Furious w/ Dell Customer Service (or lack thereof)

I placed an order for a M1330 yesterday afternoon over the phone. When I received order confirmation in the email, I noticed that the price for the system was listed @ $1429 instead of the $1420 that I was told over the phone. No big deal. as I continue down the list, I noticed that the fingerprint reader was not included when the rep said she had it was included (asked her to throw it in with the bluetooth as a free upgrade and her supervisor OK'd it). However, when I get to the bottom of the order detail, the subtotal is listed @ $1499. Then tax is added for my grand total. I thought this was just some typo or something and I'll just call to get this corrected.

The first rep I got in contact with had a serious attitude problem. She looked at my order and immediately insisted that the $1499 price was correct. First she says that extra $70 is because of upgrades I made. When I press her to explain what she meant by upgrades I made, I thought the price was after all changes are made to the base system, like all my other orders with Dell. She then said the $70 is for the 1 yr warranty, or more specifically, the third party onsite service. Calling her BS, she finally says that in her system the order doesn't show a $1429 price anywhere, just the $1499. Ok, I suggest that I forward her the confirmation email I received so we can both look at the same thing and discuss it. She gave me her email address, but claims she did not receive any of the 6 emails I forwarded. When I asked to speak to her supervisor, she said he's busy. I asked to get a call from him when he's free, she said supervisor are not allowed to call customers. At this point, I'm fed up with her and decide to hang up and try again. As if just to kick me while I'm down, she ends with "you know, the system you ordered normally costs $2500 so you should be happy getting it @ $1499." I just hung up on her before I said something inappropriate.

The second rep I spoke to was able to receive the forwarded email, which was the first thing I did. He asknowledge the fact that there is a $70 difference from the system price to the subtotal. After placing me on hold for about 5 mintues, he came back with "it appears the difference is due to additional things you're receiving with your order." I barely contain myself and asked him what those things are. Except this time, he says it's due to the bluetooth upgrade and the 1 year of lojack. I tried hack this out with the rep for another 15 minutes, at which point I asked for a supervisor. He first said he can only connect me to the supervisor of the first rep I spoke to, since she's the one who mishandled my case (as if he'd done anything different than she did). I insisted on speaking to HIS supervisor. He finally places me on hold for another 5 mintues, and someone else came on the line claiming to be the rep's supervisor "for today". And after about a minute of talking to this "supervisor", the call was disconnected.

I can't believe it's that hard to get a supervisor on the phone when I have an actual issue. Is there a difference number I can call where I can actually talk to some competent reps? Also, after I get my order sorted out, I'd really like to report these reps, how do I go about doing that?

 

You should call the dell reo you ordered the M1300 from originally.

 

I want to report my reps as well! Please let me know what to do.

 

I feel for ya man, i tried ordering over the phone today with dell and since i couldnt get a hold of the person i had before (who managed it pretty well) i was forced to converse with some other guy who got numerous things wrong throughout the call.

My dell order came out to £710 using N0917003 (the newly listed vostro option). But the guy on the phone used the older N0917002 which came out to £800 odd, despite i told him specifically at the start it was the new N0917003 option. Then he tries again and comes out with £703. So i think to myself.... right... its £7 cheaper, is that £7 really worth me having to trust this guy got it right? Hell no!! screw it, so i ordered online instead

EDIT: Oh yeah about reporting the reps, i dont know how, but DO IT!! Seriously man they dont expect any comeuppance for being rude and arguing/lying to the customer. I had one tell me it costs dell £200 to ship each laptop... my ass! Where the hell are they shipping them from? the moon? bottom of the sea? wtf? They lie a lot.

 

I would, except the email I received only lists the contact info of the rep I spoke to on dell chat, and she had another rep (anne or anna, I can't recall). The second rep was the one who helped me and I thought I would have her info in the email, so I didn't get any other info from her.

The info I do have for the rep from dell chat lists an email address to a dept. and not her specifically, nor is the extension number actually her (I called and the voice mail says some other name). Either way, she's not the one who actually worked on my order anyways.

Besides, regardless of who I call, I shouldn't be lied to regarding the charges and so forth as the two reps obviously lied. That's why I want to report them. As for the order, I'm this close to just cancelling it and on top of that, send back the other two systems I ordered in the last two weeks (which went perfectly fine) just on the principle of not doing business with dishonest companies. I know this won't hurt dell one bit, I'm just a small consumer, but still.

