“Dell No Longer Believes In Compensation For The Purpose Of Customer Satisfaction”
After waiting 56 days for his Dell Mini 9 to ship, reader WantMyDellMini asked Dell for a little compensation, only to be told: “Dell no longer believes in compensation for the purpose of customer satisfaction.” The Mini 9's shipping status has already changed at least ten times, but Dell claims that our poor reader has no choice but to keep waiting.
He writes:
I wanted to let you know of a situation I have with Dell and my order for a Mini 9. I needed to purchase a new computer for my wife this Christmas. Her Dell 4600 that we purchased many years ago was failing. Rather than repairing it, we decided to buy a new computer. We chose an all-in-one computer. For us, that meant an HP TouchSmart or a Dell XPS One. We went with the Dell XPS One for one reason. Dell ran a promotion where you could buy a Dell XPS One computer and get a Dell Mini 9 for $99. This was $250 off the base price of $349, but after upgrades the order was $486.16. The $250 discount incented us to purchase the Dell XPS One computer. This order was placed on 12/3/2008.
The exact configuration of my Dell Mini 9 is a Cherry Red, 1GB, 32GB SSD, 1.3MP Camera, Bluetooth, No Mobile Broadband.
We received the Dell XPS One within a week of placing the order. The Mini 9 was supposed to ship on 12/10 when we placed the order. Shortly afterwards the status of the order changed to “In Production” which changed the shipping date to 12/15. Since then, we have received “no answers” from Dell as to when we will actually receive the Dell Mini 9. The estimated shipping date has changed no less than 10 times so far. The last time was yesterday when the estimated shipping date changed to 1/27/2009 with a delivery date of 1/28/2009. That is 56 days past our order date to receive the Dell Mini 9. Originally I had asked Dell to provide some form of additional discount for customer satisfaction issues with this order. There exact statement was “Dell no longer believes in compensation for the purpose of customer satisfaction.” Since that time I have asked Dell to either provide the Mini 9 immediately or refund the $250 which incented us to buy the XPS One computer and cancel the Mini 9 order. They refused to do either. This seems perfectly acceptable to me since Dell has clearly been unable to fulfill this order. Instead, I have been told by Dell that they will never commit to a date where they will actually ship the Mini 9.
This sounds like a manager on a power trip, though we wouldn't put it past Dell to make a boldly inane declaration that they'd eventually walk back. No compensation to satisfy customers? What else are they going to do? Try to manufacture quality merchandise?
Try to get a more reasonable answer by firing an Executive Email Carpet Bomb at Dell's executives.
RELATED: Email Addresses For 19 Dell Executives
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Comments:
wasn't there a major issue with the mini9's? Like they where backordered for weeks due to a manufacturing error or something?
Oh, great. This is the corporate equivalent of a "Fuck off." Thanks, Dell. Even Comcast can do better than you.
Is shipping the XPS back and going to HP instead an option? Seems to me that 2 months without the delivery of the full order is enough of a reason for a chargeback...but if you're going to go that route you might be running out of time. (Is it 2 or 3 months they give you to dispute things?)
Dell's shipping/scheduling is pretty atrocious. At least when I ordered my mother-in-law's laptop it was only one piece so when they kept pushing the date back I had the option of just canceling the order (I didn't do it, but the option was there).
The reason why people order from Dell is that they are cheap. One of the reasons why they are cheap is that they do not manufacture a unit until payment has cleared (most computer companies keep a large supply pre-built on shelves). So if there is ANY problem with obtaining materials- or if there is sudden demand- shipping gets drastically delayed because production gets drastically delayed.
However, almost 60 days is a LONG time. I'm not really in favor for compensation (especially since this was over the holidays), but Dell certainly should be offering a DETAILED reason for the delay.
Wouldn't it make more sense to ask for the $99 back instead of the Mini 9? Dell had a $250 discount, so they didn't take the $250 that seem to be in question.
How about providing some proof of these and similar accusations against companies. Or, wait, should we just take your word that you have actually done your homework and verified these claims?
When I had to wait an extra 3 weeks for my Studio laptop, I whined about not having it in time for school and they threw in an extra gig of RAM and expedited shipping. Good luck to you!
