Worried - was ordering from Dell a mistake?

Despite the bad customer service comments here about Dell, I ordered an XPS 15 from the Dell website.

On 7/8/12, I ordered the "older model" xps 15 with the discount, plus an extra $100 off coupon from the Dell site. I asked for second business day delivery. The only laptop modification I asked for was a backlit keyboard.

I paid using PayPal. I received a notice from Paypal that payment was pending to Dell.

On 7/8/12, I received email notification from Dell that my order was confirmed. Following the link to the website, I had the notice that my laptop was "partially delivered."

I check the website twice a day for updates (my order was placed 7/8/12 in the a.m.)

On 7/10/12 At 9:01 p.m., I receive an email stating that it is a "second notice" that there is a problem with my order. Just minutes after that, at 9:08 p.m., I receive an email stating that my order is canceled! Both of these were from Karthik_B@Dell.

For those that may have received this automated message, it says that,

"Members of Dell's Order Verification Department recently tried to contact you either by phone or email, requesting additional information about the credit card used to place your recent order. We regret that we have had to cancel the order number(s) below as we were unable to establish contact with you..."

We never received any "first" notice. We never received any phone calls - not to our home phone, cell phone or work phone.

Due to the late hour at which the emails were sent, I was not able to call back until the next day right after work (7/11/12). I spoke to a person (Vishal), who said there was an issue with the delivery address. Why no one tried to contact us about this I have no idea! When I inquired about this, he said he was not able to help me with that, but I could email "Karthick_B" back and ask (which I did, but got some type of form letter response that did nothing to address my questions).

Anyway, Vishal said my order was set to go and that I should get a new order number via email within a couple of hours...

The next day (today 7/12/12) and many more than a "couple of hours" later, I check my email - no new order number. So, I go to the Dell website and sign in later this morning. I finally see an order - with the order date of 7/12/12, not 7/11/12 when I called to "fix" my order. I also see an estimated delivery date of 7/30/12 (this with second business day shipping??)

I call Dell again (7/12/12 mid morning). This time, I talk to a fellow named Bir. Bir explains that my order date has to do with the date the laptop goes in to production. He gives me a case# for support care and sets me up with text/email notifications. I asked about how 7/30/12 fits in with second business day delivery. He was very polite - said he would take care of it.

My concerns: I set the Paypal payment to include 2nd day shipping. The "fixed" order no long has this charge due to the long time before delivery, so the actual amount is less than what I set the Paypal payment up for. Will this be fixed automatically by Dell?

I thought the gripes were actually rare since people tend to complain when something goes wrong, but say little when things go well. Now I worry that all the negative remarks I read about Dell are true.

I'm actually concerned that I may get a 2nd hand/refurbished/damaged, etc., laptop (when I do get it).

To make things worse (in my eyes for Dell), my husband recently bought me this Macbook Pro to use and it was ordered, shipped and arrived here within five days. It's quiet, fairly quick, and pretty nice. No problems with anything. However, I want a Windows laptop for work. (Macbook keys just don't function the same in the programs I need to use.) Now, I wonder if I should have gone with Asus or a gaming notebook brand.

Any positive support remarks would be greatly appreciated! I did ask Dell "India" if there were any Dell reps in the USA in my region that I could talk to and I was told they there were not...

Sorry for such a long first post and thank you for any help.

 

All I can say is if you have a laptop from dell outlet with no modifications. Shipping is fast.
The moment you opted for the backlit keyboard, that meant the laptop had to go through their production for installation.

That is what delayed your order so drastically.

Should of opted for the matte then ordered the keyboard separately and installed it yourself.

 

Crimsoned, thanks for responding. For this laptop, I am fine without a matte screen. My concerns are around the apparent poor/slow communication between Dell and me (the customer) - especially sending me a "2nd notice" email followed a few minutes later with a cancellation notice! Plus that the notice states they tried to contact me (when no one had done so) and I never received any first notice.

My order was delayed because they cancelled that first order. I was fine with the guess on shipping/arrival date on my first order.

At this point, I am just going to wait and see. The last customer service agent that I spoke with (Anish) actually called me (instead of me calling), so even though the information he gave me had already been up on the web site for several hours, I was pleased that someone made contact with me without me initiating the call.

