Visit our home page for more information about this free review guide.

Reviews of Dell Computer
Desktops and Portables

Current Archive 2002-2003 Archive | 2000-2001 Archive | 1996-1999 Archive

This file is filled with individuals' opinions and experiences with Dell, which sells a wide line of computers and products. The most recent experiences are at the beginning of this file.

If you have bought a computer from them and have not yet made your contribution to this list, simply fill out this review form about your experiences with this company and your review will be added to the top of this file. Thank you and good luck!

Other Experiences with Dell (Most recent first):

I am in the process of purchasing my second PC from Dell. There is a reason I chose to return to them - Value.

To everyone complaining about outsourced East-Indian tech support: What did you expect when purchasing a PC for $200 after savings and rebates? If you are a computer novice, you belong in a brick and mortar shop such as a local CompUSA or a Best Buy (or equivalent) where you can talk to someone face to face about your needs. These stores often have in-store repair and training. These are the services you need! You get what you pay for! To the skilled or experienced user that knows what they want online e-tailers such as Dell are great.

I'll admit this 2nd time around I've had a few problems but it does not make Dell a bad company to deal with.

On the order form I must have missed something because they called 2 days later asking which financing it was that I wanted. Several days after that there was a message on my answering machine asking for my FEIN. I thought that it could be referenced from the account where I purchased a prior PC, guess not. Well, I received this message late on December 23rd and with the next day being Christmas Eve I was headed out of town until late the following Sunday. I mistakenly did not bring the call back information with me on my trip. I returned home to a canceled order. But, the good news is that it only gets better from here.

I called Dell and explained my situation first, to a polite but difficult to understand Indian gentleman who said he was going to transfer me to a sales representive to create a new order. The number rang through to a menu and after figuring out which extension I needed, I talked to a sales rep. He told me that unfortunately this order was closed and he could recreate one exactly like it. I was distressed because it had been 14 days with no progress and did not want to start back where I was on December 14th. He, however, was happy to work with me when I asked for 2nd day shipping. I also got priority queue status and an additional $50 off. Though, I've still been inconvenienced by this situation it does show their sincerity in helping the customer and getting them taken care of. Mistakes happen, it's how well a company can recover from them that makes or breaks them.

In closing, I bet that 90% of the complaints on this board are due to problems between the keyboard and the chair. Reading through a few of these stories just amaze me.

To any people out there who are currently considering buying a dell computer STOP!! Dell computers have so many problems with them, and their customer service is absolutely horrible. The people who work for their customer service are incompetent, condescending and just plain rude. I have a Dell desktop Dimension 4500S with a Pentium 4 processor and have had to call customer service many times. The wait for customer service, even when not at peak times can be hours. The last time they "helped me" they told me that I would have to erase the hard drive, which I did while on the phone with them. They never told me that I would not be able to put any of the original programs back on, because there is so little space in a Dell computer that it must orginally be put on by compressing it, which I can not do. I now have very few of the programs I need, that originally came with the system, and it runs so slowly that it can take up to 2 minutes for text to appear on the screen when I type, or for a menu to pop up when I click on it. Running more than 2 programs at a time ( i.e Windows explorer and solitaire ) causes the system to freeze. The computer crashes about 6 or 7 times an hour on average. I'm also still waiting for the rebate that they were supposed to send ( over a year and a hald ago) Multiple complaints that they have not sent it yet have been ignored. Sorry for the long post, but everyone out there should know about what Dell is like before they buy a computer there. Thanks!

I am very upset at the phone call from Dell Financial tonight from some individual who informed me of an unpaid portion of my bill this month. He was possibly of East Indian origin having a very thick accent and was not understandable to speak with. He stated that I needed to take care of this matter immediately and when I explained that I had sent my monthly payment on the 8th he said that didn't matter and I would have to take care of the matter now. As I tried to talk to him he stated "Don't enterrupt me again." His tone of voice was disrespectful and rude to say the least. I am quite offended by this type of call. If your company feels that this is appropriate I will have to take further business to another company. As I work for a very large school district in the state of Washington and am a technology teacher this will not be a selling point for other teachers or friends I associate with now or in the future. I am sending a copy of this to Dell.com as well as your financial group. Thank you for your time on this matter.

I love my computer but have had no success getting a bill. I want to pay before thew 3 months is up,please notify me now as I amm leaving for the holidays. Thank you

If you're thinking of buying a computer, I strongly advise you NOT to purchase one from Dell.

Heres the story:

My wife needed a new computer for her video production company. She needed specific video editing software, firewire, DVD driver etc. and ordered a custom built machine over the phone with one of the sales reps by the name of Joshua Ritter.

She could have gotten the same computer from Gateway for less money, but Dell is a member of Upromise (a college savings fund where a percentage of your price goes into your Upromise account). So she decided that with the Upromise deal and the $150.00 rebate from Dell, they were probably the better deal. Joshua informed her, after she had placed the order that the Upromise deal is usually only available when ordering from the Dell website. So, my wife says well “cancel the order and I will order from your website”. Well, Joshua assures her that he will just include the Upromise paperwork with the computer that she can fill out when it arrives and all will be well.

Well, the computer arrives (we never received an order conformation that Joshua says would arrive prior to shipping the computer) and we discover that there is no paperwork for the Upromise deal. So, she calls Dell to get the paperwork, and was told in no uncertain terms that the Upromise deal is available only when ordering from the website no matter what Joshua told her.

So, she spends the next several weeks to try to get it straighten out and finally discover that it is useless (the folks at Dell speak very broken english) and she decided that it was just not worth it. So, she sends in the rebate paperwork in only to discover that the allotted time has expired (she had not sent it in yet until the issue of the Upromise account was remedied). So, after numerous phone calls to Dell, they finally agree to send the rebate and offer us a digital camera for our trouble. OK I thought, so they are at least trying to make amends.

Well, in the meantime, we discover that the custom programs and firewire that she order with Joshua were not installed or included with the computer (which we would have noticed on the order confirmation IF it had ever been sent). Her invoice does not even list the custom items but yet the bottom line cost of the computer is the cost that Joshua quoted her with the custom items.

So, another 8 phone calls and several hours of holding on the phone and trying to understand folks that can barely speak english, and the end result is, if its not listed on the invoice, then, there is nothing they are going to do about it. They did say that we could send it back for a minimum 30% restocking fee. Yeah right.

We have left over 30 (not exaggerating) voice mail messages for Joshua Ritter and have not heard from him yet.

And, to make matters even worse, this morning when I talked to Dell, the customer care rep. that I was talking to informed me that for reasons unknown to him, the rebate and digital camera that had been promised were cancelled by a nice gentleman by the name of Oscar Ortega. When I ask to be transferred to him I was informed that his extension had been changed and that they could not give me the new extension.

So, we got a standard computer that we could have bought anywhere for less than half of what we paid, no rebate, no upromise deposit, and a splitting headache from talking with folks who can barely understand or speak english.

BUYER BEWARE WHEN DEALING WITH DELL!!!!!!!

Dont buy a Dell. Their home products customer service is located in India and not in the US. The Customer Support received on issues is terrible and frustrating. Spent 2 hours on the phone with India to try and resolve a mistake that Dell shipping in Washington state made. Seem to have a good product but after the sale support is non-existant. Like a poor car dealership, they may not be around much longer if they dont resolve this issue.
DONT BUY A DELL IF CUSTOMER SERVICE IS AN IMPORTANT 'AFTER THE SALE' FEATURE FOR YOU!!
Frank K.

Hello...Freind and I got our Inspiron 8500...about the same time. We both had so many problems. Too many to put in here. That after 3 months I got rid of mine. Happy Sony owner now,just bought my 2nd one. Just came to dell's web site to tell them I'm still trucking the USA and Canada. And bad mouthing them at least once a day. lol Freaking dumb --- people. I don't blame their so called support people for not being able to help some one fix dells JUNK over the phone. And JUNK thats improperly loaded too. Though I'm not all that sure some of them are to bright either. lol...Art... A NEVER EVER BUYING ANY THING from dell AGAIN......NEVER

Synopsis:

Hardware: Above Average.
Software and setup: Substandard
Customer Service: Horrifying, atrocious, ghastly, hideous, horrific, dreadful, horrendous, and appalling.

Please read the following for specific details.

Hardware:
The system is integrated well, and everything was functional when delivered. The components are name brand, and seem to be of above average quality. I have no complaints with Dell Hardware.

Software:
Dell installs many "system Utilities" which degrade system performance and waste hard disk space. The typical end user will not have the technical expertise to disable all of the unnecessary services, disable or remove all of the Dell Spyware and Dell related Software that deteriorates System performance significantly, and the Shareware that become non-functional after 30 days from the date of first use. Because of this, I highly recommend removing hard drive partitions (erasing all software) and then re-installing the software from the provided CD-ROMs. I do NOT suggest using the Dell "Restore CD" which will reinstall all of the aforementioned software.

System Setup:
Besides the problems listed under Software, above, all three of our systems had a Thirty Seven Megabyte FAT partition installed in addition to the Windows XP NTFS Partition. Perhaps this is installed to allow for System Hibernation with Power Savings. I recommend deleting this partition and using One (or two, depending on your technical abilities and preferences) partitions formatted with NTFS. I do not recommend the use of System Hibernation. Turning your computer off is more energy effective, and you do not have any problems that might be associated with system Hibernation.

Customer Service:
This is the major Problem with Purchasing from Dell.
It is truly unfortunate that Dell Inc. has permitted their "Customer Care" to degrade as far as it has. The Dell Customer Care forums reflect the deterioration of their support, and are filled with customer accounts of Dell Staff not responding, delaying resolution, or providing inadequate resolution to customer problems.
In my family, there were problems with two of the three orders we made at the same time.

My wife completed the rebate form for both her computer and her Mom's computer, and mailed them at the same time at the same post office.

System Order #1.) - My Mother-in-law:
My Mother-in Law's order was fine, and she has not needed to contact Dell for assistance. She received her rebate check after a month.

System Order #2.) My Wife:
My Wife ordered the EXACT same thing as my mother in law. The order was fine, but she STILL has not gotten her rebate, and when she checked the Rebate Status page, there is nothing even shown about her rebate. She is attempting to resolve this matter at this time.

System Order #3.) My Order:
1) I ordered a system and upgraded the standard keyboard and mouse to the Dell Wireless Combo for $65.00. The description for this product showed a PS/2 Adapter, which I need to use my KVM (Keyboard / Mouse / Video switch.)

2) When I opened the box, there was no adapter, and no reference to an adapter in the documents.

3) I contacted Dell Technical support who immediately advised me that this unit is not compatible with PS/2 and cannot be adapted. They told me to contact customer care to send it back for a refund.

4) On October 9, I contacted Dell Customer Care to arrange to send back the Wireless Combo for a refund. They agreed to send me a call tag for the unit and promised that they would issue full credit when they received it. I provided the correct shipping address to my home, since the system was sent to my Mother-in-Law's house in a different state.

5) I had to call Dell Customer Care back and request the Standard Keyboard and Mouse that I was entitled to with my system purchase. Customer care had not offered to send it to me, and after explaining the matter, Keeve DTC39418 told me he would have them shipped to me.

6) The Dell Customer Care site showed that Order# 497367046 for "Keyboard,104,6P,United States,Multi-Media,NMB" shipped on October 10, but to the wrong address. When I contacted Dell Customer care, they said they could not change the address since it was already shipped.

7) On October 12, I got a call from my mother-in -Law telling me she had refused delivery of a Fed-Ex Package from Dell addressed to me.

8) Immediately following this, I communicated with Pierre (Dell Customer Care Chat) who told me he had corrected the shipping address and would send the standard PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse to me at the newly corrected address. He told me that because of all the problems I had been experiencing, I did not have to return the wireless combo, but that I would receive credit for it. Ho told me that he had issued a credit for $55.28 "which is what I had paid for it." I explained that I had paid $65, and that the amount he referred to was the "October Special" price, but he disagreed.

9) I contacted Dell for a month, no less than 20 times via e-mail, online chat, and Telephone, attempting to have the shipping address corrected and get the Keyboard and mouse sent to me at the correct address and to issue me the remaining $9.62 credit for the Wireless combo.

