"Dell is the worst online reseller I've ever experienced. I ordered a Samsung SM-348 (retail) on March 27, 2003 for 73 bucks and received a confirmation email from Dell. Two days later I recieved a email from Dell telling me that they are experiencing some difficulty with the order and they said it will be shipped on or before April 16. Thinking that I to order other parts to build my rig anyways, I said to myself no hurry and so I waited. After two weeks, all my other parts are in except for the combo drive from Dell. I was getting impatient and give Dell a call. The representative told me they couldn't fullfill my order and my order was cancelled. I was furious after waiting for two weeks without the damn drive. They further told me that they would give me a discount on an OEM dell combo drive that will cost me 79 bucks. Who wants a stinking Dell oem drive that is going to cost me more. At the end, it is me that got screwed over by Dell. I vowed never ever in my entire life to purchase any products from Dell no matter how cheap the price is. Boys and girls, learn from my mistake and always check reseller ratings when buying stuff online."

"on FEBRUARY 12. I place my order on http://www.dell.com.mx/. only available in spanish. :-(

After a fair amount of emails and phone calls the laptop arrives on MARCH 12., exactly one month later (two weeks later than promised).

Two or three days later, I am home playing with my new toy, the laptop dead freezes on me. So I turn it off, and I am not able to turn it back on.

Sitting there trying for half an hour, suddenly it just comes back on.

Everything is fine for another couple of days, leaving me with a little headache hoping it does not happen anymore.

But it got worse. On MARCH 31, I send an email to DELL computers, explaining the situtation, giving detailed problem description and of course, asking for a replacement machine.

Long story, many emails: so far I have not received any help whatsoever.

last friday (APRIL 11.) they promised they would send a technician to change the motherboard. :-(

APRIL 14.: I receive this email from DELL Technical Support Latin America:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Good afternoon,

The system is over the 30 days warranty exchange date. but if the motherboard replacement does not fix problem, the technician will call us to determine the next step.

thank you,
Olivia,
--------------------------------------------------------------

Very annoying is the current TV advertisement
YOU ARE NOT JUST GETTING A GREAT DEAL, YOU ARE GETTING A DELL
"

"My company has made many orders with Dell over the past year and a half, ordering nearly 2 dozen systems and various peripherals from them so we have an established relationship. This hasn't stopped them from snubbing our company, however.

I placed an order with the company for 3 systems with which there was the "option" to receive 3 free 17" monitors. Normally we wouldn't order monitors, but since some of our workstations are still running old 15" CRTs, the upgrades would be nice for "free". I use that term lightly since technically they're included in the cost of the system.

Anyway, when I received the email to let me know that the item was shipped, the free monitors were no longer listed on there. I contacted Dell via email as I usually do but did not receive a reply for nearly 2 weeks. When I did, they said that I did not click on the option to receive the monitors, and if I wanted to buy them I could have to order them through their sales department. I emailed them back explaining that I shouldn't have to pay for them considering I *DID* click on the button to get the free monitors as I had the owner of the company over my shoulder reminding me to click it. Dell never returned that email or my follow-up email.

This was not the first time this happened, though the previous time we had proof that they had changed the order after we had placed it. On another set of systems we ordered previously, we had opted for the double memory. Our email from them even confirmed that we had selected the memory. Dell explained that we didn't select that option and that we deselected the $100 rebate option, but after copying the email back to the representative, they changed their minds and gave us the $100 rebates instead of the memory.

One other problem I've had with them was ordering a automotive power inverter for the Inspirion 8200. Since I couldn't figure out which inverter model was meant for that version of the Inspiron, I called Dell's customer service. They placed an order for what they told me was the correct part over the phone. As it turned out, it was the incorrect part. When I called them back to ask them what they would do about it, they told me that all of their sales representatives know that there is no inverter for that model at this time and that they never would've done what I claimed they had done.

Needless to say, I've ended our company's relationship with Dell. If this is how they treat their customers especially after how much money has been spent with them, then they do not deserve our business."

