A couple of weeks ago we bought two Dell XPS 8300 computer systems (CPU, monitor, keyboard, mouse) from Dell. We hired a local computer tech guy to help with the set up, data transfer, etc. First problem, on my wife's computer upon first start up there's a huge noise coming from the box. Tech opened the box and found a wire that wasn't connected that was being hit by the fan. Two days after set up, my computer dies (it won't turn on). I called Dell Customer Service and the pain began. I first asked for a replacement and for them to send their service guy to do the set up. They wouldn't go for that. They would send a replacement, but I would have to pay my tech guy again. At that point I asked for a refund. After many discussions with India, they finally agree to a refund for my computer. Then we had a wrangle about my hard drive (it contains much confidential customer information). They said I could buy it if I wanted to keep it, I wanted them to credit me to have a government level overwrite done. Finally I decided to eat the cost for the overwrite. Now it seems like they only want to refund the cost of the CPU and not the system that I bought. The people are well trained in India (even though they are hard to understand) and mostly they are trained to say no. They have consistently told me something, sometimes in writing and other time orally, that they have failed to follow up on. I've always been taught in business that mistakes can happen, but how you follow through is the key to customer relations and retention. It is certainly something that I have always followed in my businesses. Dell is the worst company that I have dealt with as far as customer service. Any suggestions (including how I can talk to someone in the US) would be much appreciated. And I know that Pugs or someone else will remind me that I should have bought an Apple - I know - but I'm sure they have outsourced their customer service to India as well.

welcome to Dell hell, btdt, if you have an attorney you do regular biz with, a $100 letter is probably worth it.

Customer service???
What is this strange thing you speak of?
In todays world it seems to be a genuine foreign concept to 99% of businesses.

I don't think you should have bought an Apple - one piece of crap is as bad as another. Being fiercely independent, what I did is learn how to build my own PC's, been doing it since 1990. Built them for work and home, no I.T. idiots to deal with, no hard to understand trans-Pacific calls, just good reliable computers (one old box has been running since 2003 without a glitch although I did have to update the HDD controller to install larger drives this year). Anybody can do it, well maybe not everybody, but its easy. Even easy to learn how to repair them when things do go wrong, I have just enough patience to succeed. As I write this I am surrounded by four tower PC's, including one that just runs SETI software searching for extraterrestrial life, and one laptop. I figure if a former curry salesman from New Deli can do it, so can I.

Fortunately, the Dell laptops I bought for my college bound cousins were trouble free, but then I bought them through my former employer's employee purchase plan. With over 5000 employees, Dell doesn't want to piss off a large customer, so they must actually test them before shipping. Now if I can figure out how to work this new cell phone I'll be doing something.

Try sending an email describing your problem to [email protected] they solve customer service, warrant and other problems for battered PC consumers.

My experience with Dell customer service has taught me one thing; never buy another Dell computer.

All we do is as soon as they answer DEMAND to speak to a supervisor then DEMAND to speak to someone who has English as their FIRST language, tell them (the supervisor) you are on business hours and will be sending them an invoice for your time along with a letter from your lawyer stating the terms of payment and the outcome of failure to pay, also inform them that YOU are recording the call for your records and for use in any court proceedings resulting from their failure to assist in a satisfactory outcome. That usually cuts through the BS and gets some genuine results.

You can also demand to be connected to a manager in the US. They are obligated to do that and it can result in more attention and faster resolution.

Dell has the worst customer service of any big time computer dealer. I do my own work on all my computers .

PM sent.

MtnHtr

Nope - talked to a guy in Indiana last time though.

Then there's that price thingy. The Windows style PC market has a very low profit margin to begin with and Dell lower yet. So you get minimal customer service. If hand holding is important visit a local integrator with a good rep.

Now Apple... Been on my list from way back when they went boutique and almost doubled prices overnight, just when I wanted to buy my first computer. The joy of a closed system.

I had a dell for years with no problems. Eventually I replaced enough of the guts it wasn't a dell anymore. Lasted me about five years as my gaming machine.
Build your own, it's easy.

Hindsight is...well. If you're going to buy something like a mass made Dell then buy it from Costco. The warranty is doubled and you deal with Costco VIP service.

I like Apple, great support and very stable O/S's for the most part. But they are not perfect and can have issues as well:

MacBook Pro Support Forum

MtnHtr

Which is explained by the accents of the 'support' people at Dell. That company will NEVER get another penny of my money.