10) On October 11, order# 530622076 showed as having shipped. To this day, it remains "In Transit."

11) On October 12, I received credit for $55.27 for the $65 wireless combo purchased with the PC ordered in September.

12) I continued to contact Dell Customer Care via e-mail, Customer Care Chat, and telephone on nearly a daily basis. (I have saved all inbound and outbound e-mails and chats.) Dell repeatedly apologized for the problems I experience, but nobody seemed to be able to resolve the matter.

13) In early November, Raymond DTC28723 promised me that he would ship the standard Keyboard and Mouse to my home address. He requested, and I provided the correct shipping information. No shipment ever appeared, and no shipment ever occurred.

14) On November 21, Raymond DTC28723 promised me that he would ship the standard Keyboard and Mouse to my home address. He requested, and I provided the correct shipping information.

15) On November 21, I found Order# 542456257 was entered, showing the "ship date" as December 2. It was, unfortunately, not for "Keyboard,104,6P,United States,Multi-Media,NMB" (standard PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse) but rather, for another Dell Wireless Combo. I e-mailed Raymond DTC28723 several times, but did not get a reply.

16) On November 22, the Shipping status of Order# 542456257 changed to "Processing, where it has remained to this day.

17) On December 2, the "Ship Date" of order 542456257 changed to a blank. When I contacted Dell Customer Care, Raymond DTC28723 replied stating that Dell Financial Services had to approve this as a free shipment.

18) On December 2, I posted over 15 separate contact names and addresses that I had been dealing with upon the Dell Customer Care Forum as the "Dell Wall of Shame" and filed a Consumer Complaint with

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Office of Attorney General Mike Fischer
Harrisburg, PA 17120


Here is the list of contacts that were unable to resolve this simple matter after many dozens of contacts:

1. Debbie (us_bcsd@dell.com)
2. Josie_Garza@dell.com (Salesperson I dealt with)
3. Dell Inc. E-Business Sales Division SMB_OnlineOrder_Resolution@dell.com)
4. Jersey DTF229365
5. Raymond DTC~28723 (repeatedly, and who made at least 2 promises to ship items he never did)
6. Sydney DTC39425
7. Arnold ~DTC47364
8. carla_geronimo AGENT_ID 2819 (who may be the same person as number 9)
9. Carla DTC69143
10. Dominic DTC66961
11. Sandy ~DTC65916
12. Ronald ~DTC29559
13. Keeve ~DTC39418
14. Pierre (Dell Customer Care Chat)
15. Robin (Dell Customer Care Chat)
16. postmaster@Dell.com
17. uscemcsd@dell.com

19) After filing the complaint and notifying Customer Care and Dell Inc. E-Business Sales Division, I received an e-mail from each apologizing again, and promising prompt resolution. This is simply more of the same, and I am certain that only after judgement has been made against Dell that the matter will be resolved.

It is quite frustrationg to have to deal with so many individuals who are unable to resolve such a trivial matter. I have requested, repeatedly, that the matter be escalated to a supervisor, but this has never happened.

In light of my experience, and the similar experiences of many others, I strongly urge any prospective Dell customers to make their purchases from a different company.

They are cheats and frauds. Don't believe anything about their statement of refunds within 10 to 15 business days. It's a lie.

I purchased a PC in mid October, received it October 31 and it worked for 1 day. After an unknown number of calls to Tech Support in India and perhaps the Philipines (I'm not sure, the person seemed to be from there), we gave up and requested a return code from Customer Service. Dell arranged for the junked PC to be picked up by Airborne Express on November 7. Today is November 30. We have verified Dell received the 2 boxes containing the debris they sold us, but yesterday I was told by Dell that they cannot verify that they received the monitor and speakers as that box was delivered elsewhere. Until they can locate the monitor and speakers, I won't be refunded.

As a consumer, I had no idea of their shipping practices. I sent everything back the same way it was sent to me. How would I know it would be sent out again to another company known as Direct in Ohio for their disbursement? I thought it all went to Texas. Why would I care? I did what was required of me.

I have at least 10 emails from various Dell employees, all with different excuses as to why I have not been refunded. Dell sent a CD that Tech Support said would correct the problem with the PC. The CD was received after the computer was returned and enclosed was a bill for $248. This was a repair that should have been under the warranty, but they attempted to charge me. I returned the CD via Airborne Express and that, too, was given as a reason for a delay of my refund. The Community Board has pages of people who have been waiting for refunds, some for months. Don't buy Dell!!!!

Dell is without a doubt one of the BEST companies I've ever dealt with. Their prices trounce all competitors. I just picked up a Dimension 2400 for $200, and this time last year they had a Dimension 4500 with 15" LCD for $600. AMAZING! Gateway, HP, IBM and all others should be shaking in their boots right about now.

As for quality, I've yet to have any major problem with the 3 I've purchased personally and the 5 I've helped family members and friends purchase. I did have a hard drive fail but that was Western Digital's fault and nevertheless, Dell shipped me a replacement quickly via Airborne Express.

Their support is pretty good overall, and certainly as good if not better than all the other large PC companies. My favorite Dell tech support story is when I was on vacation in Hawaii a couple of years ago. I was staying in a secluded little hotel on the Big Island when the hard drive in my laptop died. I called them in a panic and a calm CSR stepped me through some basic troubleshooting before telling me that they would have a tech on-site the following day. Brilliant! A tech showed up the next day, replaced my drive, helped me get my software and dial-up networking set up again, and I was good to go. Even let me hang on to my busted hard drive and gave me a prepaid mailer to send it back later, just in case I wanted to attempt some data recovery once I got back from vacation. Bravo Dell!

Granted, in the past year or two their tech support was partially outsourced to India and many people have issues with that, but I just saw something on the news the other day about how Dell is "insourcing" some of those jobs back into the US due to customer complaints.

Purchased an lcd monitor online (1703FP) and was happy with the quick shipping..Once the monitor arrived, it did not function properly and requested an exchange. Tech support informed me that a new monitor would be sent, however, his system was not working and would have to call back latter that day to finish the exchange. Tech support never called back and the following day I called again and went thru the same fix proceedure with another tech support whom I could hardly understand (India). The second tech support personnel stated that he would send out a new LCD monitor and I was happy that everything was now going OK..A few days later another LCD monitor arrived, but it was not a new monitor (Refurbished) for the new one I had just purchased. I called tech support again and was told that another LCD monitor would be sent to replace the first new monitor and the refurbished monitor sent by mistake. I was further told it would arrive in three to four buisness days. Three days later I learned that the order was not even made by this tech support personnel and again I had to go through another long tech support proceedure to have a new monitor sent out. Another three days later, I learned that the new monitor would not be sent for over two weeks even when I was promised that it would be at my home within three to four business days. Called support again to see what the problem was and could not get any responce to my question, so I decided to cancel the order and just return the monitor's that I had back to Dell. I informed them that they had lost a customer because they never called as promised, made a mistake and did not send out a new replacement, failed to finish order, and the hard to understand the Indian tech support personnel. Dell is not a company that should be awarded for their tech support or customer care. It is lacking to say the least.

Caveat Emptor! Caveat Emptor! Caveat Emptor! Caveat Emptor!

Please visit my web page to read about the horror show called "Dell Customer Service"

http://home.comcast.net/~pmarion/Dell/Dell_HA-HA.htm

Or better yet, browse Dells own "Customer Care" forums HERE:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums?category.id=customer_care

Pay close attention to the "Credit and return", "Order Status", "Service Call Status", and "Axim Status" forums. Dell's own forums do a far better job of warning the prospective buyer away than I **EVER** could!

Caveat Emptor! Caveat Emptor! Caveat Emptor! Caveat Emptor!

http://docs.us.dell.com/docs/systems/latc640/en/

here are docs for your Dell™ Latitude™ C540/C640

I used google and found the by searching for this:

dell latitude c540 manual pdf

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=dell+latitude+c540+manual+pdf

We just received a dell latitude c540/c640. It arrived with no user's guide. Apparently they no longer send them out. I was told to call tech support for any questions pertaining to the lap top. Well I did, I explained that I am a novice with a computer and have no idea what the various ports and plugs are for and need a guide to help explain what and where I should plug the various plugs into. Well that didn't help much as I could hardly understand the person on the other end. They finally directed me to a premier support page which appears that I will have to pay $$ to get the info I need. So for 2 days now I have been jumping from web site to site to find a user's guide with no luck so far. Don't they realize that when you buy a printer, telephone or fridge for that matter people need to know what the buttons and plugs are for!!! As if being a novice computer user isn't stressful enough. aaarrrggg!

Todays Date: Nov 7, 2003

June 2003 - Purchased a Dell 2350
October 2003 - Hard Drive failed; new one put in
November 2003 - Floppy broke too; replaced.

Good thing I bought the warranty!

The contracted Dell technician said that of all his service calls 70% of them are for this 2300 series of Dell Computers! He said this line of Dell's have ISSUES! He said that other Dells are ok.

Not to mention the fact that now home customer technical support is being rerouted to India to non-technical individual with an electronic database and no training at all.

Lucky business customers: they screamed loud enough and now they are not re-routed. They get to talk to people whom they can understand at least and, most likely, have been trained!

So, if you have to buy a computer BUY it as a Business and NOT a home consumer.

je ff smith from pensacola, FL USA
Date - Saturday, October 25, 2003 at 21:52:15 (EDT)

I was wondering if any one knew if you can upgrade the video card in a latitude cpx 500, it has a rage mobility agp 2x with 8 mb of memory, also if the cpu can be upgraded to a faster one.





Thanks Jeff

Cheryle Fuller from USA
Date - Wednesday, October 08, 2003 at 11:32:07 (EDT)

I have termed my computer THE DELL FROM HELL! I purchased this in June, and it took several weeks for it to arrive. I paid for in-home repair service, since I am not a techinician. This computer started having problems immediately. I spent at least 40 hours the first two weeks talking and on hold with the repair technicians trying to figure out why I was so stupid. It wasn't me, it was the computer. After requesting a return authorization, I tried again for several more weeks to make this computer function. It had multiple problems, most of which the technicians had no clue how to remedy. The technicians were absolutely useless in their knowledge of computers. They had me going into the programs and deleting everything, including McAfee virus protection. When a technician tried to get me to delete MS/Dos, I finally saw the light. I begged and pleaded to have a techinician come out, but they would not send one until I told them what to repair! I am not a technician---why should I have to diagnose what is wrong? He came out, but would not address any other issues. He replaced two of the phone modems in succession, showing me that they are largely defective, but the third one went out again 4 days later. That was when I decided to box it up and send it back. They insisted that I return ship it through Airborne Express. Then I got a bill from Airborne for $214.00!!! I asked if there wasn't a location in Austin that I could return it to, since I no longer had the packing, but they refused to give me one. It took more than 2 1/2 weeks for them to acknowledge the receipt. I continued to receive dunning phone calls from their collections, 6 per day, demanding the return authorization number. I kept telling them I no longer had it, since I put it on the box and in the box. It didn't make any difference how many times I told them I didn't have it, they still called 6 times a day! How could I give them something I didn't have??? Now they are trying to charge me depreciation and late fees, to the tune of almost $300.00. This computer was only about $650.00!!!! I am now being called by Dunn and Bradstreet, who back up Dell's claim that I owe them depreciation, and I will have to hire an attorney to sue them! Dunn and Bradstreet also demanded that I give them the return authorization number!!!! Why doen't Dell have that information? Why would it make any difference? They have the computer back within 60 days, it's obviously dysfunctional, and I am on record almost daily trying to get it fixed. I was told by the Dell rep, John Fatheree,that I would not get a full return credit because I didn't work with their technicians!!! How can he say that? I was on the phone or eamiling them almost every day! I didn't work with their collections department because I didn't have the return AUth number, etc. etc. Well, it seems that no one is ever going to be able to work with Dell, since they make it so impossible. I cannot get rid of Dell. They will not go away. It is as if they have this corporate mindset that once you call them, they own you! It has been a quagmire from which you cannot escape~!!! I even received over 100 emails from their technician who wanted me to delete the MS/Dos, on two different occasions that took aver 4 hours to download onto my computer, giving me the 800 number I reached her at, to call for techincal assistance! I would call that harrassment!!! And so is the 6 phone calls a day demanding payment and demanding that I gove them the return suthorization number so they can verify my satement that it was returned. They only this week stopped calling me, four months later!!!! I demanded that they contact me by mail only three months ago, so they are obviously not living up to the letter of the law

Polly Doss from GA USA
Date - Friday, October 03, 2003 at 20:17:09 (EDT)

Ordered Axim handheld PC 8/2/2003, delivered 8/6. Box so badly damaged returned with the Fed Ex guy that day. Called Dell to notify them and request replacement. Called next week to see what was happening with no real information gleaned only that it was in the works. By 8/27 still no indication that new unit would be sent so I requested a credit to my credit card. On 9/3 I was told that the credit request had been put in. I called Fed Ex and was told that Dell received a check on 9/19 for the damaged goods. Now on 10/3 I am still awaiting the credit they have promised and have finally put it into dispute. Its amazing that they can get a charge to the credit card in 2 days but cannot get a credit to it for over a month. I will never order another thing form Dell simply due to the poor customer service. I have purchased an HP unit and am happy with it,

Me from London, United Kingdom
Date - Thursday, September 25, 2003 at 22:04:18 (EDT)

Listen to everyone who says that this company has BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Check this out. I order a HP Laserjet printer from them thinking that it would be a quick buy (seeing as the thing doesn't have to be built).

