"Had to cancel my order after dealing with them allmost 1.5 months, 3 dates pushed back on my shipping of my laptop, one time they canceled my order for no reason....I probally would of had to wait another 1-2 months. Needless to say highly disatisfied and will never shop dell again no can I recommend them to anyone. They sell units they cant produce, lie to you about the ship date, and have very poor communication"

"I've just received a notice of delay the second time. Dell, do not sell what you don't have. This's already made me tired of waiting for my laptop for my trip.
"

"Dell is having serious issues. See
http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/08/03/23340.aspx and you not need any other info. This Dell blog is FULL (it's long) of people waiting 2-3 months for all model laptops. Support has frequently told people (including me) that there is industry wide shortages. Here's the thing: no other company seems to be effected. Lots of college-goers, lured in by ads even after Dell knew they had problems but kept running them anyway, going to school without PCs. Parents rushing to bestbuy to settle for something, anything, to send their kids off to school with at the last minute because Dell could not keep the majority of their commitments. Amid all of this, you see the occasional order being shipped 1-2 weeks after order placement, which leaves the majority very unhappy to see this. The website doesnt work well after ordering, I click my order link only to be routed to a 'return your product' page, which has been happening for a year now (I ordered an LCD last year). Obviously Dells suppliers and or creditors see an issue making them nervous enough to not ship in mass bulk to them in fear of not getting paid. I would stay away as I would not want to pay over $1k for a laptop that may not have a company to support it in a year. For now, high risk."

"I am a victim of my own stupidity. In other words I tried to make a purchase from Dell. I bought my son a laptop for college from Dell and asked about a particular student discount and the sales rep said it did not apply to this purchase/model package. Upon returning from a business trip I decided to check into this a little further and found the discount did apply. No problem, right?

Wrong! I got a 5 hr run-around with what seemed like the entire population of India. It should also note that it is impossible to get contact info let alone speak to anyone at Dell Corp. in the US.

To make a long story short I wound up canceling my order and the very next day I was contacted by another Dell employee from India saying that if I place an order now they will give me the discount I should have gotten the first time around. My question to her was " If it is this hard to straighten out an invoice, what will tech support be like?" Upon doing some research it seems the state of N.Y. has filed a lawsuit against Dell.

So I would suggest staying away from this company for any future purchases."

"I purchased a desktop computer and it arrived two weeks after I ordered it. The computer was as I ordered except the hard drive was smaller than I ordered. I notified Dell and they shipped me a brand new computer with a bigger hard drive overnight.

The computer worked great - no problems at all. I later ran into a problem with the RAID configuration which Dell ended up sending a technician to replace the hard drives and get rid of the RAID setup. This fixed the problem.

After installing Vista, my sound card had compatibility issues. Dell replaced the sound card and when this didn't fix the issue they put in a different sound card. They determined that the issue was non-fixable and allowed me to return the computer even though it was far past the 21 day return policy. I received ALL my money back within 3 days.

I have owned Dells for ages and I do not understand what everyone complains about. I have never had a problem with technical support or customer service. I always have gotten what I wanted and needed without any problems... it just involves a little bit of time and effort.

I've gotten TWO free TV Tuners, $100 in Dell dollars, free hard drive size upgrade, a full refund after 3 months on a PC, conned Dell to send techs to replace a keyboard, and more.

I have since moved onto custom built computers so I have OEM parts and therefore don't have to go through a company to fix anything, but I never had problems with the 4 Dells I owned, both laptops and desktops."

"I would rather stab myself in the face with a rusty screwdriver than deal with Dell "Customer Support". After placing my order for a new Dimension desktop, Dell failed to ship my optical mouse and also failed to provide the power cord for my 20" widescreen monitor. Needless to say, 5 calls to customer support failed to yield any solution. Dell wanted me to ship the entire unit back and they would ship me a new one. Why would I pay $50+ to ship a an entire computer back for a $10 optical mouse and $3 cable?

To my suprise, I was charged twice for the computer. After calling Dell yet again, I was told the billing error was corrected. A week passed, my online billing statement never reflected the change, so I called yet again. After 5 calls to 5 different non-english speaking "support technicians", I was tired of hearing the same "its already been taken care of" script. I called my credit card company and reversed the charge myself.

I was hoping my Dell horror story would be over at this point, but to my suprise, "Raju" the phone-harasser, called my house at all hours of the day and night trying to collect on my "non-payment". He finally stopped harassing me after I told him that three previous Dell technicians had reviewed my billing and let me know I was in good standing. However, it took a print out of my bank statement (edited to protect critical information) to get this idiot to realize I had already paid.

The moral of this story is that Dell is a pathetic company. I never got anything accomplished until I looked up the US / Dallas, TX support center and called there. The Indian technical support mumbles and uses very poor english and they are very rude. Calling tech support is useless because both the website and the call-in system have "dead links", basically telephone numbers or web addresses that no longer work.