"This error is probably a combination of Dell and UPS but after waiting 9 days it was never received. A view of the tracking number at UPS.com showed the system has been halfway across the country and back, passing my state twice. Wouldn't complain so much about Dell except after 2 phone calls felt like I was going it alone to track the order. Today I got a credit authorization that may take as long as 30 days to get my card, we'll see."

"I'm very pleased with my new Dell 8250 (2.53MHz, 120GB Hard drive, 4X DVD burner, etc) . While I expected a delay in shipping due to the ATI 9700 TX graphics card I ordered with the computer, the computer arrived four to six days earlier than I expected based on the estimate from Dell.

I was able to follow my order online from prebuild to shipping.

This is my fourth Dell computer (and I purchased one for my daughter. My first Dell was purchased in January 1986."

"Dell built and shipped in a timely fashion. I have dell laptop from 1997 that still works today (runs slow though, but hey what do you expect from 6 year old technology?). My desktop Dimention P-III 350 MHz still works (over 3 years old). Great customer service, only had problem with a laptop cd-rom drive. Since it was under warranty I didn't have to pay for shipping or replacement cd-rom. But it was refurbished drive, hmm. Well it works, I don't mind. Only pet peeve is all the advertisement I get from them; mail, fax, email. They probably used all the profit from one computer to cover all that mailing and faxing, kind sad. I did tell them to stop sending but they still do, oh well, it's great reading material while you're waiting for the bus."

"Wow, unbeatable price, unbelievable speed of delivery, and excellent build quality! I don't know how they can pull off a profit.
3/31/2003: Order placed
4/1/2003: System built
4/2/2003: Order shipped
4/4/2003: Order delivered.
Way to go Dell! "

"I am generally happy with my purchases from Dell. They are never able to fulfill their promise of email notification, however.

2/27/2003
Order 2 GB of memory for an excellent price. After waiting 1 week for a 2nd day delivery, I find that Airborne Express had a trouble with delivery as they didn't know my apartment number (which was correctly listed on my online receipt). I notify them of the correct aparment number, which they are required to confirm with Dell. After a few days more of waiting, it turns out that they notify me to file a claim with them as they lose the package.

03/10/2003
Dell refuses to immediately send me a replacement, stating it is their policy to make me wait 5 to 7 business days, even though none of this was my fault.

03/26/2003
After 2 weeks they ship the package again with Airborne Express for next day delivery (Expected 3/27/2003).

04/02/2003
I contact Airborne and they say they'll put a trace on the package. I confirm with them that on this package, there was also no Apt number.

I hold Dell 100% responsible for this situation. Sick of trying to deal with them over the phone, I use their email customer service. They usually take 2 days to give a response. I will never use their service again."

"Although not shown anywhere on their website, all Dell ground shipments are via US Postal Service. I live in a remote area and my post office can not deliver this shipment (no vehicle big enough). I don't have a vehicle big enough to go get it, so I'm stuck. Dell's Customer Service Reps were totally unresponsive to my problem, suggesting only that I can refuse the shipment. However, they also made it clear that it might be months before I get credited the cost.
I've tried several times to get an order built and shipped on time and in a quality manner from this company and find it totally lacking in organization, responsibility, and concern for its customers. Finally, on your very own Dell "details" page, they state they ship "UPS Ground". THAT IS UNTRUE! THAT IS MISLEADING. They ship ALL ground shipments vis the US POSTAL SERVICE.
"

"I purchased a Dell system that offered rebates. After 4 months I still have not received any rebates. I call the the rebate center and they refer me to Dell. I call Dell And they refer me to rebate center. What a runaround. They claim on one rebate that they did not recieve a packing slip--though I have confirmed delivery of it by mail and fax machine.
I would never buy a Dell again and for those of you that don't want headaches I would recommend you stay away from Dell. I filed complaints with credit card, BBB, and Attorney General. "

"I'm very conflicted. One the one hand these guys rock, they have totally revolutionized the way we buy PC's. I got a great product at a very good price. There customer service is well below par. I signed up for a shipping alert to notify me when my orders would ship. One of my products shipped with no e-mail? My other product isn't showing up in my order history? I know this is small stuff, but in the end this stuff matters. There a customer centric manufacturer but how can they be so lousy with customer service?"

