Advice needed with Dell order mistake

rach1581

Hi guys, sorry for the rather long story but I have tried to include what I feel are the most important points.

[FONT=&quot]I placed an order through the Dell outlet on 25th May for a pre-configured Dell XPS 17” laptop and cancelled that order within a few hours via the order support line. I then spoke to a customer services representative who confirmed cancellation and advised me that I could place another order and the amount for the first order would be deducted and that I could just pay the balance between the orders. I then perused the Dell outlet to find a more suitable machine and called customer services to ensure that there were no problems with doing so and to confirm the cancellation of the order. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] On 26th May I found a suitable machine and placed the order through Dell outlet. I also received an email from a customer advisor to confirm that the original order had been cancelled and if I wished to rebook the order to contact the sales team, I replied to inform her that I did not wish to rebook and that I had placed another order. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] On 27th May I received an email from customer services informing me that the credit card which I had tried to pay for my second order on had been declined. I replied to explain that I was only due to be paying another £57 which was the difference in price between the two machines and to authorise the card for the additional amount. I did not receive a reply so I called in to speak to another advisor who said that he could confirm that the first order was cancelled and the second was on hold, that I would need to speak to the order verification team on Monday as they were due to close in 10 minutes and wouldn’t have sufficient time to process the order and they would call me back on Monday to do so. At around 11pm on 27th May I received an order confirmation email for the first order. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] I had to wait until Tuesday 31st May to speak to someone to find out what was happening. I spoke to a customer advisor who advised me that there was nothing he could do. I was unhappy with this so I called back again and spoke to another advisor who advised that instead of cancelling the first order and processing the second someone had rebooked the first order. I was told that if I wished to keep the order when it arrived I could have a discount of 10% of the purchase price; I found this to be unacceptable as the specification difference in the two machines was worth more than that. I advised him that I did not want to accept the offer and I wished to wait for a refund and then proceed with the second order which he confirmed would be ok. I was told by him that the order would be cancelled and that I would receive a refund within 3 working days. I was satisfied by this until I received an email from him advising me that the order had already been shipped out, a whole 6 days after the order had been confirmed cancelled by a customer advisor! I then called back in again and spoke to another advisor who assured me that she would be able to recall the order from the courier and it would arrive back at the Dell warehouse by Friday 3rd June at the latest and at which point the refund could be processed and the second order could proceed. I requested that she send me confirmation via email which I have not received.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] On Wednesday 1st June I received a call from customer services wishing me to pay for the second order, I advised him of the ongoing issues and he said that if I didn’t pay for the order that day it would be cancelled and that I may not be able to find another machine with the same specification on the Dell outlet when I was in a position to pay. I advised him that both previous advisors had assured me that the machine was being held until the refund had been processed, he advised me that he would need to speak to them and he would call me back. He called me back an hour or so later and confirmed that he had spoken to an advisor and that the second order was on hold. He requested payment by an alternative method, I advised him that I do not have another credit card and feel that I should not have to be out of pocket another £679 until my refund is processed. I requested that he try to find a way to transfer the money from the original order to the second order and said that he would speak to his manager and call me back; he did not call me back.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] On Thursday 2nd June I spoke to another advisor who advised me that I could not transfer the funds from the original order and I would have to wait for the refund to the credit card and that the machine was expected back at the Dell warehouse later that day. He advised that the refund would be processed within 24hrs and I would receive funds back onto my card within 3-5 working days which would enable me to continue with the purchase by Friday 10th June at the latest. I asked him to provide me confirmation via email which I have not received and I also requested the name of his manager which he supplied. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] On Friday 3rd June after receiving another email regarding the delivery of my order I decided to contact the delivery company to ensure that the order has been recalled to the Dell warehouse as I have previously been advised. I spoke to a customer adviser who informed me that the parcel is “on the road somewhere between Dublin and Hinckley” and is not due to arrive at the Hinckley depot until Monday 6th June. It will then be repacked and shipped back to the Dell warehouse which will take 3-4 working days and then it will be scanned back into the warehouse and only then will my refund be processed. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] On Tuesday 7th June I spoke to an advisor at the delivery company again as the order tracking shows the laptop as arriving at my local depot and ready to be loaded for delivery. She confirmed that they had received a returns authorization from Dell but no-one has actually processed it and the laptop is due to be delivered to me today. It is now going to take at least another 2 working days until the laptop is received back at the Hinckley depot and then shipped back to the Dell warehouse.[/FONT]

At this point I was contemplating sending a s.75 letter as I paid by credit card and was drafting a letter when received a phone call in response to an email complaint that I had written to the exec board, the guy in the executive customer complaints team said that best offer they will make is a full refund plus either 10% discount on a new machine or 1 extra year warranty on another outlet machine. They are also going to expedite my refund and I should have this back in my account within 3 working days.

I'm a little unsure as to what to do now as I'm paying credit card interest, I've racked up what must be £30-£40 in phone calls and the best they can do is this. I can find 10% discount on the internet so feel that they could do better. Any advice?