Why I Won't Go With Dell
Written: Feb 23 '03 (Updated Feb 27 '03)
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I decided to buy a digital camera (Canon Powershot S45). After extensive shopping around, I found a good price at Dell. I was elated--after all, Dell is a reputable online dealer, right? Well, after my experience I would rather take a chance with somebody else. I found their customer service horrible, the number of delays unacceptable, their policies mind-boggling, and their prices no better than everybody else's.
Placing my order was quite easy. They do have a nice website that was easy to navigate through. They constantly have sales, and sometimes these sales are very good. The e-codes and e-coupons get a bit annoying--this system of codes made me feel like a sucker for not knowing a code for another discount.
Most any question that you might have about a product are answered on their site (as for the digital cameras, they didn't have a great deal of information compared with some of the sites that I researched at, but it was helpful).
Even with their obvious strenghts, I'm not sure that I will ever buy from Dell again because of my experience.
Dell made me feel as if I were being held hostage, and there was nothing I could do about it. When dealing with customer service, they had no problem reminding me that they had both my money and my order--so I really had no leverage.
I ordered a Canon Powershot S45 from Dell on February 1. I was a little concerned that they might be out of stock (even though their website said that the camera was in stock). On the phone they confirmed that the camera was in stock--so I ordered it with the promise that it would ship on the next business day.
I received a confirmation e-mail telling me that it would ship in 3-5 business days. I was slightly disappointed in the delay, but I figured that it was really no big deal. On the fifth day, I received another email telling me that it would be at least 10 more days until the camera would ship. At this point I was a bit frustrated--particularly when I saw that the price on the compact flash card that I ordered had dropped $20. I checked with my credit card company, and Dell had already billed my card on the day that I placed my order--no delay there!!!
I looked for an email address so that I could try to email somebody--GOOD LUCK TRYING TO FIND AN EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ANYBODY ON THEIR WEBSITE!!! I finally sent off an email to the address given in my "First Notice of Product Delay" (the actual subject title of the email). I got a very rude response back after about two hours. The harsh response essentially told me that if I wanted to discuss my order, I would need to call customer service.
I called Dell to try to find out when to expect my order and see if I could get the new lower price. It took three phone calls before I could even talk with a person. One of those calls consisted of me waiting on hold for over half an hour, only to have an automated voice tell me that Dell's business hours were now over(and then they hung up on me). When finally I talked to a woman in the customer service department she was very nice--but absolutely no help at all. After I explained to her how both the website and sales person claimed that the camera was in stock, she then agreed that it showed up on the computer as being in stock. Then the woman told me that the order would probably not be shipped for at least a month (but she was not sure why because she insisted that they were really in stock). I wish that they could have at least been honest about being out of stock.
I then asked if I could at least get the current price for the compact flash card I ordered--she told me that was against Dell's policy. She said if I wanted to get the new price I would have to cancel my order and then place it again (but she warned that it would take an extra week to receive my order because "You will then be moved to the back of the line"). I had about enough by this point so I asked to have my order cancelled--I was then told that I couldn't cancel my order because canceling orders was against their policy!!! That is ridiculous! I bought a camera and a compact flash card--it's not as if they had to configure a computer for me!
After another 20 minutes on hold as she talked to her supervisor she received permission to "break policy" and cancel my order. She warned me that it would take almost a week for their processing department to credit my MasterCard (funny that there were no such delays in making the charge to my card).
I talked to somebody who ordered the same camera about the same time I did--he was told yesterday that it would be another month until the camera shipped! That takes it to almost two months from the time of placing the order!!!!
I used to have a great deal of respect for Dell. I have purchased three computers from them, and have always felt comfortable recommending them to friends--I thought their products were superior as well as their customer service. In the last year or so, I have found that their customer service has taken a nosedive. If possible, I would really choose another retailer for software and peripherals. You could get better prices, better customer service, and faster delivery.
Recommended:
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Epinions.com ID:
sdeinhorn
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Location: New York, New York, USA
Reviews written: 45
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me:
Tax attorney who loves photography, electronic gadgets, computers, theology, and books.
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