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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
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Date - Monday, January 27, 2003 at 05:31:08 (EST)

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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 DELL-FROM-HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Randy from Los Angeles, CA USA
Date - Tuesday, October 01, 2002 at 18:19:56 (EDT)

Had a terrible problem with them. When my monitor broke, they gave me a four year old one in replacemnt under my warranty.

If anyone that lives in Southern California has had a problem with Dell and has bought an extended warranty, please contact me. Thanks.

Humphrey Moynihan from Cork, Ireland
Date - Tuesday, October 01, 2002 at 06:15:53 (EDT)

I bought 3 dimiensions from them 2 for my friends and their good computers their easy to work on no screws to open the case or change the pci cards , the only problem is i ordered a firewire card and a zip drive i was expecting a few goodwill extras like a few blank cd-r's firewire cable and a zip disk as some came with my other two customers computers but i can get over that , also paying with a credit card slows the whole thing down they quoted me 7- 10 days for 1 customer's computer it took more like a month but we were in no rush so i did'nt care but my own and another customer's arrived before time. I'd recommend dell to some people and i think i'd buy dell again .

Dell gets 8/10

Stu Pidfuk from Winchester, MA USA
Date - Monday, September 23, 2002 at 09:59:32 (EDT)

Boy o BOy i have to say the Dell just plain SUX ASS!! WOOOOO

Kurt from USA
Date - Friday, September 13, 2002 at 17:29:57 (EDT)

Wow,

Wished I would have read this earlier. Yes...I've had the pleasure of dealing with Dell/Dell Financial Services. I got it on both ends. First, they sent me a computer..heh..heh, but no tower. For a month I had the ability to look at an unplugged monitor. This seemed kind of neat ..I guess. Oh, did I mention, they sent the bill to an old account; yes they didn't even bother to update the billing address which I gave the "smart" witted knifes' edge customer service people(DFS). Oh...did I forget to mention; I was getting charged while I didn't even having the computer. Yes...I had to contact them to straighten out their administrative errors. AND they had plenty too. Nothing sweeter than talking to an automated service and getting kiced-off the phone. Much fun and pleasur ewas had dealing with these "professionals". Yep...I still have problems with the computer and billing. Oh, but it's nothing; it's only been 4 entire months they've done nothing to fix. Sorry about the sarcasm, but I want you to feel my pain...it's either that or buy a dell; you'll get what I mean.

Darryl from USA
Date - Thursday, September 12, 2002 at 09:14:00 (EDT)

Hi

Had terrible experience with Dell and their bloody awfull call centre. Ordered 2 Dimension 4500's with 3Com network cards. One arrives without a network card but with a PC card. This was the start of a very long and painfull process trying to get hold of someone who cared. First I thought I'd try the account manager assigned to me, so I email them my query. Hmm, email address on the receipt doesn't exist. So I phone them. Hmm, phone no doesn't have voicemall activated.

So I then get re-routed around the world trying to find someone in Dell with half a brain who won't pass the buck. First to Ireland, then to India, then back to the UK, Ireland again, finish off with India. Wish I'd travelled as much.

Upshot of it all was that my account manager DIDN'T CARE and when the second box eventually arrived it also didn't have a network card. It took me 2 MONTHS to resolve this and when I eventually did get the network card they were Intel and NOT 3Com as ordered.

Have had good experiences with them before but this time round DELL WERE TERRIBLE and I won't use them again

PR from USA
Date - Monday, September 09, 2002 at 08:51:50 (EDT)

Dell Dimension 8200 purchased 11/2001: Just had the third service call to my house on this piece of junk that has not reached its first birthday. So far the fan, the motherboard & the network card have been replaced, after hours on the phone with Dell support in India (roll the dice; sometimes you get routed to Idaho, sometimes to TX, sometimes to India). Very patient people, but their accent gets in the way of solutions. Also, they insisted that I RELOAD WIN XP before replacing the NIC, which after hours of backup and installing did not solve the problem. Spent many hours on the phone diagnosing the problem and trying everything that did not solve the problem, resolved in 5 minutes by replacing the NIC. This is a home PC that is used maybe 5 hours a week.

This PC is a lemon. My next PC will be locally purchased.

Jonathan P. Oyen from USA
Date - Thursday, September 05, 2002 at 09:58:52 (EDT)

Dell is great. I own a Dell Inspiron 8000. I admit I have had two "problems" with my system - one: one pixel on the monitor was a different color - solution: Dell sent a new notebook ... just swapped out the harddrive and sent mine back, two: motherboard went kapootz for some reason - solution: Dell sent out a tech from Unisys, replaced the motherboard, all systems go and he was on his way.

Love the support. A number 1 thus far in my book. Notebook rocks, except sometimes the monitor will wig out - i.e. blink rapidly. Does anyone know of a cure for this?

Other than that, life is great! If I were to buy a desktop, I would either piece one together or get one that has strictly standard parts in it. I find Dell and other big guy computers have gone too much into the proprietary mode of things.

Just yesterday, I was trying to hook up an old Dell Optiplex GXPro for one of the kids to use for chat and school work and after paying 20,000 won (I'm in the Army stationed in Korea) for a 32 MB 168 Pin EDO Chip, later I find out that the RAM is proprietary to Dell.

Now, I am on the internet searching for a 128 MB chip and will use it along with the 32 MB chip I currently have.

As far as notebooks, I would seriously consider getting another Dell, but then I would have to seriously consider getting a divorce. Ha, ha. Wife has banned me from anything tech for 5 years, but I manage to sate the need for a few toys, now and then.

Richard from Creston, Canada
Date - Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 19:14:14 (EDT)

I bought a very nice used 21 inch Dell monitor. This model costs $1600 new. After a few months it quit working. I took it to my repair shop 7 months ago. They can't fix it because they need schematics. Dell owns the schematics for all their monitors. Will they sell a schematic? No? Can repair shops get one? No. Will they fix out of warranty monitors? No. What do I do then with it? They told me that out of warranty Dell monitors are disposable. So I guess I will throw it away.

Analisa from USA
Date - Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 18:33:49 (EDT)

Bought my Dell computer in March, 2000. By June 2002, I could no longer play music CD's in my CD ROM. TECH SUPPORT WAS TERRIBLE. It was hard to find the current tech support number, all the phone numbers in my paperwork had changed. Once I found the number, I waited on hold for 30 minutes. When I finally got through the phone tech was not able to fix the problem. I called tech support three times and finally gave up. I am getting my computer fixed at a local shop. DELL DOES NOT SUPPORT THEIR EXTENDED WARRENTY.

cara from toronto, Canada
Date - Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 07:55:12 (EDT)

Hey guys,
Was looking up info on Gateway, and discovered this board. The opinions scared me till, I saw all the rants against dell. Just wanted to even the score slightly.

I have owned 2 dell laptops (working on an inspiron 7500 now), and 1 Desktop. I have only had GREAT experiences with Dell. There have been problems, but none hardware related. Just your usual software issues. Unlike many other vendors they will support you with Microsoft OS issues. They will NOT tell you to call microsoft (ggod luck finding a #!). While, waits for technical support have increased to 30 minutes at times, when they get on the phone they do NOT waste your time. In my experience Dell has the best technical support and 90% of their employees REALLY know their stuff!