 

For the latter issue- reporting your reps- write a polite but firm email to Dell (using the link on their site is fine) naming each CSR and detailing exactly what each did that upset you. Indicate that you went from an enthusiastic customer when you ordered to a potential lost sale after dealing with the CSRs.

Keep in mind that this isn't a strategy for getting your price corrected- that you'll have to do over the phone- but be patient and continue to be polite in responding to their responses via email. In your response to their response, proactively suggest a figure you believe is appropriate for compensation. Highball it to give them room to make a counter-offer.

I emailed about a very unpleasant experience I had with a CSR before ordering (lied that the weekly $300 off $1299 codes are only available if you use your Dell Preferred Account in order to try to force me to use one) and ultimately received a $100 credit and free AIO printer as an apology (I had come up with the figure of $200 to get the conversation started).

Good luck! Rep to you for moral support.

 

Thanks for the tip Durmat. Just to clarify, where is this email address you referred to? It seems in my current enraged state, I'm not able to locate any email contact info on dell.com. I know it's probably somewhere obvious, but I just can't locate it.

I'm going to try to call again after I get out of work and see if I can get the price difference resolved as well as the fingerprint reader added back in. With the price of various upgrades increased today, this might prove to be harder than getting dell to credit me back the $70 (actually $80 if I think about it).

 

all i know is that i forgot my password for my preferred account therefore i can't use it and the lack of support i was forced to close it.

 

to report reps, the email they send to you, should have their managers email addresson it.just email the manager and report the rep.

 

Support >> Unresolved issues. No email address, just a form to fill out to send to them.

 

I didn't get any email from the reps I talked to on the phone, but I do have their email addresses because I forwarded my order confirmation to them just to show them what I'm talking about.

Just to make sure, when you guys order from dell and get the order confirmation, the price listed is the price of the system and everything listed in the order detail is included in the price, right? I can't believe these two reps have me second guessing myself despite having ordered numerous systems from dell. But I just want to make sure I'm right and that I'm not p***ed over nothing.

 

Thanks, I just found it too.

 

Good luck. In my experience, the supervisors are no better than the customer care representatives. Dell customer care could use a serious and complete over haul.

 

Im pissed of at the reps as they just lie without giving a ****, this is the email i sent dell today.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Good day. I’m e-mailing you regarding the service I have received from sales department. I ordered my Vostro 1500 on August 29th and rang up to check on my order, than being transferred to sales I spoke to a sales representative called David Graham giving me contact number of 0870 907 5128 – ****. I gave him my quote number and he said Sam Carter didn’t give you the best deal and if you speak to him you should ask him why and receive £50 refund. My line than went dead and I received to voice mails stating that David Graham was able to do the deal for £649.99 and I should speak to Sam Carter about it.

I rang Mr Carter up and explained the situation and he point blank said no and insisted that if I pursed the £50 I would be personally responsible for David Graham termination of employment, which I consider blackmail and totally unacceptable way to treat a customer. He than began to state his religion informing me that he would not lie to me and Dell could not do a better offer. This is even though I was promised a free case by 0870 907 5128 – ***** if I ordered right that minute with the same quote, surely this proves that Sam lied to me. I asked to speak to Carter’s supervisor but was fogged of with that he was busy and he would call back which he did.

I rang customer service and struggled after 5 minutes managed to get to talk to a customer service rep who just switched me straight to Sales again. I hanged up and received a call from Carter’s supervisor with contact line of 0870 907 5128 – ****. He also insisted that the price couldn’t be beat and that David Graham was breaking the law by doing so. He asked for Graham’s contact details which I supplied him with to discover they were incorrect.

This whole fiasco has wasted a lot of my time and I am in two minds to cancel my order and ensure that everyone knows the experience I got. I have recorded proof on my answer phone which David Graham called me stating first time he could beat the deal and second by £50, surely you record the calls and are able to track down who I actually spoke to.

Could you please contact me on ********** or via email to sort this ordeal out quickly.

Thank you
********
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Meh ill left the names of the reps in just to to let you know.


Not quite the same situation but it was twice that i was told something by one rep than bare faced lied to by another, try talking to customer serivce and you cant get direct line you have to go through the system, than when you do speak to a receptionist they ask whats the issue, i say regarding sales rep and they just say "im sorry blah blah blah and transfer me to the sales rep agian" thinking about it im not suprised if the 'supervisor' i spoke to was actually his supervisor. Im going to try tomorrow if ig et no reply and and go through customer service as they connect you directly to his supervisor.


I did write this when i was frustrated so it might not be very coherent.

