Dell again, and in the end, a thought

if Dell bores you, don't miss the thought at the end... unless you want to, then do... meanwhile, back at The Dell Experience Ride...

some of you might recall that a while back I was experiencing The Dell Experience (and the return trip too)... well, being not too interested in the bureaucratic corporate bull (or politics or religion, for that matter), i dropping the whole thing for a week or two… but the merchandise Dell promised to have IPS pick up remains here and tonight i decided to revisit the Dell Experience again and discovered that Dell charged my credit card… so i wrote this on their website… i had to edit it several times because they have a ban on words like lawsuit and attorney… wonder how lawyer got through… anyway, have fun:

Back on 11/28 I wrote about my Dell experience.

Since then I've received more than a dozen emails from Dell representatives, Dell managers, and one "Dell Service Expert". I've spoken to Dell representatives a few times. I've been offered an 8% discount on a new laptop that would be 25% more than I the laptop I initially ordered, the laptop Dell claimed to have lost.

Each email and voice apologized for Dell's mix up and promised resolution.

I not only still have the unwanted merchandise in my home, but Dell charged me for it. Every Dell contact promised to send UPS to pick up the package. UPS has no record of showing up at my door. Every Dell contact promised I would not be charged.

Dell lied.

So not only did Dell not resolve Dell's admitted error as Dell promised. Dell, after telling me I would not be charged in writing and on the phone, has taken money from my credit card account.

That may be theft, or fraud. I will let a lawyer decide.

What Dell is proving in writing is that Dell misrepresents itself.

While waiting for Dell to follow through on their word, I explored the web to see if I could find some management at Dell that would want to know about my Dell experience. I found many websites discussing Dell's downward spiral in 2007 due to faltering sales, misrepresentation, questionable accounting practices, and unsatisfactory customer service.

The New York AG has Dell in court over inappropriate business practices. Dell might find itself in court in other states as well.

All I wanted was the laptop Dell acknowledged I ordered in the email they sent me.

When they "lost" it and offered me another at hundreds of dollars more, they still sent the peripherals that were part of that "lost" order. When I followed the Dell refund policy, notifying Dell within one week that I did not want the product because they did not send the laptop, Dell assured me that the package would be picked up and I would not be charged.

Dell lied, in writing, more than a dozen times.

I am left with no recourse than the contact my bank and file a fraud charge against Dell in order to get Dell to return to money they took behind my back while telling me to my face that they would not take the money.

I did not bad mouth Dell in the past seven weeks since my last post. I did not complain or post another post here since then. I responded politely to every email they sent to me asking for the same thing, the laptop I ordered or an equivalent and a return of the merchandise. I waited, in good faith, for Dell to follow through on their written words in more than a dozen emails and several phone calls.

What I got was a charge on my credit card.

Dell appears to be a company that is self-destructing. Ignoring a customer that is patient and polite in the face of lies and questionable sales practices is not a formula for a growing company.

More than a dozen different Dell representatives, each saying the same thing in email, none following through. I will forward every Dell email back to Dell in the hope that someone at Dell sees the ridiculous lack of communication they are demonstrating. Perhaps someone will respond with something more than empty promises and lies.

Good luck in 2008, Dell. Maybe there's still a chance the company will get it's act together before other lawyers call you out for not following through on your words. I hope I do not have to sue Dell to get my money back.

For now, because Dell ignored me for so long, I've switched to HP and other companies at home and at work.

boring as boring, huh?... well, it proves i am alive, anyway… but wait, there's more... Dell deleted the post above... someone at Dell obviously read it, because i received an email stating there was something in it that violated their rules... they did not, however, address the content of the post or offer to resolve their mistakes.... so i went back to the site and posted this:

I apparently violated a rule by mentioning Dell's problems in New York State and with other agencies, which are public record, so they deleted my post. I wonder, since someone from Dell must have read the post in order to email me telling me there was something in the post that violated the rules, why no one contacted me to resolve the fact that they did not keep their word.

Dell has demonstrated to me through more than a dozen emails that the company can not be trusted to do what they say they are going to do. Nothing is resolved from my 11/28 post here, despite more than a dozen emails and several phone calls stating Dell will resolve the problem.

An error in billing is understandable. But I do not see an error when more than a dozen Dell representatives stated I would not be billed and that merchandise would be picked up and several weeks later Dell billed me anyway and did not follow through on the pick up. That is beyond an error, that is many errors, too many to be considered coincidence in my mind.

Suggesting I trust Dell again is like suggesting the chickens are safe with the fox guarding the henhouse. Not sensible or logical. Dell can keep their word and resolve the mistake they made, instead of compounding it. Until then, I will not give them more rope.

As for unhappy. I am disappointed. I am very happy, however, after years as a Dell customer at home and at corporate, with my non-Dell products.

This was Dell's choice.

I returned here because I got an email notifying me of a response to my post, a post that was seeking assistance from Dell by following the instructions I received in email that suggested I post on this forum. I decided to update the original post because there were more issues to resolve since then.

My profession is performance improvement and quality control. I enjoy my work. My nature is to try to fix things and help others do better. So I responded in an attempt to help Dell. Hiding from the truth is not good business. Fixing the problems that are becoming unpleasant news items is good business. You can delete a post from a message board. You can not delete the bad press anyone can find at any search engine.

Ironically, I only found what I found because Dell did not resolve the problem they said they would resolve and I searched the web for ways to contact Dell corporate to explain the problem and see if someone at the corporate level might not want to fix what seems to be a systemic break down of service in the company.

What I found surprised me, so I researched further.

After finding out that my Dell experience was not nearly an isolated case, I brought the matter here in the hope that it might reach Dell corporate and trigger a root cause analysis from their PI department. I can't imagine why Dell would not want to do a better job of servicing customers in sales, customer service, and shipping, at least.

Hopefully the posts Dell deletes here on the board are reviewed by Dell management. If not, I don't see anything getting better or reason to switch back to Dell products.

As you and I well know, I'll get my money back. That wasn't the point. I was trying to help Dell stop losing customers. As for my mood, no worries. It's not my company, after all.

meanwhile, imagine a feudal state in which the religious leader is king, or in bed with the king, and your every thought or action is determined by your government… imagine a country that condemns you because you walk differently, or talk differently, or worship your god or God differently than the king or president wants you to… imagine a place where you are given a choice, convert or die… the Spanish Inquisition?... Nazi Germany?... The Deep South of 1950?... the USA of 2012?...

because any nation, even one so conceived in liberty and justice for all, that allows itself to be dominated by one specific and mutually exclusive religious doctrine, destroys itself because it opens the door to oppression and state sponsored elimination of the different thinkers and that, in anyone's name, is not liberty and justice for all...

if anyone is interested in maintaining the freedom of religion and separation of church and government that is essential for liberty, justice for all, and human enlightenment, your congress-person needs to know what you think… just a thought?...

have fun out there :)