I do know that CNET gave DELL the highest rank foir service & support among pc vendors (couldn't read the exact artcile though...cnets link was broken! ARGGHHHH!)

Now, I just have to decide if I can trust gateway. For a similar top-end system, with a DVD burner and LCD screen, gateway is @$500 cheaper!

Good luck.

Christopher McAlpine c/o ScreeneData Ltd from London, United Kingdom
Date - Wednesday, August 14, 2002 at 05:40:03 (EDT)

Late delivery of a PC without a LAN card - we are a small company 10 people with minimal technical skills.

Dells attitude was very unhelpful - customer care were reluctant to order a LAN card as they were unable to check whether the card was in fact in the PC. When they finally placed the order I was advised that it would take 10 days to deliver - not good enough as we have a £1000 PC that is unusable.

Going back to sales they advised me to cancel the order and get a refund and buy my own and they would arrange an engineer to fit it. Having cancelled the order guess what - they cant arrange an engineer and the installation of a non Dell part will invalidate my warranty.

As I have cancelled the LAN card as part of my order they claim that they have fulfilled their contract and it seems no one will deal with me.

Thank you Dell

Don from USA
Date - Sunday, August 04, 2002 at 15:17:01 (EDT)

I'm setting here reading these threads B/C I'm in need of a new Hard Drive. It's sites like these that make us "Snap-out of it" and realize
we've been sucked in by the Big Name Brands with their Multi-Million
Dollar Ad campaigns.

The Obvious Conclusions:

1) NEVER, EVER buy a computer from Dell or Gateway starting around
the first week of November thru January of the next year.
Christmas sells will begin to crank up in earnest by November.
Delivery promises will be broken at a much higher level.
All those that do order during this time frame will include
the customers who have serious problems with their order or
with their machine working properly.
Sales Staff and Tech people will be stressed the most obviously
during this time, so dealing with them will be almost a
quaranteed sour experience if your an unhappy cutomer.
This "Rush Hour Traffic" probably won't subside probably until
around Feb. of the next year.

2) When Mutual Funds become so large, their managers will close
all futher access from new customers. The mere size of the fund
threatens it's managers with the ability to maintain a successful
growth. Dell and Gateway (IMHO) suffer from the very same
situation, but don't have the same luxury of limiting the size of
their customer load. The larger your customer base grows, the
size of your "happy customers" and "mad as hell customers" start
to swell. Unhappy customers "by evidence of this web site, tend
to be more vocal, also akind to activist. Thus message board upon
message board are filled with people like us - screaming about
crappy service and crappy computers.

3) It's up to us to advertize these issues. Warn people sturnly
what their getting into when being "Sucked-In" by the hip youngster
who says: "Dude your getting to experience a Hell"
Tell your freinds and family members "The way to go is to find
a local computer company that's been in business building computer
a long time. Set down with a local builder and have one built
to your specific usage and you'll get the best deal - Hands Down".

4) All you people (along with me) are pissed off customers.
Is it Dell's fault, or Gateway's fault, or the customers fault?
Well you unfortunately fall into a precentage bracket.
BTW, you did buy a Dell or a Gateway. Lesson Learned.

5) If you have a serious problem with a computer"Right out of the Box"
from one of the big guys, don;t try to hash it out over the phones
lines. Get through to customer service your first try........
And request a full refund and return the computer.
If you don't listen to these words, you'll be here posting a rant.

6) Why did I never Buy a Dell. In 1995, I had just bought my first
Gateway (A P-100 for almost $3400.00) A co-worker was asking me
for advise cause he was fixin to buy his first also. He called
Gateway and got some details. He then called Dell. When the
Dell representative answered, my friend started his conversation
with: "Yes, I'm wanting to buy a new computer and I just got off
the phone with Gateway"
He suddenly heard the phone go "Click" and he looked at me and
said: "He hung up" with a shocked looked on his face, he said:
"He just hung up on me".
Subsequent stories veered me away from Dell, I got the impression
that Dell's persona is that of Northeastern like maybe Princeton,
or New Jersey, maybe New Haven.
Is the "Customer King" up there? Hell that ole saying is getting
so old it's almost fading into obscurity.

Peter Frost from HI USA
Date - Thursday, August 01, 2002 at 23:28:52 (EDT)

Hey! I think all you should know that after a year of Dell hell I returned mine for a full refund. Why? because they're tech-support sucks. Not to mention they are so way incompitent, careful they don't switch you to India once they close down stateside for the night.
Anyone else notice the E in Dell is tilted like Enron????
When I aske if they were affiliated they gave no response.
So after talking to no less that 2 dozen tech toads one supervisor gave me the name of Mike's personal assistant, Stephine Durante, oh and her number...1-800-247-9252 ext.81469
And if you get that supervisor Richard Guidry ext 30623 you can tell that lying sob ha ha cause I got back over 2 grand, which included a free year of msn (my stupid network). And I still have my altec lansing speakers and web cam.
BUY a computer from a LOCAL builder, all the crap inside is the same a Dell cover means nothing. Buy one from someone you can talk to face to face. Someone who will be there when you need them. I bought a new one with a generic monitor and with the refund got a faster, bigger memory, more add-ons and less expensive. If they advertise on TV then you know they're full of it. Remember Ronco and his products? Same thing.

charles a blaine from gretna, LA USA
Date - Saturday, July 27, 2002 at 15:05:06 (EDT)

I ORDERED A DESKTOP ONLINE AND AFTER 72 HOURS AND MULTIPLE PHONE CALLS
TO DELL, THEY HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO CONFIRM ANY EXISTANCE OF THE ORDER
I WOULDN'T BE SO CONFUSED BY THIS BUT FOR THE EMAIL I RECEIVED THE
DAY AFTER I SUBMITTED THE ORDER. THIS EMAIL THANKED ME FOR PURCHASING
A DELL AND WENT ON TO STATE THAT I WOULD RECEIVE MY ORDER CONFORMATION
WITHIN ONE BUSINESS DAY, WHICH I DID NOT. ON DAY THREE I CONTACTED DELL AGAIN AND SPOKE WITH A HOST OF PEOPLE ALL OF WHOM CLAIMED I HAD
NOT ORDERED. I UNDERSTAND THAT STUFF HAPPENS, AND THROUGH ALL OF THIS
I AM STILL VERY MUCH LOOKING FORWARD TO THE ARRIVAL OF MY DELL SYSTEM.

ONE THING THAT DID OCCUR WHILE TALKING TO A DELL EMPLOYEE WAS THAT
WHEN I ASKED IF I MIGHT SPEAK TO AN ONLINE SALES PERSON, SHE
TRANSFERED ME TO A PHONE THAT IS ACTIVE MONDAY - FRIDAY AND AS YOU HAVE
NO DOUBT GUESSED DAY THREE OF MY QUEST FOR INFO IS SATURDAY. DARN!
I SURE HOPE MY DELL IS ON THE WAY....THEY DO DELIVER TO THE NEW ORLEANS GREATER METROPOLITAN AREA, DON'T THEY?

me from USA
Date - Tuesday, July 16, 2002 at 03:25:05 (EDT)

Ok i'd first like to say i have a dell laptop and I love it. Its been incredably reliable and its actually easy to upgrade considering the amount of information people have on it on the internet.