"Just signed up as Dell reseller through ASCII association. I own a small network and software integration business and have been building systems for my customers for years. In some cases they prefer Dell but usually can be talked out of it. I figured it would be nice to actually be able to offer Dell systems as an option. Setting up the account was a hassle. My tax resale certificate was submitted with the first order which was supposed to be shipped in 2 weeks. When I called 10 days later to check on order status, I was told that the resale cert was not filled out correctly so the order was still on hold. When I asked why nobody contacted me to resolve this, the rep said the tax group had not notified him of any problem. I got the tax people on the line and they said the sales reps dont know the proper procedures and this happens all the time. Why are they telling me this instead of taking it up with management and getting it fixed? Hello??? Does anyone in this multi-billion dollar company have any initiative to fix their problems and make things work better? I asked the woman in tax dept what was missing on the form and she said she did not have access to the specifics but the notation on the account indicated it was not correctly filled out. Again, not very impressive that a high-tech company can not share information or communicate properly between departments. I asked what I could do to fix this and she said fill it out again and fax over. At least after all my complaining she was nice enough to go wait by the fax machine and process it immediately. After this the order was approved but will not ship for another two weeks so my customer must wait. On top of this Dell offers a very small margin to the reseller and their prices are very high compared to what I can build the same machines for. Overall it has been bad experience and I will probably go back to talking customers out of buying Dell machines in the future. Projects will get done faster and I will actually make a profit on the hardware."

"I bought my first PC -- a Micron -- in 1998. Over the next few years Dell leaped to the top of the pack both in sales and service, and so when I bought a second PC for my son in October 2002, I bought a Dell. I waited for just the right week with just the right promotions Dell was offering that week and bought a pretty powerful Dimension 8200 desktop. The sale over the phone went fine, and the PC was delivered in about a week. Everything seemed fine except for one problem. On many CDs and downloaded music there seemed to be distortion. I made my first of what was to be four calls to Dell technical support to help solve this problem. I explained the problem clearly, and the technician made me go through a regimen that obviously came out of a book. That would have been OK, except that I am pretty PC-literate and had tried everything he told me to do. I did most of the technician's work for him. I told him that it wasn't a bad CD because it happened on all CDs, plus it happened on downloaded music as well. I told him it couldn't be the speakers because the sound was distorted through state-of-the-art headphones. I told him it couldn't be the CD-ROM drive because it happened when played on the CD-RW drive. I had already reloaded the sound drivers. The technicain had me reload the drivers again and when that didn't help, he told me to take out the sound card and resnap it in. He had me check a bunch of other things but after an hour I knew we weren't getting anywhere and so I hung up, hoping to try a more informed technician. On my next call, the technician had me do exactly the same things the first one had me do and a few things more but with the same result. So I asked him to send me another sound card, which he did and which I received two days later. But that didn't solve the problem either. I called again, but the third technician had no new ideas on what was causuing the distortion. I called a fourth, and last technicain who also had nothing new to suggest. So I asked him to send me a different brand of sound card, thinking that there was some compatibility issue with the sound card I was using and the motherboard. When I didn't receive it after a week, I called, only to find out that it was shipped to the wrong address. I was told another would be sent. When I didn't receive that second card, I called again, only to be told that it was AGAIN sent to the wrong address. I was told another would be sent. Two days later I did receive an Airborne package that contained a sound card -- except it was the same brand and model as the one that came with the PC and what they sent me the first time. At that point I did what I should have done three weeks earlIer. I searched the internet by keying in "sound distortion with XP" in Google. I found an article by Microsoft that suggested I check the graphic equalizer settings in Windows Media Player. I did, and saw that the low end was really set high. Changing that to more normal settings totally fixed the problem. (My son had inadvertently changed the settings the first day he was playing with it!) It took me all of 10 minutes to solve this problem, something that four different paid PC technicians couldn't think of. No one at Dell ever asked me through what player I was playing the music, even though switiching players would have resolved the problem and would have surely indicated, even to the Dell technicians, that the problem was in the player. In summary, the PC I got was fine, the price was OK, delivery was fast, and tracking the rebates I was due was easy, but the service provided by Dell today is virtually non-existant. This is readily confirmed by Dell's atrociously low rating on this web site (3.63), a site I was unaware of before I ordered the Dell. The vast majority of negative comments about Dell concerns service, not the product or the price. I suspect that Dell may not remain #1 for that much longer. I just ordered a new PC for my daughter from Velocity Micro, a PC builder with an incredible 9.94 overall rating on this website. I'll report on that PC after I get it in a few weeks. "

