"Excellent transaction. I ordered a system on 12/1/03 at 6:00pm. Next day they came out with a $25.00 off coupon and after one phone call my order was cancelled and re-ordered with the coupon. Order arrived ahead of schedule and everything was perfect."

"Customer service of DELL CANADA it's not capable to give me some real info regarding my shipment after 3weeks old order of a PDA Axim.
The most ridiculous service."

"I don't have an invoice number, only a packaging slip. The number I typed as my invoice number is my order number. I ordered a 1901fp, but called and cancelled on the 9th, the day before it was said to have shipped. I spoke to an Al:
"... Give me a moment to finalize your request and get you a reference number"
"Sure."
"Okay, sir, is there anything else I can do for you today?"
"How about that reference number"
"Yes the reference number is..."

I did get an email asking about my experience with the customer support after I cancelled the order, but now they can't find record of my canceling the order.

Anyway, now I have a box and I’ve been billed. After talking to an Omar on Dec 22, he gave me a return credit auth. number and asked if Tuesday Dec 23 between 12 and 5 would be good for pickup. I said yes and he told me Airborn Express would be at my place between 12 and 5. 5:30 and no one's come. I call dell again and talk to a Jane and she told me I had to call Airborn Express with a reference number (which she provided) to schedule a pick-up. I called too soon after hanging up with Jane, as Airborn told me that it takes about 2-4 hours for them to get a reference number from dell. Tomorrow morning I hope to be dropping off the package at the local Airborn Express, since I can't waste another day sitting around the house waiting for a pickup.

Depending on who answers the phone, you may or may not be able to understand them through their accent. I’m a foreigner myself and grew up with a lot of international people and learned to hear through accents. Of the three with which I spoke, I only had a problem understanding Omar. They all seemed like pretty nice people, but I think they don’t really know what they’re doing. What a shame. I won’t order from Dell again until their support becomes more organized.

Update: Jane didn't submit anything to airborn express and after 55 minutes of dell customer care chat, Patrick did what the other 3 could not. On Dec 26th, I sent my monitor back. They now have about 35 days to credit my account before my bank goes after them. On a side note, Airborn Express was very helpful, telling me what information I needed to get from Dell. "Make sure you get the airbill number from Dell. It's very important." Unfortunately none of the Dell reps could provide me with an airbill number, but AE took care of it anyway."

"I recently ordered a digital camera from dell's website. in the order invoice that was emailed to me was "estimated ship date december 29th." i immedietely decided i would cancel the order and order from another retailer who wouldn't sit on an order for 2 weeks.


1) i go to dells site and search for "cancel" using google......finds nothing.

2) i search through the site till i find a computer tech support section......i ask how to cancel an order.......it gives me a #

3) I call the number dell told me was used for canceling orders
4) *gets put on hold for 20min* "I'm sorry sir, you need to call a different department. Here is the # you need to call.

5) i call the 2nd number and wait on hold another 20min then get "What is your order # and customer number?"
*i give it to him*
"oh you mean the camera. yeah i can't do anything about that. call this #"

6) *wait on hold for 10min* "i can't help you. call this number" (big suprise)

7) i call the 4th #.....wait on hold for 20. "sir, what is your order number, customer number, name, phone number, address, zip code, state, country, email address, secondary email address, and when did you make the order.
me - "see my order? your site says it will ship by the 29th at best. you change that or just cancel my order so i can get it from newegg."
her "wait one second"
*puts me on hold for 20min*
her "we can't change the date. is there anything else i can do?"
me "cancel my order!!"
*puts me on hold for 10min*
her "are you sure you want to cancel?"
me "YES"
her "okay, its done"

-the customer should NOT have to go through so much to cancel an order."

