Dell Computers - What John Learned in Vegas

I currently work for Dell. I can't state my name because I don't want my job to be on the line. I have been having problems with my dell computer for a year now. I have had it for 2 yrs. I have contacted Tech Support, Customer Service all of the above. I still have not had my computer issues resolved. A Dell rep told me to use my computer in Safe Mode for the time being. If I try to use it in regular mode it shuts off immediately and then I receive a blue screen.

Someone at my job told me to contact one of our executives at the company maybe they will be able to help. I did because I had talked to supervisors, mgrs and everything. I contacted her by email and explained my problem she then forwarded my problem to her assistant. The assistant was nice and she set me up with the Dell Escalated problems site and gave me a case number and said someone will be contacting me soon and to give her call if I needed anything else.

Now in the initial email I sent to them explaining my problem I asked them if they were not the right people to contact since they were executives who should I contact. A few days had went by so I decided to call Jan (dont want to give last name) and explain that I hadn't heard anything from Dell yet. She emails me back and cc my mgr at work. Why did she do that. I send her an email to ask her not to include my manager at work this was my personal business I didn't need him to know about my computer at home.

She calls me at work and says these exact words. Why are you emailing me, there is nothing I can do about your computer, if you don't want me to email your manager you shouldn't handle your personal business at work, she said I was making her frustrated, I should never contact top executives for my personal issues, and that she was not going to deal with it any longer. Did I mention that I was an employee. So I replied to her saying that when I sent the initial email that would have been the best time for her to say she does not deal with this after all asked who should I contact since I am not getting my issues resolved through Dell technical support.

People as an employee I felt disrespected and as a customer I felt even more disrespected. I cried the remainder of the day at work. Lesson learned- DONT BUY A DELL COMPUTER EVER!!! Now I have a computer that I can only use in safe mode for lord knows how long. My warranty is up for renewal in two weeks. I start school soon and I don't have the funds for a new computer.

Dell does not understand every company has their customer complaints but Dell is way beyond belief. I have not heard a person who owns a Dell computer that is actually satisfied. Not only with the product but customer service as well. I know it is said that Michael Dell started by building computers in his Dorm, I wonder if that is still what they are doing. Never again. As an employee of DELL I will be honest with all my customers.DONT BUY DELL!!!

I used to work for Dell, and believe me that the top executives tell everyone on down to just sell, sell, sell. Customer service is non-existent. They (Dell) outsource most of their customer service hiring to Spherion (temp agency), pay ridiculous wages, and try to exploit their employees to the max. That is why there is a high turnover rate for employees there. No one gives a rat's ass about the customer. If you do and question their priorities, you are fired. Now they are selling Lexmark printers with a Dell logo and expect you to buy cartridges from them.

They are putting a software driver that is supposed to remind you that you are about to run out of ink to sell you more, but just go to any store and purchase Lexmark-compatible ink. It's cheaper, and you can get it faster. Customer service is being moved to India, and production of the product lines to Mexico and Malaysia. All of Dell's laptops are built in Malaysia now. The latest scam was with the "new" laptops that have the aviator logo. They are using outdated technology - P4 "desktop" chips - on laptops to save money. They don't care that the battery had to be almost doubled in size to keep up with the heat-generated and old processor. They did use p4m processors in some laptops, but not on all of them

The "new" laptops are extremely heavy, as they had to design them bulky to help dissipate the extra heat generated by the desktop processors in them. The fans are also big and noisy. The biggest scam is the mark-ups that all of the employees are pushed to add to the systems. All of Dell's sales team works on commission, which is kind of like a used car salesman. I myself included needed to sell you stuff you don't need, or we would not get a decent check. So beware of their strategies.

I purchased two Dell XP's and shortly thereafter they both became inoperative one due to an inadequate power supply and the other a conflict between the modem and the sound card. When I called Dell for help all I got was the runaround with the tech trying to have me run a series of tests which never helped.

I asked that they send a local tech over to my place of business since I am not technically inclined and feel that I shouldn't be expected to do manual labor on something that is covered under warranty. They steadfastly always refused telling me that they can easily walk me through it. We tried several more times with no positive results.

After that I got the silent treatment with no one responding to my emails or calls. I even sent a registered letter to Michael Dell and got no response.

Then I met a Dell supervisor at the 1999 Fall COMDEX in Las Vegas and I took him to dinner. To my surprise he told me exactly what and how Dell has trained its people when it comes to problems. Number one is the fact that they will do anything for the consumer ONLY during the first 30 days of ownership because that's the period when the customer can return the computer for a full refund. After that forget it because they were all trained to do anything and everything to avoid expending anything that will cost Dell any amount of money for repairs, service, or returns.

By sending a tech out to your residence or business will cost them money because the techs are usually from local computer shops and are contracted by Dell and have to be paid for their time. They are told to do anything short of murder rather than to give an inch to the complainant. Tell 'em anything to stall them, or just have them give up entirely in exasperation and hopefully go out on their own to have it repaired at their own cost.

I also was told that every year Dell has been rated the best in customer support by all of the journals because of the sheer amount of money Dell expends on advertising. He told me, "Think about it. Do you really think any computer magazine would dare to bad mouth Dell and suffer the dire consequences of forever losing all of Dell's advertising budget?"

Now when I read any computer magazine I realize that Dell does spend a hell of a lot for each and every one. This is the reason for all of the sugary-coated hype and reviews concerning Dell. Yes, as bad as the writers know that Dell is they'd be committing career suicide if they ever dared to write a story about the real Dell and its arrogant policies. I learned a bitter and costly lesson.