I am posting this in the hopes of saving a fellow member grief///////..... April 10 i bought a dell 2350 with windows XP pro from the dell website.... 58 days later i am still in possession of an expensive paperweight..... the machine is a total piece of crap that does not boot up.... after days and hours of bullshit from the technical incompetent dept i said i was disputing the credit card charge if they failed to give me an exchange.. after a great deal of hesitationand double talk... they agreed.... fellow traders... please note that even though they are probably the biggest... they are without a doubt deserving the title COMPUTER SLEEZEBALL OF THE MILLENIUM!!!!!!!!
Buying A Computer From Dell Direct
- Thread starter larrybf
- Start date
Sorry to hear about the various problems. I have bought 5+ computers from Dell (mostly high-end, for trading) over the past few years and have never experienced a single problem with any of them. This is despite the fact that I have had problems with two other 'no-name' computers that I had previously purchased. As a result, I will never buy another computer from anyone else besides Dell (unless or until I have a problem with a Dell machine).
Best of luck getting a resolution to the problem(s).
-Eric
Best of luck getting a resolution to the problem(s).
-Eric
While I haven't ordered as many computers from Dell as Eric has, my 2.4GHz laptop arrived about a month ago, three days after I had ordered it. It runs as I expected, came with everything promised, including upgrades and accessories, and it's been trouble free. I know this hasn't been everyone's experience, but I thought I'd offer my point of view.
We have purchased several machines - more than 30 - and have never had a major problem. There have been a few glitches though with a couple of orders that were painful the get straightened out: Dell has a poor sales organization in my opinion. However if you order over the internet there is rarely an issue and the service on these machines is still very good and tech support while having the typical long wait times, is still one of the best we have seen.
I got a Dell about 18 months ago and I found their support to be rather poor.
Story:
The new Dell would not connect to my DSL. Dell blamed it on ISP, ISP blamed it on Dell, stating that the NIC card was not compatible with the motherboard/processor. We went back and forth for 8 hours most of the time on hold waiting for Dell. I finally got a Dell tech who found a technical note that confirmed the incompatibility. Unfortunately, I had to call their customer service to get it resolved. They denied this tech note existed and that they had made 100s of computers with this configuration. They said I could send the computer back and get my money back.
As I trade, I did not want another lost week mailing computers and waiting and wondering if the next one would work. So I took the computer to my local computer shop, and they fixed it on the spot and did not charge me as the NIC they put in cost less than the one that came with the computer and they kept it as payment.
They also told me that Dell is a wonderful source of revenue for them. Also, they showed me that the video card needed a fan as the way Dell made it, the video card ran too hot. I watched a test, and it showed the computer ran about 15% faster with the fan. So I had them put in the fan for $10.
Bottom line, no more Dell. I'll go back to buying from the local computer stores as I had for my previous computers.
DS
Story:
The new Dell would not connect to my DSL. Dell blamed it on ISP, ISP blamed it on Dell, stating that the NIC card was not compatible with the motherboard/processor. We went back and forth for 8 hours most of the time on hold waiting for Dell. I finally got a Dell tech who found a technical note that confirmed the incompatibility. Unfortunately, I had to call their customer service to get it resolved. They denied this tech note existed and that they had made 100s of computers with this configuration. They said I could send the computer back and get my money back.
As I trade, I did not want another lost week mailing computers and waiting and wondering if the next one would work. So I took the computer to my local computer shop, and they fixed it on the spot and did not charge me as the NIC they put in cost less than the one that came with the computer and they kept it as payment.
They also told me that Dell is a wonderful source of revenue for them. Also, they showed me that the video card needed a fan as the way Dell made it, the video card ran too hot. I watched a test, and it showed the computer ran about 15% faster with the fan. So I had them put in the fan for $10.
Bottom line, no more Dell. I'll go back to buying from the local computer stores as I had for my previous computers.
DS
TripleJ,
If you are referring to my post, the configuration would not work as the NIC was not compatible with the processor/MB combo Dell was using. The part was not defective as my local computer store tested it on one of their machines and it worked fine. My experience with Dell was very poor service after the sale. I've heard from others who purchased from them that their service is poor, despite the high ratings they get in surveys. Of course you would be happy if your purchase works properly out of the box as would I.
But, I had a defective machine, they knew about it, and still would not fix it. The only alternate offered was to return it and get my money back. My local store knew of the NIC/MB imcompatiblilty and told me Dell was in denial over it.
IMO, a local store builds a superior machine and gives superior service. I previously bought 6 computers from a local store and they resolved my problems quickly by phone. One time, I had to take a machine to the store and they repaired it for me the next day at no cost.
DS
If you have a lot of customers then you will have more complaints than a small store that has fewer customers.
Companies that do huge volumes of sales have a percentage of complaints.
As long as the customer matches their needs to the vendor then there is no problem.
Dell is not the local computer shop: if you need a lot of customer support then you will probably get more from the local shop than from Dell, even with their 24 service gaurantee - which we have and seems to work well for us. Of course, we have techs on staff and a single trader office does not typically have such resources ......
Companies that do huge volumes of sales have a percentage of complaints.
As long as the customer matches their needs to the vendor then there is no problem.
Dell is not the local computer shop: if you need a lot of customer support then you will probably get more from the local shop than from Dell, even with their 24 service gaurantee - which we have and seems to work well for us. Of course, we have techs on staff and a single trader office does not typically have such resources ......