If you purchased w/major CC, call them for a chargeback. Explain that they have billed you in full for an order that is only partially fulfilled. I bet this will light a little fire on Dell's and you will get a ship date and a mini9. They will want their money.
As for compensation, no harm in asking, but aside from expedited shipping (upgrade to overnight??), the length of time is immaterial as you waited to make it an issue (tacitly accepting their poor customer service).
Chargeback, get the mini and learn to complain and act faster.
@The_IT_Crone: Exactly a simple "Sorry Mr. customer, due to the high demand we ran out of parts, and we have approximately 1000 of these Mini9s on back order. Your are approximately 847 in line. We have an order for 1500 parts on order that we anticipate will arrive in 3 weeks, and allow another 2 weeks for manufacturer, although right now we are at the mercy of the supplier" would go a long way to keeping the customer happy enough to not write to Consumerist.
A few months ago my work Dell P4's PSU started smoking and sparks started flying out of the PSU. I knew it was out of warranty but for giggles I contacted Dell customer support and told the rep "umm... My PC is on fire." very calmly. At that time I did have enough sense to unplug it. She freaked out and in less than 5 minutes she said she was sending a replacement PC. I did plug the PC back in after the PSU cooled just to see if it would boot and it did. But it wasn't long before the light show started back up. She sent a Quad Core XPS 420. I did ask for XP and was assured I would get it but it came with Vista Home. Small price to pay for such a nice upgrade.
@The_IT_Crone: No Dells prices are cheap because they use cheap parts. All computer companies even Apple keep barely 1-2 days worth of supply for products. Thats just proper business practice, with more supply you have to spend more on storage as well as it becomes a issue if you need to offload your supply for a new product.
Your right though in the if their is a demand or parts issue then supply suffers, but Dells prices have no baring on this practice.
@The_IT_Crone: This is Dell's modus operandi - catch the customer with a great deal, entice them to maybe buy something else as well, then delay into perpetuity. I've had multiple orders canceled on their end due to endless delay. For *my* satisfaction, of course.
Cue me rolling my eyes.
Perhaps I am unclear on the concept here, but how can they refund a $250 discount?
I mean, he is free to ask for any amount he wants as compensation, but how can he ask for them to refund the money that he didn't pay?
Am I missing something?
This same thing happened to me. I ordered a Dell Mini 9 back in November. They change the ship date multiple times and told me it would make it for Christmas. Then after the ship date was changed to 12/28 I called and was just hung up on and order was canceled. I ended up coming to consumerist and emailing Michael Dell. The next day on Christmas eve I was called back by the Executive Support Resolver. All he did was setup another order with a new ship date for January 12. But once again that date came and the order was delayed again. I was able to email the Executive Support Resolver, which he called me back the next day and I canceled the order. I ended up going to Lenovo instead. They shipped out my new netbook in 2 days. I used to love Dell but this was a nightmare.
I did not set out to buy a Dell Mini 9. The purchase I wanted to make this past Christmas was an All-In-One computer. I was incented to buy the XPS One computer by getting a great deal on the Mini 9. They are obligated to fulfill the promotion. The fact that they cannot fulfill the promotion, should I be expected to not get the discount? Not really sure, but I can say that I should get something other than "wait" or "cancel".
"Dude! You AREN'T getting a Dell!"
Actually, Dell doesn't keep any parts because Dell doesn't build most of it's notebooks. They are outsourced to contract manufactuers like AsusTek, which also manufactures Apple and a number of other brands.
Call your credit card company and let them know you didn't get the product you paid for, and do a charge back.
You already received a discount, if you want it within reasonable time frame you need to pay the full price.
Seriously maybe there is a huge demand and Dell simply can't keep up?
And you can't really blame them for taking care of people that pay full price for the netbook first and only then take care of people paying $99 for it.
What do you expect for wanting a Dell? Sub-standard parts, non-standard customer service, POS computer's, laptop's and server's. You definitely get what you pay for with Dell, which isn't much.
@2719: Yes, you can blame them for offering merchandise and NOT SHIPPING IT. Could you please explain the thought process behind your argument that if a company offers you a discount, they don't have to actually send you the product?
