Reader Julia writes in to say that Dell owes her a $70 gift card and when she didn’t get it they simply told her “too bad.” She’s wondering if any other Dell customers were similarly “cheated.” She sent an EECB to Dell and a quick summary of her problem to us:
I am a faithful – *religiously* devoted – reader of your blog (but not in a creepy way), and a huge supporter of your customer-focused stance. I’ve emailed your articles to friends, family members and strangers.
Unfortunately, I’m writing you today with my own customer service nightmare. I’d like to call it: (cue ominous music)
DELL MAKES PROMISES IT CAN’T KEEP, CHEATS CUSTOMER OUT OF $70, CHASES SAID CUSTOMER INTO THE ARMS OF STEVE JOBS
(Okay, that’s not very punchy… but Dell cheated me out of 70 bucks, and I’m too mad to make a snappy title)
So here’s the SHORT VERSION:
I’m a Mac and PC user, and recently had to buy a new computer. Solely based on price, I decided to buy a Dell on 01/31/08 – it was on sale, and they had a nifty promotion for a $70 gift card to be mailed to you with your purchase. (I think you can guess what the problem is going to be…)
It’s been 3 and a half months, and I NEVER GOT that $70 gift card. I called their customer service three times:
#1 03/30/08: Spoke to a supervisor, who asked me to PROVE THAT I QUALIFIED for the gift card. I forwarded him my confirmation email (with the gift card listed in the order), and he said he’d have a supervisor call me back, no one called me back
#2 around 04/15/08: Spoke to “Anne” who said she’d have a supervisor call me back, hung up on me, no one called me back
#3 05/05/08: Spoke to nameless CSR who said that all the $70 gift cards were all sent out and if I hadn’t received one – TOO BAD – they were all out. Nothing she could do. I asked to speak to a supervisor, she refused to connect me, said he’d call me back, no one called me back
During the three calls, the CSRs were rude, obstinate, uninformed and, of course, unhelpful. Can I mention again that each time a CSR promised that someone would call me back, and I have yet to receive a phone call from anyone at Dell?
So… Now I’m at the point where I am being a good Consumerist reader and sending Dell an EECB. And I want to share my story with you – considering, also, that I must not be the only one Dell cheated out of the promotion. I mean, we all know how horrible their customer service is – but I didn’t know that they blatantly lied to their customers to boot. BUY A MAC!
Julia wrote back today to tell us that her EECB has been ignored and she’s heard nothing back from Dell. Is she the only one who is having this problem?
Any advice for Julia? She could report Dell to her state’s attorney general for not living up to their advertised agreement. What do you think?
(Photo: Ben Popken )
UPDATE:
I have an update on my case – Dell will be issuing me a credit of $70 back to my credit card. (!)
I actually had two interactions with Dell, seemingly unrelated:
Geoff [Ed.-- He's a helpful Dell guy who reads the blog.] got back to me, and told me he would be taking care of my issue
Before he could do that, a woman named Anne called me me from their “Customer Resolutions Center”. She was the one who promised me that she would be crediting my acct., and that she will follow up Mon. or Tues. It seems that she was following up on my EECB, as she and Geoff did not know anything about each other.
Anyway… Yay for Consumerist and the mighty EECB!
The EECB is magical, is it not?
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Laptop Owner Stuck In Dell Hell While Waiting For Refund
Dell owed me a $150 gift card that the regular CSRs told me I wasn’t eligible for. I e-mailed customer_advocate@dell.com and got it in the form of a credit back to me because they were “no longer issuing” those gift cards. I would rather pay less than buy more anyway. Glad to see the EECB still works with Dell though.
I used to be a rep for Michael Dell’s team. All we did was contact angry customers and try to fix things. I almost got fired for making things right with a customer. They don’t care about anything but your wallet. DO NOT buy from Dell! Oh and just in case anyone needs it, Michael Dell’s email address is: michael@dell.com
I bought a Dell XPS desktop about 6 months ago. Everything ran smoothly. Out of the blue about 3 months after I bought it, I received a $150 gift card from them. I went on line to Dell’s web site and used the card to buy a 500 gig back up hard drive. The cost of the hard drive at the time was $160, so I ended up paying about $14 total for my purchase. Nice experience all around.