"Dell sells good products at good prices.
However, there website is awful in my opinion.
After ordering from the site. The site didn't give an order number. It said it would email it to me. When I didn't receive that email, I called customer support. They said my order didn't exist. I ordered again. The next day I got a call from Dell asking if I meant to order twice. I still couldn't see two orders on their website. "

" Ordered a Dell 2001fp monitor on Saturday December 13th 2003. On phone per Christine I was told this order (#573881555) would cost $732.77 I triple checked with her because price seemed too good to be true, "IT WAS" my account was charged $957.55 without my approval, and overcharge of $208.30. I call Dell within 10 minutes off previous phone call (Christine) admitted their (her) error and cancelled order only to overcharge me again, for same monitor here we go again. I reordered, New reorder price $749.25 TOTAL (reorder #573928745) Total includes Tax and Next day shipping, Christine stated Dell would pay shipping and tax due to my inconvenience. I Quadruple checked price of $749.25 with her. I wanted to be sure price I was charged would be correct because of previous error, she (Christine) assured me of charge. I look at my account online after the call, they overcharged me AGAIN this time its $797.95 an overcharge of $48.70. Not only that but according to Web site the item is in stock and will ship same day, well its Saturday so I figure it will go out Monday 12/15/03 with next day delivery. I just checked the site it was shipped today which is 12/17/03, now I understand its Christmas, but If you know your swamped don't state same day ship on your web site when you know its not true. They even knew that ahead of time because when I checked my order status online the same day of order the estimated ship date was 12/19/03, not 12/15/03 like it should have been, that is not same day ship as per website. I will never buy from these people again, the customer support is terrible if not useless, and being lied to repeatedly about charges that are going to be applied to my account should be illegal. I did call back about the second overcharge in a row, Dell says nothing they can do about it and gave me a complimentary accessory for my Dell Axim, what a joke! this does not make up for the total lack of customer care and lies. This has changed my entire opinion of Dell I will be trying hard to convince my company not to buy from them again, and we are in the market for company replacement of PC's. Oh well Dell is so big why would they care.

Update 12/31/03 The good and the bad.

Well finally got my monitor and it had bad pixels, not a lot but enough in middle of screen to annoy me, for that price I don't think so. Dell credited my account $50.00 for my hassle and replaced monitor overnight with a perfect one, wow what a come back. "

"My experience with Dell has been very positive. I've personally bought two systems and a couple upgrades from them, and my last two business machines have been Dells. The last system we purchased was a Dimension 4550. It has performed flawlessly. The Dimension 4100 I got a few years ago has only needed a DVD drive replacement (next day, as advertised).

Yes, they do pre-load a lot of junkware, easily remedied by a clean installation of the OS. Dell always supplies a normal Windows OEM disc, as well as discs for all pre-loaded software. Their support web site is second to none, with constant driver and software updates. Their Dell|Talk user forum is a treasure trove of information on every topic from problems to upgrades. I personally have only called Dell tech support once, when re-loading Windows (to get help loading drivers in the correct order). I was fortunate enough to get an American and he was extremely helpful and knowledgeable.

I recommend Dell to others often, and in the vast majority of cases, the feedback from those individuals about their purchasing and computing experience has been positive. I'm not sure why the ResellerRatings.com rating for Dell is so low, since computer magazines that do these surveys professionally have consistently rated Dell at or near the top of the major manufacturers. I cannot speak to the notion that Dell is slipping of late, since I haven't had a serious enough problem to warrant a call to tech support. Perhaps if that happens, I'll come back and update this review."

"Ordered from Dell on 30th of Nov. Website intially showed delivery Dec 5. When I finished the order the update showed delivery the 9th. After that point I realized a left something out on the order. Took 2 days to correct (my fault) and 45 mins on hold. Finally got through fixed order. Was told then it would arrive about the 19th. I accepted that because I was the one who fouled up the order to begin with. Order arrived on the 5th. Everything fine and working well. Will have to say, with the exception of LOOOOONG waits on the phoe for customer service my experience with Dell was pretty good."

"Good Dell Hardware does not make up for atrocious Dell Customer Service!
---------------------
Pros
Hardware seems mostly to be fairly high quality. The price of the system is very good.

Cons
Customer Care is so bad that if ever needed, you'll regret having purchased from Dell.