Why should you get compensation for waiting? You are buying a computer -- something you DO NOT NEED -- get a life and wait like everyone else does. People want money and compensation for everything nowadays. Have some pride and stop being so pathetic, you money-grubbing whores. (If you're 'really' pissed at Dell, cancel your order!)
@2719: No it's not, they took his money. Now he can either get nothing or maybe something someday? Those aren't acceptable choices.
They may not believe in it, but that doesn't mean it can't prevent unnecessary bad press.
Though, asking for $250 cash and canceling the order is way out of line. What you need to do is try to work out a deal where they'll cancel this defunct order and then take $250 off of a new order on a comparable system, or at least let you purchase a comparable system for the final purchase price of the undelivered Mini.
If you feel like you don't want to work with Dell anymore (a fair decision), then just cancel the order and walk away. It's not right to ask them for compensation when all business between you and them has been nixed completely.
"Instead, I have been told by Dell that they will never commit to a date where they will actually ship the Mini 9."
Isn't that a violation of the 30-day rule ([www.ftc.gov])? Don't they have to get the customer's consent for a particular ship time, or give a refund?
"Isn't that a violation of the 30-day rule ([www.ftc.gov])? Don't they have to get the customer's consent for a particular ship time, or give a refund?"
It is very unclear. I am not a legal expert. Here is the information at the FTC website.
MAIL OR TELEPHONE ORDER MERCHANDISE RULE
[www.ftc.gov]
Dell is obligated to provide a "reasonable basis" for changing the shipping dates. In doing so, they need to account for anticipated demand, supply, and fulfillment. Also, when providing a date they need to provide a "representation that is true". Finally, in advertising any date it should be unambiguous about when you will ship.
Dell has changed the shipping date no less than 10 times over a period of almost 2 months. I certainly have my opinion on whether Dell is in violation of the mail order rule. What do you think?
yeah, it kind of labels the consumer as an idiot/crackpot/scammer if he's asking for $250. It's like he walked into a store and demanded compensation because he wanted to buy a product they were out of. If that were possible, an infinite amount of money could be given out -- anyone could say they "lost" that discount.
@2719:
So you can make an informed opinion, I am paying $486.18 since I upgraded many of the Mini 9 components, not $99. Also, I spent over $2200 for the XPS One computer and accessories for the Mini 9. I have received the XPS One and the accessories for the Mini 9 already.
What you are saying is that people should expect less service or unreasonable delays if they get a discount. That argument is just absurd.
@TysonZetes: Wow...that was unnecessarily vitriolic. I don't believe that requesting compensation for an inconvenience equates to being a "pathetic, money-grubbing whore". Consumerist advises people all the time to make specific reference to compensation if their goal is to be compensated. Now you're lambasting someone because they follow that advice? Ridiculous.
Just because I received the promotion, doesn't mean I don't need the Dell Mini 9. I was actually looking at buying the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 when I came across the promotion from Dell.
As for compensation for waiting, I agree with you. That is not the issue at hand. The issue is that Dell has not honored the promotion. Changing the shipping dates 10 times over a period of almost 2 months clearly demonstrates an inability to fulfilly the promotion, intentional or otherwise. I already asked Dell to cancel the order for the Mini 9 and refund the $250 promotion that incented me to buy the XPS One. They refused to do that.
Dell baited me into buying the XPS One and now is failing to honor the promotion.
@kepler11: While I agree that asking for $250 in compensation is out of line, your analogy isn't valid. This is more like someone walking into a store, ordering a product/service the store says is available, getting strung along by the store about the product/service, then requesting compensation for the inconvenience. What is idiotic/scammy about that? It's not like he knew the order would be delayed.
on dell margins and prices you get what you pay for. to complain is ridiculous, consumer pressure drives this kind of thing.
I am NOT asking for $250 cash. I have already spent over $2200 with Dell on this order. What I have asked Dell to do is credit $250 so I can benefit from the promotion they gave me.
I am not sure what cancelling the defunct order and placing a new order would resolve. I would just be placing an order for another netbook computer. For Dell, that is the Mini 9.