@WingZero987: When I learn how to put a computer together, I’ll do just that.
@edicius: I’ve owned several Dell desktops and never have had a problem as well.
While I would never think twice about buying another Dell desktop, the constant Dell bashing does have an affect on me and makes me leery to buy a laptop from them since laptops tend to be more delicate and temperamental.
@WingZero987: and you can make your own butter too!
idiot
I went over to the dark side of the force (Apple) six months ago and it was the best thing I have done in ten years – and I have done some cool things.
Vista was my final straw, but Dell sure plays its part.
@kahri: Not intended to start a Mac v. PC flame war?
Oh but it has, kahri. It has….
@theblackdog: Yup. Ain’t he great?
@dorkins:
Good question…both? Though this is the team that made it to the finals last year.
@Lambasted:
I’m not going to Dell bash, because I don’t own one (although my Grandpap does and it’s crap), but my roommate had a Dell laptop and he always had problems with it. Honestly, I don’t know anyone else who owns a Dell laptop, but I thought I’d just let you know.
@awolcfh5150:
Are you Indian?
@calvinneal:
Apple fans are more fanatical than most. This is a fact.
@stupidjerk:
Or build your own computer? You could build a sweet Hackintosh for half of the price of Apple’s entry level desktop.
Oooh. I just love me some flame wars.
I use a Dell at work. I’ve used Macs at home for 21 years. If price and conformity are your only criteria, buy an Acer or an Asus. If function, style, security, customer service, and total cost of ownership are what motivates you, get a Mac.
fanatical, adj. convinced of the superiority of a system based on empirical evidence rather than monopoly-induced popularity.
Having used both Dell and Mac for over ten years, I am qualified to say that the Mac is better. This is based on fewer crashes, no infections, superb customer service, and seamless software upgrades on a Mac. The reality distortion field isn’t a factor.
Dell, HP, Gateway, Microsoft, Compaq, Acer, Sony, Toshiba, and every other manufacturer has been chasing you into the arms of Steve Jobs for about 9 years now.
If I wanted a design-by-committee hunk of gauche plastic, I’d … well, kill myself I guess.
@all Apple fans are fanatical for a reason. We’re watching a bunch of computer-Cromagnums walk around with something from the dark ages while they scoff at the obviously far-superior machines we know and love.
There is a reason people are switching to Macs in droves. They’re starting to realize that the opinions they formed about computers 15 years ago don’t necessarily still hold true today.
I have owned one Dell and it was a wonderful computer. But, the only time that I had to call CS was a nightmare.
@rdm: Yeah. The best are home built. “Branded” computers tend to have too much garbage in them anyway, both hardware and software.
@kahri: Linux isn’t looking bad. Dreading Vista bigtime. Already have Ubuntu waiting in the wings.
@WingZero987: Amen!
@awolcfh5150: You mean it was. Bet any email to M Dell is gonna get bounced.
@sam1am: Ah, but those are “branded” machines. I build my own. Quality parts on the inside. I don’t care if the outside is an unadorned black box missing side panels.
@WingZero987: I would say that every company has exceptions, which is true. I did say that I personally have gotten decent service from them, not that everyone has, but overall the impression I’ve gotten from the net in general is that their service is pretty good.
I like that she doesn’t realize that there is anything but Dell and Apple. I built my computer and it’s better than anything at Dell or Apple and much cheaper. Even if you don’t want to build/buy a custom computer there are a ton of other awesome computer companies. I wish people would realize there are more than 2.
@sam1am: You have to be kidding. Right? I admit, Apple makes a good casual computer. But that’s all they really are. They aren’t good for most people. I was at a friend’s house and they only have Mac. I had to use the computer to look some stuff up and I got annoyed. I had to click to scroll and there isn’t multiple mouse buttons (people will say its a stylistic choice, but for me who needs to do things the fastest and simplest way, those features are needed). If the branded computers don’t work for you, it’s easy to build a computer and relatively cheap. The parts only go in one way, so it’s hard to screw it up and they come with manuals that can direct you. Anyways, not buying a branded computer does NOT automatically mean a mac.
Also, before I’m called an Apple/Mac hater, I have an iPhone and I want to get the Macbook AIR. It just has to do with the usage of it, for desktops I don’t think that Mac can beat PCs for a more serious user.