After this, I bought a Mac. Its been flawless. "

"I am going through a nightmare with Dell right now. I bought an Inspiron 1505 at the beginning of June. A month and a half later it stopped recognizing the AC adapter and wouldn't charge the battery. Initially tech support was helpful, told me the motherboard was probably defective, the repairs would be covered under warranty, and I should send it in.

I sent the computer DHL on Aug. 9. A couple days ago I got a phone message telling me the "motherboard and LCD" needed to be replaced, this wouldn't be covered under warranty, and I had until Aug. 20th to call them or it would be sent back un-repaired. When I called I was told the problem was a result of spill damage (coffee or coke). They then said the motherboard, keyboard, and palm rest would have to be replaced at my expense. I spilled nothing on this computer and don't even drink coffee or coke. They are lying or incompetent. The keyboard wasn't even broken when I sent it in to them, I had been using it the day I shipped it out! The only problem was with motherboard (the laptop didn't recognize the ac adapter). After an argument I was told they would re-check the system, send me photos of the damage, and get back to me the next day.

The next day I get an identical voice message and no photos sent to me. I call them back and am told they reviewed the system and still claim the problem is from spill damage so it won't be covered. I ask them to send me photos again and the tech support person does this time. I tell him that although I spilled nothing on the computer, I will review the photos and call back the next day. He then tells me that is not a possibility, I either have to authorize payment for repairs or they will immediately return the computer un-repaired. He then claims that they have had my computer since July 31st and they will hold it no longer. I explain to him that no, they haven't had it that long, I mailed it on Aug. 9th, have a phone message confirming they received it on Aug. 10th, and 2 phones messages (on 8/14 and 8/15) saying they will hold it until Aug. 20th. The Dell rep. then starts yelling at me telling me he has the DHL info right in front of him confirming I sent it on the 30th and they received it on the 31st, and he will have it shipped back to me if I don't authorize payment for repairs. He was so rude! Finally he just gets his supervisor.

I then go through the whole ordeal with his supervisor. Who is initially nice, but then becomes rude and condescending as well! We argue over the shipping date until he finally says something like, "ok, I'll pretend to believe you about the shipping date, that doesn't change the fact that there is spill damage." We get in an argument about this and he agrees to hold my computer for a few days until I have the chance to review the photos.
The photos I received show me absolutely nothing. They are very low quality images of the motherboard, and it is impossible for me to tell what they are trying to show me. I'm calling them back today when I get out of work to plead my case again!

This is by far the worst experience I have ever had with a company. I honestly don't believe a word they are saying to me anymore. I don't even think they have the right computer! The whole shipping date thing just proves they have no idea what is going on! There is no way I am giving Dell more money unless they own up to this problem. If they ship the computer back un-repaired I'm taking it to small claims, for sure. To spend over $1000 on a laptop, have it stop working a month and a half later, and then refuse to repair it is completely unacceptable. And to top it off, their reps accuse me of causing the problem AND lying about the shipping date. The spill damage issue is just my word against theirs I guess, but I can easily prove they are wrong about the shipping date. We'll see what happens.
"

"Real nightmare. Ordered laptop, thought got a great deal. Never received it (someone else accepted (stole) it). Dell issued a replacement order. That order got canceled for unknown reason. I called few times, spend hours on the phone with "indian" support, got a lot of apologies. Second order was issued. Then it got canceled again after couple of weeks. Now I see new order has been issued, but with the wrong parts! I payed extra for faster HDD and Vista Premium, instead I'm getting lower end parts and Basic Vista. Called again, got nowhere. Feeling extremely frustrated the by whole issue. Don't know if I ever receive my laptop :( It's been almost a month since my original order. Please everyone STAY AWAY!"

"I ordered one of the new Inspiron notebooks during the first week they were released. It took 2-3 weeks to get here, which is normal if you ordered a customized computer. I have dealt with DELL for five years. For my, customer service was horrible because they always take forever (hours) to figure out what's wrong. However, they DO get the job done."

"I made a huge mistake! PLEASE DON"T EVER BUY A DELL!!!!! It has been a nightmare. They delayed my order by 6 weeks,(all the "chasis" to make the Inspiron laptops are backordered but they keep selling them) made me accept the delay in writing or by phone due to past issues with the FTC, then they canceled it the day after they accepted my acceptance of the delay. They said they never got my acceptance and I emailed them their own letter to me. They would not even match the original price and the 6 week late ship date. Is that even legal? I was so upset and my daughter has been crying. Our state had tax free weekend and now all the stores are cleaned out of PC's, even the display models. She leaves for college needed the required computer in one week.. I don't know what to do.
I did leave out the worst part of my "Dell Hell", trying to get anyone in India or even the USA to help me, I had to stay on hold for as long as 5 1/2 hours in one sitting and never under one hour. After hours on hold, they would tell me they were not the right department and start the process over again. They read from scripts and had no idea what I was saying, even on printed live chat attempts at help. I have honestly spent over 12 hours of my life on hold with Dell, and this is what I got in return. If you are not placing an order, you will never be helped again. The biggest mistake I ever made for a purchase was choosing Dell."

