Seems to me, that Dell's corporate and residential support are two completely separate entities with separate politics and obviously different criteria when it comes to recruitment...
The corporate side is professional, well spoken and seems to care about the customer whereas residential support barely speaks English, and no matter what you say to them they just don't give a f*ck nor will they acknowledge that you might be right sometimes...EVER...
Now that I've bought myself a Dell Inspirion 1525 (for testing purposes - mainly used with the lid closed via RDC) and experienced some technical issues with it (cracked screen) I can testify on how horrible and in fact depressing Dell's technical support is...
But let me start from the beginning...
Last April I've purchased a Dell Inspirion 1525 - needed a PC, but due to the lack of space decided to get a laptop...
Well...the machine arrived few days later than promised (not a biggie as I wasn't that desperate but still a fact), I've configured it to do what I wanted it to do (website testing via RDC) closed the lid and placed in nicely on my desk behind the IMac (to save the space on the desk). Didn't really have to open the lid that often as most tasks were performed on another monitor (in RDC window)
One day I had to check something, opened the screen just to find that it cracked inside (there was a diagonal crack running through the screen as well as some clearly visible smaller cracks in the bottom left corner of the screen [about an inch to the right from the bottom left corner])
[Similar to http://tech.yahoo.com/qa/20081116184320AAVDY1V
...if not the same...]
- "WHAT THE HELL!!!" - I remember saying it out loud - as I was completely surprised by the finding (nothing was ever kept on the lid, nor the laptop was ever moved)
But fact is the fact - I did have a perfectly good laptop and now I have a perfectly good laptop with the cracked screen... (which I rarely used, but you know, everything changes when the stuff breaks)
- "what the hell" - I said, but this time just to myself...I still have warranty, and it's not like I've broken it or anything - "it should not be hard to get it fixed" - OH, how wrong I was assuming that it would be just "snap" that easy...
Called Dell Technical Support on 27.11.2008 got through to some lad who (after I've explained what happened) automatically assumed that it was MY fault and initially refused to send for the laptop - took me few minutes to [again] explain that the crack just appeared and it needs fixing as it is clearly a design flaw...well, they did send for it, picked it up the next day (very impressive actually) and that's where the real problem started...
I got a call yesterday from someone in tech dept who explained that the crack could not just appear, and that it is my fault and they have to charge me +£150 to replace the screen!!!
I've paid £329 for the laptop, and they want almost a half if it just to replace a screen?!
Well, I thought - maybe they haven't read the notes that the lad in the call centre put on my account - so I started explaining that it "just" happened, and that it was not a CID (customer induced damage - as they call it in repair centres) - that's when I realised that there's no one listening to what I'm saying - what's more I've been called a liar (indirectly) and the guy stopped me there saying that "it is my fault and their (Dells) manufacturing process is flawless"
Can you imagine a flawless computer manufacturing process? - I can't - there is no such thing...
I know, as I've been testing repairing laptops for a living for quite some time in the past (HP, Dell, IBM (when it was still called that)
But you know what - there is no reasoning with them guys - not a chance, no matter what you say to them - they know better...this made me realise, that unless you're a corporate customer - you're nobody...piece of garbage that they think they can just fob off - with no rights at all...
That's sad, not to mention infuriating - it is, believe me, when you call for help and someone treats you like an idiot...
That's when I decided that I won't give up no matter what - I won't pay for that screen replacement, not because I can't afford it, but mainly and simply because my rights as a customer have been violated - I've been violated, treated like the worst kind, and I do deserve better...
Second call to the Customer Relations made things even worse - I've been politely advised that no matter what I say or try to prove, they have the last word and it's not (ever) the one favouring the customer...
I always thought (how foolish) that Customer Relations dept is and should be the one sympathising with the customer - instead - all i got was another set of (indirect) abuse, people using scripts and not willing to listen should not work in a Customer Relations EVER...
After 2 calls/conversations with Tech Support Team Manager (who sounded like he did a PhD in fobbing people off - very professional, very ignorant) and 2 with the Customer Relations Agent I'm now convinced that unless you go above them and contact someone really high up in the food chain there is no hope...
And that's exactly what I'm planning to do next - thanks to The Consumerist http://consumerist.com
I am now aware of the email addresses for the 19 Dell Execs and planning to put the information from http://consumerist.com/consumer/complaint-letters/how-to-launch-an-executive-email-carpet-bomb-259713.php#viewcomments
to good use.
Will update as soon as I get a response (if any)
Did some research and this problem (cracking screen) is not uncommon, please find the links below:
Thanks to "Mark of The Beast"
for posting valuable info on his blog.
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