Dell Provide The Worst Customer Service! What To Do..

mostwantd

I recently bought an XPS M1330 laptop directly over the phone. When i purchased this laptop from the advisor i explained to him why i needed the laptop and what i used it for. He then explained to me that i could take out an additional package which would cover me for an additional 3 years. He stated that this would cover me if the screen became damaged, if the laptop was dropped and liquid contamination. I asked him if this was some form of insurance and he clarified it was. After speaking with my partner we thought it would be best to get cover considering how much the laptop was worth.

A week later i received the laptop and the sales consultant gave me a call to find out how i was finding the machine and to be honest i was so delighted with my service i recommended three of my friends to also make a purchase from Dell.

However this Saturday i spilt a little coke (around 2 teaspoons) on the laptop and i immediately switched it off and turned it upside down. After leaving it i removed each key and cleared under it. However some keys have stayed a bit sticky, but they still work.

So on Monday 21st of April i rung the technical support and explained to them what had happened. The man that i spoke to explained that the product cover i had got didn't cover the spill however he would speak to a manager to see if they could get one sent out to me.
He then came back onto the phone and explained they would send one out but i would have to fit it. i explained to him that would be OK, just as long as he told me how to remove my current keyboard. He suggested i get a pin and find the "hole" on the right hand side of my keyboard, so I'm looking for this little hole poking this pin and causing little marks to my housing. i explained to him that this wasn't working and he then referred me to the Dell Connect website and he disconnected.
I then rung up customer service, whilst following the prompts it kept transferring me back to the helpdesk, they attempted to connect me four times without avail!
i then get a phone call at home and it was another dell advisor, he explained that they were experiencing a lot of drop calls and that they are working through their log. i then re-explained the situation to him and he apologised for my inconvenience so far. He then explained to me a keyboard would be sent but i would be charged for it to be fixed, i explained to him that i could do it just as long as the sent it.
Whilst he was trying to find out the status of the keyboard guess what... he got disconnected!

i than rung customer services twice before being put through to a correct advisor, again i explained the story and he told me that the incident has been forwarded to a supervisor and i would be receiving a call within 3 hours... i never got the call.

So this morning Wednesday the 23rd of April i decide to call back again. As i suspected, i was going around in circles, no one was willing to help. i finally was put through to someone that was willing to help however she was in the wrong department she then transferred me to a guy in text support, Julian. i explained to him how much money and time i had spent trying to sort out my problem. he stated that if i told them my button had fallen off then they would have sent a keyboard straight away! i couldn't believe the cheek of him. i explained that the laptop is fine the keys are just slightly sticky. He then transferred my call to Raafiq, his supervisor i explained the situation and his only resolution was to transfer me to the parts department. i cant believe the lack of support and help there is for customers. it was not my fault i was mis-sold a product furthermore i still haven't received no documentation upon my purchase.

i have now unwillingly cancelled my 3 year warranty as i believe that if i ever have a problem technical support will throw it back in my face that the keyboard has had water on it. i have now had to order a keyboard off Ebay as i don't wish to give anymore money to Dell.

I spent the morning online googling dell customer service and i cant believe the problems!

any suggestions on what to do next?

Belnahua

I have experienced nothing but excellent service from Dell. Except when I get the Indian Call Centre, which quite frankly is a disgrace, when I get them on the phone I just hang up and don't even bother entering into a conversation with them.

The tricks I have learnt :-

a) Call in the morning, more likely to get a UK/Ireland call centre than the Indian one, which is useless (that's if you can even get someone who can speak English there).

b) Always try deal with them by email if you possibly help it.

I cheat and used the Optiplex support route on their website, which gives you an email address! And normally I get the Glasgow crowd, who are only 100% happy to help and serve!

HoofeHearted

You can view the XPS M1330 Service manual here
http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsM1330/en/sm/index.htm
or download it here http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsM1330/en/sm/sm.zip

You will then have details on how to remove/replace the keyboard.

isofa

Belnahua wrote: »

a) Call in the morning, more likely to get a UK/Ireland call centre than the Indian one, which is useless (that's if you can even get someone who can speak English there).

Or just ring the Irish call centre directly on: 00353850 333 200

b814sn1

I posted on another thread recently with my problem.

I had a CD/DVD dive go kaput on an Inspiron 531 Desktop bought in November 2007. I only have the basic 1 year warranty.

A very helpful Indian man on the online help facility took me through all the obvious fixes, which proved fruitless. He arranged a Collect and Repair. I took the day off and yes, you guessed it, they didn't turn up.

I called the 0870 helpline several times and spoke to very polite Indian people who to be honest just don't "get it". The volume on their phones is strangely very low so I had to constantly ask them to speak up. I was promised a return call before the end of the day which never materialised. So I phoned again but to no joy. I tried a UK number for Dell House (which I googled I think) but they said they couldn't help with customer service issues.

In the end I went back onto the online chat/help facility and asked for a supervisor. He called me while I was still online chatting. He apologised and said he would arrange an at-home repair for me. This was arranged at my convenience at 5pm so I didn't have to take further time off and worked flawlessly, the Banctec (?) man turned up on time and fixed it inside 10 minutes.

I've always been happy with Dell products in the past but to me a company is only as good as they deal with you when things go wrong. I'd shy away from buying or recommending Dell in the future because of this though. Thier loss eh!

Debt_Free_Chick

I have a five year old Dell Inspiron 5100 .... well out of any warranty ever provided and technically probably past it's shelf-life.

I've had a problem with the fan ... resulting in the lappie shutting down without notice.

I've had excellent service from the Indian call centre ....

1. Initiated an online chat with techie where I followed some diagnostic tests.

2. Lappie shuts down during chat. Within half an hour they call me to continue.

3. Support continues by telephone, at their expense as they called me.

4. Ran Dell Diagnostics, which takes about 3 hours to complete

5. They call back to get results - diags not complete. They promise to call back in a further two hours.

6. They do call back and I give them results - all OK

7. They ask if they can control the lappie remotely - yes, agreed

8. They flashed the bios for me, which I could have done, had they suggested it. But they offered to fix the problem for me.

9. They promise to call back in two days to check all was OK

10. They call back when they said they did - everything is fine

I couldn't fault them - but I do wonder if the online support is the way to go, as b814sn1 also seemed to get good service, once he used online chat. It does seem to be staffed by knowledgeable technicians.

I wonder if those getting the bad service are calling the right number? Customer services is only for sales follow up .... isn't it?

Whatever service option you use, have the service tag ready!

Debt_Free_Chick

mostwantd wrote: »

So on Monday 21st of April i rung the technical support and explained to them what had happened. The man that i spoke to explained that the product cover i had got didn't cover the spill however he would speak to a manager to see if they could get one sent out to me.

Which warranty did you buy? Dell confirm what you've bought and the T&Cs for the warranty will have been sent either with the PC, the invoice or by email.

Which one did you have?

You didn't check the T&Cs when you received the .... did you?

AdrianHi

I have had good and bad responses from Dell. In the end they supply a vast number of computers and the frequency of calls to their support centres varies quite a lot, so sometimes it takes literally hours to get through, other times within just a few minutes.