My action letter to the consumerist website re: Dell XPS m1330
http://consumerist.com/
Sorry for the length, some may have wanted to read this.
Any chance we can have you guys work on behalf of hundreds or thousands. A simple visit to
http://www.notebookreview.com/ and a search on Dell's official blog
http://direct2dell.com/one2one/default.aspx for M1330 should give you enough ammo for a story and truly understand the significance of what is going on to many consumers at the hands of a major company (what else is new, right?).
Your help in exposing and bringing some attention to this situation will greatly be appreciated, and no doubt bring you a greater audience. Notebook Review has 200,000 views and 5000 posts on the subject of the XPS M1330 alone, in less then a month!
At issue is that thousands of consumers have ordered Dell's new line of notebooks being claimed as the worlds thinnest notebook. The specs on these laptops are very high end and geared towards the savvy and professional computer user. As is the case, these computers are fetching roughly $2000 on a typical build. You would expect better customer service from a company trying to regain its lost market share. What we are getting in fact, and has been clearly documented in the aforementioned sites is delays, lies, misinformation, and backtracking of configurations that were supposedly approved, and now being flagged as not working. Dell is having serious problems delivering this product, and all evidence appears that it was rushed to the market with less then adequate testing. Imagine purchasing a computer, being told it would take 4-6 weeks to be delivered, then getting pushed back. Being told numerous reasons for the delays, only to have similar consumers collaborate and expose these lies they were told, all the while the PC you bought 6 weeks ago for $2000 is now out of date and over priced (a function of the computer industry).
Please look into this, just read the forums regarding the XPS M1330 on Notebook Review, under Dell. See the comments from Dell's spokesperson and blogger comments at
http://direct2dell.com/one2one/default.aspx (search M1330).
Dell is now playing a commercial on a very heavy rotation, you might have seen already, advertising this particular computer. Seems very disingenuous, especially when the tag line at the end says 'yours is here'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhtgw-tOj-o
PS- I will copy a letter I wrote to Dell customer service manager yesterday that gives just one angle of the many issues revolving this matter. I will also copy and paste this letter to you on Notebook Review.
Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 7:36 PM
Subject: xps 1330 P.
For your information,
In regards to our conversation today, about modifying my order to have a 6 cell and a 9 cell battery.
I am still on the phone with customer service. Its been 2 hours since I been transferred from you and have been on the phone continuously since. You transferred me back to your Sales Rep, Rodney, who could not configure the computer with the 6 cell and 9 cell option. Only a 9 + 9 cell or 6 + 6 cell our offered.
I initially called to change my order slightly (increase my ram from 1gb to 2 gb, and my hard drive from 120gb to 160 gb). I am now told that I can't get the same battery options as my current order (4 cell and 9 cell) because of "configuration" issues. You assured me that the 4 cell battery will work with the 128mb video card currently chosen in my system that is in the build phase; despite the fact that a similarly equipped computer on your website flags the 4 cell as incompatible with the 128mb card. You assured me that the 4 cell will in fact work despite what your website says, mentioning that the 4 cell is no longer an option because you believed there was a shortage. Your sales associate tells me otherwise, saying the 4 cell with the 128 mb video card does not have enough "juice" to run the system. Obviously, this leaves me uneasy when 2 dell reps tell me conflicting stories, a 2 hour plus call on the phone with dell, and a ship date on a pc that was to be shipped by a date givin as August 15th at bill out, only to be changed to September 7.
This is allot of grief for someone purchasing a $2000 computer, supposedly Dell's new flagship in their line of notebooks.
I can deal with the long lead time, I would just simply like to change my specs on the computer from 1gb to 2gb of ram, and up the hard drive from 120gb to 160 gb. That is it! I understand I can cancel my current order and order with the changes in mind, however, this prevents me from getting the original battery choices I had selected (4 and 9 cell). I would like to have the 4 cell because its flush with the computer, while the 9 offers longer battery life but protrudes from the backside of the laptop. I still would like these two batteries, despite conflicting stories on whether the 4 cell will actually work. You offered me a free 6 cell upgrade from the 4, however this prevents me from getting the 9 cell...being that I cannot order the 6 and 9 together. What am I to do? Now I have just been transferred to a 5th department, order modification for the second time. They all say I must cancel the order, which is not an option being that I can only choose from a 6 (flush battery, lower battery life) or a 9 (longer life span, not flush). Please help me out. Again, all I'm trying to do is change the order, and if Dell gets this right, I'll be ordering another one for a friend who I've convinced to get one, however I doubt I can recommend this to him now after all I've been through.
ps- The manual for your Dell XPS M1330 under specifications only says it supports a 6 and 9 cell battery, 4 is not mentioned. Am to believe that Rodney, your sales rep was correct and your assurances that Dell no longer offers the 4 cell because of "availability problems" are incorrect?
P.
Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 8:41 PM
Subject: Fwd: xps 1330 P.
Still on the phone, about go 4 hours straight. What a way to spend your birthday. Purchase a $2000 computer and spend 4 hours on customer support.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
:cry:
![[IMG]](images/storyImages/callbj2.jpg)
