dell has a reseller rating of 3.58?

[phoenix111384]

anybody else experience the same problems with their systems/customer service? reading those reviews are making me wonder if i made a good choice in going with a dell laptop...

[Silversinksam]

:rolleyes: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=10898



http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=10867 :rolleyes:

[phoenix111384]

ah ha. thanks silversinksam. maybe i'll get lucky... worse case scenario i'll troubleshoot the laptop myself:)

[Mr.Guvernment]

we had an issue with dell


.1 we order 3 system all with dual 19" monitors, we got 5 monitors instead of 6, that SAME day we contacted our sales rep and told them - not to mention almost daily follow ups - OH we also did not receive our DVI - vga adapters we required either.

this was in Dec. to this day we do not have that other 19' monitor we payed for duty and all! (in costa rica) and when we contact dell there response is

"sorry, we have no record of you contacting us with in 1 month so nothing we can do"


on another note, my friend called them today cause their DVD drives suck and all 3 on our system have never worked right, well, after being put on hold, being hung up on and finally some guy explaining a million things to try, whcih we did already!!

they are sending someone over tommora to replace the dvd drive.

Gee, and why can i not get my radeon 9700 replaced that fast? i have only been harrasing them for 1 month now - sending them pictures, running the tests they tell me too even having to format back to XP PRO because i had server 2003 on it - running an email server and my web sites! cause they did not support the system with 2003 on it, like it would make a diff.!

[kaphine]

Okay here's my two cents.

Most of the information on the www.inquier.net is true. Dell's technical support is more less POS. How do I know, because I've worked as "Dell portable technical support" (their official title) for 8 months. Dell uses Spherion as their IT outsourcer (aka IT sweat shop). They'll make you take some simple technical test (chop down version of A+) and if you pass, then you get hired. Two weeks of crash course of laptop (or "PORTABLE") and you're a tech on the floor.

What dell doesn't tell you is, if you have Inspiron desktop, all the tech support get routed to India (even cheaper technical support and good luck if you can get a guy who can speak English!). Dell give you the impression that if you do well and met your metrics (set of quota such as numbers of call taken per week, how many problem solved etc) after 8 months, you'll get hired. But truth is, after 8months or reaching 1400 hours, you're ass is gone and you're job performance doesn't mean JACK ****. Another thing is, you're will get drafted to work on weekend (either volunteer and get it over with or they'll pick you). Some of the tech on the floor has little or no computer skills and same can be said for the service provider the uses (Banctec, Unisys etc).

I did meet some kewl people but most of those people either quit or get fired after 8months. After 8months, Dell hire new group of fresh meat for anoter 8 months so they don't have to provide any benefit or whats so ever. Every call that comes in the call center in Austin are suppose to be logged but sometime depend of the tech, they'll completely discard that. That's why if you call back, and tell your story over, next tech will say there is no record of it because previous tech never recorded anything.

So if you're unlucky enough to buy dell product (laptop or desktop) and getting your ass rammed by tech support, here are some hints and suggestion coming from former dell tech.

1. Get the correct tech support number. Dell has their main 1-800 number but they have separate number for latitude, inspiron, optiplex. It'll save you tons of time and don't have to put up with their POS hold music.

2. Always get the tech's name and badge number. I know I hated when customer asked. Dell's policy permit giving out the last name but first name and badge number are ok.

3. Ask for the case number. Anytime you call, Dell tech are require to log to call and once the call is completely logged you'll get a case number. That way if you need to call back, just refer to the case number, which shows the previous tech that took the call, time the call was made and basic summary of the call.

4. If you have onsite tech service coming for repair, get the DPS number. DPS number is a separate number that also log what services need to be done, what parts are being serviced. This number is important because if you get a tech next business day or so, can call back and dell tech can call the service provider. If the parts have been shipped and arrived, tech can be paged (I had to call Bantec/Unisys and have the tech paged many times).

5. If you're computer is still under 30 days, you can get a money back no questions asked. Dell don't like to tell you but if it's under 30 days from time it was shipped, you can get a replacement, money back or what so ever. After 30days require manager's approval. And if there was no previous service done (0 onsite tech job), forget it, it aint happening.

6. Asked for L2. This is one of the most kept hush hush. Dell has separate tech line for level 2 tech. L2 has some mangerial power. They can make exception. If you ask the tech if they are senior tech, they'll say yes. Everybody on the floor is a senior portable tech!!! But level two tech are there and if the tech you're speaking to say there aren't any, he's LIEING.

7. If you have a laptop, do the folllowing because it'll save you the time for doing. Reseat CRU (customer removeable unit, floppy, cdrom, battery, memory, miniPCI, modem etc). On some laptop, even the LCD are CRU. Reset the bios, update the bios. Those are set of procedure from the script all dell tech will ask you. And often, because Dell uses such a POS memory, just reseating the memory cures about 70% of the NO post on the Latitude laptop.

8. Last but not least. If you do all these and the dell tech is still being a dick, ask for a manager. Bugging the manager is the last resort and as a tech, I was told not to bother the manager if possible. Sometime, the tech will either put you on hold, transfer to different extension to get you out of the phone or just hang up. That is why it's important to get the tech's first name, badge number and case number, other wise there will no record. Often, even if you ask for a manager, tech will tell you either the manager is not available so they will submit what's known as escalation ticket. Dell has separate department that handles, call that get escalated and within 24hours somebody will call you back (yeah RIGHT!).

If the machine had more than 3 major services (CPU/Motherboard and LCD are consider major) within 30 days and if the problem still persist and if you bitch enough, Dell will give you a replacement machine. That that also takes about 2-3 weeks or it's not necessary the best option.

I apologies for the long post but this is the first time I let my flame out since I got laid off from dell.

:mad: Funny thing is on my last day of work, even my manager was disappointed because of my walk (I was his best tech on his team). Oh well, I have much better job with a good company and I don't have to compute to Austin anymore (traffic is such a bitch in Austin).

Maybe one time Dell did care about its customer and providing best technical support. However, dell could care less about your measly 1 laptop/desktop purchase. Dell only care about big spender like goverment and major corporation who purchase more than 40 PC. Dell dont give a **** about consumer or any company that purchase less than 100 unit.

[Mr.Guvernment]

^^^

i like to hear the truth from people who actually worked at the companies.

[phoenix111384]

nice, good tips:) yeah, i'm not using dell's ram once i get my laptop. bought some nice crucial ram for it.

edit: whoo, dell actually shipped my laptop today. 3 days earlier then estimated.