Complain about a product or service

Dell Tech Support

Miles of North Hollywood, CA October 3, 2009

Why I will never buy another computer from Dell. If one wants to see firsthand greed at its finest, look no further than Dell Computers. The company is a model in how to do everything wrong in treating a customer. I think just about everyone in their tech support and customer service departments should be embarrassed. Yes, it really is that bad. To be fair, I suppose doing a really lousy job set forth by a company who values the almighty dollar over everything else, is better than not having a job at all, especially in this economy.

Five months ago I went back to school and signed up for a series of courses online. The courses were/are complimented by an application that is PC based. When I called the company who sold the application and mentioned I was a Mac guy, their response was that I could run the program on my Mac using 3rd party software but they would not be able to offer the support that comes with it. I thought about it and decided I wanted the support, so I bought a Dell notebook. Big mistake. Had I known what I was getting into, the couple hundred dollars more for the Mac would have been worth every penny just in the time alone I have spent on the phone talking to Dell support folks.

These support folks, most in India, have the dubious honor of trying to be helpful while at the same time upselling Dell's products. A contradiction in policy of sorts. This underlying quest of generating additional sales has not gone un noticed by others. What Dell doesn't understand is that by implementing customer service policies designed to extract every dollar out of a new Dell customer, combined with a culture literally halfway around the world who can’t relate to the nuances of us Americans, is a recipe for disaster. I seriously doubt that when Mr. Dell has an issue with the computer sitting on his desk, he calls India.

The fiasco began right away. After I received my Inspiron 1545 laptop, I ordered a carrying sleeve/case for it. The wrong one arrived. When I called customer service, the gentleman asked me to put the computer into the case anyway. I told him it says right on the label "Designed for the Inspiron 1525 laptop". I told him I would just as soon not break the seal and return it as is since I know my computer has a 15.6 screen and the 1525's have a 15.4 it isn't going to work. I could tell this just by laying my computer on the case. He insisted I break the seal and sure enough when I did, it didn't fit.

All the techs and service folks are trained to try to sell you something at the end of the call. After he explained how I should return the case, I got the pitch. He mentioned that for only 99.00 I could have complete coverage on my computer, even to the point where if I spilled coffee into it, or dropped it, all would be covered - for a full FIVE years! 99.00! No questions asked. 99.00 sounded too good to be true. I had him confirm the coverage, length of time, and cost three times. I still didn't believe him and told him to call me in a few days.

A few days later I got my replacement sleeve/carrying case, and again it was for the smaller model. I called, and this time an American who spoke real english answered the phone. I explained what happened and he made sure I would get one that is even better than the case I was supposed to get.

I then asked him about the 99.00 warranty where if I want to use the computer as a Discus for Olympic competition a couple of times - that Dell will fix it with no questions asked. He said that in order to have that 99.00 coverage the computer would have to be in warranty, so if I want five years of coverage, I would have to buy a four year extended warranty on the computer and then for 99.00 more I could have the complete coverage the other gentleman was talking about. It didn't matter if I bought a one year extended warranty or a four year extended warranty, it is still 99.00 I bought a two year extended warranty with the 99.00 complete care package. This came to a total of 375.00 Even if I don't use the computer as a discus, based on how long lap tops last, I thought there is a good chance I will be glad to have it.

Five days later when the gentleman who originally offered me the 99.00 special called back to ask me if he could take my order, I explained to him exactly how the program works, how he left out pertinent information and that he really didn't know what the hell he was talking about. I also explained if he is going to try to sell people at the end of a call to make that commission, at least he should be informed. There was silence, he apologized, and that was the end of conversation.

Now I am using the computer, but there is an annoying problem. I kept getting Dell messages and offers for various applications every 15 minutes while in a meeting. It was obnoxious. I called tech support. The tech said he would help me get rid of those messages. He did. He also, in the process made the computer unable to sign on to AOL. I called back within a day and ... (here we go) they determined they could fix it but it would require a 69.00 one time fee. I told them that this didn't happen before they got rid of the messages and it was Dell's issue. When we got inside the computer to check the boxes, one AOL box was unchecked. I checked it and bingo - I was able to sign on. Can I charge Dell 69.00 for checking the box tech support unchecked?

Now, less than a week later, we have another situation. The one application I am running is a form filling application. Fields becoming high lighted when I don't want them to be. To clear the "high lighted" field I go to any available field, left click, and it clears. I am NOT pushing any buttons that would high light the fields when this happens. It is also doing something else quite disconcerting. When I go to a field to add a number or letter, I have to erase everything in the field and retype it.

I called the software company who I bought the program from and they said they have never heard of this issue. They have thousands of these programs out there and no one has ever mentioned fields becoming "high lighted" on their own. Their advice was for me to call Dell and ask them about recalibrating or adjusting the key pad on my laptop since it is probably to sensitive.

