thinking about getting a Dell computer? Beware!

[R. Derderian]

Hi all,
I have been posting on every website I frequent to warn about Dell computers. I have had one for two years and have to say they are the WORST in the area of customer service. I mean completly incompetent. I spent four months trying to get a replacement DVD drive. I had to replace the hard drive. I expanded the RAM a few months ago (had no choice but to buy it from them) and for two months I have been getting daily calls because they haven't received a payment. Well, I have been telling them for two months they never sent me a statement or bill. I have given them my address at least a dozen times. They said they removed late fees. I finally got a statement from them today and of course, there are two months worth of late fees on it.
Just the worst company I have ever dealt with. If I could do it over again, I would not have bought this thing. I don't mind the problems with the computer, it is the terrible and c.s. people you have to deal with.
Raf

 

[OUMoose]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck.

Yet again proof positive as to why I build all my PC's now.

 

[MA-Caver]

I've been fortunate to have Ceicei's husband build my computers for me ever since I bought my first one (a 256 mgzh) a number of years ago. Now, if I want customer service ... I babysit... or help clean out the garage! :lol: Seriously though I've haven't had too many problems with "home-built" computers. But then it does help to have a (skilled) friend to barter the repair work with.

 

[Cryozombie]

I am constantly contacted by customers at my Help-desk job who would rather pay 50.00 a hour to have me fix their PC than call for support from Dell.

 

[Andrew Green]

Yup, Playing Dr. Frankenstien is definately the way to go. Don't have to pay for all kinds of Software licenses you don't need either

 

[Old Fat Kenpoka]

While I am sorry that your experience has been negative, I have to strongly disagree with your conclusion about Dell.

As someone who has been in the PC industry for 20 years, I have to say that Dell's cusotmer service and product quality are among the best.

I have been using Dell computers, IBM computers, Compaq, HP, and Gateway for many years. Dell's spare parts replacement and service has been among the most accessible and fastest to solve problems. I recently had to replace a motherboard on a Dell computer and Dell sent out a technician with the parts within 24 hours.

As someone who has been marketing and selling computer components to big and small PC makers for the last 10, I can say with absolute certainty, Dell product quality is absolutely first class. Their component qualification practices are simply the most demanding of any PC maker. The mantra of Dell procurement, marketing, and engineering staff is that no component should have any problems that generate a customer return, complaint, or even a phone call with a question.

Again, sorry you had a bad experience. But it is not representative of my experience as a Dell customer or of my experience getting them to accept my past and current employers' products.

 

[shane23ss]

My department bought Dell computers for my entire office about 2 years ago. We got rid of them about a year later. Among other problems (above my level) my biggest issue was when a disc was burnt from a Dell computer, no other computer could read it. This caused me a lot of problems since I provide Drug Awareness Briefs to groups such as schools, churches, etc. I had to bring my computer from my office to the brief to be able to show my presentation. It's a good thing I had a laptop.

 

[FearlessFreep]

Just to pile on...

I knew a guy who worked at Dell. The fired him and a bunch of other people under false pretenses (basically, they lied to lay the people off so they wouldn't have to worry about severance, unemployment, etc...)

For this, I won't by their equipment

 

[Drac]

they are the WORST in the area of customer service.
Raf

I hear ya there...My PC ran great, when I had a small problem I attempted to call them to resolve it..It was terrible..I could barely understand this person, English was definatly is SECOND language..I gave up and paid to have it fixed..

 

[Fightback2]

I agree that Dell customer service is the pits. I purchased my PC from them about 2 years ago. So far the PC itself has run well (I say this with my fingers crossed).

At one point they doubled-billed me (I made the ultimately stupid mistake of having them finance my PC - don't do it!). Had to call in and spent 30 minutes on hold and them couldn't understand the person on the other end of the phone.

 

[clfsean]

If you haven't ... don't.

If you have ... you have my most sincere condolences.

I deal with them at work. The list is too long to go into, but let me summarize this by saying if I had to deal with a Dell at home, I'd use it for a boat anchor & go back to reading books again.

 

[Michael Billings]

Gee, and I bought 210 of them. 114 Docking Stations and notebooks and the rest desktops. Fortunatly I get support through their gov division (not located in India). There are more than rumors from some Senior people who work there, and train at my school, that support will return to the US for residential customers .... NONE TOO SOON!!!!

-Michael

 

[TonyM.]

That's nice since I found it very frustrating dealing with someone over the phone that speaks english as a second language and poorly at that. My boss bought a new dell a few weeks ago and I couldn't help notice that all the cartons it came in said made in china. I own a dell and exept for having the keyboard die the second week it's been OK. Since it's all offshore now I'll probably not buy another. When I buy things made offshore I expect them to have names like sony and toshiba.

 

[Cthulhu]

Slightly off-topic but someone mentioned India...

Palm (or PalmOne now), the PDA maker, has their tech support in India. Despite complaint after complaint, they still use the out-of-country tech support people. Unless you essentially want no useful tech support, stay away.

Cthulhu

 

[Old Fat Kenpoka]

My boss bought a new dell a few weeks ago and I couldn't help notice that all the cartons it came in said made in china. I own a dell and exept for having the keyboard die the second week it's been OK. Since it's all offshore now I'll probably not buy another. When I buy things made offshore I expect them to have names like sony and toshiba.