I am a computer and electronics tech. I currently work at a company as a phone technician....you know those people on the other end of hte phone that you yell at. I do not work for dell, however I can say this: You need to think about the entire situations that your having. Someone said that her computer was constantly locking up, so they changed the hard drive and motherboard, butyet still locking up, ok well that could be the ram AS SUGGESTED BY DELL. She says she just wants a new computer. Ok WHEN YOU CHANGE THE MOTHERBOARD, U'RE ESSENTIALLY CHANGING THE COMPUTER. Did it ever occur to you that maybe just maybe YOU could be doing something wrong? As a phone tech I hear THE SAME problem over and over again, and its basically the same fix. Have any of you ever thought of that. That maybe THEY DO know what their talking about? Did you ever realize they are normal people who have bills to pay. Let me just explain what its like working in an average office as a phone technician:

We get 12 minutes of personal time (includes getting a drink, smoke breaks, and BATHROOM BREAKS) IF you go over, you get reprimanded or fired. In an 8 hour day, 12 minutes IS NOT enough time. Also you are timed on EVERYTHING. You are timed to how long the call is, how long it takes u to type the info into the computer after the call and how long your callbacks are. When the person tries to get you off the phone because your babbling on and won't accept help oryour just a complete and total numnut, THATS WHY. They have a job they need to keep. When i worked as a computer phone tech. The most common problem was people had TONS AND TONS of programs loading at startup, which in essence would lock the computer up. The reps have to watch what they say because their bosses are monitoring each and every call. If we personally say so much as anything out of context to what is expected, we're fired. That includes laughter. If the customer says something, and u feel like u need to polightly laugh, its considered a NONO.. you need to be a robot. LEts think people, maybe its not them, maybe its you. And if its not you, then give the techs a little bit easier of a time. THey're working for very little money, forbidden to leave they're station or cubical unless on break, asking a question or a BRIEF bathroom visit. I actually saw someone get fired once because they were sick and throwing up int he bathroom, the bosses wouldn't let her go home. So she was at work doing the best she could, she went over her 12 minutes. While in the bathroom with her head in the garbage bin, a supervisor walked in, said she was relieved of duty and advised her she had 15 minutes to get out and clean up her desk and evacuate the premisis or the authorities would be called in. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE YOU CALL AND GIVE SHIT TO. They work in hellish conditions. Of course they don't care about your problem, they get paid minimum wage, get mentally abused every single day and then have to deal with your crap on top of it. There's so much more i can say however its 3am and i need to go to work tomorrow. Just think about what your saying and how you act. Don't pretend to know about something you don't. When you deal with someone who deals with the same machines day in and day out for 8 hours or more every single day, let them tell YOU whats wrong.

George Hobbs from London, United Kingdom
Date - Friday, July 12, 2002 at 06:10:23 (EDT)

No doubt the worst buying experience of my life - ever.
Starts off with an incomplete order. Complain. Order gets fed back into the loop so the credit card company blocks my card for a weeek because of the suspect nature of the demands placed on it. Very Inconvenient! Eventually second part of order arrives. Open all boxes and start assembling. Oh dear - no modem card or socket but there is a network socket or two. Pity as I do not have a network at home, but I would like to get on the internet sometime! Get on the phone to Dell and arrange for parts to be couriered and engineer to arrive and fit - repair a machine that's never been switched on?. On appointed day the guy and the parts no show. Back to the phone. Another week goes by with no response to e-mails and no calls back from the "customer support" team. 6 weeks after placing order I have some useless boxes in my house, a fat credit card bill and I have racked up 10 hours of phone bills, mostly spent queueing to get through to "customer support" and not enjoying the Frank Sinatra tunes. Enough is enough. Try to get restitution of money and get them to take it all away. Courier leaves card while I am at work. Guess what Dell did not tell me they were coming to collect the kit? Perhaps I need to be psychic. Call courier and try to get a new pick up date.
Sum total - so far - loads of money paid to credit card and tatty boxes still awaiting pick up in hall.
What do I think of Dell? At Richard NIxon did not say "Expletive Delleted"!

Jonathan from Canada
Date - Sunday, July 07, 2002 at 23:38:16 (EDT)

I've never bought anything new from Dell myself. However, I did purchase, and setup a refurbished system for my grandparents. Up to date there has been absolutly nothing wrong with it at all. As it was stated before in this forum, 9 times out of 10 the problem with the computer is the user. It has also been stated that if your going to buy something, it should be an informed decision. And when a problem arises, do the research, and fix it yourself. And if you don't have the time to, get a technition to fix it, and don't complain about the cost, if you really thought it was too expensive you should have done it yourself. My suggestion to the first time buyer: "Buy a piece of junk, try to make it work. When at last you do succeed, buy something better."

JC from Knoxville, TN USA
Date - Friday, July 05, 2002 at 10:07:54 (EDT)

Wow! I was considering buying a Dell. I'm glad that I found this board first - it's sounds like I'd better look elsewhere for my next computer.

Thanks all for the information!

T. Thompson from Scotts Valley, CA USA
Date - Friday, June 28, 2002 at 01:32:41 (EDT)

Nothing like getting screwed before you even receive your computer. They (Dell) said that they would ship within 5 dayS, and at 4 1/2 days, they post that it will not be shipped for

Bill Morrison from Fort Frances, Canada
Heavy Sports.com
Date - Thursday, June 27, 2002 at 15:19:06 (EDT)

Well, I have to admit, I got sucked in. Probably because I operate a small business that prides itself on giving the best customer service possible. I also expect it in return, but was I ever wrong with Dell.
A year and a half ago, I decided to lease a Dell computer mainly for the write-off instead of purchasing. I was told at the time by the sales person that if I wanted I could easily trade up to another system. I was also naively under the impression that if I was not happy I could send back my computer and pay the difference between what I paid on my lease plus interest, etc.. and the fair market value. Was I ever wrong...
I've had numerous small problems with my system, and have spent up to an hour on the phone trying to get technical support, and was cut off twice which was very frustrating. Tech support was very helpful when I did finally get a chance to talk to them a couple of times.
It also seemed with some issues, I was transferred all over the place, and hate having to push '1' for this and '3' for that....
Needless to say, I have had enough, so I called to see how I could send this piece of crap back to Dell.
I was told I can send it back, but my buyout with sending it back will be $2072.00. The initial price of the computer 17 months ago was only $1700.00 . Imagine that! My company also leases a car, so I asked what the buyout for it would be 1.5years before the lease was up, and the answer was market value! Dell's buyout is market value plus about $1500.00, and that is if I don't even keep the computer!
I also asked what would happen if I just sent it back and quit paying and was told that the credit department would go after my credit rating, so it sounds like I'm screwed. I will never, ever buy a Dell again, and will not recommend it to anyone.
If anyone has any advice for me, I'd sure appreciate it!

