A bizarre phone call from Dell PR

Dell Customer Service and Support

My question and Comment is that I just noticed on my account that Dell has still been taking money out of my account although I paid the balance and closed the account via phone and internet. The account shows no balance and that it is closed but as I was transfered several times, I finally spoke with someone who said Dell basically is not cohesive as a Corperation. They don't have that type of account information. So I went on to ask him, where do they send the payment? Also, Dell wouldn't contact them (remember this is all through Dell)and let them know that a Customer don't owe them any more money, so don't continue to send money towards an account with no balance and is closed? They just can't take FREE MONEY or BORROW MONEY from their customers because there is a lack of communication throughout their Corporation. The lady and Man in customer service that I talked to said to me that if I didn't call them they would have continued to take money out of my account for the rest of My life, and i do quote they said the "REST OF MY LIFE" if I didn't call them to cancel. This is very unsettling. My concern is not for me but for other customers who may not be in a postion to allow Dell to borrow their money. Who can I talk to and what can I do so that Dell can look into their Customer practices and don't allow this to happen to any one else.

Thank You in Advance,

Dell Support

I am in the middle of one of these episodes. After many years of relatively good experience, on 4/2 I used the Chat line to ask for help after repeated USB failures on equipment. A system scan from the Dell Support Site said I had USB problems, call Dell. So I did. The gentleman went into hardware, disconnected all the USB devices. Everything quit working, keyboard, mouse and so I called. They ran me through some screens and then said, "we are sending you a new tower, your USB power supply is gone". I have one month left on a three maintenance contract on my Dimension 8400.

They gave me a case #, told me NOT to call back prior to 4/9 or it could screw up the order. I went out found a PS2 mouse and keyboard so I can get this much done.

I called in today, 4/12, case # appears invalid, no record of the communication. There message to me, "we don't know you"!!!

How do I get to higher ups with this story?

Dell support

I don't dispute anything people have posted about the poor quality and language skills of Dell's Indian support people.

But a few years ago, I had a very different and mostly positive experience when I had problems with my Dell desktop. The Indian on the phone certainly was a bit tough to understand but I was really impressed that he patiently stayed on the phone with me for over 90 minutes! Opening cases, reseating memory, multiple re-boots and all, he hung in for the full hour and a half it took for me to fix the problem.

American support people typically can't wait to get off the call and move to the next, surely a factor of their job requirements and higher US salaries. They tell you "Try x, y and z, and then call us back if that doesn't solve the problem." Then you sit in their hold queue again.

Dell PR

I've been in tech publishing and then tech PR for over 20 years and I really don't understand Dell's discomfort. Beyond the bad form and silliness of asking to have content removed, what struck me most was that Schuckenbrock gave very solid answers to some legitimate questions from a notable publication. I thought he did a great job of responding.

Censorship - Direct from Dell

I am not suprised. Dell has a history of this sort of thing, not just with the media but within their own public and private forums as well. It is their standard operating procedure to filter out a comment and feedback that doesn't tow the company line or puts Dell in a less than favorable light. They are used to getting their way, so no doubt Schaeffer was miffed when the call ended.

I know of former Dell employees who have been censored for bringing up concerns regarding internal issues in the interest of the company. Although I cannot corroborate their stories I can speak from my own experiences with them.

A couple of years ago Dell ventured into a relationship with a national venue to provide installation and warranty repair for its desktops and notebooks. They were given forums within the venue to communicate directly with the providers who performed the services as independent contractors and address their issues and concerns.

There were some issues as would be expected and a few weeks into the program the forums became quite active as the members attempted to discuss their concerns with Dell. I was one of several members who posted comments and concerns and it was done in a straight, professional manner.

Instead of responding to the posts, The two Dell reps who monitored these forums simply deleted them all from the system. This came as quite a surprise to almost everyone, especially since the venue had a policy against permanently deleting posts.

Needless to say this caused an instant backlash within the provider community and some negative feelings against Dell and their program with a few providers. (I had pretty much already expected this sort of behavior having worked for Dell years earlier so it wasn't a great shock, just disappointing.)

Some of those providers refused to accept any more Dell calls and it still leaves a bad taste in the mouths of a few.

The bottom line is Dell seems to take criticism, whether constructive or negative, very poorly and, at least in their history, has chosen to block it out instead of using it to improve their products and services, their image and their own bottom line.

Their reputation for quality service and support has eroded away through the years and is why my customers still call me to build their systems instead of Round Rock.

What Don Tennant experienced isn't just a feeble attempt to please a superior, it's Censorship - Direct From Dell.

Rick Savoia
The Force Field podcast for IT Service Providers
http://www.theforcefield.net

Pay more for local support

Shortly after my last Dell corporate purchase, Dell called to offer their Gold Support package which guarantees that support calls will go directly to Tier II reps. Tier II reps are supposed to be more knowledgeable AND located in the US. When I questioned Dell about charging more for an American rep, they backpedaled and said I was paying for the knowledge, not the language expertise. But the fact is -- they recognize that their offshore support is substandard and people are frustrated. But instead of fixing it, they are viewing the frustration as an opportunity for profit. How messed up is that?

Dell still doesn't get it.

Dell is like many companies out there that just don't get it. You cannot screw your customers and expect them to stick around. It's that simple and yet the MBA's at those companies like Dell cannot seem to understand that. It's not like they all don't get it, many US companies offer superb products and superb customer service.

Dell Hell

Dell has put me through hell in the last 10 days. Ever since I bought the Inspiron last August, it wouldn't boot all the time but recovered on the second or third try so that I didn't follow up with Dell. Finally, it wouldn't boot at all so that I lost all my programs and files. I've spent hours on the phone with Dell in India, done a second clean DVD install and still am getting the intermittent boot problems. I was supposed to hear from Dell about what happens next because the Indian support team kicked it upstairs. I have an on-site warranty that I don't think Dell will ever honor.

Last night, I was so distraught over losing all this time and getting behind at work at work that I wondered what it would be like to commit suicide and blame Dell in the note. Wouldn't that be great publicity?

Schuckenbrock's recording

Don, I purchased a Dell home PC for my wife about 5 years ago. The first thing that happened was that the disk failed. Before they sent someone to replace the disk a service desk person in India had me open the PC and reseat the connectors on the disk. I had a terrible time understanding him. I have worked with computers for 40 years and I did not have a problem of opening the PC and reseating the disk. But, I agree with Steve that Dell made huge blunders in offshoring support for both commercial and home PCs. I will never buy another PC from Dell and I would not recommend Dell for any services.

Steve has a strong reputation from his days at Frito Lay and at other positions, but Dell has a lot of other problems. It is good that Steve is standing up to get the word out about changes, but I wouldn't support Dell anyway after the mess we had with the one PC.

Thanks for keeping us aware of important computer companies.