Needless to say, this huge company cannot issue an order status for an item that's been paid for, regardless of copious (expensive) telephone conversations mostly with golden age new world phonological appeasments and clueless asian Indians who surely think themselves part of something good for representing this diabolical company.

When I did get to speak to the "sales rep" her main concern seemed to be getting me off the telephone as quickly as possible with promises to phone me back that were never kept.

The only way to get to her is to get someone to send e-mails to her manager.

Now it's anyone's guess as to when I will actually recieve the item ordered, as it has not even gone on their system regardless that it's been paid for.

It's really a sad situation b/c I bought a DELL DIMENSION 4400 last year, and despite the occasional lock up, it's a nice piece of kit and I've never had to service it.

I suppose that the lesson to be learned is that this company wants your money ASAP, but are not that interested in delivering the goods you pay for.

I really think that something should be done about this. These people only respond to monetary concerns, so a class action lawsuit should have the desired effect.

NABIL KHOURY from Carroll, IA USA
Date - Friday, September 19, 2003 at 16:19:37 (EDT)

I have bought a computer two months ago Dell 4600 C , and it was my biggest mistake. The computer freezes like any cheap computer.
They have almost no software installed on it, they want you to pay extra for every software. When the modem was not functionning I have to wait about 30 minutes for their junky customer service to answer me. When they answer me almost no one speaks English that you understand, I have an accent myself but god they are horrible!! and they make it look like they are making you a favor.
THE WORST THING THAT MADE ME EXTREMELY MAD. THEY ADVERTISE THAT YOU GET 0% INTEREST WITH THEIR FINANCIAL SERVICES, AND WHAT A FRAUD, I GOT 46$!!!!! PER MONTH CHARGES!!!! THAT WAS MORE EXPENSIVE APR THAN ANY CREDIT CARD IN HISTORY. I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT IT AND THEY DON'T EVEN MENTION IT TILL THE SECOND MONTH AND THEY BILL YOU RETROACTIVELY , THIS WAY YOU ARE SCREWED AND IT IS TOO LATE FOR YOU. I ENDED UP PAYING THE FULL ACCOUNT AND 100$$ EXTRA IN 2 MONTHS PERIODS. THEY ARE JUNKY COMPANY, I WILL NEVER EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM THEM. I CALLED MY FRIEND AND YIELD AT HIM FOR RECOMMENDING THIS JUNKY COMPUTER AND COMPANY.

I WON'T RECOMMEND DELL TO ANYONE. IT IS BETTER TO BUY YOUR COMPUTER FROM A LOCAL COMPUTER STORE , THEY ARE MORE EXPENSIVE FTER ALL, AND YOU DEAL WITH PEOPLE.

Dennis Steenhof from toronto ont, Canada
Date - Thursday, September 18, 2003 at 22:03:02 (EDT)

I found a very good product
thank you
Dennis

Jeff Clune from Sparrowbush, NY USA
Date - Thursday, September 18, 2003 at 09:18:35 (EDT)

Dell's service sucks! They don't stand behind there product. Have never delt with such a terrible company.

Robert R. Ballecer, SJ from St. Louis, MO USA
Homeboyz Interactive
Date - Monday, September 15, 2003 at 18:22:01 (EDT)

My experience with Dell has been horrible.

For Shawn's sake I'll give you the service tag: 3RGFR11
Look it up and have your laugh. If you are sadistic bastard that is!

I sent my Inspiron 2650 to Dell on August 12th with a Heat/CPU/Fan Problem. I gave them my new address, INSISTED THAT THEY DOUBLE CHECK THE ADDRESS WITH THE ADDRESS ON THEIR RECORDS SINCE I DO NOT LIVE AT THE ORIGINAL ADDRESS, and they sent me a shipping box. I receive the box, pack up the laptop and Airborne Express picks it up and sends it on its merry way.

So far so good. But this is when the fun begins.

The laptop was suppsed to return to me by the 16th. I call them on the 20th and find out that the laptop has been shipped to the wrong address! The merry-go-round is now at full speed!

For Shawn's sake, let me give you a few representatives that I've talked to: Marty (Badge: 365128), manager Angela Patterson, Daisy (Badge# 437119) These are just the people I remembered to get a badge number from. If you really have access to the service tag records then you can read the BOOK that has been written about the service call.

I am still being bounced from rep to rep / Customer Service to Tech Support. They admit that they lost my laptop, but everytime I call it is as if they have fogotten the whole story. As of September 15th I am still waiting for a laptop. They setup an exchange for a like model, but then they found out that they don't make the 2650 anymore. Now we start the game again because instead of a laptop they want to refund my money.... That's fine with me because I'll use it to buy an IBM Thinkpad!

ginger thornton from kingston, TN USA
no title
Date - Wednesday, September 10, 2003 at 18:54:28 (EDT)

been real good

Shawn from Twin Falls, ID USA
Date - Tuesday, September 02, 2003 at 19:30:08 (EDT)

My Experience is most customers complaints are made up to sound worse then they actually are. Why not provide service tags, customer numbers so those of us who work for these companies can look them up and laugh at the lies told on this site. On person did input a customer number, states he called in hundreds of times, he has actually called one time.........

Don from USA
Date - Sunday, August 31, 2003 at 21:35:40 (EDT)

Bought 2 Dell OptiPlex 150 for my business.
Everyone Ready for this:

both monitors had to be replaced, and between both computers, I have gone though 6 hard drives. I am currently looking for two computers for my new buiness and am not considering DELL.

spark from Richmond, SC USA
Date - Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 11:50:25 (EDT)

Applied for Dell Financial Services and was approved for $1500. Selected a computer that totaled $1238 including shipping and tax. Checked credit balance a day after purchase and it showed $252 available, as it should. Two days later went on line to see if computer had been shipped. Noticed that my available credit line now showed -$920. Yes, I did say negative $920. Seems like DFS added all the interest that would accrue over the life of the financing pushing my balance to over $2400. Thus, even if you pay it off early, as I intended, they get all their interest regardless. And since you are over your credit limit now, they can charge you for that each month as well. A great scheme!!! Wish I had thought of it. Needless to say I cancelled the order and closed out my DFS account.

John Davis from ardmore, TN USA
Date - Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 22:20:14 (EDT)

I own three Dell Computers. Two laptops and a desktop. I teach computer graphics at a 10,000 student college part time, and also work as the graphic artist for a fortune 500 company of 2500 employees.
I get ask five to six times a week what type of computer to buy. In the past I have always said, “Get you a Dell.” However, I will never recommend Dell again.
Dell must have the worse customer support of any company doing business anywhere. First off, their answering system is totally vague. Unless you are buying, your voice mail system is useless. After waiting an average of 30 minutes, I am usually told that I have the wrong department then get cut off being transferred. They always off me a number to “call back direct”, but the number always ends up being the same useless choices.
When you finally do get through to a person, they can barely speak English. In addition, I have never resolved an issue with one call.
I will never buy another computer from Dell or recommend them to anyone else.

Melanie from Ceres, CA USA
Date - Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 17:42:00 (EDT)

Dell is ripped people off big time with high finance charges! Charges that are hidden in the contracts! I purchased a dell 3800 inprision laptop back in Jan 2001. my loan agreement was roughly close too $3000. after said and done with interest combined! Interest that should not be allowed too be raised at a high rate like that! over 20 Dam % people come on! the whole world is Broke! this is why! I have been paying $78.27 a month for a laptop that I can't use , because I am a computer science major in my last year, I have programs that will not load on the sys! not enough hard drive.
ok. I updated 4 months ago to windows XP Pro for my campus. Dell sent me a Trade in offer. I called. I quote" I am sorry you do not quailify, simply cause you still owe on your loan!" un quote! Super Asswholes! excuse the langauge. but my old desktop works ten times better then dell shit and its all generic part pieaced together , that I built!
Ok, So, I decided to do a little research . book value too another 3800 that was some what close too mine. was worht $292.00 yeah..
my sys isn't even listed in there book valued list! that tells me this sys is out dated and worthless! I had a probelm while i was typing with it. the courser keep jumping around and word wrapping! well, I tried my self to fix this. couldn't fix! called Dell. there tech told me to open the disk driver updates. so I did. and still did not fix it! after about a year of this I got fed up! and demaned them too fix it! Our I was going on CNN. yeah. big change. they wanted too listen then1 but, I sent it back and they suppose to fix the shit. replaced a part. and 2 weeks later. doing it all over again! All, my software come pre installed. I opened 1 disk. the rest are stilled sealed! I do know what I am doing! they have now clue of what they are doing, except for ripping people off!!!
Mad, you bet I am mad!
I have never missed a payment with them fuckers! But, I am about too , then I will sue them for damaging my creditabilty!
I have a Spec's on my sys. I have a 3800 Inspirion. 128 MBRam, 20Gig hardrive. 8MB Grpahic card. that they said would be upgrade! wrong!
I have 1 removable cdburner, 1 removable zip drive, 1 removable floppy. 56kv90modem and cable connection. I customized it! thinking it would last me for at least 3years! big mistake!
I called about uppgrading the hard drive. its only uppgradeable too 32gig. for the wonderful price of $459.00!!! I said to the lady, you have got to be joking!, she said no I am not joking!, click. I hung up!
HP screwed up when they murged with Compaq! big mistake! Gateway has filed bankruptcy 3 times in 2years. they are a company so they can do this! I used to deal with them cause i helped a friend purchase a laptop about 3years ago and they also ripped me and him off!
Thanks for listening.......
Later,
Melanie from California

Keith Holden from FL USA
Date - Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 09:28:07 (EDT)

I purchased a Dell Inspiron laptop from Dell through a small business lease. It turned out the RAM was defective. I spent hours trying to troubleshoot his myself, as well as a couple of hours on the phone with Dell technical support. They finally figured it out and mailed me replacement RAM. By the way, don't lease a laptop with Dell. They have you locked in to a deal with hidden fees, and charge you a monthly account maintenance fee in addition to everything else. I even prepaid the lease that still had a year left and Dell continued to charge me a monthly maintenance fee even though the lease had been completely paid off. Then if you try to end the lease early by paying it off, and requesting to purchase the product at Fair Market Value, they want to charge you an early lease cancellation fee, even though you have paid the full price on the original lease agreed upon. Unless you are desperate, don't lease a laptop. It is a rip-off, especially considering how rapidly prices are dropping on laptops.