T. Smith from syracuse, NY USA
Date - Sunday, June 23, 2002 at 17:00:13 (EDT)

I purchased a Dell because a friend said his company buys Dell. What a mistake. Computers are supposed to be user friendly, so if a tech says you should know how to use one, not so. Anyhow after one day or so there were lots of problems the biggest Dell's tech support phone number. Punch 1 punch 2 etc. only to come back to the beginning, spent days and hours trying to get help. Sent tech to home after much trouble, tech could not fix problem. In home service contracts are fraud had to fight to get one to come. I must admit that I did blow my cork. When you consider the numbers of hours you have to work to pay for your machine. Anyhow had to reinstall OS.
Fixed problem but had to do it again in less than a year. Waiting to get help to do it again. Found this site looking for DEll help on AOL because Dellnet by msn will not connect. Have learned one thing though. Companies gear their tech support money by how much they value their customers. Companies that spend alot of money with Dell get the best support, Dell spends more money on tech support for big spenders. The home user does not spend alot, so therefore Dell does not give us the best techs or as many techs to service us. Moral of story be nice to computer geeks even if he/she doesn't know when to bathe.(just kidding).

Colin Page from Ashford Kent, United Kingdom
Date - Saturday, May 25, 2002 at 10:51:28 (EDT)

Yes Like most of the other buyers off Dell Computers I was taken in with tthe Dell Support Center, very professional with all the answers and solutions. That in itself should have told me to be wary but I ordered my Dell Dimension 8200 with a salesman who I could not understand, then after further investigation I found that Dell were based in Ireland, Oh Oh. It cost me £1598:00 sterling when it arrived I run it up to find that the Norton Virus would not auto start, when I accessed the system restore help page I received a warning MALICIOUS SCRIPT:File: RSTRUI.EXE was present and needed to be stopped. Along with other error fault pages. I phoned Dell and after eventually getting through the enemy electronic communication defense system protection I spent over 5hrs on the phone doing a repair that removed half the drivers which were later reinstalled the tale goes on and on. I wrote to Dell in Ireland, the UK, Texas, never received a reply or acknowlegdement to my letters, spent hours on the phone, had a contract engineer out to reformat the hard drive Dell do not have their own service engineers, I am still trying to get my system replaced, or my money returned. My advice to anyone looking to buy a computer is TO STAY AWAY FROM DELL DO NOT TOUCH THEM WITH A BARGE POLE. I have an Evesham that I was going to replace with the Dell what a blessing that I did not get rid of it, it has never given me any problems during the two years of ownership. I was just another mug that fell for the sales jargon from Dell. Unfortunately we only start looking for these webb pages after the event, by then they have got your money and won't return it. Because they are big it does not mean they are the best or the most customer caring company. cp.

Matt from USA
Date - Tuesday, May 21, 2002 at 10:33:55 (EDT)

As a former Tech I can certainly empathize with the last message poster. However as you can see from his first comment this is a jaded and sarcastic individual. First of all sir you took this job that you have so if it is a thorn in your side to do it then quit. You seem to forget that all these people that have broken or malfunctioning computers paid for them and the support that put you in the seat your in and gives you a paycheck. If they feel that you and your peers suck....well you probably do. I know that it is frustrating to deal with countless issues a day but your real nemisis is Mr.Dell that makes you work thirteen hour days and pays you horrible wages so that he can sell these hunks of garbage at a huge margin ripping off the consumer and live in a huge mansion and really not give a crap about either one of you. Here is some advice on how to buy a computer from someone who REALLY knows and isnt going to make a dime off anyone.

1)Figure out what your needs are and what they will be in the next couple years(of course you don't know but try to plan a little) DONT buy things you dont need becasue if and when you get around to using them the latest and greatest will be out and your stuff will be outdated.

2)NEVER EVER EVER buy from DELL or GATEWAY. In fact I would never buy anything from any Large company. If you think that they provide some kind of quality assurance because they are big think again. To them your a number a cow in a herd if you will. Dont believe me check the rest of the posts here. In fact I suggest you never buy from any large company since they don't make the computers themselves anyway, whats the point?

3)Always read 100% of your warranty and ask questions. For example what does ONSITE mean? According to Gateway Onsite does not mean someone will come to your house and fix your computer. And having worked tech support for them through an outsourced company called THE ANSWER GROUP I can tell you they train the techs to not give onsite support no matter what because its expensive. Basicly they train us to run you in circles until you either give up or your warranty expires. To Gateway Onsite means if you need a hard drive put in they will do it but they wont make sure its working or load the operating system or ANYTHING that might help you.

4) Locate a local small computer store in yourr area that has been in buisness a long time. These are the gems of the CPU world. You can actually negotiate your warranty and terms of payment with someone that has a neck to choke. Make sure you can bring your system in and get it worked on at no charge for at least a year. Most of these pleaces provide good quality and service because they are actually RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS! What a concept!

5)If you are just going to use the internet and play games if you spend over 1000$ on acomputer you are getting screwed royally. That is the truth don't go out there and spend 3000$ on a computer so you can check your e mail and word process. You can buy a computer that can do that for 50$

Well I hope I helped someone

Carey from Dallas, TX USA
Date - Sunday, May 19, 2002 at 17:55:35 (EDT)

For the record, if you can't coherently convey your displeasure with a company: don't.


I'm the tech you wish you spoke to when you have issues with your computer. I get to talk to about 40 people a day and have done so for almost a year now. I've fixed almost every issue that I've talked to someone about and plenty of them that I shouldn't have had to because I had an irate customer that couldn't comprehend why every tech doesn't know everything there is to know.
9 times out of 10, you caused the issue. Through lack of experience, lack of knowledge, lack of reasoning. Why buy the overpriced computer if you don't know how to use it? Do you buy a car you know nothing about? A blender, even? Odds are, no.

On the other hand, I think Dell is too concerned with the almighty dollar and not concerned enough with how they get it. Hence all the issues with sales and customer service, etc.