I initally waited for the L521 XPS, but the lack of customizing options and high price changed my mind (although the exterior looks beautiful to me). I decided to go with the L502 as a more viable option for me at this time as a system which would fit in with all the Dell computer systems at work.

I wanted to add that the Dell India Customer Service agents have all been polite on the phone and personally, I have not had any difficulty understanding any of them. Form letter e-mails are another story, however.

I do still have some concerns, but will reserve judgement until I receive the laptop. I will post back with an update.

 

Compumom, based upon my recent ownership experience of a Dell XPS L702x, I encourage you to seriously consider cancelling your order and go Mac instead. The strong sentiment on this forum is that Dell consumer grade machines & support can be a nightmare.

(FULL DISCLOSURE - I don't own a mac but am planning to switch because I need a well engineered, properly tested, quickly supported machine I can use to get on with my life, and my Dell machine has been anything but that, and literally cost me 100's of hours of productivity over the last year.).

I had a similar pre-sales experience (wrong info / incomplete / incorrect specs led to order being cancelled and re-ordered and refund, despite no delivery, taking three weeks, then they shipping a FAULTY MACHINE).

My XPS machine arrived with a host of issues - that took a while for Dell to diagnose as a "fault operating system" - it would stutter - USB3 ports would crash - random crashes of whole machine - and then the screen started flickering firstly on batteries then off, them the HD failed completely within seven months. This is a all very disruptive and expensive. Then did an onsite service that was supposed to set up OS perfectly, BUT DIDN'T AT ALL, and left the machine with many other issues and scratched surrounds. Hours and hours on the phone then lead to them insisting their only route to resolution was to resintall OS again (which means starting from scratch) and this still didn't solve issues. They didn't call when they said they would, and didn't listen to my feedback. It took 5 weeks to get them to answer my questions. This is a very condensed story. I hope you avoid any equivalent frustrations.

So - I hope you avoid any equivalent frustrations. At the very least, steer clear of XPS line with consumer grade support. People here say enterprise support is markedly better, which seems really unfair for home users.

 

Yeah get a mac. They're the best computers ever. They never fail, never crash, they never catch viruses.

They're PERFECT, Apple even invented a time/space manipulator so their laptops will never crash. But if they do crash Apple geniuses (overqualified, 13 years+ experience veterans will fix your computer quickly! Once you buy Mac you never go back) will definitely take care of you.

It's not like Dell, who wants an annoying geek coming to your house next business day? Eww no thanks!

 

Well, we own a Macbook and two Macbook Pros. I am typing on the most recent Macbook Pro (i7, 7200 rpm drive). Macbook/Macbook Pros have their issues, too, just not as many as Dell and other manufacturers seem to have. Their items do not work 100% out of the box, either - but I suspect that they do most of the time. We have had good customer service from Apple, actually great when you are under warranty.

I have problems with using parallels with the programs I need to use for work. All are Microsoft/Windows type programs. Some things just don't work between the two and the function key differences bother me. I went with Dell since all of our computers at work are Dells. Maybe I need to change to a Latitude - I don't know. Right now, my order is still in production per the website.

I still worry about getting a refurb or laptop with used parts since I have not seen the L502x offered on Dell's website since my order was originally cancelled. I actually thought that was the original reason for the cancellation (that they were out of stock). But, I was assured that was not the case. ..

 

I was being sarcastic. I've used every Macbook Pro there is, I am just not impressed with the experience, support, or hardware.

I just don't see the appeal. Then again I've been spoiled by Dell Business. I think the biggest downtime I had was.. 2 days but was rectified immediately, the technician's car broke down, Unisys' manager for that region took over the job himself. Good service.


Apple support indeed is good when you look at it from a time perspective, however Dell is faster with NBD, and they don't give me frets when I ask them to drop ship me the parts so I can install them my self.
Maybe 15 minutes on chat usually gets me going on my way. Next day the part arrives or is replaced at my convenience (home, however most tech's will also be willing to meet you at your workplace).

