $10 that they put on my account. He told me he'd make a note on my account. Tuesday comes, and yet another call from Dell Financial, this time a very rude woman named Karen. I told her that I had just talked to someone Monday evening. She said there was no record of me talking to anyone. I admit at that time I blew my stack. I told this idiot that I have talked to no less than a dozen different people, and everytime I talk to the next person in line, they seem to have no record of my talking to anyone previously. I told her that they have got to be the most idiotic outfit I've ever dealt with, because nobody seems to know what anybody else is doing. They have many different people doing the calling and nobody documents anything. I plan to spend time tomorrow trying to get this cleared up, but I am absolutely not paying the $10 late fee or the 2nd $10 either. This was their screw up from the beginning and although it would be easier to just pay the fee & get them off my back, it's the principle of the thing. As far as the computer itself goes, I am very satisfied with the product, but I will never again deal with Dell because the financing part of it is run by complete idiots.