Getting fed up.

Ok, so I ordered my Studio 15 on July 15th with an estimated ship date of August 1st. It is now the 5th (technically 6th, but oh well) of August. I no longer have an estimated ship date, they literally cannot give me one, because they just don't know when whatever the delay is will be fixed.

I was really looking forward to my spiffy new Studio 15, but this just seems ridiculous. Could anyone give me advice on what I should do. I need a laptop for when i go to university, and i leave on the 30th of August.

Does anyone know if HP is better for shipping/cost and what not? or should i just wait it out with Dell and just NEVER give them my business again?

 

=( That sucks. Sorry to hear.

Both of my HPs came earlier than what it said. Was free shipping too.

Did you ask them what was taking so long?

 

Mine was supposed to ship out yesterday but was delayed exactly a week. Someone said that's a generic delay time. That's wrong that they don't give you a date. They are supposed to.

 

Just got off the phone with Dell, again. They told me it's shipping out within 2-3 business days, and is in the final stages of production.

Why does Dell enjoy playing with my emotions so much?

 

Not a fan of having my first post be negative, but felt compelled to make a post regarding Dell ... as I too was getting fed up! I placed an order for a Studio 15 (specs below) on 7/25 with an initial ship date of 8/4. I received a shipment notification on 8/1, but only for a sound card! After receiving an email yesterday that the ship date on the notebook itself was being delayed until 8/12, I canceled the order on the notebook, refused delivery of the soundcard and have since been going in circles with the "Dell Inc. Notification Team" on my request for a refund on the sound card.

I need a notebook sooner than later and basically felt somewhat manipulated by having a component shipped separately with a revised ship date (which I didn't have much faith) ... almost as if they were forcing me into a holding pattern.

I've been a loyal Dell customer over the past 8 years (3 desktops and this would've been the 3rd notebook). I could've easily have been swayed to stick around and wait if they contacted me with more precise information about the problem and a firm committment to a new ship date ... but I've yet to receive anything other than a canned message.

So after cancelling my order with Dell yesterday, I placed an order for a Mac Book. I was on the fence anyhow, so it made it a lot easier. I was going to setup the Studio 15 as a dual boot with Vista/Fedora 9, so having FreeBSD already up and running under the Mac OS will save me some time anyhow! Might even add Vista too.

Although I'm happy with the specs on the Mac, I'd still rather have had the T9300 processor I selected w/ the Studio 15. Nonetheless, I refuse to be herded along. I've written a lengthy email to Dell about my experience, but I'm not expecting much.

$1,460.09 (w/ tax)

223-7851 1 Studio 1535, Intel Core 2 Duo T9300, 2.5GHz, 800Mhz, 6M L2 Cache
320-6865 1 Jet Black
311-8612 1 4GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
330-0498 1 Back-lit Keyboard
320-6867 1 Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800)
320-6516 1 ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3450
341-6693 1 320G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
420-8585 1 Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 Ultimate 32-bit Edition English
330-0495 1 DELL RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP INSP 1535
420-5769 1 Internet Search and Portal
420-8223 1 Dell Video Chat
463-2282 1 Dell Owners Manual installed on your system,click on icon after system set-up to access
420-6436 1 Vista, PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
420-7622 1 DELL SUPPORT CENTER 2.0
420-9100 1 Dell Dock Consumer
420-7468 1 ADOBE ACROBAT READER 8.1 DIM/INSP
313-6229 1 8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
420-8183 1 Roxio Creator DE 10
330-0496 1 MEDIA DIRECT 4.0 For DVD RW
430-2931 1 Dell Wireless 1510 802.11n Half Mini Card
320-6653 1 Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
410-1160 1 McAfee Security 9.0, 30-day Subscription, for Dell Inspiron / Dimension
312-0694 1 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
412-0148 1 No Internet Service Provider Requested
420-6589 1 Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition
950-3337 1 1 Year Limited Warranty
950-9797 1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
412-0360 1 Soft Contracts - Banctec
960-2780 1 Warranty Support,Initial Year
990-5827 1 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Initial Year
988-3950 1 Type 3- Third Party At HomeService, 24x7 TechnicalSupport, Initial Year
330-0171 1 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks
430-2933 1 Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module (2.0)
313-6224 1 Integrated Finger Print Reader
420-8312 1 Finger Print Software
320-6878 1 Glossy, widescreen 15.4 LCD (1280x800) w/ 2.0M pixel Camera
420-8310 1 Creative Camera SW
310-8628 1 You have chosen a Windows Vista Premium System
330-0717 1 Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
420-7091 1 DataSafe Online Dim/Ins/XPS
420-7092 1 DataSafe Online Dim/Ins/XPS 1YR-FREE
987-4817 1 Insp Datasafe 3GB,1YR(Incl in price),DHS
988-0099 1 To activate your online backupaccount, go to Start, Programs, DataSafe Online

 

Doesn't seem to me as though Dell cares about its customers. There are just so many horror stories about Dell, and I wish i could say that its "just the internet blowing things out of proportion." but I genuinely feel as though Dell has little to no regard for its customers. I envy your situation at least having some form of contact coming from Dell to you, as I have had none from them except for when I initiate a call. They have not even updated the ship date on my account, it still says August 1st. I had ordered a desktop for my mom last september and it arrived no problem, I assume only because I chose a preset model and didn't customize anything.

Dell will NEVER see business from me, ever again.

...Not sure if I'd go as far as to move my business to Mac though

 

I feel your pain. While I think there are probably a lot of great things about the company (you don't get to be number 1 for nothing), they do not seem sensitive enough when it comes to shipping and handling, as well as the enormous risk most people are really taking, spending thousands on gear they have never really been able to observe in action. Thus, you are placing a bet on their quality and performance with really little to go on. And then when it doesn't work out, suddenly you are locked in to a pattern of replacements, repairs, and reps telling you on the 22nd day that "you can't get a refund anymore". To say you start to feel trapped is an understatement. It totally undermines the concepts of a 'free market'. They really ought to extend the 'headache free' guarantee past 21 days and empower their reps to schedule repairs and replacements, instead of instructing them to encourage "testing" (lol) or provide canned troubleshooting tips. Most of all, they should not be allowed to flat out deny you contact information that you could use to work on a case yourself (useful if you are going to conduct the testing but realize that it is time for the next step). You wouldn't have to yell NEARLY as much.

 

I don't know if I'll go so far as to say "Dell will NEVER see business from me, ever again", but I do know they will definitely no longer enjoy the privilaged status I've given them as a first choice for a computer. For that matter, I take this more as a learning experience as to what they're about in terms of customer service and will hold their feet to the fire MUCH more severely in the future prior to a purchase consideration. I'm not sure what this amounts to in practical terms, but I won't put myself in a position to be strung along by them on ordering.

Still, I won't be shy to relate this experience to others who inquire about either my new Mac or my prior experience with Dell.

I have no plans on moving my entire business to the Mac OS either (I will setup a dual boot with Vista almost immediately), but will see how far along I can progress with as little expediture as possible on the application migration front to the Mac OS. I actually have a fair number of clients who currently use Macs, so it helps me to "see what they see" for support issues as well as just having a better understanding of what other people are used to using & what might be on cutting edge on the Mac front.

 

Yeah, I may end up going back to them again for something. My accessories that I ordered were shipped about 3 days before their estimated ship date. I will probably use Dell again for accessories, but something like a laptop, I will definitely shop around.