In comparison: maybe 30% of issues with my or my customers Apple products have been dealt at the store the same day I set up appointment which could be anywhere from 1-2 days later at THEIR convenience (them having the part in stock isn't a good indicator).
Normally though it takes a few days, many times a week. Worst I think was 2 weeks~ but that was due to shipping delays according to them.

All of my Dell business laptops have taken 1 day to repair anything from motherboard, screen, keyboard, assemblies (motherboard/videocard/ cables/LCD, PS: the man brought 2 of everything). Each time they always ask: Any broken plastics? They replaced my LCD Bezel (I was confused by the way he asked, thought he was wanting to know any damages to the notebook before the technician was sent for liability purposes).
I wasn't aware they were asking to replace them. For some small cuffs on the bezel, they replaced it.

I don't know I've just had really good luck with them, or maybe being a technician/having done all the troubleshooting before hand helps a lot.

I've dealt with all brands under the sun except for Sager directly and now Gigabyte (apparently you often deal with the resellers for Sager warranty, it was a pleasant enough experience average 1-2 week consumer repair). Fujitsu, Sony, Toshiba, Dell, HP, Acer, gateway, Alienware, Apple, MSI, Panasonic, Lenovo, IBM, Samsung, Asus (disappointing support imho, but average none the less).

I think the best service has been from Dell Business. A realistic, but far second place would have to be Apple for sure.

 

Compumom,

I apologize for the worry and inconvenience this has caused. Please PM me your order number and contact information and I'll get you in touch with a representative who will help straighten this out.

Thank you,
Mourin@Dell

 

Crimsoned, I figured you were being sarcastic, but was not 100% sure. I doubt I can put my personal laptop under Dell business (wish I could!). I suppose I could have just obtained a loaner laptop from work, but I wanted one to use at home for personal things, too. I should just consider upgrading even though the advice given earlier was to stay away from the XPS line. It's been a very long work day today.... I did check the Dell site today - still in production, LOL. Mourin@Dell, I will see if I can PM you.

 

Yeah that's why I mentioned the space/time warp manipulator.

I know one of my customers had a Dell XPS 15 through his business (rather large company), and when I dealt with support for the laptop I had business support however this was a larger corporation, so I wouldn't be surprised if his laptop was under some type of servicing contract with Dell or what not.

I don't know the specifics if you really will end up with business support instead of consumer support.

I would recommend getting Pro Support, however I suspect even in business/consumer there will be differences between Pro Support for a business product and consumer.

I hope a Dell Rep can verify.

 

Crimsoned - I hope the Dell rep can help, too...

Also, Mourin @ Dell, I sent you a PM.

 

Since it has been so long, I am going to try to modify my order. We'll see how it goes...

 

Well, here's how it went:

This morning, I called Dell to try and modify my order, or cancel and re-order (whichever would work). I spoke with "Sam" who quickly transferred me to a person who did not identify theirself. That person transferred me to "Javier."

I explained to Javier that I hoped to change my order to what I perceived as a better laptop. Javier was first agreeable to cancel my order - he did offer me two rebates if I would keep my order, but I declined. Javier put me on hold for a few minutes (maybe five?). When he returned, he said he was not able to cancel my order since it was listed as in production (as it had been listed for over a week now). He said the laptop was just waiting for programming. He said I would need to wait until the laptop was delivered and then send it back. He gave me a code to use for a full refund. I asked him how I would go about sending the laptop back. The phone call went dead right then, came back to where I could hear some talking for about one second, then it went dead again. I called back right away. (I initially called at 8:26 and when I lost the call, it was close to 9 a.m. - so about 30 minutes total.)

This time when I called back, I was quickly transferred to Maria. I explained my conversation with Javier to Maria. She told me that my order could be cancelled and she took care of it right away. I received an email confirmation within minutes and my account on the website updated within about 30 minutes. (My call time was about five to seven minutes total this time.)

Interestingly, I received a call from "Anish" (from an earlier phone converation). He called to say he noticed my cancellation and asked why I cancelled. He wanted to know if it was the waiting time. I told him it was partially that, but it was more because I found a laptop I liked better. Anish told me it would take up to five days for any monies to be returned to my account. He asked if I would consider the matter resolved. I told him I would consider the matter resolved only when I saw the money returned. He said he would check back with me.

