"I was warned before I bought a Dell about how poor the customer service was but I thought they couldn't really be that bad so went ahead anyway. It was the worst decision I have made in a long time. The delivery date was changed at the last minute, after 30 mins of being on hold I finally explained the new delivery date was no good as I was out of the country by then and needed the laptop to work on deadlines whilst I was away. The person I spoke to could not have been more disinterested and made no effort to help me out, she just kept saying they had no facility to do anything about it. I would have cancelled the order and gone else where but they had already taken the money from my account before telling me the delivery would be late and refused a refund.
When I returned to the country there was still no sign of the laptop. I spent another 40 mins on the phone trying to get it sorted out. I eventually got hold of a manager who assured me he would contact the couriers and I would have the laptop by the next morning. I waited till 2pm before contacting the couriers directly who informed me they had heard nothing from Dell and if they had then a morning delivery would have been no problem.
I requested feedback from the manager about what had happened but so far Dell have completely ignored me. Their only attempt at an explanation was that the delivery date was just an estimate. Fair enough for a couple of days late but it doesn't justify 3 whole weeks.
My advice to anyone considering buying with Dell is the advice I should have listened to myself. Stay well away, the small amount you might save on the product is not worth the amount of hassle you have to go through with them. I now have no faith in the company and find them utterly incompetant."

"I am furious right now. I have placed 3 different orders with Dell and all have been canceled without them contacting me before doing so. Now they are trying to say that the check that I paid with is not in their system even though they cashed it over a month ago. What happened to this company??? They used to be the best, now they are the worst customer service I have ever experienced. They have lost a customer for life. Each call to customer service took over an hour and a half after talking to the first person. Nobody know what the hell is going on and just passes you to another person that doesn't know anything!!!!! How can they think that it is good customer service to cancel orders without contacting the customer first. I needed this computer for school and now I am stuck with nothing. "

"I called just to find out why I had not received my order, even though their website said that it should have shipped. I finally found out from person #16 (yes 16 customer service reps, one after the other) and 1-1/2 hours later, that for some reason, they cancelled my order. They dont know why they cancelled it. I never received an email or a phone call telling me the order was cancelled. They told me I would just have to go and replace the order online.... the price i purchased my printer for orginally was $189. To replace the order, the price is $299..over a hundred dollars more expensive. When I told them that, their response was "oh well, there is nothing we can do about that". I will never order anything with them again as they obviously will not honor the price that an item is ordered for."

"My terrible experience with Dell – and it’s not over yet!

On October 23, 2009 I ordered an Alienware ALX computer. The Estimated Delivery Date (EDD) was November 17, 2009. On November 14th I got my FIRST “Update” on the Dell website saying the new EDD was November 24th. On November 21st I got my SECOND update with a new EDD of December 3. On December 1st I got my THIRD Update with a new EDD of December 10. During this time I made several call into Dell’s Customer Service. Customer Service had no information on what was causing the delay but assured me that my order was OK and that my computer would be delivered soon. Finally, on December 2nd (40 days after my order was placed) I got a call from a William G in Dell’s Customer Resolution Group in Nashville. He informed me that Dell would not provide me with the RAID 1 + 0 hard drive configuration that was a line item in my October 23rd order. He insisted (against my wishes) on changing my order to a different hard drive configuration with a new EDD of December 28th EDD. I couldn’t believe it. First, Dell/Alienware waited 40 days to notify me that they would not honor my order. Second, they wouldn’t (or couldn’t) move me to the front of the queue after a 40 day delay in my order. Third, their FOURTH Update was for delivery 66 DAYS after my order was placed. Unbelievable!

In a new order I placed at Dell their website lists my EDD as “N/A” which I assume means Not Available. How clever of them. Now they can deliver my computer anytime they get around to it and it will never be late since they did not provide me with an EDD. (There was an EDD when I was making the order but it disappeared after I placed the order.)

"

"Purchased a TV over the phone on the 15th. Went smoothly. Was told that the TV would be delivered before Christmas. The delivery date was set as December 21st. Received an e-mail from Dell 2 days later indicating that the TV delivery date was going to be delayed by 7 days, until Dec 28th.

Tried to call dell sales support to find out the reason for the delay, and why the promised delivery date was going to be missed.

The tech on the phone was very rude, insisting that the item (the TV) had shipped (via UPS) - even thought the tracking number page explicitly listed it as having not. When i tried to explain that:

A) The item that shipped was not the TV
B) UPS would not ship a TV that large in the first place
C) That the order status page clearly lists the TV as having not shipped

He would not listen, and eventually hung up on me. Since I'm tired of being put on hold & waiting for a tech support to be available, I've given up and will just give this a late Christmas present.

Dell's customer support is worst I have ever experienced. I will never purchase anything from them again.

EDIT: After reading some of the reviews here, I see this is a pretty common issue with Dell. I wish I had come here BEFORE making my purchase. Oh well, live and learn..."