I called Dell and the tech said that someone else should talk to me regarding this issue. He put me on hold and after a minute I was talking to someone else. This person explained that this really wasn't his area of expertise and he was going to transfer me to another department, but not to worry, he would stay on the line and explain my issue so it could be corrected. Nope! When the next tech answered the phone the other guy was gone, and once again I gave all my information including my service tag number etc. He proceeded to tell me how it is a software issue and he could fix it for 69.00 Software issue? What software? The key pad is somehow sticking. I hung up.

That evening I tried an experiment. I went to Best Buy and bought the least expensive (17.95) wired mouse I could find. I hooked it up and it ran fine, no fields became highlighted on their own and I didn't have to retype everything on a line to correct it. In the meantime the correct case came in. I called the person who I ordered it from and told him about my issues with Dell on this latest situation. He facilitated filling out an "unresolved" issue form.

Dell's unresolved issues dept decided that I needed a new key pad assembly. Two days later a technician arrived at my door and while replacing the key pad didn't stop talking. I sat there and listened to her about how Dell is shutting down her job and from now on if a part needs to be replaced, Dell will ship the customer the part with directions on how to replace it!

The techs and service folks claim I am only covered for hardware issues, not software, and Dell would like to sell me a software warranty for 240.00 a year. I could go on and on with other examples but the bottom line is I am just sick of dealing with Dell. They could call me and offer me a free anything and I would not take it.

This brings me to the ultimate solution regarding all of my issues with Dell. I bought a new Mac with Parallels, probably the best 79.00 application you can buy for it! I can run any P C based program. The irony is the P C native Apps runs faster, more elegantly and alot more stable than when I ran it on my Dell. Yes, the Mac cost a little bit more but the advantages outweigh the disadvantages by such a wide margin, one could argue the Mac ultimately costs significantly less. Best of all, it's a Mac!

Patricia of Detroit, MI October 2, 2009

I had sent my laptop in for service because the screen was cracked. When Dell sent it back to me, my dvd/cd drive would not work. I sent it back in and they sent it back and it still wasnt fixed. Again, I complained and they told me to save all of my important data and send it back so that they could erase all of my utilities and replace them and then the problem would be solved. I didnt send it back because of the frustation and another dell representative said it would be beter to just sell the laptop and get another one instead of sending it off again. He said that it wasnt possible for them to fix the laptop that way and that I would be just sending it back for nothing. So now it just sits in its case. Is there something that can be done about this situation?

edward of spring hill, FL September 28, 2009

problem with keyboard on laptop by dell. inspiron 1545. dealt with tech support 5 times, problem not fixed. pc not 2 months old. tech said software problem. wants to charge me 129.00 to fix it. want to send it back for repair, no one has address for dell. if i hit a p, the print box opens, t opens temp file box, g opens google, h opens history. text changes to italics and underline on its own. pages highlight at will. during typing a letter, all text disappears for no reason. this machine is crap and no one can help fix it. techs dont speak english. very frustrated. not happy at all with this product.

Wanja of Norristown, PA September 27, 2009

I have a Dell Vostro 1400 purchased August 2007 (with the defective Nvidia Graphics card). The display on my laptop is dysfunctional now. My calls to Dell have been very unsuccessful to get it fixed, since it is a little over month past of the limited warranty for this issue. If this is a known problem, it should be fixable for the expected normal lifetime of a laptop.

Laurel of Cleveland, OH September 23, 2009

I purchased a dell computer from best buys in Jan, 08. I had several problems and called and did online chat with them to resolve the problems I was always told the same thing. The problem had to be resolved by reinstalling to factory setting. As time went on again the same problem no os installed again reinstalled to factory setting and lost all data again I called again I was told I was out of warranty. and that I would have to pay 49.99 to have it solved. So yesterday (sept,22 09) I filled out the request form to get the free restore disk and the problem why I wanted that I had no os installed and would not install from the disk that I had. I gave my service tag with it. The email I received back stated that I had no os installed because I have and optiplex 330 which is not what I have. I have an inspiron 531s. I emailed back that is the right service tag looking at it and that I still have the box and I do not have an optiplex 330. So I decide to call and ask for the disk when I did and the first person I talked to said I entered the wrong service tag and that is for an optiplex 330. I informed him that is not what I have then he asked for an express service tag and I gave him that I was told then it must have been entered wrong by me because that express code pulls up the inspiron and what is my service tag I give the same code and back to square one again. I call back and get the third person I express this is the this call and I wish to speak to an American I was told it would be a wait but would but me through. and asked what the problem was I told him the problem and he said again I have an optiplex 330 I explained I did not and that the first guy said he fixed that problem in the system. So then he told me it would be a wait to transfer me but would make sure I got transferred. I waited 20 mins again and disconnected. They are no help at all. The physical damage is that my computer does not work and they have me down for the wrong system optiplex 330 instead of inspiron 531s. And no cd to reinstall the os again because opitplex 330 has no os installed. Money spent on a computer that does not work and dealing with a company that has poor customer service and tec people and they do not even care.