As for working a deal, I asked Dell numerous times to provide a resolution. I gave them many suggestions on how to resolve the issue. In fact, I was pretty creative. I even suggested on many occassions for Dell to suggest a resolution. The only response from them was "cancel the order" or "wait for the order". Canceling an order and going and paying a higher price elsewhere or waiting an indefinite amount of time is unacceptable.
I'm not sure why some of you think it's unreasonable for the OP to request a partial refund for his inconvenience. It happens all the time in restaurants when poor service is rendered - the customer complains to the manager, who removes some or all of the charges on the bill. The only difference is that the OP paid for his computer up front, so the refund would have to be paid to him rather than removed from his bill (per the restaurant analogy).
Also, in this case, there are special circumstances - the OP made a purchase BECAUSE of an instant rebate. Had the rebate not been available, it's safe to assume that he never would have initiated the transaction.
Put it this way: if I overcharged you $5,000 for a truck, but the incentive was that I would sell you a yacht for half price, you might buy the truck just to save a bunch on the yacht. What if, after charging you for the truck and the yacht, I told you that the yacht was no longer available? You'd be pretty pissed about paying too much for the truck, right? You might even want me to refund you some of the money I charged you for the truck. Actually, it wouldn't be unreasonable for you to call me a scammer.
Look at the Dell situation - one expensive product (the $2,000+ computer) was purchased in part BECAUSE of a great discount on another product. It's analagous to the truck/yacht example. When the second product was removed from the equation, it stands to reason that the consumer may feel scammed.
@JeffMc:
I wish it was that simple. I have already received two accessories for the Mini 9 from Dell. Also, I placed orders for third party components for this computer with other vendors. In total, I have spent about $500 in accessories that are specific to the Dell Mini 9. $200 of that was spent with Dell not to mention the $2000 I already spent with Dell to get the XPS One.
What I did do is ask Dell to provide the $250 discount toward the XPS One order and cancel the Mini 9 order. I would then place the order with Dell at a later date when they could meet the demand or order a refurbished item from the Dell Outlet store.
As for the "one piece", that is really the root of the issue. If this was an order for just the Mini 9 laptop, this would have been cancelled already. Instead, I bought the XPS One computer with the understanding that I would receive a Mini 9 at a discounted price. Prior to seeing this offer, I was intending to buy the HP TouchSmart and a Lenovo IdeaPad S10.
@Rachacha:
I LOVE YOUR STATEMENT! I am a pretty understanding guy. If Dell would have written such a response I would have waited patiently.
I agree with your assessment. As for my credit card, they agreed to try and resolve the issue.
@Kekaha:
The root cause of this issue is that the purchase was for an XPS One computer. For purchasing this item, Dell agreed to provide a Dell Mini 9 at a discounted price. This was a promotional offer where you buy the really expensive computer and get the cheap computer at an even cheaper price. I upgraded the components on the cheap computer though and it ended up not being so cheap.
You bring up a good point on supply and demand. I am no lawyer, so take my next statement with a grain of salt. According to what I have read in the FTC Mail Order Rule is that businesses need to take into consideration supply, demand, fulfillment, and other considerations when communicating changes in the shipping date.
Me personally, I could understand if Dell changed the date back in December and said "We have had an unforseen supply constraint and the demand for this item is high. Your new estimated shipping date is 60 days later". If they did that, I would have cancelled the order then and I wouldn't be in this situation. Also, I would not have made additional purchases for accessories related to this order. Instead, Dell has provided no less than 10 different dates.
I did the old EECB when my wife's new Inspiron 1720 was having all sorts of fits, problems, and issues. When I researched the problems I found that some of them had no 'fix' (nVidia 8xxx mobile issues for instance). After the EECB I was contacted in less than 24 hours and I had a new Studio 17 ordered in place of the Inspiron within another 24 hours - it was delivered in less than a week.
"Instead, I have been told by Dell that they will never commit to a date where they will actually ship the Mini 9."
I should mention that according to Dell, they are only obligated by this rule to provide an "estimated shipping date" and that they state that they will never commit to an "actual shipping date". They state that this falls within the guidelines of the FTC Mail Order Rule. I am sure Dell knows this rule very well and I am not going to dispute what they say. That is for somebody in the legal profession.