"Well I have a small computer business, we do repairs and such. I got in a Dell Laptop for repairs. Checked around for parts and found I could not find any parts anywhere. Checked online for Dell parts and found you can only order a limited amount online you have to call them. Called on Sat and after about 5 call fowards got to talk to a person in Iran, Iraq, India where ever. I could barel under stand him and he had trouble understanding me. Should have hung up then and ran.Finally got parts ordered only by reading part numbers off of old parts as he could not understand what I needed. Ordered next day air for a large extra charge, he kept trying to get me to buy a battery for Laptop I kept saying no but he kept telling me the price with battery anyway. Finally got him to understand this is a business I dont own the Laptop i dont want a battery. So I recieved an order number an price. Monday comes around no parts. I call and talk to the same person still cant speak english, he tells me they dont ship on Sat will be here tomorrow which is Tuesday. I tell him I wish he had told me they would not ship out on Sat but Tuesday would be ok. Tuesday no parts. I called again talked to same guy this time he told me It might be several days. I told him I wanted a refund on Next Day Air since it did not ship next day. He said nothing he could do. I asked to speak to a suppervisor he said they all busy. I asked again nicely he hung up the phone. A call back to Dell went through all the number fowards asked to talk to Customer service, guess what got the same guy again. Called again went to operator of Business sales another guy who could not speak english, guess what put me through to same guy, even after asking for someone in charge they will not let you talk to them. Tried again this time I went through about 10 transfers and just went into Customer service not business service, guess what they would not even talk to me, said it was not their department. Called again went to Dell main support asked to speak to Customer support, got to talk to a Woman in Texas it sounded like. Told her my problem at least I could understand her. She said what would you like me to do about it. I said fix the problem she said she couldn't and it looked like the parts would not be in to ship for at least a week. Asked to speak to a supervisor, she asked me what for. I told her I shouldn't have to pay $20.00 for next day air when it didn't ship next day. She said when the parts come in they will ship next day. Come on what fool would order next day air for parts that arent in stock? She said nothing she could do, asked again to speak to her suppervisor, was placed on hold for 20 minutes then disconnected. Its March 25 have no Idea when or If I will get customers parts. Have a business customer with a Laptop with all his contacts on it and I have to tell him Dell does not care at all. I have never dealt with a company with a poorer customer service then this. I had no Idea had difficult it was to get help about an order. They dont let you talk to anyone in charge and it seems there customer order lines and service are outsourced to another country.I will never ever deal with Dell again for sales, service or anything else. I have sold their systems in the past but no more. If they treated me this way I can imagine how they treat a regular customer. Both thumbs down Dell you are the pits."

"I purchased a memory stick from Dell since they were offering a great deal with rebate. Well I got the product but couldn't find the rebate on the website. After reading feedback on the dell.com site, many other were having the same problem. So I return the merchandise per Dell's prepaid return policy and the issued me a credit memo in about a weeks time. Unfortunately I have not received my creidt yet. I'm 10 emails and 5 phone calls into this mess. The reps keep telling me the same thing, but my account never gets credited. IT's a total mess and Dell customer service procedures are the worst I've encountered every. I have never had this much trouble resloving any issue when purchasing merchandise. Based on this buying experience, I will never recommend or buy Dell products again."