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—>Michael emailed us, and Dell, from a loaner computer while he's on a trip. His own laptop isn't working, and thanks to a steady stream of broken promises and incorrect information, now he's stuck without access to the software and development files he needs for his work. More »
—>Yuriy's Dell laptop conked out last month, and so far the company has said "Dude, you're NOT getting a Dell" via its convoluted replacement process. All Yuriy has to show for the effort of trying to get the computer replaced is an inferior model. More »
—>Greg struggled for more than a year to get Dell to solve myriad issues with his notebook, but moved things along real quick-like once he ignited an Executive Email Carpet Bomb. He wrote us the following, summarized from two separate messages: More »
—>Dell accidentally skipped Andy in Canada's wireless card upgrade while putting together the laptop he ordered. He called them and they sent the card along at no cost to him. Great service! The service was so great, in fact, that instead of just one wireless card, Dell went right ahead and shipped Andy a case of 120 of them. More »
—>Feisty Dell laptop purchaser Elijah says he bought a Dell laptop that failed him, and when Dell warrantied it out it sent an inferior one in its place, saying it had comparable functionality. As this replacement laptop has a smaller screen and a weird haunted keyboard that presses Ctrl all on its own, Elijah doesn't agree. More »
—>Our reader humphrmi recently managed to avoid shelling out unnecessary bucks for paid technical support from Dell. His secret? Listening very carefully to the support rep, who inadvertently gave away the info he was trying to get humphrmi to pay for. Which is good, since that information was only one sentence long. More »
—>Reader Bret doesn't particularly feel like buying a monitor for Gladys, a random woman who lives in Wichita, KS. Explaining this to Dell and UPS, however, is about as fun as you think it would be. More »
—>Did you file a claim form in the Dell multi-state settlement earlier this year? Have you received your check yet? According to the FAQ posted by the attorneys general of states participating in the suit, Monday, June 22 was the deadline for Dell to mail checks to consumers. More »
—>UPS' website promises that they will deliver Corey's Dell Vizio 37" LCD monitor tomorrow, which would be exciting, except the website has said the same thing every day for the past two weeks. UPS' customer service representatives insist that the package is lost and that Dell needs to initiate a trace. Dell would be happy to accommodate—who wouldn't want to trace a lost package?—but their customer service representative claims that it's Dell policy not to initiate a trace until 48 hours after the scheduled delivery date, which according to UPS, is tomorrow. More »
—>Travis is well aware that there's a credit crunch on. That's why he was surprised when, according to a mailing he received, Dell decided to increase his credit line. Not by a little, either. They increased it from $2,500 to $310,000. Wha? How does that happen? He's just a regular consumer. Does anyone who isn't an IT professional need a $310,000 Dell credit line? More »
—>Ever wonder if "certified refurbished" is just corporate doublespeak for "not entirely broken crap?" Well, at Dell, it is! The refurbished Dell Studio Joseph bought as a gift for his father-in-law arrived with large scratches and a CD-R in the optical drive containing a pirated copy of Microsoft Office. Dell's response? They're willing to take back the laptop and waive the restocking fee, but that's it. More »
—>Anthony has been a long-time Dell customer and has shared his positive experiences with friends and family, but that's come to an end thanks to Dell's abysmal customer service. It's been one month since he first received his new Studio 15 Laptop, which worked correctly for 4 days. Since then, he's been on the phone with Dell for a total of 14 hours, he's watched a Dell CSR remotely break his laptop by interrupting the BIOS flash, he's been locked out of the data on his hard drive, and there's still no replacement laptop on the way to him. When he copied us on this email, he added, "All I wanted was the computer that I paid for long ago." More »
—>Dell hell? Or another car company being propped up by the government? Which is worse? More »
