Dell's service is the pits! (1 Viewer)

Not sure which is the best sub-forum for this, but I will talk about it here. I've never dealt with Dell before, and after today, I never will again.

The abridged version:

I ordered a new Canon digital camera yesterday. I get it today because I am planning on taking some photos for work over the weekend. Well, upon inspecting the camera either the lens or the film covering the lens is damaged. This is on the inside of the lens, so it was not any sort of surface contact that caused the damage. Furthermore, I noticed it as soon as I took the lenscap off.

Well, I was dreading an hour or two of having to deal with returns hassles but little did I know it would be worse.

From the first moment I called, their call center bounced me around from department to department. I eventually talked to each department over 4 times each; everytime I did, they said that this next transfer would be able to help me. Numerous times, I was sent to the Dell Financial Services department, which is neither part of Dell nor has an account with me.

Four hours pass with me constantly calling trying to get an answer, even from managers. Near the end, I keep getting dumped in someone's voicemail that is out of the office until next Tuesday.



Long story short, Dell sent me an expensive digital camera that does not work, has charged me a hefty amount of money, and is not allowing me to progress any further. To an extent, it feels like I have been a fraud victim.

The order packing slip does contain a "send returns to:" address but I am weary because they can say "Well we never got it" at which point I don't have anything to stand on.

Any suggestions? (Besides never using Dell again!)

Call your credit card company and have the charge put on hold. That ought to get Dell's attention. I assume at some point in all of this you got an incident number. Call the service center, give them the number, tell them you expect a call back from a supervisor within the hour. Ask for the e-mail address of the person who will be calling you back. If the service drone can't give it to you, ask to be transferred to HIS (HER) supervisor. Don't take "no" for an answer, don't let them sit there going through their little on-screen script or decision tree. Short-circuit the process. The fact is they can get you to a supervisor or even a second line manger if you make them want to. Make sure you get a name or some identification from the agent. (First and last name, badge number, something unique. Trust me, they do have such a thing.)

I worked at a call center for Gateway and I know how these places operate. The service reps are judged on several things, including number of first-call fixes, customer satisfaction, and courtesy (yes, the bosses really do listen in to random calls, and they record the best and worst calls and play them back to new hires as training material.) But above all they are judged on how many calls they handle per shift and how many minutes they spend on each call. There is great pressure to keep calls short - find a fix quickly or hand the caller off to someone else who can help them - hence your being transferred around. Make it clear to the person who picks up the phone that you don't want to talk to him and you've got a shot a moving up the food chain. Just make sure you document everyone you talk to so that you can name names when you write your letters of complaint. (And make sure everyone knows why you're collecting the information - that will encourage them to do right by you.)

Regards,

Joe

Then again, you never know! This is what happened to me.

I ordered their 20 WS monitor, and got it on Friday. By the time I plugged it in they were closed, and I had an entire row of pixels dead! Right across the middle of the screen!

So, I called them on Monday, early. They sent a courier by to pick mine up, and on the same day sent out another one. I got it on Wednesday, and it is flawless.

It took one call, and lasted about 10 minutes at the most.
Go figure!

They do email out satisfaction surveys, but they take about a week. I hope you fare better next time.

Glenn

Oliver,
I used to work at the Dell support in Round Rock. I talked to people that had there unit's under a company name. Any way. .. Since this was a Cannon camera, it is not supported by the normal tech support guys. They don't have a part number to send out a replacement one. You would have to talk to either the Cannon help desk, or the Software & Peripherals. I think the customer service guys can also help you out. Here is a little help for next time. If you get someone over sea, ask for a manager. If they start giving you a hard time, keep asking for one. They don't have any L2 support(managers) over there. They have to transfer the call back over here to the US. You will never talk to a real manager. It will always be a level 2 tech support person. But, they do have more say on what they can send out. I know when I was working out there, I was layed back on what I sent out. At least within my scope. I couldn't send out a new laptop because the one the person had was dropped by there kid, and they didn't have Complete Care. Or the guy that dropped his Axim on the subway tracks. Yes, most of the people there do just read from the DSN tree(Dell Solution Network). But, there were a few of us that tried.
As for there badge number, they don't all have a Dell badge one. But, the all should have a rep ID. It should be a 4 or 5 digit number.

What I have always found that works the best is to skip over all the customer service reps and just go to the CEO. Call up customer service and ask them for the mailing address of the corporate office. Then send off a letter to the CEO explaining your situation and your frustration. Also, ask them for an Return Authorization Number so you can return the product and include a letter describing the problem you are having. Send it certified mail so you get a card back with the date, time and person who accepted it on the card sent back to you for your records.

Have your credit card company do a charge back for your purchase. Explain to your credit card company that you have been unable to get your purchase problem resolved thru their normal channels. Your credit card company will hear from them and they will talk to them on your behalf and try to resolve the matter for you. You should be hearing back from either Dell or your credit card company very soon after doing the above.

Never let the customer service people give you the run around shifting you from one department to another. If you aren't getting anywhere within a few mintues you aren't going to anyway and it isn't worth your time. Just hang up and do the above.

Just an FYI here is some info if you do want to talk to someone at Dell
Mailing Address:
1 Dell Way
Round Rock, TX 78682

E-Mail: [email protected]

Just so you know, No you are not going to talk to Michael. But, he does have a group of people that try to resolve problems. The group, at least on the business side, is called REC. With that, you will always deal with the same person until it has been fixed. I know some of the guys in there, and most of them are good people. But, they are limited on what they can do as well. One guy wanted a new system replacement because his hard drive went out. He was about 2 years out of warranty. That they can't do.

Well, this was really odd. I spoke with Dell again today and everything was taken care of in about 20 minutes. I should get my camera in about 5-7 days. It's unlikely that I will ever use Dell again at this point, but I will be their customer for this purchase at least.

I'll be writing a letter to them once everything is resolved.

Thank you for everyone's help!