Bryan Johnston from Northampton, United Kingdom
my homepage
Date - Tuesday, August 19, 2003 at 09:09:04 (EDT)

On 21st July 2002...i took delivery of a dell inspirion 8200. In my line of work as a DJ i wanted a proffessional piece of Equipment to use. I am not very good with computers.. but was told that for £2200 i was getting more than my monies worth. The computer worked fine.. for twelve months, i had the odd problem here and there but nothing that i couldn't put right myself. Now we come to August 2003..i wanted to upgrade my laptop for more RAM, more Hard drive space and a better graphics card. My advice... Don't buy Dell. There is little support whatsoever...you ring their call centre's and you are sent round and round and round in circles. Then you try to e-mail...you get an automated response ....finally after a week i was able to speak to a represenative of Dell. Firstly i can't upgrade my video card....because these are attached to the mother board.. the RAM is also hard to replace because this is apparently old RAM in a machine a year old!!!!!!

my advice is don't touch a dell with a barge pole!! unless you are prepared to fix the machine yourself!

Bryan

Marc from MI USA
Date - Sunday, August 10, 2003 at 18:27:27 (EDT)

I have two Dell computers ( a new 8300 and an older XPS B800r) and have never had any problems with them. I added a 2nd hard drive, more RAM, and a new CD RW to my first Dell and still have no problems with the sytem. Dell tech support lines need improvemnet but they are as good as or as bad as the other support lines of other computer companies. Reports show that Dell's service has been falling lately. (I recevied both of my computer early.)

A lot of the problems with the software are due to Microsoft Windows. Microsoft corporation makes the program not Dell. Windows XP is more stable than former window programs. All computers except Apple,Mac basicly have the windows operating program so you are stuck with it. You can buy Linux.

Nieves Cespedes from North Bergen, NJ USA
Date - Thursday, July 31, 2003 at 09:17:03 (EDT)

Back in may 2003I had purchase a dimmension 4550 pentium 4 processor at 2.53 ghz and this computer is so slow that i don't know what to do, my old computer was a 450 mhz (not a dell) and had exactly the same programs and was much faster, also i was supposed to recieved my rebate for my computer and the printer, i mailed it to them and they indicated they never got it, i call a copuple of times they indicated i will have to wait certain amount of weeks, on july first I called and spoke to this guy call MARQUIS and forwred all the papers again to fax #480-606-4313
never heard back from him, I emailed dell shorty after that and never got my rebate back, I called and faxed the packing slips again and now they say it was send but i will have to wait 30 days for the mail to get to my address.
Today is July 31 and I order my computer on April 4/26/03 order number 336618377 and still hadn't get the rebate.
I also like to add that their CUSTOMER SERVICE is the most unprofesional and non-courteous I ever had to deal with, my job involves dealing with customer services of different companies and had never had such as unprofesionalism response, I even had to give a warning to change their tone of voice when i was talking to one of their employees.
My comment is they have very poor unskill people answering the phones, the poorest CUSTOMER SERVICE, their systems are not as good as i expected it to be and their prices is the only attractive thing.
I will recomend any employee in DELL to call Customer SErvice in T-mobile and learn how to deal with customers in the right way.

Nieves Cespedes

Darrell Hess from USA
Date - Thursday, July 24, 2003 at 17:01:51 (EDT)

“Hey, dude, what the Dell are you going to do about it?”

I’m concerned and upset that I purchased 2 fully functional computer and software from Dell (Dell Dimensions 2350 with 2.2 gig processors), only to find out now that the software has glitches.

My first thought was that this must be an isolated incident except for 3 facts. First, I bought 2 computers and it has happened on both of them, so it isn’t isolated to just one unit. Second, we currently have 5 works stations (3 older machines with 500 mhz) to compare to the 2 new Dell machines. Third, another firm across town also purchased the same Dell computer a couple of months ago and had the same problems.

Early in my business career, when there were computer problems the hardware people blamed it on the software people and vice versa -- and it was a no win argument., That isn’t the case here because Dell provided the hardware and the software. Either yDell has a hardware problem and if so, I would like the updated model. Or the software and installation are less than acceptable. In either case, I’m stuck with 2 computers that are supposed to be 4 times faster than the old 500 mhz ones, but are actually slower and less efficient.

The company across town had the same problem and it wasn’t until they paid extra money to have their computer consultant strip off Dell's pre-loaded software and reload theirs that the problem went away. This sounds like a software problem Dell would want to be aware of.

Let me give you a hint of what the software problem might be. My consultant tells me he found a 31 mg FAT partition. When he removed that for the company across town, the problems went away and the computer was up to speed.

To add insult to injury we called Dell tech support for small businesses to get an email address with which to file this complaint and got a run around from Raj Yedla who was not helpful. I finally asked him specifically for the name and an email address of the president of the company. He did not know the name of the president nor how to contact him. He didn’t even know whom we should file the complaint with so he ended up giving me corporate headquarters address and told me to mail my complaint. Upon being pressed, he did give me a fax number, which I will be using, as well as the physical address and any email addresses I can find.

Jaime English from AZ USA
Date - Sunday, July 20, 2003 at 08:00:30 (EDT)

I purchased a Dell laptop over a year ago.I paid it off in about 4 months and asked that my account be closed. 6 months later I received a statement in the mail stating I had a credit of 1600.00 dollars. Being the honest person I contacted Dell and informed them that some how they had credited the wrong account. They informed me they would look into the issue and correct it. 2 months later I had received a statement saying they reversed the payment. So then I proceeded to contact them to close my account. Upon calling the customer service I was told I cannot close my account as I owe them 1600.00 dollars. I explained to them the issue and I was assured that the problem would be solved. In fact it was solved I have received calls from the collections Dept stating I owe them money. At this point I became frustrated and informed them I do not owe them money and therefore I will not pay them money. I have then received collections calls on a daily basis. I looked on the internet for some help. I found out about the fair debit collections act. I sent dell a certified letter regarding this law and informed them
1. I don't owe them any money.
2. By law they will have to show me in thirty day proof that I owe them the money.
3. to cease calling me as I will file a lawsuit for harrasment.
I have not received any calls from collections but for the statements they continue to come stating I owe this money along with late payments and finance charge. I am now to the point where I am getting a lawyer and I am going to sue them. I have spent several hours on the phone not to mention the money I shelled out to prove to them my laptop has been paid of. I there are any suggestions please let me know.

Mike Sitton from Cotez, CO USA
Date - Wednesday, July 09, 2003 at 16:27:09 (EDT)

June 24 Ordered Inspiron 8500, Loaded. Dell Webb page showed system Shipped June 26. June 30 Recieved Everything ordered except the computer. Called Customer Support. They insisted that I had recieved the computer and signed for the order. July 1st, Customer Support again. Proved to Dell the computer could not have been shipped. Weight of the Fed Ex. package. Customer Support found my computer. Said it would be shipped that day. July 7, Called Customer Support, no computer. Said computer had been put back into parts. I would have to reoreder the computer. Told them to forget it. They had already billed my credit card. Recieved several referance #. July 9th. Credit still not issued to Card. Called Dell Customer Support. Yes, they recieved my return shipment, but could not issue credit until they recieved the computer back.....
This would have been my 5th Dell computer, and have always had great service, tech support and repairs in the past. If you had asked me June 1st I would have said they were the greatest company I had ever dealt with. What's happened to these guys??????

Richard Havard from Cardiff, United Kingdom
Date - Monday, June 30, 2003 at 18:06:23 (EDT)

Bought a Dell Dimension 4550 20/12/02 system works perfectly now! I got the system cheap with lots of extra from the dells factory outlet.

The only problem i had was somebody at dell forgot to connect the Internal Floppy Drive Power Cable, To me this was simple to correct but other people with not much computer exeperience may have trouble with this.

My point is Dell needs to improve their whole Order/Dispatch system.

Terence from Australia, Sydney, USA
Date - Friday, June 20, 2003 at 00:43:00 (EDT)

Have a very old Dell Latitude CPi. I haven't had any problems at all except for a a slightly sticky space bar key and a stress fracture in the hinge of the lid from opening and closing too many times.

I don't know what you lot are whinging about, I've had nothing but sucess with Dell laptops. Though that may have something to do with the fact that I live in Australia, not Americans. I suppose that here down under, Dell tech support ARE compentent and they do REALLY want to help you (assuming you know a little about comps of course). I actually feel sorry for the tech support guys who have to deal with incompetent customers.

Too bad you are all Americans. :)

Bob Johnson from Las Vegas, NV USA
Date - Wednesday, June 18, 2003 at 16:34:07 (EDT)

Bought a Dell, it broke and returned it. Bought a Mac and never looked back.

Steve Aleppo from London, United Kingdom
Date - Saturday, June 14, 2003 at 07:45:23 (EDT)

Let me start by saying the computer, dimension 4300 is superb. It has been trouble free for 18 months but i am fastidious about little things like keeping vents and fans clear of dust etc, so i imagine this helps. However the customer service of this company is quite simply the worst i have ever seen.

I ordered the PC online just before christmas 2001. I also applied for credit from Dell which i got. The machine took an age to arrive, nearly three weeks. Everything was fine until Dell contacted me to tell me the direct debit paperwork had been lost and to resubmit. To save time they insisted the items be faxed over to ireland at a cost of £3. Fair enough, this was done. Then got a phone call a week later from thick accented Irish Girl with an inch between every brain cell telling me that the paperwork was in the wrong format and i would have to resend. (they had originally sent these documents over so how they were in the wrong format i dont know). OK so i refaxed them, another three quid and another phone call a week later, Sorry but this time there was no fax ribbon in their machine and the docs were undreadable. I mean is this real or what? A multi national company like Dell telling me there was no fax ribbon in their machine!!! Could i please resend. The answer that sprang to mind was "sod off", but i restrained myself and insisted, much to this idiots annoyance that i would post them. Heard nothing for six months and then was contacted by them asking where the paperwork was. To cut a really long story short, after resending the information, they announced that my account was not suitable for direct debit, even though i have other dds set up on it. After 18 months I had not paid a single penny on this machine. Finally at my wits end and sick of shouting and balling at these irish teenage half wits i finally arranged a loan from my bank and paid it off over the phone by credit card. End of story...... well er NO. Theyve just sent me a bill for the July payment, which is a month away and the machine is already paid in full. NEVER AGAIN as long as i live will i ever have dealings with DELL. Take my advice before your business is ground off the face of the earth by your smarter and more customer focused competitors, move your business away from Ireland and put those half wits back where they belong, on the dole. I'd have a had a better conversation with my cats.

Liza from MD USA
Date - Monday, June 09, 2003 at 11:00:02 (EDT)

Oh, talk about Dell Hell! Admittedly, I made one of those youth mistakes. It was to let my boyfriend use my name to buy a Dell, especially taking out a loan from DFS. It was some 4,000 in total including the principal and interest. Got some 1,000 left to go. I should have read the fine print. I was a stupid 19 year old! My now ex is taking advantage of this, and Dell has not been making it easy for me either. I already owe some 400 dollars that was overdue, and my ex didn't even pay since April! Dell has even refused to transfer the sole responsibility of repaying the loan to my ex's name even though he said it was OK and even called Dell himself. But the only way for this to happen is if I die! HELP! I don't want my credit rating ruined by this in case we do plan on getting a house in USA, and I have other bills to pay now that I have graduated last year... how can I get around this? btw, I am living in Norway and married to another man. It would be hard for me to sue in USA. Other solutions, other than ignoring this and let it go, and winning the lottery? Maybe I should file bankcrupty so I dont have to pay this. However, I intend on paying off my student loan and already paid off other credit cards. I just don't think I should pay for my ex's Dell, even tho it was purchased in my name.

--a now wise 23 year old

Bryan Ramson from New Orleans, LA USA
Date - Saturday, June 07, 2003 at 04:30:34 (EDT)

My experiences with Dell have been somehwat average. Although not totally angry, I am a little disappointed with the quality of their products. Nothing major has gone wrong, but their are little problems with the computer that tick me off. I own a Dell Inspiron 8100 and I ordered it about a year ago for christmas. I've had problems with the LCD monitor flickering, the left mouse click button breaking, headphone jack connection problems, over-heating, problems with the monitor not realizing it is time to turn on, and just general faultiness. Although these are not major problems and general satisfaction was attained through some tinkering, third party software, and voiding of the warrenty, I will most likely not purchase another Dell system in the future, and I suggest you do the same.