Ohhhhh.. The stories I could tell. But hey, everyone's got a place in life. Mine is to put up with you and yours is to be the thorn in my side. Weeee!

tammy from knoxville, TN USA
Date - Friday, May 17, 2002 at 20:55:58 (EDT)

trick into loan 6mo. later broken computer in basement purchase price 3000.00 they claim i now owe 5600.00 go figure with their what ever % rate i feel like now. no consistence in anything.windows ex first 10 days i had it vanished. took to computer shop after dell refused to stand good on warranty.I was informed windows xp was inproperly installed. know they have turn it over to collection .whoevers
ever wants to band together and sue the bastards let get er done.one of us can do it alone but an army can and its time they get theres.ps DFS which everyone knows not part of dell (so they claim ha ha )refused payment on alleged loan agreement (which i still have not seen paper work on after requesting from them many times which is a violation of the fair credit collections act passed on9/20/77) on numerous ocassions i tried to pay account off in full with credit card and was informed by DFS it was ilegal to take borrowed money to pay back borrowed money.from DFS employees.PLEASE contact me if anyone is interested.Dellis not god and i challenge the best attorney out there to get some b---- and lets go after them snugs228@msn.com

Susan from SanJose, CA USA
Date - Monday, April 22, 2002 at 17:33:38 (EDT)

I applied for the '90 Day free financing" and was accepted, bought the P4 computer and flat panel monitor Online (just like the one I have at work)from their Outlet, and it was shipped within days. Works great.
Then the loan paperwork came, and it said that 16.95% interest would be charged starting three days after shipment! I emailed and called Dell right away asking them about it. Apparently Dell and Dell Financial are two different companies that do not talk to each other ecept to forward eMails. It still took 2 weeks for Dell Financial Services to get back to me, and they said I hadn't qualified for the 90-day loan, so they gave me an alternate one. I sent the paperwork back and sent them several eMails requesting that the correct paperwork be sent, but no one has gotten back to me, except for an eMail saying my 1st payment is due 4/23 (tomorrow). You would think they would want to be paid! It makes me nervous, since I do not want my excellent credit ruined. I do not even know who to send a papyment to there without it getting lost.
I have sent a report in to the PostMaster General, since it seems to me that DFS did a "Bait 'n' Switch", which is illegal.

Subrata from Calcutta, USA
Date - Tuesday, April 16, 2002 at 15:54:05 (EDT)

it is ok

afc from USA
Date - Sunday, April 14, 2002 at 12:16:22 (EDT)

Never again will I purchase a computer from DELL. The Customer Support is unacceptable unless you cherish spending time on the road listening to their messages board. The reason that you are waiting is simply there are more problems than their customer service can handle. I use HPs at work for the last few years & have never had the problem with thier product. Previous computers from Compacq, Apple, IBM are far less quirky and proved to be durable.

Save youself time and money by spending each with someone other than DELL. DELL brings a new dimension to let the buyer beware.

Keith Hamilton from Apex, NC USA
Date - Thursday, April 04, 2002 at 10:05:10 (EST)

I have had a bad experience with Dell, I thiught I was getting the best but have had nothing but trouble with my Dell dimension I bought last summer. It is a 1.6 gig with Win ME, crashes 4-5 times a day, never shuts down properly, generally causes me grief. Dell offers no help but to reinstall the operating system which takes me a couple days to get my system together again with no improvement.

J. C. Lucier from Windsor, Canada
Date - Wednesday, March 27, 2002 at 21:38:14 (EST)

New Dell Dimension 4400 ran for three hours, froze and would not restart. Called Dell Canada, they had a technician and new motherboard on site within two days. Problem solved. Excellent service!

J. C. Lucier
Windsor, Ont Canada

Yolanda Cruz from Pembroke Pines, FL USA
Date - Saturday, March 23, 2002 at 13:33:32 (EST)

I bought a $3,000.00 Desktop. Of course there sales department is excellent. But you better hope you never have to contact there customer service department. I decided to send DELL a $500 dollar check to apply to the balance of my new compputer. DELL lost my payment. I contacted my bank they said the check was cashed by dell. I contacted dell they also showed it was cashed. They said they needed approval before they can apply it to my balance so I waited a few weeks. I did not pay them my monthly payment that month because I sent them the $500.00. Ithen started recieving collection notices from DELL. I informed them of the situation. They transfered me to there customer service department. they had no idea what was going on sent me back to collections department again they said I needed to speak to there customer service department. I was transfered back and forth for three hours I kept demanding to speak to a supervisor. All reps insisted no supervisor was available. Which I find to be hard to beleive. With thousands of dell employees there is not one supervisor to speak to I finally spoke to A supposed supervisor Bethany Miller. Which was supposed to have this resolved within two weeks. During this time I sent them another check for 263.00 dollars and now I come to find out they have also lost this check. This issue has been going on for 6 months. But to no avail. I will now have to seek legal action. Should it be this difficult to buy a $3000.00 dollar computer.

R Windsor from London, United Kingdom
Caring Matters
Date - Thursday, March 21, 2002 at 00:45:37 (EST)

No wonder DELL has the E falling over backwards in their logo!
I am dismayed at how Dell has done business from the initial order!

I ordered a pc online, paying with my debit card and living in London, filling in the " delivery address if different from the card holder's" with comments in the comment field about why this was needed. Stating clearly that the order was dependent upon their delivery to the other (EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND) address.

The delivery address was not included on the order acknowledgement,
which stated........"Please review the order details and call me straight away if these are not accepted. Signed Dhs Internet"

Please note that the computer had already been dispatched to London before I received the order acknowledgement telling me to confirm immediately. If ordered via e-mail, why not have the order acknowledgement arrive via e-mail........rather than 3 days later via snail mail?!!

Urgency to get the order in........not so quick to get the order delevered to the right person at the right place.

I phoned that day to ensure the delivery was indeed to take place in Soctland and was assured by Claire, the assistant manager, that it would go to the correct address.

I checked the on-line order status Monday morning, to note that the pc had arrived in London Monday am. I phoned Claire again at 09.00 and it took until 14.00 hours to get confirmation from Claire that she indeed did have the address changed.

Coincidentally, at noon (before Claire's confirmation, I had a call from the delivery service stating that they needed to deliver it to me in London and that, indeed, the delivery service.....ie Target Express,,,,,did not even provide delivery services to Scotland!

Dell's own customer care department had no re-direction notes had no re-direction notes on my order, nor had the courier been notified.

In these days of lightening speed communications....the phone or fax would have had quicker results.

Later Monday I cancelled the order, concerned that it would now take even longer to get the computer delivered, with more opportunities for it to be lost!

Cathy, the customer care person, coolly informed me that the cancellation department would phone me when they have the time.

A FAR CRY from the note on DELL's order acknowledgement........"Please
review the order details and call me straight away if these are not
accepted."

Urgency to get the order in........not so quick to get the order delivered to the right person at the right place......or to even return the money when DELL has not "delivered" the goods or services as expected.

guaranteeing Wed delivery if I not cancel order. Her promise was noted in the Target on-line status report......

Tuesday, the status report stated that the pc did not arrive in Edinburgh....ie LOST

Tues afternoon Dell assured me that the pc was certainly in Edinburgh to be delivered Wednesday (yesterday).

Called Dell again Wed am and was told by Stephanie there was no way that it could be out of London, because the delivery to Fife had only just been approved........this morning WED!

fancy that!

Spoke with Gillian again and she said she would investigate and get back to me,,,,,,never did.....

So no one to speak with at Dell and only record on their system is that the order is cancelled,,,,,,,

So, then called target number and spoke with a gentleman who said the computer has been sitting in the London depot since Saturday lunchtime,,,,,with no order to deliver it elsewhere until mid-morning Wed!

He assured me that it left London and will be in Edinburgh Wed night........and could hypothetically be delivered Thursday, today ...

Though there was no note of a delivery date anywhere in his records.

so, who knows what will happen.........