The Bottom Line
Do not buy from Dell.
Based upon the problems I have been experiencing (which are not unique) I urge you to avoid Dell.


Full Review (can be read here: http://www.epinions.com/content_120632741508)

Commentaries on Dell Forums may be read here: http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=cc_order_status&message.id=76949&view=by_date_ascending&page=1


Synopsis:

Hardware: Mostly Above Average.

Software and setup: Substandard, and lots of Dell Spyware.

Customer Service: Horrifying, atrocious, ghastly, hideous, horrific, dreadful, horrendous, and appalling.

Customer Service:
This is the major Problem with Purchasing from Dell.
It is truly unfortunate that Dell Inc. has permitted their "Customer Care" to degrade as far as it has. The Dell Customer Care forums reflect the deterioration of their support, and are filled with customer accounts of Dell Staff not responding, delaying resolution, or providing inadequate resolution to customer problems.
In my family, there were problems with two of the three orders we made at the same time.

1) I ordered a system and upgraded the standard keyboard and mouse to the Dell Wireless Combo for $65.00. The description for this product showed a PS/2 Adapter, which I need to use my KVM (Keyboard / Mouse / Video switch.)

2) When I opened the box, there was no adapter, and no reference to an adapter in the documents.

3) I contacted Dell Technical support who immediately advised me that this unit is not compatible with PS/2 and cannot be adapted. They told me to contact customer care to send it back for a refund.

Because of the 5000 character limit, I must remove the details concerning this matter. However:

After SEVENTY (70) days, HUNDREDS of emails, DOZENS of telephone calls, a complaint filed with the PA Distric Attorney's Office of Consumer protection, and DOZENS of posts within the Dell support forums, Dell has FINALLY resolved the matter by sending me the standard keyboard and Mouse that they owed me as part of my origibal system purchase (Dell RETAIL value, less than $50.)

Here is the (mostlyt complete, as of 11/30/03) list of contacts that were unable to resolve this simple matter after many dozens of contacts:

1. Debbie (****@****)
2. ****@**** (Salesperson I dealt with)
3. Dell Inc. E-Business Sales Division ****@****)
4. Jersey DTF229365
5. Raymond DTC~28723 (repeatedly, and who made at least 2 promises to ship items he never did)
6. Sydney DTC39425
7. Arnold ~DTC47364
8. carla_geronimo AGENT_ID 2819 (who may be the same person as number 9)
9. Carla DTC69143
10. Dominic DTC66961
11. Sandy ~DTC65916
12. Ronald ~DTC29559
13. Keeve ~DTC39418
14. Pierre (Dell Customer Care Chat)
15. Robin (Dell Customer Care Chat)
16. ****@****
17. ****@****

19) After filing the complaint and notifying Customer Care and Dell Inc. E-Business Sales Division, I received an e-mail from each apologizing again, and promising prompt resolution. A keyboard and Mouse were entered into the shipping queue, but on December 2, the order was cancelled.

It was another 10 days before Dell decided to ship me the keyboard and mouse, and I am awaiting delivery. The story should end on Monday December 15, TWO AND 1/2 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF PURCHASE!
In light of my experience, and the similar experiences of many others, I strongly urge any prospective Dell customers to make their purchases from a different company.

The bottom line? The Dell hardware / software package is very cost effective. Do not buy with the expectations that you will get any support if you have problems. If you go into it with that attitude, you will not be disappointed.
"

"I ordered a Dimension 4600 computer with 17"monitor on Nov. 26, 2003 from Dell's website. On Dec. 9th, I got the CPU, but I did not receive the monitor. UPS said that they had received the billing information, but not the actual monitor. Dell said that the monitor had been lost in transit and that another one would be shipped out to me. It is now Dec. 12 2003, and they still haven't shipped the monitor out. Of course, they have already charged me the whole amount of the computer, but I still don't have the whole computer. Until I get the monitor, the CPU is just one big $1200 paper weight. And who knows whether I'll even get the monitor before the end of the year. Dell customer service has been virtually useless. I'm very upset with the service I've received from Dell.