Craig Noce from Plain City, OH USA
Date - Friday, May 30, 2003 at 10:09:53 (EDT)

Getting involved with Dell and Dell Finacial services has been one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made. I ordered a top of line Dell system with all of the extras in Nov. 2002. When I recieved the system in Jan. 2003. When I opened the box, I immediately noticed it had none of the extras I ordered. I called customer care to see if they could send me the missing parts, they instructed me I would have to return the system and reorder. Unacceptable! I returned the entire system 7 days later and built my own machine that day with parts purchased at CompUSA (which was about $1200 cheaper). As I type this I have been on the phone for 54 min being switch back and forth between Dell and Dell Financial Services (Both completely incompitant) I have and continue the recieve a bill from Dell Financial. This has become a routine once a month that I go through each time being assured that it is resolved and every month recieving another bill. Dell insists that I was credited the full amount, Dell Financial instists that I was not credited the full amount. I have been transfered back and forth 3 times so far today with no end in site and no closer to a resolution then I was back in Feb. I am out of options, short of contacting a lawyer and sueing. Anyone interested in filing a class action law suit I would sign on in a second. I have now been on the phone for 67 min. and still holding (AGAIN!) I will NEVER deal with Dell again and I will make every effort possible to steer everyone I know the buy thier computer from anywhere but Dell. Absoluting the most pathetic group of people I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with.

Saro Rizzo from San Luis Obispo, CA USA
Date - Friday, May 23, 2003 at 20:01:57 (EDT)

Never buy a Dell. They suck. In late December 2002 I paid over $2000 for a Inspirion 8200 with all the bells and whistles including a CD/DVD unit has not worked once. I called for a new computer and tech said let them try to replace the CD/DVD unit. I said o.k. and they mailed a new drive which did not work when installed. I called back and demanded a new laptop and they said the policy was to let them try to fix it. I mailed the whole unit in and waited 10 days for it to come back. Again the CD/DVD does not work. I called customer service for the 15th time- it sucks and they switch you around for hours and you nerver talk to the same person-and demanded a new computer which didn't seem to unreasonable seeing that is what I paid for. They told me they can only send me a refurbished one because the 30 days to send back was over. I said bull shit because they are back stepping from what they previously told me and I don't want no used piece of shit for 2,000 bucks. I'm a lawyer and I am going to sue them this weekend for $20,000 in San Luis Obispo Superior Court. (2,000 for the computer and 18,000 for consequentual damages) If their customes support and tech support won't answer my concerns then I'll let them hire an attorney in San Luis Obispo for @ $200 an hour who will answer my legal "complaint." I hate to recommend the legal sysytem to anybody but Dell is one of the worst companies I have ever delt with when it comes to service. It will be a pleasure to sue them. I recommend anybody that has a problem with Dell to document all their negative experiences and sue Dell in small claims court in their local jurisdiction. Filing rarely costs more than $200 and you have practically no downside. It takes less than an hour to fill out the forms and check online with your Secretary of State who Dell's agent for service of process is. Serve him/her and get your day in court. At the very least they will have to deal with you face to face and not hind behind their "customer service" department which has been a complete nightmare in my experience. No person should put up with the bullshit I have put up with and hopefully thousands of people sueing Dell will waken them up.

Fishmonger from Washington, DC USA
Date - Wednesday, May 21, 2003 at 10:13:02 (EDT)

Is this the Online Computer Buying Guide or just the gripe forum?

I have purchased 2 Dell PCs. One I purchased in 1999, the 2nd I purchased in 2003. I have been very pleased with both purchases. With the first PC, I had a CD/RW drive fail, and after barely 5 minutes of troubleshooting on the phone, the tech just said "sounds like we should just have somebody come out and replace it. Is tomorrow ok?" Less than 24 hours later, I had a new drive installed. I have since upgraded the RAM and added a 2nd hard drive, firewire card, NIC card, USB 2.0 card, and DVD burner. One thing I like about Dell is how easy they are to open and upgrade (this has only gotten better over the years -- the current cases are completely tool-free).

2 caveats of dealing with Dell:

1) Remember that they make their money on the upgrades. If you buy extra memory, drives, peripherals, etc. from them, then you are covered by their service agreement, but if you're willing to open up the PC yourself, these are items that you can often get for 1/2 price elsewhere.

2) Understand that customization is limited. If you are a hardcore gamer geek who likes to mess around with the motherboard, overclock your system, etc., then look elsewhere. Dell PCs are designed to make simple upgrades easy, but that's different from complete customization.

Paula Unkel from Spotsylvania, VA USA
Date - Saturday, May 17, 2003 at 15:03:26 (EDT)

Well..to add my 50 cents worth:

My husband purchased 2 Dell Dimension 8250's in December 2002 for our Christmas gifts. He purchased these because we are avid on line gamers. He got the ATI 9700 Pro video cards, and RDRAM in order to maximize our gaming speed and quality. Well, what a freaking nightmare. As soon as I unpacked the monitor and hooked it up, I said, "This needs to go back!" The monitor was a completely inferior quality to my OLD HP five year old monitor. So, we sent the new Dell monitor back and I used my HP. Unfortunately, it wasn't just the monitor that was inferior. Long story short....I have tried EVERYTHING to make my ATI Pro 9700 run as advertised by EVERY magazine out there. In this Dell...it won't. I have spoken to everyone I can reach at Dell (not easy) and received no help. I have discovered the power supply in the Dimension is GROSSLY underpowered for this video card. ATI, the company, is very specific at saying NO LESS than 350 Watts for a power supply for this video card. Dell builds all their systems with a 250 Watt power supply. Ok, no big deal...I will just buy a new power supply, right (although I SHOULD NOT have to)? WRONG! Dell designs the cases so that there is NO way to put a newer and better power supply in the case. So, guess what? The machines we spent several thousand dollars on to game, are virtually worthless. To list what is wrong with the video in game (and even in non-game situations) would take too long, so I can only say...these computers are poor quality, expensive, and Dell tech supoort is absolutely hopeless!! Worthless! I will never again buy a Dell. I bought a laptop a few years ago from Dell as well. It was a whole nightmare issue as well. I despise this company after the way I have been treated by them and if they tank in 2-3 years, the party is at my house!

Fred Smith from USA
Date - Saturday, May 10, 2003 at 21:35:36 (EDT)

Caveat Emptor. Please be careful when dealing with Dell. Do NOT trust that rebate! Just go to FatWallet.com and see how universally bad Dell is with respect to honoring their rebates. My experience is that you will spend 6 months arguing with them and ultimately only be given back 70% of what was orignally promised in the rebate.

Don't beleive me; look for yourself. Do a search on google under "dell rebate scam" or something similar for proof.

Dell is a corrupt, lying company.

Bryan Cassette from mt pleasant , MI USA
Date - Friday, May 09, 2003 at 17:53:53 (EDT)

Fuck dell, fuck them up there stupid asses!!! Enough said!

R. Addy from CA USA
Date - Monday, April 14, 2003 at 21:24:35 (EDT)

I made my purchase online wich was financed through dell DFS.this was a very expensive mistake. I qualified for an x amount and spent as close to that as possible. Payments were calculated seemed ok, but this was also with their prefered 90 day. I recieve my computer no problem then the agreement shows . Here is where I realy screw up I dont read it very carefully, my family has got a computer and we are exited. no excuse it is the way it is. A month goes by I get a bill.Im thinking this is not right, but no big deal send a payment.I get the next statement only the second one. I now owe more than the orginal cost of the computer and I just had made a payment.Well what they did is charge me defered financed charges. finance charges at (27.99APR) it gets better. even after my first payment it gives me an over credit limit amount of three dollars. How much do you think they charge for that? On the website it states easy low monthly payments and calculates them for you (Whoops) without the interest. The computer has almost doubled in cost .I am paying interset on a computer, shipping and tax I call DFS tell them I have 90 day prefered, they say no you dont and I should have payed it off.I should have paid cash!and read everything I complain to dell it has un-ethical marketing and I feel duped or rather stupid. They say so? Yours and dell financial services problem.WE will pay this of as soon as possible.I created this problem.But I think Dell is just a thief the same as someone breaking into your house or car he calls this practice a good business model. We will never buy another dell product and we will share our experience with other consumers and if I can I will convince them to spend anywhere but dell. That is a good business model!

Greg from Sackville, Canada
Date - Monday, April 07, 2003 at 15:20:43 (EDT)

Customer Service? Not at Dell Dude!!

Bought an 8250 in February and upgraded to the 782 CRT monitor. The 782 that I received had a resolution line running up through the screen slowly from bottom to top. After three phone calls they finally sent me a replacement monitor. To my surprise it was a totally different monitor, this was a 782p. I called Dell back and asked them to send me the monitor that I purchased the 782 and not another 782p as the 782p has horrible reviews on the Dell.com website. Long story short, they sent me another 782p monitor which I have sent back to them and they now inform me that the 782 is not available anymore and that the 782p is it's replacement and is just as good a monitor as the 782. My options are to except the piece of junk 782p or keep my defective monitor. Which is better, the defective 782 or the 782p piece of junk?

Where is the costomer service that I thought that I was buying with Dell after spending $2,000+ on my computer.

Marcia Panebianco from USA
Date - Friday, March 28, 2003 at 17:09:31 (EST)

Well, I bought the Dell, Dude--Now what?

I purchased a Dell desktop in October or 2002--what a mistake! Their customer service is nonexistent and the techs, for the most part, aren't more than teenagers for whom English is a second language (which creates comprehension problems) sitting with a book in front of them. God bless them; they have jobs, but they do not understand much about the workings of a computer. Since I got it, I have had nothing but problems. I have just received the 8th monitor--not new ones, mind you; they give you refurbished monitors when yours does not function. Prtoblem: the monitor keeps going off for a few seconds, right in the middle of anything. They have tried to blame it on powercords, my wiring, the environment in my home, whatever. I spoke with someone close to me who diagnosed the problem in 3 minutes--Dell got a bad batch of parts--this poor monitor doesn't know if it is supposed to go to sleep or stay awake, so it is alternating. I have just learned that there is another woman not too far from me who is on monitor number 5; hers won't wake up to work. They are trying to blame it on the delivery poeple! I am ready for a class action. Anyone else?

athena from NY USA
Date - Friday, March 28, 2003 at 00:57:47 (EST)

Not Liking Dell :(


After reading all the other posts I guess I should not be surprised at the treatment I am getting. We purchased a Dell Dimension desktop in Oct'02. We LOVE it!! ..so far.. So naturally my daughter needed to but a laptop for college this upcoming fall..so we went right to Dell. Another post was saying beware of Dell deals.

Well I wish I knew then what I know now. We looked online and she found a Inspiron 2650. This was on January 28, 03. Had free shipping on the system and the printer. In orange writing it had $199 rebate. We then called Dell on the phone and got a REALLY nice sales guy..Peter from Texas. They are only nice cause you are buying a system. I went right away and printed out the rebate form, filled it out and put it in the desk drawer till the machine arrived. I must add that before I hung up I confirmed the rebate (Peter doesnt recall that now!!) All was well.......then a postcard came, saying my rebate wasnt valid. I was most astounded and thought that there had to be some mistake.

I called support and stupidly didnt get the chicks name. She said there was no rebate ..I said uh..yes there was. I said I was upset with Dell bcz why would I fill out a rebate form if there wasnt one? DUH! So I decided to do some research and call back. I called that really nice sales guy and left a voicemail. He never called back. I called again, left a voicemail. Got a call from his Secretary, Brooke...lol. Brooke said I would have to call support, and she gave me the number. Called talked to, I think, a german woman I could barely understand, Angela. She confirmed there was no rebate, but would give me 50 bux back to my Dell acct. This was after I said well then I want to return it. She informed me that u can only do that within the first 30 days!! I was like wow! now I am stuck with this thing AND I have to pay for it?? So my daughter said that 50 bux wasnt good enough and she wanted a manager. She was told that a manager would have to call her back..we'll see about that one.