I recall thinking when I placed the order and had the alternative delivery address, though I paid by debit card, which gets them the money more quickly than a cheque,

that they would call me (they had my details in the billing segment of the order) if they would not deliver it, where the delivery was to take place, because the delivery address was indeed part of the order!

I now realise that they do not read orders. They just look to see what has been ordered and how it is paid for. Cheque or credit card are what determines whether they look at any other aspect of the order. I did explained the need for delivery to another address in the comment field.......they just ignored them!

Clearly not e-friendly company since every person I spoke with gave me different stories (at least 10 people). Who could blame them if there are no records of even what they discovered when I called.....or even that I called?!

Dell's records state the sale has been cancelled. Target Express say that it is now in Edinburgh for an unknown delivery date. Who knows what will be the end of the appalling e-saga. Please note that even with a credit or debit card payment, they will take more than 2 days to refund your money.

A person who will not be recommending DELL's e-sales or services
Ruth

CAROLYN DAWSON from ELCAMPO, TX USA
Date - Monday, March 18, 2002 at 23:18:40 (EST)

I was seeking for a new computer.,I heard so much about dell.I had a company to hold one for me before i buy one.monday night,march 18/02 when i came to this web:and read what the many compaints,i thank jesus christ".the son of GOD".for letting me read what i did about dell".i am a born again christan.i thank every company should do right
to all there customer.we all want good service.when their is a promber
it should be taken care of. CAROLYN DAWSON.ELCAMPO TEXAS.

Michael from Dearborn Heights, MI USA
Date - Friday, March 15, 2002 at 19:07:46 (EST)

GoGocity ripped me off, I recently purchased memory for my laptop from GoGocity.com. The laptop wouldn't boot with the new memory so I sent it back(with rma number). I sent it back US Postal just like they sent it to me and they claim it never arrived.( How convieniant)This is the last straw for me. I am going to go back to businesses of brick and stone. I am tired of getting ripped off by "faceless" internet companies.So gogocity you have gotten rid of another internet customer.

Xiaoyong Wu from Apex, NC USA
Date - Monday, March 11, 2002 at 23:08:35 (EST)

I don't think they have Customer Care, or what?
Last October, I found a deal on Dell website of a digital camera and placed the order. Just several minutes later, I noticed other places that have much much cheaper deals. Then I tried my best to get touch with them and cancle the order without any luck. All they said is just to give me a return number. After I got it, I returned it using Priority Mail with tracking. Well, they told me for several days that they didn't get it while the postal office told me it was delivered and signed! Until I got a chance to complete a BBB complaint, they did find it somewhere. Finally, what they said is THAT it is still in the 30 day limit that they set. Well, actually, if counting from the day that they issued the return number, that's much more than 30 days.
Well, now, here comes another good case.
I purchased a Dell computer and received some coupon code from them.
When I am trying to use those coupon code, it just goes to all kind of other limitations. The coupon says it ok for any purchase in System, Storage, or Networking Device. When I tried to apply, it says that it must be used in Small Bussiness for purchase over $450. Ok, let's go to small bussiness and make a purchase for $680. Well, it is still unvalid and I don't know the reason.Dear Xiaoyong Wu,
I asked this to their Customer Care, here's the response!

++++
Thank you for contacting Dell Customer Care.

I apologize, but unfortunately, Online Customer Care is unable
to assist you. Kindly contact our Sales Department for pricing,
purchase discounts and product information. They will be more
than happy to assist you.

Please contact Dell Sales at:
1-800-915-3355

Once again, I apologize and truly regret any inconvenience or
frustration this matter may have caused. We value you as our
customer and your satisfaction is very important to us.

Thank you for contacting Dell and have a nice day.


Respectfully,
++++

Great Customer Care! Don't you even think that it bothers you to forward this to your Sales Department? Please, dell, micheal dell,
I was one of your share holders for some time. Thanks GOD I sold THEM!

kelly kaye from austin, TX USA
Date - Monday, March 04, 2002 at 08:17:23 (EST)

I've just had a horrid experience with Dell. I live about 5 miles away from THE Dell plant, in Round Rock, Texas (in Austin). I received not one, not two, but THREE bad "re-furbished" hard-drives. Afer the second bad one, I called a supervisor and threatened a lawsuit (I have plenty of proof: pages and pages of documentation, I'd never been online with my cable modem provider while setting up winXP and my ISP provider is aware of this...I have 3 expert witnesses and digital camera pictures of my registry edit flags). Although I was promised a clean HD within 24 hours, I didn't receive a new tower until March 1 (my warranty expiration date-GEE,MIKEY! WHAT A COINCIDENCE!). DELL CANNOT GET AWAY WITH THIS!!! They obviously have a problem with their imaging software at the re-furbishing HD plant in Mexico. My registry is filled with edit flags and Netscape plug-ins with commands written in Spanish. As mentioned, my ISP can verify that I have NOT been online AT ALL while trying to set up my WinXP, so how did all these dowloads get there? Obvisiosly a worm resides in the HD, and waits for the "victim" to start set-up. My registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER) is corrupt and nearly filled with edit flags. The worm has taken control of the entire system within just 6 hours while setting up my home version, non-sharing computer(IMPOSSIBLE). I have spoken with a tech lawyer and retained 2 expert witnesses; I have taken about 20 digital camera pictures of my implanted received worm as it grows. I also have a witness from Mexico who translated some of these implanted commands that were hiding in the HD ("takeover as administrator," "disable control panel options," etc). I reminded a supervisor at Dell (after wasting about 700 hours on the phone) about the 50,000 Dell HD units recalled in Limerick, Ireland about 2 years ago, and he "played dumb," or just wasn't aware. There is a lawsuit coming your way, Mr. Dell. You live about 12 miles from my house and I'll personally dump your piece of crap on your 30,000 square-foot mansion's door step and see you in court.
I'm also filing a complaint with the BBB, writing to PC world magazine, and ALL the other comouter mags. Oh, and BTW, Mr. Dell, I also happen to be a radio personality here in Austin, so maybe you've heard of me. If not, you'll be hearing FROM me-that's for sure.

Kelly Kaye
Austin, Texas

kenn dziedzic from Rio Rancho, NM USA
Date - Friday, March 01, 2002 at 12:24:40 (EST)

Bought a Dimension 4300 in October, 2001. Have had problems with it since day one. Got talked into reloading and trying a bunch of useless things until, SURPRISE, the 30 day replacement period expired. Dumb ME! Now I am still trying for a replacement and the lies are amazing. My next day business in house service policy is in the bathroom next to the TP but I am afraid to use it on myself. I was promised a repair date with parts, never happened. Waited three full days at their beck and call until a service person showed up one hour before I was to catch a plane. Installed a new hard drive and SURPRISE same problems no satisfaction. On 2.19.02 I finally got someone to promised a NEW replacement within 10 business days. Not going to happen, now maybe a refurbished unit within 30 days. I have over 30 on the phone hours with Dell 'lack of service' department and have heard more lies than in a bar on Saturday night. I finally filed a complaint with the BBB. Lets see if that does anything.

NEVER DELL AGAIN. I had an AST (who?) computer for 2.5 years and NEVER an issue.