cheryl of Rocky River, OH September 18, 2009

In one day I spoke with about 7 different foreign speaking reps . not helping me solve my issues with hard ware I purchased. Crashes constantly on inspriron 6000 laptop

Clarena of Seattle, WA September 17, 2009

My new Dell computer did not work well from the very beginning. I ran hours of diagnostics...all coming up fine; I spent hours with technical support...all coming up fine except my computer never worked properly. Two months after my annual warranty expired, I took the laptop to a computer repair company in Seattle. They also ran diagnostics, all of which came up fine....except they could see that the computer was not working. They passed the laptop up to increasingly senior technicians until it got to the manager. He worked with it for over 2 months himself, before finally discovering that the chip set installed was not compatible with the Vista operating system which had been installed all by Dell. His solution was to strip the Vista operating system and install XP Pro operating system. Unfortunately, he said that all the software loaded into my computer could not be replaced because Dell did not allow that. So, after paying the computer repair company I had a laptop that basically functioned as a movie screen for DVDs....but which then started freezing up and making growling noises. Again, after much research outside of the Dell company, I discovered that the drivers are probably failing because they will not work properly with XP Pro. I want a new, state of the art computer with all the software I had, including what I purchased for Vista. This is unethical, or at best, shoddy (if not intentional) business practice. I expect immediate restitution.

Eugene of New York, NY September 16, 2009

I ordered a Dell laptop(INSPIRON 1545) It was delivered on 07/30/09. I set it up a few days later and could not get a screen. The technical dept. tried to walk me through to fix the problem. Finally they sent someone to the house to fix the problem. After they left I tried to use the computer and I found that I could not get up certain programs and others would not shut down even after putting the arrow on the close button. I called Mr. Cook eeveral times, I would be switched to the tech. dept.

I sent a letter (certified) that same day requesting authorization to return the machine stating that I don't intend to pay for it. I sent a E-Mail on 08/24/09 requesting authorization. No responce. I sent a letter to Dell Financial service/Austin Tx.//Payment ProcessinIg Center/Carol Stream, IL on 08/29/09-advising them that had contacting Dell office and I will not pay for this computer and I need authorization to return the same, So far no response.

I am using my old lap top which is running very slow. I need to get this issue resolved so that my creding ratting will not be affected. I am 81 years of age and have always paid my bills on time.

Carla of Canton, GA September 15, 2009

The worst experience of my life! Our hard drive was corrupted. The op disk was suppose to be sent to us in 48 hours. It arrived 4 days later. My husband got on the phone with Dell Tech Support & ended up with a tech in India. Barely understand this guy. Could hear kids in background. All the tech would say was what is at top of screen & what is at bottom of screen. My husband kept reading this to him then the tech would say, press enter. This went on for two hours. Husband has the patience of Job!

Then they were cut off. The line went dead. No one called us back. So I called back. I ended up with a girl in the Phillipines. Could not understand her. Requested someone I could understand. Was transferred to a woman in India. Could not understand her. Finally understood she was a hardware tech. She said I needed a software tech. She transferred me back to the SAME tech in the Phillipine. This time the tech cut me off. Gave up!!! WERE WE IN A HORROR MOVIE, OR WHAT?

Anne of Davidson, NC September 11, 2009

I have had nothing but trouble with my computer since I purchased my first laptop in February of 2008. After getting the Better Business Bureau involved on two different ocassions, I was issued a new computer...twice. Also I've had the mother board replaced and factory restores done more times than I can count. The technicians have repeatedly assured me that my troubles are software related, so I purchased "Dell on Call" for the numerous issues that I constantly experience.

It freezes up, Outlook goes haywire often, I have trouble with the wireless connection often, my computer can't read my scanner. There have been countless other issues as well. As for the customer service, it is atrocious!

The technicians hang up on me, refuse to allow me to talk to someone that will actually validate my concerns...that is until the BBB gets involved. I have lost countless days of work, also lost extremely important data due to there error in backing my data up. It has affected my livlihood tremendously. I suffer anxiety when I have computer isues as I know that I have to contact them.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.

Back to the top |

Terms of Use Your use of this site constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use

Advertisements on this site are placed and controlled by outside advertising networks. ConsumerAffairs.com does not evaluate or endorse the products and services advertised. See the FAQ for more information.

Company Response Welcome If complaints about your company appear on our site, we welcome your response. Please see the Response Form for more information.

For more information, see the FAQ and privacy policy. The information on this Web site is general in nature and is not intended as a substitute for competent legal advice.  ConsumerAffairs.com Inc. makes no representation as to the accuracy of the information herein provided and assumes no liability for any damages or loss arising from the use thereof. 

Copyright © 2003-2009 ConsumerAffairs.com Inc.  All Rights Reserved.    The contents of this site may not be republished, reprinted, rewritten or recirculated without written permission.