Down with Dell!

My ex used to joke that I had Issues with customer service. Back then, I had zero tolerance for poor service. Not that I’m cool with it now, but in my 20s, I was a monster. A justified monster (mostly), but a monster nonetheless. As a paying customer, I had no patience for rudeness or ineptitude at the expense of my shopping, dining, or other transactional experience. Some of my rabid insistence on fairness and getting my due had to do with unresolved issues related to my father who, throughout my lifetime, had been anything but fair to me. But that’s another therapy session for another day…

On the flip side of the customer service coin, I’m a great tipper and as sweet as pie to salespeople and other service professionals. Most people are just trying to do their jobs, often without great compensation or benefits. I respect that and never play the demanding diva role these days. But when I do encounter bad customer service, I’m still fit to be tied. Now, the old me would have pitched a nasty cyber-tantrum (complete with four-letter words) during the exchange below, but the kinder, gentler me tried to hold it together. With the exception of my phone number, the log is unedited, hence the anger-inspired typos.

I have no confidence that I will get the support I’ve paid for. Down with Dell!

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9:12:30 AM System System

You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat

9:12:30 AM System System

Connected with kumar_154369

9:12:35 AM Agent kumar_154369

Thank you for contacting Dell Technical Support. My name is Kumar and my rep ID

number is 154369. How may I assist you today?

9:12:48 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I wish to file a complaint.

9:13:20 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I chatted with Tech Support yesterday (have the chat log) and was told that my next

day warranty provision would be honored.

9:13:27 AM Agent kumar_154369

Please go ahead.

9:13:45 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Today, I got an automated message saying that the part won’t arrive to your vendor until TUESDAY, and then I’ll get a call.

9:13:57 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I have Complete Care AND Next Day Support

9:14:00 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

here is my case number

9:14:20 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Case #191143634

9:14:26 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I ask one thing of you right now…

9:14:33 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Do not lie to me as the previous rep did.

9:14:43 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Do not waste my type with meaningless questions.

9:15:14 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

You are supposed to send someone today. If you cannot do that, I need to speak

with someone who can explain why Dell is refusing to honor its warranty.

9:15:22 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I paid for this coverage, so I am entitled to it.

9:15:57 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

My name is Deesha Philyaw…

9:15:57 AM Agent kumar_154369

Let me inform you since the dispatch was created yesterday so the dispatch team

was O off for weekend so they will start the dispatch on Monday and the next day

from Monday would be Tuesday so I mean to say the same had been

communicated to you.

9:16:04 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Nope…

9:16:07 AM Agent kumar_154369

This is how it works.

9:16:13 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I have next day INCLUDING WEEKENDS

9:16:19 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

that is the coverage I pay for.

9:16:25 AM Agent kumar_154369

Let me check.

9:16:28 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Again, please don’t do what the agent did yesterday

9:16:40 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/my_systems

_info/en/details?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

9:16:56 AM Agent kumar_154369

I really apologize for the mistake.

9:17:10 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Not a mistake…an outright lie.

9:17:25 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I asked him repeatedly.

9:17:43 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Please give me an email address where I can forward you the chat log in

which he lied.

9:19:37 AM Agent kumar_154369

May I ask you by what time the dispatch was created yesterday?

9:20:01 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

before 9 am

9:20:09 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I will forward you the log.

9:23:46 AM Agent kumar_154369

Deesha, I have checked the dispatch information.

9:24:19 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

and?

9:25:22 AM Agent kumar_154369

I can see, parts has been shipped to technician and he will be calling

you soon.

9:25:39 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

listen…

9:25:46 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

you are doing the same thing the other agent did…

9:25:49 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

SOON?

9:25:49 AM Agent kumar_154369

Ok.

9:25:56 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

He is supposed to call today and come today.

9:26:11 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I got a message that the parts aren’t arriving until Tuesday, so what

are you talking about?

9:26:41 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Being vague is not going to satisfy me…

9:26:56 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I was told the tech was going to come today….

9:27:08 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I received a messag this morning to the contrary…

9:27:17 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

please deal with that, and not in vague terms like “soon”

9:27:26 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

If you cannot, tell me who can.

9:28:13 AM Agent kumar_154369

I can see the parts were dispatched today. However, there is no

tracking number on it.

9:28:23 AM Agent kumar_154369

I am providing you right information as per records.

9:28:36 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

So Dell is not honoring its warranty…

9:28:42 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

who do I speak to about that?

9:29:14 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

It is wrong to have people pay for next day service…

9:29:24 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

when Dell cannot provide the service as promised.

9:29:37 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

It is fraudulent, and you know that if it were you, you’d be irate

as well.

9:30:44 AM Agent kumar_154369

I can understand your frustration.

9:30:59 AM Agent kumar_154369

You might be getting call today to get your system repaired.

9:31:10 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

That’s not acceptable.

9:31:19 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

My warranty does not say “might”…

9:31:30 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

tha’ts why it’s a warranty, not a “possibility”

9:31:50 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I would like to speak to someone else about this, because

you are simply blowing smoke.