I don't believe or trust DELL, they don't provide service, there warranty is a joke. As I read one person's story, if it works it is great but if there are issues, kiss it goodbye Dell will not help.

Oh yeah, being a Christian does NOT keep you from having problems with DELL as suggested, it just keeps me praying more.

replys, comments welcome.

Jonathan Pye from United Kingdom
Date - Friday, March 01, 2002 at 07:13:49 (EST)

Bought a Dell in Feb 2001 - all fine and dandy.

Problems begin just before New Year. Naively I emailed Dell tech support about the problem, even included the Dell diagnostics error code.

Gave up on email support and rang Dell. Picked up computer, replaced hard drive and returned. Error still there.
Picked up again, again only the hard drive replaced. Surprise, surprise, the error was still there.

Fill in a priority repair form with the error code on it. Send it away, replace motherboard. Different error and can't install Windows.

Much nashing of teeth, get a 6-month Next Business Day extension to warranty. Computer sent away again. Nothing since. Repeated phone calls have only ended up with promises of calls being returned. Never are.

Entire month of the "Next Business Day" warranty has been used waiting for the system to be repaired.

Each time the computer has come back, it has "Quality inspection" ticked. How ? What people do they employ to repair the computers who don't even check the systems are working properly before shipping them out ?

James Griffith from Washington, DC USA
Date - Monday, February 25, 2002 at 19:47:16 (EST)

I was surprised to learn that Dell's in-house warranty was just card-replacemnt. I learned this soon after I had spent $3500 on their system two and a half years ago. There was no sound. Later there were many more problems. I was set to get them on the "lemon law" when they said, "The only way we can fix your computer is to trash the hard drive and reinstall your OS." An easy out. After spending about a hundred hours talking with what were mostly worthless tekkies, I realized that if I had just replaced the computer section with an IBM of HP, I would have been happier and richer. The idea of just dropping your computer off at a nearby authorized dealer under warranty is now very appealing.

Indra Sena from Shokan, NY USA
Date - Tuesday, February 19, 2002 at 18:10:03 (EST)

Dell Ranks Last in Customer Service

The Dell I spent almost $3,000 is completely worthless after one year, even though it has a three year warrenty on it. I have called tech support dozens and dozens of times, and have spent more than 60 hours working on it. They have sent a tech repair person to my house 4 times. My computer still does not work and Dell will not do anything for me, except suggest I call tech support on an almost daily basis and spend hours on the phone with them.

I deeply regret burning money on my Dell and I will never do business with them again. If I could sue them in court, I would.

Dell is a decent computer IF it does not break. Once broken, welcome to Dell Hell where each tech will tell you a different fix, some techs are brilliant and some seem to know almost nothing. They will give you an extention number for 'personalized service', but it forwards to a never answered voice mail. You will explain your problem over and over and over again to each new tech support person you get when calling. In the end, you are likely to get no resolution whatsoever.

My advice: get a MAC! I switched over and will never go back. And I really hate Dell!

Jason Lewis from Cheyenne, WY USA
Date - Tuesday, February 19, 2002 at 17:05:02 (EST)

I am a handicapped individual and to put it short -n- sweet; This man, named Howard somewhere in Denver or close by there. Set me up with a one handed computer that I could talk to. It got to where I could type 150 word per minute.
It has been quite a long time, for me to talk to my computer.
I could get this offer, to print this ministers message, for his serv-ices. I fully depend upon Dell, to do my work for me, and I want to thank you all! For the support, and the help when I needed it.

Cordelia from Austin, TX USA
Date - Monday, February 04, 2002 at 07:38:03 (EST)

I owned a Dell laptop, purchased in 1998. Not long after buying it, it was infected with a nasty worm which caused many hours of heartache. I called Dell tech support for help, and luckily was connected to an extremely knowledgeable young man who spent eleven hours on the phone with me that week until the computer was running smoothly again. I was so impressed that when it came time to buy another computer I called Dell straight away. Unfortunately, something has changed drastically at Dell. Tonight I called tech support when my Dimension began hanging on the BIOS screen at startup. Not a big problem, just an annoyance. I was connected to "George" who led me through a series of "fixes" that ended with my computer being unable to boot at all, even in safe mode. "George" could not undo what he had done, so I talked to "Sasha" who told me that I was probably going to have to reformat my hard drive now, and I hung up. Even though I consider myself pretty computer stupid, I was able to boot up using the Windows ME startup disk, a solution that "Sasha" couldn't come up with. The problem I called about initially still exists, but I'm running again, no thanks to Dell. Looking around the web for a fix for my small problem, I came upon this and many many other sites full of Dell horror stories. I take it personally, being from Austin. I know how much support this community has given to Michael Dell, and how proud we USED to be. I have friends who have interacted with the Dells, even nursed his family members when they were hospitalized. I wonder how Mr. Dell would feel if the doctors and nurses who take care of his family had only three weeks of low level training, were rude, and cared so little about what they do? I guess when you get so rich you can buy a baseball stadium to name after yourself, you stop caring much about little things like your customers and your community.

rahul shete from pune, MA India
Date - Friday, February 01, 2002 at 11:02:49 (EST)

no

Pam Alvarez from Pt. Arena, CA USA
Date - Wednesday, January 30, 2002 at 00:04:50 (EST)

In May of 2001 I purchased a $2,400 Dell computer and monitor with a 4 year 24 hour on site tech support policy with Dell computer.
I did this because I live in a remote area in northern Califoria. I have a small software company and are in the process of Beta testing a software program. Therefore I needed a reliable system with a good tech support program for my company.
A month ago I ran into serious problems with my computer and had to call the support system at Dell. This journey started me on one of the most horendous experiences I have ever had. I have many spent hours on the phone speaking with the Tech support technicians at Dell. I have had 2 disconnect from me when they couldn't fix the system and I asked if he could call me back in 5 minutes when we had spent about an hour on the phone and he wanted to perform some kind of difficult and risky technique ( of course they have me do it being guided by them) he said he would call me back in 5 minutes and never did. I had to call Dell Tech Support back. I asked for a supervisior ( which I learned to do) and was told the tech had tried to call me back but the line was busy. This was an out and out lie. Just about each one had me go through many different techniques with my computer. None of which worked. They determined I needed a new part which they would send to me. 10 days later after trying to get 2 different tech support persons to come to my home office I finally had to install the part myself. It did not work. Finally, I spoke with a tech support person who was going to come to my home office. She ordered two more parts, including a new hard drive. Of course in the many talks with the Dell Support people I ended up losing everything on my Hard Drive.
I have had 3 major parts replaced and none work. They offered to send me my money back but would deduct 40% of the value of my system. I decided to have them replace the system with would actually be a refurbished computer. It is now day 11 from that decision. At the time they gave me a DNS # in order to track the computer's progress. Each time I call I am told I have an incorrect DNS #. I have to call the tech support for them to check. All they tell me is it hasn't been sent yet.
I am out of business for almost a month now. I have been through the mill and I will tell anyone who will listen. DO NOT BUY DELL IF YOU WANT

m keller from san antonio, TX USA
here's to you DELL, i love you
Date - Friday, January 18, 2002 at 08:32:02 (EST)

here's my final reply to dell after the most horrendous experience i've ever had of taking it in the rear (tntc) after they sent back my notebook unrepaired:

subchapter E. deceptive trade practices and consumer protection.

