I’m in total Dell Hell. My Dell computer wouldn’t start this morning. It displayed a lightening-fast (impossible to read) message that says something like attempts to boot have failed, so contact Dell. And, of course, now Dell tech support is the problem.
I spent over two hours on the phone this morning with a technician in Dell’s Gold Service. When the conversation began, I said, “Looks like this requires a service call, so please, don’t waste two hours of my time if that’s what you need to set up.”
And then we went through two hours of him looking through manuals trying to figure out what was wrong. After two hours he finally told me to open the computer case and he said that the little green light that was shining on the motherboard meant that I need a new motherboard and a — drumroll please — service call.
I’m not going to trust this guy to take care of business. I called my honcho at Dell and told him my story. And he agreed that it should have been clear in about two minutes that a service call would be required. I pay for next day service, but I’ll believe I am going to get that when the technician has fixed my computer.
Luckily, I have a non-exploding Lenovo laptop. But, it was not up to date on various software updates and I’d never made a set of recovery disks, etc. etc. So it took the better part of the afternoon to get it fired up and ready to rock. Sigh.
Meantime, I languish in Dell Hell…..
If I haven’t answered your email, or met your deadline, please call Dell and complain.
I sympathise but I don’t think it matters which company you buy your computer from. I have had similar experiences with Apple.
I enjoy your blog and understand why you are writing these posts (i.e. publicise your bad experiences so that Dell fix their problems – and yours), but the posts are becoming tiresome.
You’re using me to get what you want. I’m not sure that I like that. I subscribe to read what you have to say about your field of excellence (and about Benny), not to become a bit-player in your fight against the Dell-monster.
When my last IBM R51 packed up I took a left turn, got a PowerBook (after 24 years of Wintel), ate my own lunch and now do everything I possibly can through web services. So…if this machine does fall apart on me then I only need a connection to the Internet and I’m back in business. time lost – minimal.
hi martium: Sorry you are bored reading about the issues that will cause the demise of an enormous American company. Bloggers have made enough noise that Dell is paying attention to the fact that if their service stinks, people simply won’t buy their computers.
If I get my computer fixed in an adequate and timely manner, that’ll be a great help to tens of thousands of other Dell customers. Dell is, at least, trying to help me. That in itself is great progress.
Dennis: I send copies of all my Outlook mail to gmail, I upload photos and videos to the Internet.
But my music is on my hard drive, and I don’t care to share my documents with the rest of the world.
Also, how do you back up your data? I would like to know a reliable and affordable online backup service.
B.L.,
This morning on the bus, I was treated to the man behind me having an extended rant with who-knows-whom at Dell. He kept saying, “My name is __________, and I’m a reporter for the New York Times, and I want to talk to a human being!!!” I wanted to turn around and wish him good luck, but I refrained.
Too funny! Of course it makes me wonder if he WAS a reporter for The NY Times. :>)
So the objective of your blog posts is not to publicise your problems to Dell, but to publicise your problems to current and potential Dell customers to turn them against Dell?
In this instance, Dell’s focus on sales rather than service has directly affected you, so you’re generating negative word of mouth via your influential blog.
Understandable, and I’ve done a similar thing regarding my MacBook on my not-so-influential blog.
But all that is contrary to your comment where you say “If I get my computer fixed in an adequate and timely manner, that’ll be a great help to tens of thousands of other Dell customers”. Why? How do you know that Dell won’t simply fix your computer to garner some good publicity from you, then leave their service processes exactly as they are?
If you weren’t waging this public battle against Dell via your blog, I imagine that the simplest solution would be to buy a new computer from a different company. Vote with your feet.
At the moment you’re still a customer. Why not simply exit Dell and write about why you made that decision?
You could even kill two birds with one stone by buying a Mac and using mac.com for your online backup needs …..
I’m not trying to turn people against Dell. I’m trying to make Dell deliver what I, and millions of others, paid for: a great computer that works, and that is promptly and professionally fixed when it breaks. These are machines. They break.
A MAC friend was saying that all he has to do is take his MAC to the genius bar and talk to the genius there. However, I’ve been to the MAC store and I know you can wait all day to see the genius. AND you have to bring your computer there. No thanks.
I paid for on-site, next day service and that’s what I want from Dell. You MAC people crack me up.
I’m not throwing this computer out and spending thousands on a new one because this one is not even two years old, and when it runs, it’s amazing. It’s been trouble free since the only other problem I had with it, which was a defective CD drive. That wouldn’t have been a big deal if the service people had simply sent someone to replace it. Instead, they tortured me for days. That’s a surmountable problem IMO. And I’m doing my part of push Dell to solve it.
“You Mac people” ?
I make a reasonable suggestion that (a) gets you out of Dell Hell, and (b) solves your online backup problem, and suddenly I’m a Mac fanboy?
Whatever.
I’m shocked that someone of your stature and creativity actually uses windows computers. I dumped my windows hardware for Apple one year ago and it has been nirvana. Wake up.
Dell’s focus on sales rather than service has directly affected you, so you’re generating negative word of mouth via your influential blog.