Let me say that while we looked around after the postcard came we noticed that that laptop is basically discontinued and u can buy refurbished ones...in fact in a search we did we found that on Feb 4th at this value cite u could buy the SAME one for 699 bux!! She paid over 1,000! My daughter is 17 and works her butt off to be able to pay for her laptop for college and I think this whole thing stinks! So she wanted to call Peter and see if he had anything to say. He said there is no rebate blah blah. I got on the phone and I said ya know I am so disappointed in Dell. Explained how we went over the price and the rebate ..still he said I cant help you and he did offer to give me this other phone # to call. Now I am trying to do a search for the cached page on which I saw the deal...doubt I will find it. If anyone knows how please share it with me. If I can find the cached page then I will have evidence! Next time PRINT out the info from the net esp if it has a rebate, in case u need proof!!

Havin a depressing dell dream :(

Daughter feels like she was taken. I feel terrible about this whole thing. Meanwhile Dell laughs all the way to the bank!

Unhappy Gilmore from Denver, CO USA
Date - Tuesday, March 25, 2003 at 11:23:17 (EST)

I purchased a Dell Dimension 8250 and was told I would receive my rebates (totaling $560) in 8-10 weeks. I have tracked them at www.rebatestatus.com and contacted Dell customer service more than once. All I get is they are legitmate, everything is in order, your rebates are still processing (i.e., which probably means they are keeping my money and probably drawing my interest on it). It's been over 3 months and still my rebates are "processing".... I've filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, the FTC, etc., and have made a point each and every day I do not receive my rebate to report my experience to the public, just as I am doing here now.

Bottom Line:
I have been pleased with the hardware... however I would not recommend Dell unless you purchase one of their products knowing you may not receive your rebate on-time or for all I know not at all...

David from NV USA
Date - Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at 15:32:15 (EST)

I purchased a Dell 4400 a year ago. It has a P4 1.7 ghz with Window$ XP and have'nt had to call tech support once. It has been an excellent computer and I will buy another Dell in the future. But i don't care for my nvidia mx 400 video card. Kinda weak but nevertheless.... 9 outta 10 for this machine.

P.S. If you hate your Dell, don't replace it with any sorry junk from Compaq. Compaq is a worthless company that builds poor quality PCs. I want to vomit just thinking about my old Compaq.:)

Sharon from Turlock, CA USA
Date - Friday, March 14, 2003 at 18:01:03 (EST)

Purchased a Dell Dimensions 8100 computer in 1/2001. The hard drive has been replaced twice, first time 2/2002 and again, now (3/2003). Monitor quit in 9/02. They did send a replacement monitor right away. This, of course, was after hours on the phone and plugging in a different monitor to be sure mine was really not working. DUH! Anyway, I had fortunately purchased the 3 yr extended warranty which is due to expire 1/04. After their (independent) tech was here on 3/2/03 to install the second hard drive, I called Dell three times for help in installing all the software that originally came with the system. Eventually, ended up working through it myself.
I decided to "cool" down some and have waited until now to contact them again with regard to questions about what all this says about their product. At the least, I want my warranty extended to 1/06 to cover the new hard drive and monitor. I had emailed "Customer Support" and they very nicely replied that I had to call. So I called....reached a sales rep named Allie. She was soooo rude! "If you're trying to get something for free, forget it!" When I asked to speak to her supervisor, I was told none was available and I needed to talk to Customer Service, that she was sales only. She transferred my call and then I spoke to "Cory" who was already hostile. He said I needed Tech Support. I tried to explain and he told me neither Tech nor Customer Serv would address my situation. Then he hung up on me!!!!

Does anyone have the name and postal mailing address for the CEO of Dell Computers? It may do absolutely no good whatever but I want to write to someone and not just let this go by with another "oh, well". We bought an HP computer back in 1997 (our first one) and it was and still is chugging along just fine. We have the two systems now, (I had to buy the fancy Dell for myself) and I am so sorry!

From the earlier thread, I can see I am not alone in this experience but no seems too willing to do much more about it. Can anyone help, please? Thanks in advance.

Al Whitaker from Honolulu, HI USA
Date - Wednesday, March 05, 2003 at 10:42:23 (EST)

I have to say I totally believe all the complaints I have read on this forum about the way Dell treats customers. Dell employed me to Deploy computers on a military base through a temp service. We were instructed to follow their procedures strictly even though every tech I spoke to seem to agree those procedures were riddled with mistakes. We were also made to attend long-winded meeting in which the head Dell liar in charge basically told us to be dishonest with others if we were asked about something that might be perceived as contraversial. In an effort to create a back stabbing situation amongst employees the head Dell bozo then declared that techs that deployed more systems would receive a cash bonus. The result of this was that steps were skipped on many of the systems by the techs that bought into this foolishness. For example one lead tech told me not to set up “Joint message handling" on a Naval officers system before getting the officer to sign off for his new machine as complete. Being concerned about this I went back to the officers office the next day without the approval of the Dell people and asked him if he needed it to work and he said "definatly yes". I then had to set up his "JMHS” for him after it was supposedly already done. After being involved in the Deployment for only a short period I soon realized that The Dell Management wanted the techs to sign a form saying they had set up the systems completely even if they had not in order to get paid for supposedly deploying more systems. I also noticed that the Dell systems we were deploying actually had only 128 MB of ram. This minimal amount of memory often did cause problems. Since I was unwilling to play along with the greedy requirements of the Dell management the decision was made to terminate my employment. Incidentally I was not given an opportunity to defend my actions before being fired. So in conclusion I would have to agree fully with anyone who say "never buy a Dell”.

Tom Rigney from Amherst, HI USA
Date - Sunday, March 02, 2003 at 14:45:50 (EST)

I was considering the purchase of a Dell, so I nosed around the internet and found the Dell Support Forum. Searching through the forum gave me a feel for what type of problems might be encountered. Turns out I entered the Support area through a rear door, and when the moderator caught me snooping around I was banned from the forum. Also turns out you can't get into the forum through the front door until you purchase the product (and most likely start having problems with it). If any one knows how to undo the tag they put on me, let me know.

Jed Aston from Belmont, AL USA
Date - Sunday, March 02, 2003 at 13:05:06 (EST)

1. In 2001 I purchased a desktop computer from Dell with a 3 year onsite warranty. The system's DVD/CD drive developed problems and after waiting on hold several times for over 10 minutes each the only help I have been able to get from tech support is to reload the CD software which does not solve the problems. It is clear to me that the drive needs to be replaced but Dell will not do that.

2. Recently I found an offer on Dell's website for a Inspiron 2650C with a memory upgrade and a CD drive upgrade to either DVD/CD or CR/RW drive. I discussed the system with the intended user in my family and decided to buy. When I went back to Dell's website in about 1 hour the CD upgrade part of the offer was no longer shown. I called Dell and they disputed that the offer had existed although they did not deny the possibility that it was on earlier that day. They refused to honor the offer.

Conclusion: In addition to basically unusable tech support and useless warranties, Dell no longer wants my business. I will not deal with Dell again.

D Mawhinneu from San Diego, CA USA
Date - Friday, February 28, 2003 at 20:46:24 (EST)

Dell sucks. In Oct '03 Dell and/or Dell Financial Services mangled my online order. There is no telephone support for online orders ("That's a different division and I have no access to that information.")
When I spoke to a phone sales person to resolve the online order problem, he simply ordered me a new computer with a new customer number and order number. For the next couple days two online orders appeared on the web site status page, so I phoned the phone sales guy to cancel all my orders since Dell was so messed up.

A eight days later a computer arrives at the reception desk at my work place. I immediately called to return the machine. The next day Airborne express picked it up. Dell Financial Services account statements appeared with a $1000 balance for the computer.
Dell Financial Services says to call Dell Cumputer and vica versa.
I spoke to a DFS lady on Jan 10 '03 and she said a credit would be isssued. I followed up with a letter to firm up the conversation.
2 weeks later the $1000 was still on the account. After several calls and letters, Dell refuses to issue a credit because they now say the lady on Jan 10 only issued a new return authorization, athough she called it a credit notice number. Also Dell has no record of getting the computer in Texas. Airborne can not provide shipping information to me since the shipping was on a Dell account.

My advice: Take notes to document every conversation with Dell, including name, title and phone number of the Dell representative. Ask which city they are in. Keep all paper work and return the piece of sh*t within thirty days otherwise Dell does not have to take it back and issue a refund. They have to take it back if you insist you are unsatisfied within 30 days of delivery.
Also, calls from "Micheal Dell's office" are from people not even in the same building.

Del Sucks. Enter Dell on Google. Hit the Dell paid placement to make them pay Google. Good for Google. Bad for Dell.
Derek

Don Henson from Hurst, TX USA
Date - Tuesday, February 25, 2003 at 14:53:48 (EST)

Bought a Dell two months ago. Why they promise you a rebate is beyond me. Their phone and web sites are impossible to work your way through to. I wonder if a human actually works at the phone sites, never talked to one. Even left a message and never got a call back.
I see what other people are talking about rebates are not meant to be.
I guess when I have tech problems I am sunk if I have the same results
contacting them.

jennie from Grand Rapids, MI USA
Date - Sunday, February 23, 2003 at 17:46:57 (EST)

I love my DELL!!!

Lee Sparks from kansas city, MO USA
Date - Friday, February 21, 2003 at 16:37:27 (EST)

THis will be short and bittersweet. I was one of the fortunate ones who was able to acquire a Dell Dimension 2350 series computer for a total of $429!! A teacher of mine tearfully explained a week after I got mine (mine arrived in 48 hours!!! he ordered his a day earlier--same offer) that after waiting online with sales was told there was no record of his purchase. He begged for another chance but was told the offer had expired and he now had to pay a much higher price. I told him he just dodged the bullet. I had spent 3 1/2 hours on the phone with Dell tech support trying to understand a simple process of transferring data from my old computet to the new Dell computer. I followed the manual exactly but computers were unable to recognize each other. In that period I spoke with nine, apologetic reps. First I'm sure was in India, Texas and maybe Pakistan and the rest probably in the US--but who really knows? I was transferred to their financial department, sales department, hung up on, back and forth between hardware and software. The last person I spoke with was in the advanced software division (wow!)and didn't have a clue or access ot a copy of the manual. After suggesting I buy expensive equipment to perform a one-time transfer- and feeling my despair he suggested I take a break and pursue things at a later date. Knowing there was no hope finding an answer I agreed, thanked him and said goodbye. The worst part of it was realizing Dell's pathetic support is probably indicative of a poorly made product. I feel like I made a mistake buying it and am dreading the day when my $429 mistake will bite me in the butt. I'm glad I didn't waste money on the 3 uear warranty. I'll probably just have to trash it, admit I made a mistake and buy another from someone like Bestby or Circuit City or Compusa. At least they can't hide from me long distance. Money for nothing.

Terry from USA
Date - Friday, February 07, 2003 at 22:28:11 (EST)

DELL is eager to take an order but absolutely SLOW to deliver the product.
On Jan 25th, I ordered an Isprion Notebook for my son. The problem I have is their delivery dates. The first initial delivery date was Feb. 3rd, then later it changed to Feb. 10th, then again to Feb. 11th. Now after checking the STATUS, it is now rescheduled to Feb. 14th. I mean, how long will this take? It will be more than a month since my initial order. I wish they were more responsive to the customer needs. Writing E-mail to the SUPPORT center resulted in polite answers, but NO improvemnt on ship dates.
I can't recommend DELL to anyone, if they continually postponing a scheduled order. This order was just a simple laptop; not a large network system.

Bob Keeton from Richmond, VA USA
Date - Wednesday, February 05, 2003 at 11:32:49 (EST)

1/21/03 - Made on-line purchase that included free shipping and optional on-site set-up and data transfer for which I would pay extra.
Numerous calls to Dell result in being transferred repeatedly, holding for long periods and at the end of the process they finally agreed to credit me for the $199 they charged for shipping.

The on-site setup remains a problem. They verbally assumed some responsibility for causing enormous grief by withdrawing the $169 offer then reinstating it at the inflated price of $199. They credited back the $199 price of setup and agreed to do the work at no charge. (I got excited.)