—>A well-respected lawyer has a simple message for corporations: stop suing disgruntled customers who start websites to air their grievances. Though William Pecau of Steptoe & Johnson thinks that online gripers are "self-righteous narcissists with time on their hands," he also realizes that "shutting down a gripe site generally is not easy, often cannot be done, and often is counterproductive." Pecau goes on to explain exactly why most online gripers are safe from over-hyped takedown notices... More »
—>Come on people, Dell agreed to dole out $1.5 million to customers who had problems with warranty repairs, credit financing, and rebates, but with only a week before the filing deadline, Washington's Attorney General says that only 42 people in his state have submitted claim forms. We know there are eligible Dell victims out there. Our tipline alone has nearly 1,000 Dell-related complaints. Please, fill out your claim form now and get the money your state attorney generals earned for you! More »
—>Matt is having some trouble getting Dell to sort out its billing mistake with his new TV purchase. It's an interesting story because for the most part, Dell employees or outsourced CSRs are trying to be helpful to Matt, but nothing has actually been accomplished yet over email, chat, or the telephone. Matt wants his $300 back, and Dell wants Matt to just return the TV set if he won't pay the non-discounted price. We think he may have a case here for disputing the overcharged amount. More »
—>Reader tking says his laptop started out with a bad power jack — but has slowly escalated in brokenness with each Dell intervention. More »
—>Rob bought a monitor from Dell. Not just any monitor, a defective one. Ok, he didn't specifically request it to come defective, but that's how it did. So did its replacement. "The backlight was flickering constantly and it made me feel nauseous just looking at it," writes Rob. He's returned the monitors but Dell has yet to give him back his money. Every time he calls, they tell him it will be just 7-10 days more and that he paid with two credit cards is complicating things. So far it's been 45 days. More »
—>Sean can't get Dell to ship the scanner he ordered on January 20th. They keep canceling it at the last minute, then promising to ship it the next week. They really like your scanner, Sean. Can't you just leave them alone and let them have their forbidden love? More »
—>The trackpad on Jim's Dell laptop hasn't worked since September despite a new motherboard, new hard drive, and four replacement trackpads. One Dell technician managed to dent the laptop's speaker grill. Another, dispatched to replace the hard drive, brought a drive that was slower than the model in Jim's laptop. Dell promised to send the speedier drive, but instead they sent a box labeled "hard drive" containing only a screwdriver. More »
—>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. More »
Add Alabama to the unpublicized states that are also participating in the Dell settlement. If your state wasn't in the original list of 34 earlier this week, be sure to check your attorney general's website just in case. [Alabama settlement info - PDF] (Thanks to Henry!) More »
It's not one of the 34 states publicized earlier this week, but Texas is another one of the states where you can get a piece of the DELL settlement. [Texas Dell Claim Form] More »
—>A $3.35 million settlement has been reached with 34 states in the suit against Dell alleging deceptive practices like misleading consumers about financing terms, rebates, and warranties. The states are... More »
—>While we never like to hear the awful stories that come through our doors, it's a relief to know we can help. Listen to Reader B.J's harrowing Dell tale, and the EECB that saved the day. More »
—>Wanna know why your call to customer service went so poorly? Maybe because it was routed to an outsourced call center run by Teleperformance USA where, according to an insider, customer service goes to die... More »
—>Check out the 18 and counting online retailers at freeshippingday.com for stores that will give you free shipping and guarantee delivery by Christmas if you shop there on Thursday, December 18th. The retailers include Amazon, Zappos, Dell, Target, Macy's and other big names, with perhaps more joining before the 18th. Nothing like getting rewarded for waiting until the last minute. More »
—>Are you a PC or a Mac? If you're enjoying great customer service, chances are you're a Mac, based on some new data released by VocaLabs. More »
—>If you would like to contact the CEO of Dell to tell him how much you enjoy his company's products and services, his direct email address is Michael@dell.com. We've previously posted michael_dell@dell.com, and that, while it arrives at his office, does not go to him personally. More »