"I placed an order for Inspiron 17 Notebook on dell.com on Cyber Monday and opted for 3-5 Day Delivery paying an additional $10. I got a order confirmation on 12/01 with subject "Dell Order Has Been Confirmed for Dell Purchase ID: " and expected delivery date of 12/15. The order status showed that it was in production. Meanwhile, I received a email asking me to complete the order and when I clicked the link, another configuration was displayed to me with additional $130 for the new parts. I did not want to change my original configuration. I called customer care (first time I was on hold for 30 minutes and I gave up and second time it took 20 minutes) a few days before the expected delivery date and was told that I would receive the laptop on 12/15.

Then when I checked the status of the order on 12/14, I saw that the expected date was updated to 02/22/2010 (more than 9 weeks than earlier promised). I was very disappointed as I never expected such service from dell.

I called the customer care again and was told that there was a delay and I would receive the laptop by 02/22/2010. I told the CSR to cancel the order as I did not want to wait for 9 weeks. He told me that he would cancel the order and the status would be updated in 24-28 hours. It is now more than 36 hours, and the order status still shows "In production" in the dell site. I do not know if it really has been cancelled or not.

I am very upset with dell and would not recommend any one to buy there."

"I ordered a Dell Inspiron 537 ST on 11/17/09 and the initially delivery date was set up on 12/01/09. On 12/01/09, I got the first email indicated the computer was delayed until 12/08/09. Then on 12/08/09, second email came in with threaten message, "Your order has been delayed again and we need your permission today to continue processing your order or it will be automatically canceled." This computer is a Christmas gift. I shopped early this year on 11/17/09. Anybody with common sense will not doubt that the order will be delivered in one month. However, after several delays I don't think I can get it before Christmas. It took me more than 45 minutes to reach a representative but he could not provide any further help than the email I got.

Here is the primary question I had for the rep: Is there any problem with my order? When I put in the order, I chose Free next day shipping which I am wondering if it was a mistake by Dell website. Usually the free shipping is only for ground shipping. But it was clearly marked as free shipping for all different shipping methods. Was that a reason which holds my order because the next day shipping costs more than $100? Is this a strategy from Dell to delay an order again and again until the customer tired and the order "automatically cancelled?"

Another information for you. Yesterday (12/15/09) I got third email indicated it delayed again and the new estimated delivery date will be 12/22/09. The order will be cancelled if I did not response within 24 hours. I want the order to be cancelled so I ignored the email, but now my ordering status is still "in production". I don't know how long this nightmare will last......

Some suggestion for future Dell customers:

1. Check customer service review before you put in the order.
2. Do not believe their delivery date. It may be just a lure. They will not keep their promise.
3. Keep alert if you find something wired, such as offer you free next day delivery. It may be a mistake from Dell. Do not take that advantage.
4. Do not waste your time to call them. After 50 minutes holding, you will find the only thing you get is more frustrating. The representative will NOT provide any further help.


"

"I have been a happy Dell customer for a number of years, but I had a very negative experience regarding an order for a Dell laptop.

I ordered an Inspiron 17" laptop for Christmas on 12/6. I noticed on the Dell website that the estimated shipping date was 12/18. I thought, great, just in time for Christmas. My order was confirmed within a day with an estimated ship date of 01/11. Three weeks after the estimated ship time on their website.

The real problems began when I called customer service to cancel the order. Four phone calls were made on 12/12 totaling over an hour to cancel the order (unsuccessfully). I was repeatedly transferred and eventually was told that the people that could help me had all gone home for the night. My second attempt to cancel the order was on 12/14. I asked for a customer service manager and was placed on hold for approximately 45-50 minutes. A regular customer service rep picked up the phone and told me that the order could not be canceled because it was "in production". I told the rep that the computer had not been manufactured yet (shipping one month from now) and that I needed him to cancel the order. I was placed on hold again for a few minutes and the rep told me again that he could not cancel the order. When I threatened to call my credit card company to refute the charges eventually the rep relented and told me that he could now cancel the order.

I wasted two hours of my time just to cancel an order.

In the event of an order cancellation, is it Dell policy to place someone on hold until they give up? I am disappointed in Dell after having good experiences with them over the years and I ended up giving HP the business instead. Dell has been known for good customer service, but after reading some reviews and having a bad experience myself I feel like this may no longer be the case."

"Bought a Dell Vostro laptop and the processor was making a noise. While it took a little bit of time, Dell was pretty good at the RMA process."

"Purchased two computers from Dell for X-mas and ordered with their 9 month interest free credit account. I paid $2500 and received an e-mail in my junk folder that order was on hold and to call them. Delivery estimate was Dec.22 because I payed for overnight shipping. Order status changed to "processing" the next day. Checked order status three days later only to find that my order was canceled. I never received a call or follow up e-mail telling me about any kind of cancellation. I called and waited over 30min on the phone only to be told that because there is a lot of fraud during X-mas and that since I didn't call to verify the order that it was canceled. They said they could replace the order and it would be ready Jan. 6th. I explained that I ordered it fro X-mas and was told that they would call me back to resolve the problem and never did. Placed an order with HP for a comparable system and saved $400 with free shipping delivered Dec.22. Dell has gotten so big that they treat their customers like the don't need their business. I have ought three systems from them in the past but they will NEVER get another dollar from me again."