you might want to get mike now, or ask him to pay some more on his deceptive trade insurance policy.
17.44 construction and application.
you are being transferred with delay to our very caring automated system where you will first, wait 25 min. then transfer to other dept., PLEASE NOTE: repeat last step at least 5 more times, hopefully you will experience the satisfication of having many our caring tech's laughing with you, not at you, very joyful to serve you, to choose optimal screwing, which you may or may not explain: your neck seems to be tighting, which may be followed by the veins in your teeth starting to bulge a little, after which, if your lucky you get to speak to one of our sympathic techs. who are currenting assisting other very important customers (them being the suckers that haven't actually transferred their money over us yet), then you must wait at least another 15 to 30 minutes to be told that your problems were very much heard and action will follow very soon.
please note: that in order to take it in the rear successfully without possible void of your limited warranty with us, you must first perform the following instructions:
repeat the above many times until you achieve one of the following:

A. get a lawyer to represent you from divorce/disown court.
B. put in for your 3 day wait at walmart for your permission to own a gun.
c. explain repeatly to your peers that it is really our fault not drugs that has you going around saying the following: hi, i'm take it in the rear, please take a number and form a line.
d. FIND GOD, because this just doesn't happen to christian or normal people.
e. throw your notebook in the trash can.
*we recommend choice e.
however, if you still find a problem with our service or product, you are invited to visited the ceo of our company at loopholesandiknowyou'lltakeitintherearagainandagain.combecauseicanandiknowyouwon'tdoanything.com or ifyoudopursueitiwillactuallymakemoneyoffthedealinwriteoffs.com
if when you get the the ceo's web site and you notice that he is completely untouchable, for instance the mouse pointer goes under the site and unable to click anything, because i spend my time prusing the net and really don't care, i'm rich and protected.
have a very nice day and remember us next time you need a computer.
well, so take this without k-y:
17.44 and then 17.45 definitions, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (9), ****(11), ****13)
17.46. deceptive trade practices unlawful.
and i'll even throw in a bonus, cause you took it in the rear so gooooooood for so long, that when you buy your next product, i will see to it that you get screwed overed at least 2 or 3 times the amount cause you came back and i love it.
division of
who cares
(a people person corp.)
101 mono-mono blvd
laugh in your face, tx
we're please note: everything is subject to change, per us, just because we can.
from: my butt is very tired, however, cash will do. "JUST SAY NO TO DELL"

Tim from Lansing, MI USA
Awaiting return shipping labels
Date - Monday, January 07, 2002 at 08:49:14 (EST)

This comment is about a dot-com called accessmicro.com
but they don't have a link.

I ordered a "barebones" computer on-line on 10/26/01 from their website which promises delivery in 5-7 business days. They're open 7 days a week. My mathematical calculations place the latest delivery date at November 2,2001. It never arrived. I called them on Nov 10, 2001- my order was "received but never processed...". I was told they were having problems with "bad components" failing but they would ship me a system as soon as possible and that they would refund the shipping to my credit card because of the delay. I checked my account on their website - it said my original order on 10/26/01 had been cancelled. Hmmm… ??? I didn't cancel it, I wonder who did? I know now, that I should have cancelled it.

I received the P4 1.5Ghz PC on 11/15/01. Since this is a "barebones" system, I had to install the video card, hard drive, cd rom drive and modem. No problem, until the system would not accept an install of Windows XP, then I tried to install Windows ME and in the process the system wanted to be restarted. I restarted it, it powered off and that's the last time I saw signs of life. The plastic power button on the case would not spring back out. I pulled the cover off and the power button is mis-shaped - it's basically very cheap and a bad design.

I tried to power on the system by directly accessing the power switch with the cover off - no response. I replaced the power supply - no difference. On 11/17/01 I called their tech support and was on hold for over an hour - then the technician told me if I wanted to I could remove the motherboard and ship it back and they would replace it, if I was willing to re-install it - no problem. One of those "bad components" I guess?

On 11/19/01 I emailed the RMA department (that's a problem in itself, isn't it?) to get a RMA # since they won't accept any returns without a # and tech support can't give you one either. They returned my email and pointed me to a website to fill out a form and said I would have my RMA # and a UPS return shipping label within 2-4 days, but the "barebones" was out of stock and I would be placed at the top of the list for when the new ones came in.

I emailed the completed form detailing the problem to them the same day, explaining I was returning the motherboard only. On 12/5/01 I still did not have return shipping label and contacted them again via email - no response. On 12/14/01 I received an email stating they mailed the second shipping label to me. I did not receive the return shipping label until 12/24/01. I know the post office is busy, but crap - 10 days to get from California to Michigan? I packaged only the motherboard, per their tech support's instructions and returned it to them on 12/26/01. Later the same day, UPS delivered a second complete computer system to me. I did not order this system and I had no communication from them that it was being sent.

I assembled the computer (the same video card, hard drive, cd rom drive and modem that came with the 1st system), This one wouldn't even let me install windows at all. Not XP, Not ME, not even 98. The Microsoft knowledge base states the error I was receiving was probably caused by bad memory. That figures - more "bad components".

I emailed the customer service dept. and asked for two return shipping labels to return both of these junk computers. Now they say that I violated the warranty by removing the CPU from the first motherboard and they want me to send them a return shipping label so they can send me back my bad motherboard!! I don't think so. Are they really that stupid? I did what their tech support told me to do. Now we're at a stand-off . I've tried to be civil, and patient with this company, but obviously that won't work. I've built a webpage in their honor. http://www.geocities.com/accessmicro2002 I've been advised to start charging them storage and warehousing fees for storing their defective computers. Ok, my fee is $100 per day / per computer.

Micheal's Stooge from USA
Date - Wednesday, December 19, 2001 at 14:03:39 (EST)

Unlike most people here I've had the misfortune to actually work for this "company". I have read some of the views on here and largely agree with them all. They only give a shit about getting your money and then getting rid of you. Problems with missing items are due to severe lack of training. 90 % of customer care wouldn't know what you'd be talking about if you mentioned a missing item from your PC.
It appears they like to hire dumbasses (I guess I would have to class myself in this as I'm still there) with no idea.
The company is so segmented internally that no one really knows who is responsible for what, and that includes the illustrious managers, whose main priorities include talking, talking, having a meeting to have a talk, and then talking about when they can next talk. Internal problems are rife, albeit small in nature. But these problems are what is making you guys pissed. If you continue to do business with this Corporation then don't expect it to get any better. It won't. That'll do. My list is too long and my time (as far as Dell is concerned) is too short. It's bad enough spending my waking moments in it's clutches then writing about them here. You really wouldn't believe half the shit anyway.

Is there actually any good companies out there let me know so I can get the hell out of this sodding one.

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