Positive - once I talked to Maria, things went quickly. I do feel lucky that I was able to cancel my order so far in to the process. I am very pleased with Dell for allowing that.
Positive - I am hopefully going to end up with a much better laptop than I originally ordered, and not for much more $$.
Positive - This laptop is expected to arrive days ahead of the orginal laptop's shipping date.
Positive - This website provides helpful information regarding these types of situations so I had an idea of what I could try and do. It was nice that Mourin @ Dell contacted me about my issues.

Negative - The feeling that some employees are either not well trained in customer service, are ignorant of Dell policy, or just lie in response to questions. It really seems that you have to get the "right" person if you want someone to help you right away without misleading. I do think it helps to know what you want and repeat the same, specific information to each person you speak with.

I will update once I do get my order, just as a final update for anyone following this thread.

 

I received my laptop today. I am having some issues with it, so will be contacting Dell tomorrow to see if I can get things resolved (unless I find the answer on this forum before that time). I received a phone call this morning to remind me that my original funds should be back in my account - have not taken the time to check it yet since I've just been going through updates.

I do like how this laptop looks (L502x) for the most part, so I hope I can get the problems fixed. As of now, I can not get the cursor keys to work properly and I have not been able to get the performance check to work - I get an error message that there is a problem. The fan is pretty loud when it runs. Anyway, I hope things work out. I will post back again with a final update, hopefully a positive one.

 

Final update... First off, I failed to mention earlier that when I ordered this laptop, it was from the Outlet and it is a certified refurb.

This morning, I had an initialization failure followed by a blank blue "screen of death." I tried a restart and was met with a rose/lavender "screen of death." I called Dell tech support and got through immediately on my first call (early this a.m.). After some basic trouble shooting, I had to do a reload of the original programming. There was a wait for that process so I ended up calling back after that was done. The second tech support person finished the phone service. Both tech support staff were excellent for me - polite, fast and answered my questions.

The screens of death were taken care of by the fresh load of programming. Apparently, the previous owner tried to do something which affected the programs and the video card. I could not "find" the graphics card (although it would show up under hardware profiles). The Invidia message was telling me there was no device connected in this system. The fresh load worked for this as well and it all shows up now. The cursor keys also work properly now.

I asked the techs about the fan noise and I was offered to have a technician come out and replace the fan, but I will wait on that and see if there is an update for the fan or if this is normal for the L502x. I have read through the threads and know there are some negative fan remarks and suggestions from forum members to fix issues.

I think it odd that Dell Outlet would not have wiped and done a clean install on the SSD prior to sending this laptop out, but it seems all good now.

I was pleased with the support I received today. Now, I can continue going through my checklist to make sure everything (else) works.

 

WOW.

The computer *should* have arrived working and without issues. You should not have to reload the Operating System on a "certified refurbished" machine. If it's "certified" what exactly have they certified?

Because Dell didn't send you a perfect working machine, how much time has this cost you to fix already? If someone had to pay you to do work for this number of hours, how much would you charge?

More importantly:

If Dell sent you a harddrive from a previous owner that WAS NOT wiped clean before shipping, they are breaking multiple laws regarding privacy and data protection. To the best of my knowledge, this is a highly illegal fineable offence. This means the previous owners private data, confidential information, personal photos and more could have been on the harddrive too. What has happened to Dell's once mighty quality control?

The moral of the story for all readers is, if you are sending a machine back to Dell (that is being replaced) if you want to make sure your data is safe, you should run KillDisk or similar to delete your data *or* according to CompuMoms experience, a customer may end up with your harddrive and possibly your personal data too.

 

I ordered my Vostro 3450 (outlet) and 1440 (regular Dell site) on 08-12-12. I had the 3450 by Thursday and the 1440 will be here next Friday. The Vostro 1440s must be in high demand as it is a 2 week deal vs 2 business days to ship (free 2nd day ship for 3450)

 

Sorry guys as I would like to extend my frustration of Dell's delivery. The ETA was 12 May 2014 but I was told by Walsh Western after giving them a few calls that they still do not have my order with them at this moment. Most probably they will receive it on 15 May 2014 and they will deliver it to me on 16 May 2014.

Wow, talk about efficiency.