Dell is offering employees a week of unpaid leave in order to cut costs. "Dell informed employees of its cost-cutting measures in an e-mail from chief executive Michael Dell. More »
—>Is there a difference between a Sony TZ ultraportable laptop and an Asus Eee PC? Reader Ignacio bought Best Buy's accidental damage protection plan for his $2200 Sony TZ laptop, and when he did, indeed, drop it — Best Buy threatened to replace it with a $600 Asus Eee PC, and finally decided to issue a $1200 gift card — the price of a 15" Dell notebook. Fair? More »
—>35,000 laptop batteries from laptops sold from 2004-2006 have been recalled for fire and burn hazards. There have been 17 fires and 2 burns associated with these batteries, so if you've got one, make sure you take care of this issue. More »
—>Reader Steven wrote in to let us know that his Dell Mini's ship date keeps getting pushed back and he's starting to become annoyed. More »
—>Dell charged this guy's daughter over $200 for replacement batteries that don't even match her laptop. When her battery died, Dell sent her the wrong battery. Since she was out of warranty, Dell insisted that they could only continue to send her the wrong battery. When she asked why, Bill says the a supervisor repeatedly said, "I don't know ma'am, that's not my problem." More »
—>"They've been downgraded from evil to bumbling." - Me in FORTUNE about Dell's online thrusts that attempt to repair their image and listen to their customers more. What do you think? Do you feel any better about them than you did two years ago, or are do their customers still writhe in the eternal flames of "Dell Hell?" Would you add Dell to your Facebook? More »
—>Elizabeth went out and bought a Mac after Dell twice sent Windows XP replacement CDs to her old address. After each failed delivery attempt, Elizabeth called Dell, which repeatedly promised that they'd get it right next time. One CSR even claimed that he personally called DHL to change the shipping address. (He didn't.) More »
—>Ok, at this point, we're starting to suspect that Dell wants to be on our blog. Why else would they hire a freight truck to deliver a gigantic box on a pallet that contained an 8 lb shelf? More »
—>Dell told Arthur to replace his broken DVD drive himself, even after he shipped his laptop to Dell expressly so they could perform the replacement. Arthur tried unsuccessfully to remove the broken drive with the help of Dell phone jockey before returning his unit to the mothership. After weeks of waiting, Dell returned the still-broken laptop with a note explaining that they were out of DVD drives, but that when they arrived in "two or three days," they'd send one to Arthur so he could install it himself. More »
—>Our inbox is overflowing with links to the above photograph from the Daily WTF. More »
- Iams: Free Iams Premium Protection Dog or Cat Food if you give them your address
- Iomega: 3.5" External USB 2.0 Hard Drive shipped for $55.66(250 GB) Or $64.16 (320 GB)
- Newegg: Sennheiser CX300B 3.5mm Connector Canal Headphone (Black) $10 after rebates
- Sierra Trading Post: Extra 10% off Clothing, Footwear, & Gear
- Amazon: Summer Sale: 25% or More off Kitchen Small Appliances
- Dell Home: Save 20% to 30% off Inspiron Notebook PCs
- Torrid: $10 off select Birkenstock
- Toys "R" Us: BOGO $20 off all Wii games
- PayPal: Back to school savings @ Foot Locker, Guess, Tiger Direct, more
—>Consumerist Forums reader Sixtwo sent us some photos from his recent scrape with Dell and the stupid shipping gang. He ordered a pair of "keyboard condoms" which tip the scales at a few grams, but received a giant box and paid $16 for shipping. His letter and photos, inside... More »
—>It's sure to be a pain in the butt if you accidentally switch two of your payments — but we'd always assumed that companies like AT&T and Dell wouldn't cash checks that were not even made out to them. We we wrong! More »
—>Reader F. put some Consumerist-savvy to work and got Walmart to honor the price shown on their website. You see, when something is out of stock on Walmart.com — the item's description says "Not Sold Online," rather than "Out of Stock." Not being psychic, F. took this to mean that the item was not sold online, and would be available at the listed price at the store... More »
- Shoebuy: 20% off with coupon code EMLJULYFOURTH08
- Rite Aid: Special Deals (Cheap, Free after Rebate, or Make $)
- Amazon: Deals on Vittles Vaults pet food containers, like the 30 lb pet food Vittles Vault II for $5.84 (down from $22.99)
- Dell Home: Buy one Dell XPS 420 desktop or M1530 notebook and another of either two systems for 50% off.