Well, the monitor arrived on the 15th of Dec. 2003 and I was greatly relieved. I checked my Dell account on www.dell.com and found that now there are two invoice numbers: one dated Nov. 26, 2003, the day I ordered the computer and another invoice dated Dec. 16th, 2003 (today) for $33.33. I have no idea what this charge means and customer service once again was very useless in telling me what the charge was. The CS rep I talked to said that there shouldn't be a second charge. Well, duh. He said that there would be no extra charge for $33.33. My question is, why does it show the extra charge on the Dell website then?

Awaiting credit card statement. Developing..."

"A word of warning: Dell has great prices and coupons can make the prices even cheaper, but this company has a tendency to make backorders. If you order an item that you know will be popular, expect some sort of backorder to happen. I ordered on November 3, 2003 and I was told that I would get the item sometime by November 13. I received an e-mail that my item would be delayed and come by November 21. If money wasn't an issue I would have canceled my order right away and ordered elsewhere. Positive note: Dell does not charge your credit card until they ship their item. At least they have some etiquette, unlike some other businesses online. Negative note: I've heard that Dell moved their customer service to India. If you can't understand anyone with an accent, then you will hate Dell customer service. From my experience, it seems like they are trained to read off a script. When I said something that must have not been the usual reaction of the average customer, the service representative was silent for three minutes. "

"Dell's superior customer service no longer exists. They have simply gotten too large and too chaotic to handle problems effectivly.

I ordered in Inspiron that had a 300 dollar rebate on their website. When I checked out I noticed that it was only 200 dollars. I called and they acknowledged the error, but gave me the 300 dollars off anyway.

Great - except that by taking the order over the phone they got my address wrong, I found that out after UPS couldn't deliver due to an invalid address. It took me close to a month and well over 10 phone calls to get my laptop deliverd to the correct address.

Each time I called, I spoke to a different person and each person told me a different story. Some had thick accents or could barely speak english. Eventually I had to yell and threaten to get the issue resolved. But this poor customer experience will cause me never to buy from Dell again.

Those commercials you see are just marketing gimmicks - and those "reps" in the commercials are actors trying to hype up the company when in reality most of the reps are foreigners.

My next computer purchase was from a company on resellerratings in the top 10 category. How refreshing it was to speak with a true American that could speak proper English, and that I could deal with on a personal basis. I had no problem forking over money for 2 systems and will only deal with smaller, more personable companies in the future.

I do not recommend Dell at all."

"I ordered 2 LCD's on November 9th. I immediately received an acknowledgement email confirming the order. I went through my normal weekly routine, forgetting about my order I placed on the weekend. Come Friday I figured I would check on my order since I hadn't heard anything. After sitting on the phone for like an hour and half, being transferred from one CSR to the next, I finally get someone that said my order was cancelled. I never received and email or a phone call, they just cancelled my order. I have never dealt with any on-line company that operates the way they do.

That same weekend I ordered an $800 touchscreen LCD for my mother's business. It was shipped in a timely manner, but it turns out it is too large. I have been trying to get a return authorization for 2 weeks now. Every CSR I talk to says they cannot process my request and they always transfer me. I have left numerous messages and no one ever calls me back.

I feel lost in a Dell purgatory."

"Flaky service, a mix of good and bad. Dell needs to change the way they list availabilty of products; for example, you buy an accessory and it says "ships next day." What do you think this means? That if you order it by whatever cutoff time it will ship the next day? Uhh, no. This is not an "estimated shipping date.""

"Yet another case of Dell cancelling an order they just don't want to deal with. I placed an order for a Panasonic plasma tv, with a 10% off coupon. Dell sent me an email saying they were out of stock and that I could 1) cancel, 2) keep item on backorder which may take 6 months, or 3) choose one of three other items instead. Well, I replied and told them to KEEP my order on backorder. What did they do? They CANCELLED my order, and I can't get them to re-instate it. They now say they "can't" backorder it. I know that other people have had this problem and have gotten it re-ordered so I don't know what the deal is..."