The rule does state the following...
"Reasonable basis" means that the merchant has, at the time of making the representation, such information as would under the circumstances satisfy a reasonable and prudent businessperson, acting in good faith, that the representation is true."
I would think that a business that provides 10 different shipping dates is not meeting the requirements of "reasonable basis".
I will say that it seems like Dell is trying to conform to the FTC Mail Order Rule. They have gotten my consent to continue the order on several occassiosn. The only exception to this is when the date changed twice in one day, Dell only got one consent from me. That happened twice. The one thing that I have not gotten each time is a reason why the dates changed. When reported through their website, it does not show me why my the dates changed.
that's rather unfortunate. :| I so far haven't encountered issues with dell.
@WantMyDellMini: I was incented to buy the XPS One computer by getting a great deal on the Mini 9. They are obligated to fulfill the promotion.
Call the TX Attorney General's office and use this as your main argument. There must be many people in this same situation.
In some cases, I think people saying "I deserve a credit" is horribly abused these days. This case is definitely an extreme situation, and Dell owes him something other than "no," but it seems like we're missing some information here. Has he tried point-blank asking someone "in the know" what the delay is? Not some call center drudge, definitely a supervisor or executive customer service. And not demanding either. Just "It's been 40+ days, you're not shipping my order for another 2 weeks, can you tell me what the delay is? No one else seems to have an answer."
Could be a supplier issue. If that's the case, I'm sure Dell has looked at their options and actually has a compensation offer in mind that they can offer if you approach them reasonably. Someone mentioned getting a free gigabyte of RAM in a similar situation. If it's a "Larry in accounting marked it as shipped" error, then Dell needs to pick up the ball and run with it to make this up to the customer. But as you're trying to haggle, keep in mind that you have to give a little to get a little.
However, if you're expecting the XPS, the Mini, AND your $250, you're asking Dell to give you a free computer. That's not reasonable, and that's why you got shot down. If you're asking to cancel the Mini and get a portion refunded accordingly? That might be reasonable, but remember that the $250 discount was only if you gave Dell the extra business. By cancelling an order, you're not keeping your part of the bargain, so they shouldn't be held to it either.
@linoth: That's not even remotely what he's asking.
He is asking to cancel his Mini 9 and transfer the discount to his XPS.
It's a fully reasonable request, on this basis: He was on the market for two computers. Dell offered what amounted to a discount on the purchase of two computers. Now dell is not delivering the second computer, and if he cancels, he loses his discount. Had he known this would be the issue, he would not have purchased from Dell.
Imagine this scenario, which amounts to the same thing. You see a 2x1 ad, and you decide to go to that store instead of the competition, even though you liked the competition's shirts more. You decide to get two shirts you like, cufflinks that go with them, and pay for them. Now, the store refuses to give you the second shirt. Would it be reasonable to ask that they either give you the second shirt or give you a 50% refund on the first one (the one delivered)?
Frankly, I'd think an even more reasonable request would be to cancel the Mini-9 and accept a return on all delivered accessories, then apply the $250 discount on any other Dell computer (or product, for that matter).
However, either option would be what's fair to the consumer.
@kepler11: Incorrect.
He was promised a discount on the purchase of a second computer (which they sold to him), and this discount was pivotal in making him choose Dell.
Failing to ship the order for so long and shoehorning him into losing that discount is a deceptive business practice, since they deceived him into believing his purchase would give him $250 of extra value. Since they have failed to do so, it's only fair that they apply this discount.
Personally, I'd ask (and if I were an exec at dell, grant) that the Mini 9 order get cancelled, all delivered accessories returned and refunded, and apply a $250 discount on any Dell computer worth $350 or more. I'd also give it a high-priority status and the swiftest shipment option available, but that'd just be gravy at this point.
Trust me, writing to michael_dell@dell.com definitely gets you some answers. That's what I did after I didn't get any answers last year on my laptop. You'll probably get a response Monday. Trust me, the last thing dell wants is a bad reputation in an economy that could help their cheap prices and well known name.