When the installer called to set a time, he was clear that Dell only authorized PART of what they promised - he could only plug the machine in. (A monkey can do this.) He was not authorized to handle the critically important task of data transfer.

I'm on hold with Dell as I'm writing this, trying for the X'th time to get someone at Dell to keep their commitment. Their latest ploy is to tell me that I really am owed nothing since they've refunded my money and besides for $199 all they would do would be plug the machine in and say, "have a nice day." This is NOT what was purchased, agreed to or ever discussed as something I wanted or needed.

I've bought and stored a boxed-up machine that is useless until it is set up on site as agreed in the purchase...which is now very unlikely. I expect to return the entire machine and monitor, file a dispute with my credit card company and wait for the fun to start with Dell.

The anger, frustration, loss of work time plus not having what's already been paid for are enough to keep anyone from wanting to deal with this company again.

John Tarkin from Orland Park, IL USA
Date - Monday, January 27, 2003 at 08:44:42 (EST)

I own a Latitude CPi D300XT laptop computer. This model was built in early 2000, so it's 3 years old at this point. I have had the problems you would expect when you pound-on and abuse a laptop, (cracked screen from a drop, broken mouse pad from smashing the laptop when I lost a game, etc).

Despite those horrid abuses to this machine, it still hums along perfectly.

Currently, I am running RedHat 8.0 and it is faster than ever.

I recently bought an Inspiron 8200, and since owning it, I have not had a single problem with it. It is as stable as the IBM T21 that I own but a lot more powerful.

Just remember, it is not Dell's fault when you abuse the hardware, these are delicate machines, not tonka toys.

Now, their desktops are hunks of junk, no argument there; if you want a stable desktop, go Gateway, a great desktop, go Alienware. If you want a misconfigured piece of junk desktop, go Dell.


So, I'll recommend their laptops, but not their desktops.

alifathima from tvm, KS India
If You're Not Ready For a Life Change, Don't Bother With This Ad
Date - Monday, January 27, 2003 at 05:31:08 (EST)

Work at Home: Real Work, Real Pay! How long do YOU think that it took me to type this Ad? Imagine if I used copy & paste? Imagine that I am paid for EVERY AD that I TYPE? YOU CAN DO THE SAME. FIND OUT HOW: http://www.worldwidehometypists.com/members/ap656/ or send an email to:poojapura@sendfree.com

Duncan Ramsey from Hollywood, CA USA
Date - Sunday, January 26, 2003 at 19:01:13 (EST)

I purchased a Dell 4500 refurbished unit in June 2002. In all fairness I can not slight Dell for the problems I have had with my machine but it is a piece of crap. There is nothing wrong with purchasing a Dell factory refubished computer. Mine was NOT factory refurbished. Mine was a so called refurbished trade on a new MAC. I paid only $300 US for the computer but have put that much more into it. The computer came without keyboard, or mouse, or monitor, or backup software but was still under factory warranty. When I called Dell they did not know the computer had changed hands and would be happy to extend the warranty for a fee. I declined. Windows XP did not have SP1 installed. When I tried to install it I learned that my XP was not valid. Another $100 US down the drain. The computer although fitted with 512Mb Ram and a new NVidia graphics card is slow compared to my HP AThlon 850 several generations older. Remember we are talking about a P4 2.1GHz system that runs slower than an old Athlon 850, Go figure?

jameshobbs from ravenna, KY USA
Date - Monday, January 20, 2003 at 06:58:13 (EST)

I LIKE TO SEE IF I CAN GET A DELL DEKTOP ACCOUNT WITH PAYMONT IM JAMESHOBBS SO LET ME ON IF I CAN GET ONE OR NOT

Lovella from USA
Date - Sunday, January 19, 2003 at 00:50:11 (EST)

I bought a cloned computer when I was about to go to college thinking it would be practical since I was trying to save me some money as much as I could. I was planning to take Software Engineering so I didn't really think a cloned computer would matter that much. Things didn't go as I expected though. First problem I had was the ethernet card. We have 2 computers at home so I was planning to network them together to share the Internet and printer. So then I called to that store in downtown and they told me to bring it along and they'd have a look. Well guess what? I ended up leaving that store with my CPU because I found out that they'd charge me if they didn't find anything wrong with it and some $%*t like that. I then took matters into my own hands since that crappy dealer was ripping me off! I opened my CPU (voiding the "USELESS" warranty) and replaced the ethernet card and it's OK now! I've had more problems with it but didn't call that dealer again for help or whatsoever.

Anyways, after that BAD experience from cloned computers, I wanted to upgrade my computer and decided to buy from Dell. I was surprised to find this P3 1.1GHZ system that's so cheap. I did some research about the stuff so I had no problems deciding. After my transaction has been processed and all that and the system was delivered to my home, I noticed that the system was not Pentium3! It's a CELERON! So then I called customer service and they told me that I could return it back but if I don't I'd get a certain amount of discount instead. They also told me that there's been a mistake on their website so it was mainly their fault (no argue about that!). After about calling 3 times and thinking if I'd return it or not, I noticed that the discount they're giving me is getting a lil bit higher! It went on til I got the system for just $1300 shipping and taxes included! So I stayed with it and it really didn't give me any problems at all (just virus problems - user's fault). It's been more than 2 years now and I had never ever contacted their technical support. Now I'm thinking of buying the Inspiron laptop. Just waiting for a good deal. Cheers!

Lovella

Kris Dahl from Des Plaines, IL USA
Date - Friday, January 17, 2003 at 00:21:20 (EST)

Like all of you, I know Dell's over the phone tech. support, and any support sucks! But that's not all. I ordered my Dimension XPS B1000r about 4 years ago. To this day that mistake haunts me with my system. Although it is mostly bought offline computer parts now, Dells crappy parts still screw me up.

When I bought the machine everything was fine for the first 4 days. Then the hard drive crashed. I called up Dell and after they had me do some stupid tests that I knew would prove it failed they finally sent me another one. When it came I had to recover the disk because they didn't ship it as it was with the first drive. I didn't know how to do this at the time because when you recover with their software you have to load up each driver yourself and there was a list of problems and their phone tech. support was terrible. After I got it up and running, I was installing the normal system software that came with it and the drive crashed again. Called them up, got new drive, installed it, it crashed. They sent me 5 drives until finally a tech was sent with the drive. The tech. got mud all over my carpet and all he did was install the drive and leave. He said that all he gets paid for is to install the drive, nothing else! After another 2 days on the phone, they sent another guy (this guy was nice and actually knew what to do) We were talking and came up with the solution that when I installed the Nortons disc that came with the computer the stystem would crash. When we didn't install it, but everything else, it didn't crash and it was fine. The tech called up Dell to get me a new Nortons disk but they refused!

3 1/2 years later....

Whenever I would upgrade my computer myself I would have dumb compatibility problems with the Dell stuff and my new stuff that it was costing me more money. Recently I went to upgrade the BIOS so I downloaded the neccesary software from Dells online site and flashed it. Now the mother board doens't work because they gave me the wrong BIOS. I entered my systems model name and number correctly but it was the wrong BIOS so now the computer doens't work. Instead of dealing with Dell all over again I bought a new motherboard and proc. because it was needing an upgrade anyway. Now I find out that the RDram they gave me with my system wasn't the speed I told them. I told them 800 but they gave me 711. Now in order for my new system to work I have to buy another module of 256 800 RIMM because I already bought one prior to this to max out my other motherboards RIMM. After this RIMM upgrade comes my Dell system will be no more. The only thing left that I got from Dell was the RIMM and even that caused problems.

DELL SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

from USA
Date - Tuesday, January 14, 2003 at 13:02:04 (EST)

I purchased my system around 12/00 while I was a graduate student. After having it for a few months, I experienced my first problems, which was just a sign of things to come. In 03/01, the motherboard had to be replaced. Shortly after that, the keyboard was replaced. I didn't use it much for the next few months since I was on summer break from classes. I started using it on a more regular basis in 09/01 until 12/01, when I graduated. Since that time, I have rarely had a need to use it since I have access to a computer all day at my place of employment.

Around 08/02, I contacted Dell to report problems with my system again. The system would not load, the monitor was flickering, there were a lot of colors on the screen and basically nothing besides that would happen. I was told by tech support that I had a virus. However, after finally being able to successfully get the system to load and scan for viruses, there were not any found and I was able to use the computer. The next time this happened, after several tries, I was able to get onto the system and scan for viruses again only to find none. That would be the last time my laptop would work. Since that time, if the computer even comes on, it will stay on only for a few seconds and then shut itself off.

On 01/03/03, after having 3 different computer specialists look at the system and come up with differing problems, I contacted Dell. The representative in tech support told me that I needed a new motherboard...AGAIN!!! I find this not only hard to believe, but very upsetting. How can a computer go through 2 motherboards in the span of about 2 years? Is Dell in the habit of putting faulty components in its systems? And since I did not heed the warning signs and purchase and extended warranty, which I was incorrectly told by customer support that I could now purchase even though the original warranty is up, I am expected to spend $950 to replace the motherboard and hope that this one lasts a decent amount of time.

I spent a total of about 3 hours on the phone speaking with 2 different representatives in technical support, 2 different representatives in customer support and 3 different representatives in the warranty sales department only to be told by each representative that there was nothing they could do. I requested to speak to a supervisor in both technical support and customer support and was told that the supervisor in technical support could not help me and that he was busy. In customer support, I was told there was no supervisor on duty. But one customer support rep. did volunteer his expertise on the matter and informed me that a "good" motherboard will last 4 months or more and guess what? A "bad" motherboard will only last about 3 months...how convenient!!!! So since mine lasted a year and a half, then there was...guess what???? Nothing Dell could do. Now, I don't pretend to be very knowledgeable in computer matters, but this type of reasoning seemed, for lack of a better word, stupid.

Is this the award-winning support that Dell brags about? The fact that all the employees are courteous while saying that they can be of no help? Maybe the most frustrating part of my experience so far has been the fact that not one supervisor felt it worth their time to get on the phone so that this issue could come to some kind of resolution. Not one person took it upon themselves to seek out a resolution because I do not call, okay give us 950 more dollars of your money a feasible resolution.

Based on my experience with Dell so far, I do not anticipate anything to come of this e-mail, I just needed something on record and also to vent. But believe me, I will do my best to let everyone know just what Dell means by customer support.

Mich from pembroke pines, FL USA
Date - Sunday, December 29, 2002 at 17:03:34 (EST)

DEAR FRIENDS ANTI - DELL:

I can start by saying DELL IS HELL ON EARTH.
This happened a few months ago.. When a started my own company I've decided to purchase a portable, laptop. My search started with Dell in their stinking web site. Obviously as you all know, it looks darn pretty and useful but it is all BS. the notebook looks good on a picture but it does not reflect how it works. I purchased a
Inspiron through the phone with an stinking salesman. He promised the world to me but I was already suspicios about the waiting time. (first time calling), well I decided to take the advantage of the instant credit and try the damn Inspiron. after he set up all the needed BS 2 hours worth of my time, two days laters I log on the Site to find my acct; GUESS WHAT; no FN act.. I called this idiot Sales rep back and, all I got was an answering service, voice mail.
Could not reach the bastard. Later on I tried again with someone else. Well it worked for 5 days. My order was taken off because ???
Anyway it was put into production again. Just up to here I've made about 8 phone calls not to count the waiting time each time.
My order was:
1 notebook.
Addl memory
1 Port replicator

It took about two weeks to get all together But when I got the laptop I really thought was going to be nice.. THINK AGAIN. i turned on the
power, the sound was awful. LOUD. the fan sound it like an Airplane.
Slow as shit, not enough connection ports. A PC FOR MY 2 YEAR OLD.
I plugged in the Port replicator.. NO juice (NO POWER). I called Tech support. THIS IS WHAT DID IT.
I called tech support at about 10:30 eastern time. Some idiot in India after going through massive options answer: can i help yu sonething??..I replied yes.. The targus port replicator does not work!
OHH hold... Never came back on the line.. Called back.
After 45 minutes of the usual waiting time some idiot tried again this time I was getting really impatient, but they could not understand that if the port replicator has no juice is beacause is burned, broken, I ask them to replace it. Sure shit said yes no problem.
I did not trust him and called the very next morning. Well sure enough he DID NOT place a replacement order.. At this point I was real mad... The lady that helped me said I should get a replacement port replicator within a week. I got it after the week and worked. Now i started using my Notebook and FOUND a big problem:
HEAT UP THE YENYENG...I could not place this machine on my LAP for a second. It got hot so fast I could fry an egg on it. You know this is not good. I then place all the stuff back the same way it came and called for Prepaid Airborne AWB.( RETURNS )-- IF SALES IS BAD; WELL YOU KNOW....
It was the worst getting this AWB, they shipped them one at a time.
Because I had three different things I needed to ship them separetaley.
I followed all the instructions given....
Once I proceed it with the returns I called to confirm my credit has been cleared. HERE I GOT SOME BS from DELL Financial Services.
They send me a letter telling me that I owed them 171.00 dollars for the worhtless replicator. I SEND THIS TO THEM AND THEY GOT IT but the bastards wouldnt help and kept saying that I owed them money, until finally last DEC. 24th like a mircale this lady said; DONT WORRY WE HAVE A RECORD THAT SHOWS ALL ITMES HAVE BEEN RECEIVED AND YOUR ACCT IS CLOSED. My question is: Why the MF at DELL had to give me this BS when he knew all merchandise was received.