"I was happy to find that I was getting a dell computer cheap for college that had good specs. Little would I find that dell would install the wrong video card in my computer which would send me on a wild goose chase. First it took them forever to figure out they made a mistake. Then they said I was going to have to pay 1/2 of the price of the new video card and thats when I flipped out on them. Finally they put me through to a "specialist" who said they would send it for free and it should arrive at my house by the end of next week. Well that was 3 days ago and apparently it ain't arriving for another 20 days after being told by someone else that it was already shipped out! I can honestly say this has been enough for me after talking and being on hold for well over 4 hours all together. I know mine is minute compared to other peoples complaints but I'm another person who has had enough. I just got a taste of some dell hell.

Update just today I've been on the phone/internet talking with dell for over 2 hours on getting my dell data safe online account working. It has been a crappy ordeal, and I wonder if its really worth going through this much more for 3 GB of online backup for a year. I'm about to shoot myself. God I just love dell.

Another update about this video card. I just called them up today as the item was supposed to be shipped out already. After calling them and speaking with them online 3 times before, of course the day that it ships out they tell me the video card is on backorder! This was an order placed way back on July 26th and its now August 15th and they tell me its on backorder now? Well there new estimated shipping date is now August 27th apparently but I leave for college before that so now there going to call me after making an "attempt" to expedite my order. I've made it very clear with them that I will dispute this bill with them until I get this video card and they get everything straightened out. They aren't going to get a cent of my money until they get themselves straightened out. Screw dell and there dell hell."

"I just finished an 1:15 minute ordeal with what passes as "customer service" at Dell. Juan didn't handle English any too well and mumbled to boot. My 1501 has a failed display/motherboard. This is after another 30 minutes or so the evening before on-line, looking for zebras (unlikely solutions).

The machine is under warranty and when repeatedly asked why I could not send the machine for service, I was told that they needed to narrow down the problem for the service dep't. Or the suppliers of parts. Apparrently, the service folks do not trouble shoot a machine, just take the tech support phone data??

Bottom line - I finally got them to take the machine for repair. They are sending a box, etc. Did I get a decent price on the machine, yes. Was it worth it_ Given the bloatware included, the poor service arrangements, techs that don´t speak well, certainly not. Better to pay a bit more and be able to talk, face to face with a person."

"I bought a refurbished computer from Dell at a very cheap price just under a year ago, and it still works just great. I have no complaints about the build quality of the computer, despite it being refurbished and all. It's great.

the one thing, however, is Dell's certified horrid customer service system. They didn't include the install discs, so I called in to fix that problem. Since it was an XPS system, supposedly it came with special customer servic with shorter wait times and more informed staff.

nothing could be further from the truth. After yelling "NO!" at the top of my lungs, as clear as i could be to a damn stupid automated voice dozens of times for five straight minutes, I suddenly lost it and started cursing indiscriminately (note: if you want the quickest way to bypass the automated system and go straight to a human, sailor-mouthing is the way to go). I was then transfered to a customer sales representative (after waiting about 15 mins) who then proceeded to take down my name, number, address, email, and computer ID. I told him that they simply needed to send me some backup install discs they forgot to include, and he brazenly told me to keep quiet while he inputs the information into the system. After five minutes of straight click-clacking awkward silence, he then asks me what my problem is. I told him again: I needed backup discs for the bloatware on my computer. After a short pause, he told me I would have to be transfered to another representative, after which I was put on hold for another 15 straight minutes.

The next guy picked up and asked me the same things: name, address, phone, email, computer ID. I waited for him to finish typing what was already typed in, and then asked him the same quistion: more backup discs please.

Long story short, after 30 whole minutes of talking and explaining to him why they needed to fix the problem of me not having any backup discs and refusing special Dell offers, they finally got it sent out. The second rep called my cell after a couple of days to make sure I got it.

Not a bad experience, I've definitely had worse. But then again, it's so mired in bureaucracy that it's completely inefficient right now. no wonder they have a backlog of complaints/inquiries: it's a result of their own damn design."

"Dell is possibly the worst computer company out of all the universal big computer companies. It takes months for them to ship out a computer, and once you get it it there is a high likelihood that something will be wrong with said computer.

Overall, the company and it's service is horrible."

"Dell cannnot supply a system any more in less than 3 MONTHS!!!!!
I have just been called by Dell reference my delayed orders and they have confirmed that ....UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!
DELL IS NO LONGER A CREDIBLE COMPUTER MANUFACTURER......"