 

toxicmuppet, that sounds like the experience I had with the first sales rep I spoke to. He refuse to give me any kind of a break, even when I told him of the employee discount from my company. To that he said, "the employee discount entitles you to a $50 discount and that's only if you opt for $260 3 year warranty." I thanked him and hung up.

I did send an email to Dell customer care regarding the two reps I spoke to this morning, and that makes me feel a little better, though I'm sure nothing will be done about the reps. Now I find myself dreading to call Dell again tonight to get this whole thing sorted out. I guess I'll try again tomorrow. From what I heard, I've got quite a bit of time before my M1330 is even near shipping stage. I only wish I got the contact info of the original rep I placed the order with over the phone. Stupid me.

 

Ok yes i admit it would of been nice to get £50 off but to be honest thats my second priority the customer service rep actually pissed me off so much im going to make sure i can make a complait about him, its just unprofessional and pathetic does dell actually just hire anybody who speaks english?

If i dont get a reply from them tomorrow , they say wihtin 24 hours i am gonna ring customer service up and give them hell, in a polite post british accent apparently that works so ive been told.

Oh and what also pissed me off is that hes not the rep who gave me the deal in the first place he just took the credit for it which i thought was rude, i was lead to believe the women who gave me a cracking deal saving me £144.40 would be given the credit because it was her quote, but no he sent a quote to me and made me pay all before i knew a quote had been sent sneaky ****.

 

I wrote an email to Dell yesterday to file a complaint about th two reps I talked to, and I've yet to hear anything from them. I also sent an email today to the rep whose info is in the order confirmation(though the address seems more like it goes to a department than an actual rep, so who knows) to see if she could put me in contact with the rep I spoke with on the phone. Haven't heard back from her either. Considering today is the start of a long weekend in US, I doubt I'll hear anything from anyone until Tuesday at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the price for the fingerprint reader keeps going up on Dell's site. So a free $25 upgrade (when I ordered) now looks like I'm asking Dell for a free $75 upgrade. I'm sure that's going to go over well when I call Dell again tomorrow. Maybe I'll just forfeit that part. We'll see what happens.

 

Just got a response from Dell but this bit im having trouble understand partly due to a killer hang over.
-----------------------
I'm sorry your experience with Dell was not as good as you deserve. We would
like to rectify this and would raise an credit of £50.00 as promised by my
colleague after order is delivered to you.

As per records your issue has already being looked by my colleague Syed ******
Atif with case number as ********* who will resolve the query to your
satisfaction.

My colleague has already mailed sales agent and his manager requesting for a
call back to resolve your query.
-----------------

This is after i had rang up the CSR because i was fed up with waiting for a response by email (within 24 hoursmy as was 3 days!).

Is it saying that all i get is the £50 i already got from the CSR or that they will ring me up and see if there is anything else they can do to satisfy me?

I really fed up with the whole sales/cs and cant be assed trying to translate to them i just want my laptop and the £50 she promised, especially dont want to talk to the damn twat of a sales rep or his manager otherwise harsh words shall be spoken.

 

Lol i have ordered my vostro 1400 from Sam Carter! He gave me a decent price and was reasonable to me though.

 

Guess he was just having a ****ty day with me.

 

Lol yh. Inceidently he told me that if i ordered from him my 2nd laptop then he would have lowered the rpice by £10-£20 and thats what i should try to get off from the ther dell rep.

 

to be honest you could get more than £20 off even if you arent going to by another laptop. How much discount did you get? assuming you got some.

 

I got around £100 but with the 1400 its harder to get a discount.

 

Is that because its a cheaper model in general? £100 is pretty good that whats 15%? not bad for a phone call. I got to the point where pushing anymore would result in to much effort for the reward so i just bought at about 17% discount, now its about 21% and aslong as the laptop is fine (even though i ordered the 'dodgey' screens) than ill be happy and content.

I think im getting a call tomorrow so if they offer me something to satisfy me im not gonna say no but i doubt ill push for anything.

Why did you get the 1400 over 1500 anyway? there isnt that much diffferent in size or anything so ive been told.

 

Lol there is a difference. If it was up to me i would buy the 1500 with the 8600 GT for gaming but its for my sister who's gonna use it to do her uni work rather than hogging the desktop. She want it to be light, thin and have good battery life - and i 1500 has none of those characterisitics, and as the 1400 is ligher (2.5kg rather than 3kg), thinner and has batter battery life i thought the 1400 is a better choice to please my sister.