"ROCK BOTTOM SERVICE!!
There are so many reviews out there. I Just want to say this.
I have spent 5 hours of my life waiting to be connected to an agent. Still no reply from them after promising, on the phone, a return label for my unopened cell phone.Still no reply after senting them 7 emails in 7 days to different addresses. I have much better experience dealing with small businesses owner from ebay. DELL, you should be ashame of yourself, please take a lesson from Amazon or sellers from ebay.

Derek"

"RANG DELL SALES TO CHECK IF SONY A700 DSLR WAS IN STOCK TOLD NORMALY DELIVERED 1-2 WEEKS. ORDERED ITEM 9th DEC, DATE KEEPS BEING MOVED FORWARDS, NOW ESTIMATED DATE OF DELIVERY IS 24TH December. Have sent two of dell template emails back to them but have been ignored. uanblet to contact them due to being kept on hold for silly amounts of time. Rang credit card company and now have to wait as i send of offical complaint and recliam money back form dell. As one viewer put it Dell is most definatly using customers money for sats and are unable to provide products.This company needs investigating, in the past i have two dell pc systems which was delivered quick and customer service was brill however it seems accountant mentality has taken over the company."

"I purchased a 26" Vizio TV from Dell... but didn't receive an order confirmation via email. I thought an error had been made so I called Dell. THEIR customer support checked the system and told me the order hadn't been placed. So, I ordered it again. Soon there after I received 2 emails from Dell... confirming TWO different orders.

Once again I called Dell. This time they told me that I couldn't cancel one of the orders. But, they said, I could call them back once I received both TVs and get free return shipping.

Well, I just spent one hour on their customer support line. I spoke with two people in their returns department... they both put me back on hold. Consequently the call was dropped. I;m now back on the phone again and have been on hold for another 20 minutes. This is ridiculous. To top it off, their website states that there is a 15% restocking fee for TV purchases.

Basically, I'm going to get screwed. I can see it coming... all because Dell's ordering system is horrible (so bad even the their customer service reps aren't in the know). AVOID THIS COMPANY.


*****UPDATE***** It took me close to FOUR hours of sitting on hold with Dell... getting bounced around... continually being told that I needed to talk to a "specialist" before I finally (and I mean FINALLY) talked to someone who helped me. To Dell's credit, they are issuing labels for me to send the packages back. I haven't received them yet... but I'm told they will be sent today. That remains to be seen. In the end, the amount of HASSLE that I have had to go through because of the poor initial ordering system... all the way through to the absolutely HORRID customer service makes me wish I had just paid $20 bucks more and gotten the TV from a different e-retailer. Do yourself a favor and don't give Dell the time of day. You won't be sorry."

"A warning to any perspective Dell customer. I have enclosed an e-mail that I sent to Dell in response to their many many mistakes with my orders.

Dear Dell Rep.,

Why is my order delayed? I already waited almost a month. Now I have to wait longer. THIS IS VERY UNACCEPTABLE. Dell use to have a very good customer service overall. In year’s pasts, when I purchase an item (Laptop, desktop or anything) from Dell, I would have that item in no more than two weeks. If I had an issue with anything it was resolved immediately with in minutes. Now, a customer has to wait over 3 hours on the phone to be, somewhat, taking care of. For example, in my last four purchases there has been something wrong with every item. I purchased a laptop and I received it 3 days late. Then I purchased an Xbox 360 (order number 9655279##) for my son I received the item a day late, which it is not such a big deal but it was damaged. There was no packing inside so the Xbox was damaged. Therefore, I had to return it. It took me 4 days to get a hold of customer service to be able to return the Xbox because every time I would call I was placed on hold for more than 3 hours. I was only able to get a hold of customer service because I agreed to purchase another, more expensive Xbox. With this new Xbox I was told that I would receive the item before 12/08/09 now is the tenth and I don't have it. And, now I received this e-mail stating that I have to wait one more week to receive my desktop? I was promised that I would have it way before 12/15/09. I am a very-extremely unhappy customer. If this is not resolved or somebody from Dell contacts me to resolve this, I am truly sorry to say, but this desktop and the Xbox are the last items that I will ever purchase from Dell.

Sincerely,

Genaro M. Alvarado
PH: 909-###-####

Needless to say, nobody from Dell has contacted me, yet."

"I am sick of Dell's terrible customer support. I am attempting to cancel this order, but the steps that they make you go through are ridiculous. Also, their Sales people will always try to sell you something more expensive. I'm sorry, I think I know what I want to order. Dell has reached the absolute bottom in customer support.


EDIT: I have since then placed an order for a TV & HTiB combo and must say, although the overall experience was less than favorable, it could have been handled much worse. Dell's communication during the backorder of the product that I order was lacking, to say the least, during the three week's that it was backordered. However, I will have to concede to Dell to some degree to upgrading me HTiB to the next level up free of charge.

In summary, it's really hit or miss with this company."