Well then you are going to be S.O.L. All computer components are manufactured overseas. All laptops are assembled in China, Taiwan, or Korea. And, Dell is the only desktop maker still assembling in the USA. Welcome to the global economy.

 

[Old Fat Kenpoka]

Slightly off-topic but someone mentioned India...

Palm (or PalmOne now), the PDA maker, has their tech support in India. Despite complaint after complaint, they still use the out-of-country tech support people. Unless you essentially want no useful tech support, stay away.

Cthulhu

Um, I worked there too. 3 1/2 yrs until May 2004. They also have support in the Philipines. Ever thought how much your tech support would cost in if you had to pay US wages? And, do you really think that an American tech-rep with a High School Diploma is going to give you better support than an Indian with a Bachelor's in Engineering or Computer Science? Think again.

 

[triwahine]

I know we're talking about DELL here. I have one and have been happy with everything to this point. Had it for about a year now....

My Gateway had been good to me until it just got too old...Several people had suggested DELL so I went with them.

Now, my main question is what do you think about MAC? I'm on my fourth one at work and they have all SUCKED the BIG ONE!! They freeze, they lack memory and they are not compatible with other schools. Mine, even after RAM upgrade, still freezes on a whim and the mouse isn't too happy either....

 

[Nightingale]

I've had nothing but trouble with my parents' dell desktop. I must've fixed the damn thing for them 20 times over, and I'd venture to say I've replaced virtually every component at one point or another, except the case, monitor, keyboard and mouse. The guts are now pretty much all stuff I've picked up at the local computer geek store. It works fine now. LOL.

My boyfriend's company bought dell laptops for the entire staff, and scrapped them months later because of all the quality control problems and lousy customer service. The office now has switched over to Mac, and they have no complaints whatsoever.

My brother had a dell laptop. After issue after issue, and having it sent out for service to the extent that it was away more often than it was home, bought a sony instead, and has no problems. I think he passed the dell along to some poor schmuck on eBay.

Me, well, I took the hint and have never purchased a dell. My laptop is a toshiba, and I have no complaints whatsoever. The thing is bulletproof. I toss it in my schoolbag and go. My new desktop is going to be either an iMac or a PowerMac, so I'll have one windows computer and one Mac OS X...best of both worlds.

 

[Nightingale]

Macs are very compatable with networks and talk to other computers well, provided the person setting it up is competent. If its freezing, I'd look to your IT people for the problem. My boyfriend was the first mac user at his office. The entire office switched to Mac after realizing that the mac could easily talk with the windows machines and the unix machines, and also, of course, other macs.

As for the mouse, if it's a ball mouse, have you opened it up and cleaned it? That can help. If it's an optical mouse, replace it. if it's a wireless mouse, make sure the battery is charged, and if it still doesn't work well, replace it.

I've found Mac to have wonderful customer service. I dropped my boyfriend's laptop off at the Mac store to be looked at when it wouldn't power on. We weren't sure what had happened to it. Honestly, I think the dog might've stepped on it while it was open. Turns out the problem was a broken power button. Mac had it fixed within two days. Mac could have charged over $100 for their service guy's time, as the computer was no longer under warranty, but they just gave me back the computer with a smile and said "no charge. have a nice day!" The laptop has worked perfectly since.

What kind of mac are you using, and what are you doing with it? There are different product lines for different uses, and you may be using one that isn't made for what you're doing. For example, extensive video editing on an emac probably isn't the smartest thing to do. It's fine on a powermac, though. The eMac is pretty much made for basic use, browsing the internet, word processing and stuff. It's designed for education, so it's made to do the stuff a basic school kid would do. The iMac is more for the home user. It'll do more than the eMac, but it's really not made for professional use. It's geared toward your average home user who wants to browse the net, send email, and experiment with the occasional video and photo editing, along with all the basic home uses, such as managing finances, etc. The PowerMac is mac's high-end system designed for scientific, technical and office type use. Which system you have and what you're trying to do with it makes a lot of difference.

Also, are you using programs that are not approved for the mac, perhaps a database program written by your IT department? Are you running an emulator? The problem could be one of many things, but the fact that you've gone through four systems, knowing what I know about macs, I would say the problem is probably more likely to be caused by the programs you're running or your IT people, than on mac's end. If you have a mac that is made to do what you're doing with it, and your IT people know how to configure it and the network, you shouldn't have a problem. I've seen macs integrated seamlessly in many settings.

 

[BlueDragon1981]

I have had good luck with Dell's .... but I do my own tech support. So that could be why...They used to do a lot of good things and have a great customer service base, but 2 years ago they outsourced the service to India....then it all went down hill. Micheal Dell also stepped down as CEO....he was not really an acting CEO for 2 years while having his replacement learn the ropes....

This is a company that has to watch their decisions in my opinion because they are going in the wrong direction...I used to recommend Dell...now I recommend building your own....or different companies for different needs....its getting kind of complicated....

IBM - LAPTOP
DELL - DESKTOP if not going to do a lot of stuff other than internet
CUSTOM - specially if doing a lot of video and graphics

High end anything for gaming....as long as VIDEO Ram is not shared and the motherboard doesn't have a bunch of intergration.

See what I mean...

Blue