[Dean's World] Trudy W. Schuett: My Own Dell Hell

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Posted by Trudy W. Schuett:
My Own Dell Hell
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1168091896.shtml


   My Own Dell Hell

   Last summer my modem fried during a thunderstorm. At the time I
   figured, well, it was a stupid thing to do, I know better than to stay
   online when a storm comes up, but it's not really that big a deal to
   get new part and replace it.

   Problem was, they sent me the wrong part. The problem was compounded
   by the fact there was a time delay. I couldn't get to work on the
   computer immediately due to a number of things going on, which
   shouldn't have any bearing on the fact the wrong part needed to be
   replaced with the right one.

   The first  two people I talked to on the phone agreed - yes, I'd been
   sent the wrong part, but they couldn't help me as it was not their
   department. After a few times getting handed off from department to
   department, I got a guy named Manuel who suggested I was probably
   making it all up, and the modem they sent  me could be made to work.
   After over an hour screwing around, we determined to his satisfaction
   that the modem they sent would not work in my computer, but that was
   the last I heard from him.

   He never returned my calls, so I tried e-mailing.

   This was a new adventure. These e-mail correspondents couldn't get any
   farther than trying to blame me for ordering the wrong part. This is
   despite the fact I have documentation to prove the part I ordered was
   replaced by something else. There also seems to be a policy of not
   allowing a customer to communicate with the same person more than
   once, as I could never get the same person to reply to a subsequent
   e-mail or phone contact.

   Keep in mind I have three "regular" jobs, as well as trying to launch
   a [1]support group for victims of abuse, and somewhere in there I have
   a husband, a son and daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren who also
   need my attention. It's not like I could at any time have simply
   dropped everything to spend a couple days on the phone to deal with
   this.

   Finally I got a lady on the phone who seemed to understand the
   problem. She ordered the correct part for me, and my account has been
   credited so I wasn't paying for the part twice. She said I'd have the
   right part on December 19.

   I allowed some time for holiday delay, as this year none of our Xmas
   presents were getting here on time. By New Year's the part had still
   not arrived, so I e-mailed yet again, only to be told that for some
   obscure reason that couldn't be revealed, the order had been
   cancelled. Now I'm supposed to contact the sales department.

   By now Dell has cost themselves many times the 20 dollars for the
   part, in terms of paying these people however much they pay them in
   order to put me off. If I was asking for the whole computer to be
   replaced, I could understand they'd be a little hesitant to go that
   route, but all I'm asking is that they correct their own mistake and
   send me the part I ordered.

   I could have bought a replacement part anywhere, but it appeared to be
   easier simply to ring up Dell. Guess I won't be doing that again!

   In the meantime, I'm going to give up trying to get through to anybody
   at Dell who understands that when a company sends a customer something
   other than what they ordered, they should at least make some effort to
   correct the problem. I'm done being insulted and put off.

   The irony here is that I was planning on getting a new computer and
   maybe satellite or wireless internet service, because dialup is such a
   pain. I had that budgeted for sometime in February. I can make my
   dialup connection work sometimes, and because I work in a military
   library that provides internet access for the Marines, I can always go
   early and get some things done there.

   I'll hobble along for another eight weeks or so, and for sure I'll be
   buying my new computer from somebody else.

References

   1. http://www.desertlightcenter.blog-city.com/