"Purchased a computer + monitor from Dell's Small Business division. After ordering the system over the Net, I contacted Dell in order to upgrade two of the components. Dell's telephone customer service informed me that it is not possible to change an order, that I would have to cancel the order and re-order a new system. This contradicts the information on Dell's website, which states that an order cannot be changed once it's in production. My order was not in production.

So I contacted Dell thru email.

First reply: we will not change your order.
My response: cancel my order.

Second reply: we will change your order. Please email us the changes you would like to make.
My response: I responded with the changes.

Third reply: we will not change your order.
My response: Cancel my order.

Fourth reply: we will not change your order.
My response: CANCAL MY ORDER!!!!

So, I finally got my order cancelled and I'm happily taking my business elsewhere. Considering how utterly useless Dell's customer service is, there's no way I was going to risk having to deal with their technical support sometime down the road."

"Ordered a 300D kit from them and saved about $100 from most other online retailers (including B&H, Adorama, etc.) because of thier coupons.

Was intitally told it was backordered to April 10, ended up shipping so that it arrived April 2.

Good service, helpful when I contacted them!"

">>Dell do not accept returns from Business Customers."

"buyer beware!! if you have infinite patience then disregard this review!! ordered xps gen2 3/14. after repeated phone calls with no information(or good english for that matter) my system was finally built. to dell's credit it took them less than 12 hours to kit, build and test my system. that was two days ago. you would think that if they could do all that in 12 hours they would have figured out a way to box it up and ship it in less then two days? customer service and new online chat service are worthless!! you have more information online then they do in house!! stick with toshiba! heck, maybe even settle for gateway."

"Website is missleading.(Prev order) Failed to send portions of order, when resent it was sent to the wrong adress. They did upgrade the printer for free.
When all issues resolved the products are fine.
Phone support is a pain and requires too much work and argueing ."

"It was a disappointing purchase, especially after hearing rave reviews from other customers. Dell makes great products, don't get me wrong, but the order process and delivery is very poor.

It took almost 3 weeks to ship my order. This seemed to be an incredibly long time for a computer. I received an order delayed e-mail saying the computer wouldn't be ready for an additional week. A few hours later I received an e-mail stating the computer had shipped.

Overall, the process was incredibly slow, and unorganized. they didn't even spell my company name or business name properly on the shipping information."

"Dell is an interesting store. I have bought from them for years, and I have been both happy and mad at them during that time. I have bought 8 digital cameras from them and I suspect 3 of them were used but sold as new. Other then that everything else has been good. Customer Service calls to Dell India have been both good and bad, but no worse then any other big company. I tepidly recommend. When Dell runs coupons their prices are hard to beat. "

"Ordered a Canon SD300 digital camera and my order was promptly processed and shipped, as scheduled. I have ordered many items from Dell and I have never encountered a problem with them nor have I had the need to return any of my orders. The only problem with Dell is that their products often go out of stock or backordered because of its popularity and because of the coupon savings. I would order from Dell anyday. "

"Ordered a custom a laptop, received it one week later. Works great, but there is a small chip on the headphone jack, it works fine though, and is too small to worry about.

Laptop is great for gaming, 256mb video card, 17" monitor, and 1 gig of ddr-2 memory. Great setup for the price of $1400."

"Second time I have ordered Brother p-Touch labels from these people. Free shipping and I received it in 24 hours. Of course that's only from Suwanee, GA to Landrum, SC. Your mileage may vary, literally :)

Only right to "give the Devil his due"...."

"Hello, I just order Dell XPS Gen 2, and I think

that laptop is crazy. But this was my 5th Order

for the laptop. The first time the rep didn't

verify the 2 Debit Cards. Then order got

cancelled. Had to make another order, called it

up dell, replaced my old order it worked. After

that I planned to modify the order, so they had

to cancel the order inorder to place the new

order. The rep didn't call the bank to verify so

the order was cancelled again. I had to call to

replace the order. But this time it took me the

longest around 5 hours on the phone. I

approxemetly talked to 7 reps for my order, they

kept transffering me to Financial dep and to

sales dep. Most of the times the phone call got

cancelled because the call duration was around

1hr 40min. So I had to call reps again and

verify the Address,Name,Order,etc. I talked to

the last rep and she told me your order was

cancelled and you have to wait 48 hrs, so she

said I will call you back on the same number and

at the same time, but she never called back. So

today I called again talked to a rep, I told him

what happend to me and he said I am very sorry, I

will replace your order right now. I waited for

10 min for him to replace the order, and he said

I saved you around $30 from your last order,

then he said everything processeded perfectly,

your all set. Then I check my order after 5

hours, it was on hold and all my laptop specs

were messed up. I don't know what should I do now

and I checked Alienware, Boxx, vodoo and sager.

I didn't like their laptops as much as Dell XPS2

I hope no body faces the same problem as I did.

Thank you."

"I wanted to wait until a few months had passed before posting my Dell review. I researched a gaming rig from the usual suspects, Alienware, Voodoo, Falcon Northwest, etc. and was just stunned at how expensive they were. I also looked heavily at the Dell XPS desktop gaming rig and liked the price since it was at least $500-1000 cheaper. But, based on the reviews here, I was terrified of entering "Dell Hell" if I had a problem.

Although I wasn't going to get a Dell because of the reviews on this site, they ended up having a quarter end sale that I couldn't resist. (40% off) I purchased a maxed out XPS Generation 3 (they have since released the Gen 4) and they actually shipped it a week earlier than the estimate, which was a good start.

The configuration was correct, and so far, the machine has run like a dream. It looks great and boots up very very quickly. I have been nothing but satisfied. I realized that although everyone here has listed valid concerns (except shipping delays - that has nothing to do with the finished product), Dell is the largest PC vendor and sells millions of systems a year. I do believe that the vast majority of buyers are satisfied and usually only those of us who have gotten screwed will bother to post. The rest are busy having fun with their new rigs. I believe people who don't have a problem don't bother posting.

I was also pleased that I could go to the Dell support site and enter my customer number, and have it tell me what new bios updates, drivers etc. have since been released for my exact machine and allow me to download self-executable updates. They also build in a Symantec System restore utility that allows you to restore the system to the exact state it was in when it left the factory. They don't market that feature enough, which seems the same as Alienware's Respawn feature, which Alienware charges extra for.

If price is an issue, you should consider Dell and give it a shot. The statistics are on your side that everything will work out. Since I have not had to contact customer support, I cannot comment on customer service since I have not needed it yet.

I just wanted to post so people who are considering Dell will know that it isn't always a negative experience. "

"Ordered a 2001FP LCD Monitor that was on sale for 25% off. Shipped next day with no problems, and arrived two days later. "

"I had to have my camera for a trip overseas. I ordered it over 2 weeks in advance from Dell's website. The shipment was delayed not once, but twice! And each time I got the notice on the date that it was supposed to be shipped. I tried to talk to customer service, but it doesn't seem like they have any idea what they're talking about. All they do is promise you that they will send an email. I used to buy Dell for all my home needs, and I also helped select Dell for the science building when I was in college, but no more. I've learned my lesson. Never buy from Dell again unless they do some major changes. Oh yeah, needless to say, I never received my order. I got it from another store, but I had to pay $40 to get FedEx 2nd day air. Buyer beware!"

"I ordered high speed internet from Dell which included a $75 rebate. After submitting the information twice, they still say that I have not proven that I ordered the service through Dell and refuse to approve the rebate. When I asked to speak to a superviser, I was told none were available and wouldn't be for the rest of the day and all I could do was once again resubmit the info. Horrible Customer Service!!!"