9:35:15 AM Agent kumar_154369

Please I am escalating to my supervisor.

9:37:50 AM System System

You are being transferred to another Agent. Please stand by…

9:37:50 AM System System

kumar_154369 has left this session!

9:37:55 AM System System

You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using

Dell Chat

9:37:55 AM System System

Connected with Sup_Iqbal_105669

9:38:27 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Hello?

9:38:51 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

My name is Iqbal Saini and my rep id is 105669. I am the

supervisor for Dell Technical Support.

9:39:22 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Mr. Saini, one of two things can happen now…

9:39:28 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

How are you doing today?

9:39:49 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

You can send me documentation that a tech will be at my

house today as my warranty guarantees…

9:40:18 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

or you cannot, in which case, I won’t waste anymore time,

and will simply file a legal complaint with all relevant

attorneys general.

9:40:21 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Nothing else…

9:40:34 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

Please give me 2-3 minutes to go though the chat history

to give best possible help in this case.

9:40:38 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

please do not delay me with meaningless info as the two previous

agents have done.

9:43:22 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

Thank you for your patience.

9:43:28 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

I will need more time to check in this case.

9:47:59 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

I am trying to contact our onsite technician to see when they will

come to complete this service call.

9:48:05 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

thank you

9:55:21 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

Thank you for giving enough time to understand this concern.

9:55:31 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

I checked with onsite technician, they have not received the part yet.

9:55:56 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

Once they get the part, they will contact you to fix it.

9:56:10 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Dell is not honoring its warranty…

9:56:22 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

How do you plan to address that?

9:56:57 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you.

9:56:58 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/my_

systems_info/en/details?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

9:57:04 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

An apology is not sufficient…

9:57:08 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I paid for a warranty…

9:57:13 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Dell is not honoring the terms.

9:57:36 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Are you saying that I cannot get recourse through Dell? I want to make

sure I understand you before I move on to file a legal complaint.

9:57:50 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

We are not denying any kind of service for your system.

9:57:56 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

We will try to get it repair as soon as possible.

9:57:58 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

And the inconvenience is secondary to the fact that…

9:58:06 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

the warranty does not say “as soon as possible”

9:58:16 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I did not pay for “as soon as possible”

9:58:25 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

the link I provided above details my warranty

9:58:27 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

complete care

9:58:30 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

next day support

9:58:39 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

next day support including weekends

9:58:58 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

so, in closing, you agree that Dell is unable to honor its warranty.

9:59:25 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Thank you for your assistance. I will move on to pursue recourse

elsewhere.

9:59:45 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

And don’t even bother to ask if this was handled to my satisfaction,

because you know it was not.

10:01:44 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

I can understand the situation you are in right now.

10:02:30 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Well, I appreciate that but I would appreciate service today or a

refund even more. Barring that, I will be filing a complaint with the

attorneys general in every state where applicable.

10:02:52 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I read online that many customers are filing such complaints,

including class action lawsuits against Dell…

10:03:12 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

for similare lies and failure to honor warranties. I look forward to

adding my voice to that angry chorus.

10:03:25 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

I don’t know how you conscience can take it, treating customers this way.

10:04:02 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

So, if you aren’t willing to honor the warranty, then there’s nothing else

you can do for me today.

10:06:46 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

We will try to get it fix today only.

10:07:16 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

The parts have been shipped from our depot and it will be with DHL.

10:07:31 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

I am not able to see any tracking number for DHL.

10:09:11 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

There’s nothing else for us to discuss. Dell is reneging on its warranty.

10:12:33 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

I will be checking status of parts on DHL web site.

10:13:18 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

I will get back to you, once there is any tracking number.

10:13:40 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

Then I will put conference call with onsite technician to get it fixed today.

10:14:05 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

If that happens, that’s great. Thank you.

10:14:50 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

Sure, it will be my pleasure to take ownership of this issue.

10:15:05 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

May I know your contact number to get back to you?

10:15:11 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

xxx.xxx.xxxx

10:15:45 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

Thank you.

10:16:25 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

I am sorry, I will be disturbing you again once there is any update about parts.

10:16:48 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

No disturbance…I look forward to your call saying that the tech is on his way today.

10:17:50 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

I will be calling you in any case.

10:18:10 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

Thank you so much for giving me time here.

10:18:17 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

Thank you for taking the time.

10:18:41 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

I can understand you are still not happy with us.

10:18:53 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

indeed, but I do appreciate your efforts

10:19:36 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

Thank you.

10:21:46 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

We are done for today.

10:21:46 AM Agent Sup_Iqbal_105669

You may close this chat once you are done.

10:21:55 AM Customer Deesha Philyaw

okay

10:22:20 AM System System

The session has ended!

One Response to “Down with Dell!”

  1. Christine Says:

    Eh. You could go to the Apple ‘Genius Bar’ for them to tell your that your THREE machines are dead, only to research online and find out all three machines have defects covered under warranty.

    I’m just not impressed by computer companies.

    They all seem to think their products are disposable and we should accept that. None of them give any kind of decent service or product at this point.

    Sore spot with me. :)

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