In conclusion: If you are ready to make your life misserable CALL: DELL. 1800 955 3355 or 1800 624 9897

Good luck to all DELL BUYERS IN THE NEW JOURNEY TO HELL....


REGARDS,

Mich.

Jim L. from USA
Date - Saturday, December 28, 2002 at 09:33:50 (EST)

"READ THIS IF DELL HAS EVER SENT YOU REPLACEMENT PARTS"

In April 2002 I bought my computer with a Dell P992 19' monitor (sony trinitron with a Dell logo). One of the pixels was bad so I had a small black spot on the screen, I called Dell 10 days later and they sent out (supposably)a new monitor. That monitor lasted until 12-23-02 when it quit working all together. I called and they promptly sent me another monitor. I looked it over and it had many scratches and scuff marks on it so I called and they said that it was a refurbished monitor, they send out refurbished parts after 30 days from purchase if within the 30 days they send out new replacement parts. So I did some investigating and I called Dell again and they said that the monitor that was sent out to me 10 days after my purchase date was also a refurbished monitor. According to "their policy" they should have sent out a "new" monitor. I am requesting a new monitor, or they can come and pick up the whole computer.

---------------------A WORD OF ADVICE----------------------

IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED ANY DELL PARTS WITHIN YOUR FIRST 30 DAYS CALL DELL TECH SUPPORT AT 800-822-8965 AND ASK THE PERSON TO TELL YOU IF THE PART THEY SENT YOU WAS A NEW OR REFURBISHED PRODUCT (IT SHOULD BE NEW). IF IT IS REFURBISHED AND THE TECH SUPPORT AREA YOU CALLED IS IN THE PHILIPPINES ASK TO SPEAK TO THE MANAGER "BRIAN", IF YOU REACHED THE OFFICE IN INDIA ASK TO SPEEK TO THE PHILIPPINE OFFICE AND SPEEK TO THE MANAGER "BRIAN" AND TELL HIM YOU WANT TO BE SENT THE "NEW" PRODUCT NOT THE REFURBISHED PRODUCT YOU RECEIVED WITHIN YOUR FIRST 30 DAYS.

I hope my situation is an isolated incident but if not we may be able to get a class action lawsuit together.

Mike from USA
Date - Tuesday, December 24, 2002 at 02:56:53 (EST)

Before buying a Dell, READ THIS!!
Beware of ANY financial promotions offered by Dell, as it is more than likely, even with great credit, that you will be found not eligible for the promotional finance gimmicks. This includes any “No Interest” or “Same As Cash” promotions. The result will be approval for a 16.99% APR “Preferred Account”. (Not sure what is so preferred about 16.99%.) In addition, you will not be notified that you were declined the promotional offer, as one would expect. Furthermore, except for the first statement, there is no grace period on paying off the entire balance. After paying off your balance, expect to receive an additional statement for “accrued” finance charges due. Consider these offers as Bait and Trap promotions, and check out other manufacturers legitimate offers!!
Take this from someone who has Perfect credit and a low debt to income ratio: I am still waiting from Dell Financial to explain why I did not qualify for their 90 days same as cash.

Matsuda from USA
Date - Wednesday, December 11, 2002 at 12:56:25 (EST)

Disappointing to their service and product,I keep telling that I want to return my PC and get all my money back. When I called, they said that their "return specialist" would call back in 24 to 48 hours but they never did.

The following is the situation:

Nov.4th- Received PC. After connecting to the internet for 20 min., it stopped working.

Nov.5th- Called "technical support". Talked for 1 hr and hung up without any result.

Nov.7th to 11th- 2E-mails and 1 phone call. After 2 hrs of phone call, "technical support" hung up because his PC was broken and he was not able to see the record or direction. He said he would call back and he never did.

Nov.18th- Called "technical support". Finally he arranged a date to fix my PC.

Nov.25th- The technician came to my apartment. However, Dell forgot to send the repairment part so that he did nothing and left.

Nov.26th- E-mailed that I want to return PC. Dell replied that "return specialist would call back in 24-48 hrs and nobody called.

Nov.30- Called "customer service" to return my PC. He gave me a reference number and phone number to call. When I called, it was a different company which has nothing to do with return. Again, I e-mailed to return.

Dec. 3rd- replied that "return specialist" would call back in 24-48 hrs. Nobody called.

I filed a complain to BBB,Better Business Bureau hoping "Return Specialist"or something would call me. Am I asking too much?

me too from USA
Date - Friday, November 29, 2002 at 00:53:19 (EST)

Yes, people do screw up their computers and need to call in for help from tech support, which is a service that the customer paid for which in turn pays for the salary of Dell techs, however frustrated they may be. Keep that in mind when you think of red flagging an account, especially now with a lagging economy and sales that are hard to come by, which is why they're cutting prices so heavily.

While I understand the frustrations of techs at Dell I think it also behooves Dell to have competent techs on the line. I can't tell you the amount of time I as a paying customer waste on the phone with tech support (not only Dell) because their first line people are just plain stupid. I can actually hear the pages turn as they look up steps to go through in manuals to do the most basic tech support troubleshooting. Why waste MY time, I paid for quality support and I expect to get quicker support for hardware failure resolution. I've already troubleshot it, explained everything to the tech and just want the part replaced. I don't need to go through the same steps over and over again because some two-bit flunky who thinks he's a tech asks me to do.

me from USA
Date - Thursday, November 14, 2002 at 12:24:50 (EST)

I am a Dell technician and nobody realizes the power we have =) We can cancel dispatches so being rude and not willing to work with us doesn't help you out at all. We may not be able to hang up on you but we can red flag your account letting other technicians know that illegal programs are being ran, 3rd party hardware and software that we don't support (per your warranty), and rude and abusive. the next technician is most likely not going to take that the next time. We deal with rude and abusive jerks all day long so when you think your frustrated you try it.
You guys think your corporate desk jobs and retail sales jobs are hard but maybe you should try knowing what we have to know and almost every single person calling in is upset because they messed their own computer up. 98% is user error in software related programs because people don't even know how to udate norton, or do disk cleanup.
So we sit here helping you out to fix what you screwed up on your own. So when your put on hold we're usually venting. We know a lot of MORE than you do so if you call in you should at least be quiet long enough for us to fix your problem.
If you call up yelling and screaming for 20 minutes your not only wasting your own time and your wasting our time because we have a lot of customers being in the number one corporation so believe it or not over 18000 computers go out a day and we only deal with not even 10% of the customers call in with their problems. I mean why buy a computer when you don't even know how to get around. Give us a break take an IQ test before. We have stress to deal with about the company you calling in and not listening to us just gets us more irritated

Lloyd Richards from Montpelier, VT USA
Date - Monday, November 11, 2002 at 07:54:32 (EST)

Dear Mr. Dell,

I am writing in the hope that you will be able to address my complaint about the the internal components at Dell Computer Corporation. This has caused me a great deal of frustration.

Here's why I'm writing. November 8, 2002
Montpelier, Vermont 05602

I bought my 14-year-old son Evan a brand new Dell laptoip Inspiron 8200 this September, 2002. I had it shipped to The Putney School, Putney, Vermont, where he is a boarding student more than a two hour drive from home. Evan told me during the first month that the keyboard mouse did not work and the F-10 and F-12 function keys were also not functioning. I told him I bought a 4-year warranty plan which the Dell representative encouraged me to purchase as it would cover his laptop from any eventuality 24/7 and that a Dell tech rep would go to the Putney School to fix it should it not work. In October I called the Dell Tech representative division to list the non-functioning aspects (listed above). The rep said that the computer would not be replaced, nor would Dell be sending a tech rep to the Putney campus as the Dell salesman had assured me they would at the time of purchase. The Dell Tech Rep said, "Yes, they shouldn't do that. It is wrong." I was then told an instruction letter would be sent with a new keyboard that wouyld be easy for my son Evan to replace.

A week or more later the keyboard arived with a small screwdriver tool. Two screw heads on the bottom of the laptop compuyter sheared off the screws were so tightly in. After that, Evan told me the laptoip wouldn't turn on at all.

I phoned Dell again and was told he must send the laptop in to be repaired. I pleaded with Dell to honor its commitment to the 4-year warranty and send a tech rep to The Putney School. They refused, repeating that the Dell salesman had no business saying they would and to read the fine pprint. He actually said that!

Distraught, I called Dell Tech division on the following day and gave them the reference number (at that time 030136880. He assured me that a Tech rep would come out and gave me a new reference number:#####



I then received a voice mail call from Dell Tech rep division saying the motherboard and keyboard parts were back ordered and that the tech rep would not be coming out for at least two more weeks!!

I phoned back Dell and was put on hold for over 35 minutes, then disconected. I called my son Evan at The Putney School. He said he neded the laptop for a paper he was writing. He said the computer has not fully worked since he received it in the mail from Dell.

I have purchased 5 other DEll computers in the last 10 plus years. Earlier this year, in fact, I bought a Dell desktop 8200 with all the bells and whistles. I believe it is only fair and reasonable that Dell honor its sales comitment and produce a brand new fully functioning Inspiron 8200 laptop computer for my son Evan Richards, at The Putney School, Putney, Vermont 05346-8675.

Signed,

Lloyd D. Richards

M.E. Tooh from Duncan, Canada
Date - Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 17:29:45 (EDT)

I was interested in buying a dell laptop and after seeing an ad in my local paper I checked out the Dell web site. I punched in the E Value Code on the ad and what came up was different then what was in the ad. The one that came up was a slower computer with not very good software with it. (wordperfect as opposed to Word suite 2002) I placed an e-mail with the sales department at Dell, asking for clarification of the system to make sure of what I was getting for the price. I sent a total of four e-mails to Dell and received no reply from them.

I phoned Dell sales department and after many transfers and many long holds I taked to Sandro. He said I would have to fax the ad from the paper into Dell to prove that they really were selling a computer like the one in the ad. I thought this was stupid, why does a customer have to prove an ad for a company. I could see if I had an ad for IBM and wanted them to match it but their own ad.

So I faxed it off anyway and I'm waiting to see if I get a response or not.

I'm not too keen on buying a Dell anymore after receiving no response from my four e-mails that I sent them.

M.E. Tooh

JC Heinen from Albuquerque, NM USA
Date - Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 23:47:38 (EDT)

As someone said after I found-out about Dell's "almost an ATX" power supplies, "Bummer dude! You got a Dell!"

This was in response to the information I found about how, in 1998, Dell began using an ATX power supply in their desktops, but used a non-standard pinout! If you try to replace your Dell power supply with anything but a Dell, you'll fry your motherboard! I know this from experience! Same thing goes if you try to upgrade your motherboard with anything but a Dell! In my opinion, this is "Dirty Business"! Such business practices will, hopefully, bring-down Michael Dell and his greedy company, eventually!

NEVER, EVER, DO BUSINESS WITH DEL