- Puma.com: Save an Extra 20% off All Shoes & Apparel Orders with Coupon
- Geeks.com: Motion M1300 12.1-inch Tablet PC $340 with Coupon
—>Reader Robin is wondering what sort of new technology Dell has invented that will let them physically repair a broken monitor over the internet. Must be some serious science. More »
Before we get to the typical bad-company shenanigans—in this case, Dell's $599 discount mysteriously shrank to $400 between when he placed it in his shopping cart and when he reached the confirmation screen—we want to share this bit of ridiculousness. Dell's CSR Vanessa gives us the scoop on Dell's sophisticated order fulfillment system: More »
—>A state judge in Albany, NY has found that Dell "has engaged in repeated misleading, deceptive and unlawful business conduct,including false and deceptive advertising of financing promotions and the terms of warranties, fraudulent, misleading and deceptive practices in credit financing and failure to provide warranty service and rebates." More »
—>Reader Robert's Dell XPS died. Under warranty, a Dell technician came to his house and in the process of "fixing" his computer decided to hook up and format his backup external hard drive, thus deleting 3 years worth of his work. Dell admits that they formatted his external drive but all they have to say to Robert is "Welcome to Dell." Robert's letter and timeline, inside... More »
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—>Companies spend a lot of money on marketing, but ultimately, a brand is what people think it is. Meet Brandtags.net — a site where you can tag brands with one word or phrase that best represents how you feel when you see their logo. It seems that Dell has its work cut out for it—some of the top tags people are using for that brand include: More »
—>Dell, for the love of God, stop sending me catalogs! They are annoying and unwanted, not to mention, useless. If I want to buy something from you, I'll go online. I've filled out your online forms asking you to stop. I've asked over the phone. Three different Dell executives have been in email contact with me pledging that they would investigate the mystery of why Dell is addicted to sending me catalogs. I've burnt them. I've recycled them. They continue to arrive. In my previous post on this, someone mentioned they got Dell to stop after filing a BBB complaint. Here's where you go to make one online. I just filed one, my first ever BBB complaint (Dell, see what you made me do?). It took less than 5 minutes. More »
—>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: More »
—>Despite my repeated requests via online form and phone, and even a few posts about it, including one where I made a photo spread of burning the offending items, Dell keeps sending me catalogs. So here is another post for the online pillory, but, in celebration of Earth Day, instead of burning these catalogs, I have recycled them (see above). Their inability/indifference is all the more stupid because two different Dell execs contacted me to say they would look into the issue. They even had me email them the cryptograms on my address label to help remove me from their mailing system. Dell, please, help me save the planet and take me off your stupid catalog lists. Otherwise I guess I'll just have to deem your material "pornographic" (hey, I know it when I see it, right?) and use USPS form 1500 to get you stop. When you decided to get people to lust after your XPS line, that probably isn't what you had in mind. More »
—>According to a recent press release, Dell is aiming to delight you with a new premium customer service offering—for a price. More »
—>From the looks of David's package, Dell isn't close to honoring its promise to switch to alternative packaging within the next two months. This obscenely large box contained nothing more than a 2GB flash drive. David's son snapped a few pictures, which appear as an eerie slideshow after the jump. More »
—>A boozy Dell tech tried to repair the headphone jack on Andrea's Inspiron 9100 with a hammer. Andrea's sense of propriety kept her quiet when Joel arrived reeking of booze and cigarettes, and neither she nor her boyfriend spoke up when he started wielding a hammer to install parts that wouldn't fit onto the motherboard. Joel ended up cracking the case and putting nail holes through the wrist pad. When he left, Andrea called Dell to complain and asked for a new tech. Who did Dell dispatch? Joel! More »
—>Reader Tom noticed something weird as he was checking out Dell's online store: Dell's website can't seem to get its facts straight and keeps spitting out different prices for the same computer. So Tom ran a test in which he accessed Dell's website with two separate computers, using the same browser, login info, and navigation process. He checked the prices for Dell's Vostro system on their Small Business Desktops Dell Deals page, as well as their Vostro page. As you can see, there were some anomalies. More »
—>This is Round 20 in our Worst Company in America contest, Wellpoint vs Charter Cable.
Wellpoint: is a health insurance company that's part of BlueCrossBlueShield. They don't believe anesthesia is necessary for colonoscopies. That pretty much encapsulates all you need to know about them. More »
—>This is Round 19 in our Worst Company in America contest, Dell vs Home Depot.
Dell: Formerly the king of direct to customer PC sales, Dell now has a well-deserved reputation for abysmal bad customer service ever since they outsourced their Home and Home Office customer service departments (secret trick: always order from Small Business, it's US based and the reps and techs still know what they're doing). Horror stories of botched warranty repairs abound. Just Google "Dell Hell" and you'll know what the company is so reviled. More »
—>Reader K's call to Dell tech support for his laptop resulted in the tech helping him break a different computer, then sending him a replacement laptop full of human pubic hair. After diagnosing a faulty power adapter with K's laptop, the Dell technician asked him to plug the malfunctioning adapter into his other, out-of-warranty Dell to confirm the problem. K was reluctant, but complied, and fried his old laptop in the process. To their credit, Dell offered a replacement; unfortunately, it had a full bush. Full email, with picture, below (photo is NSFL: Not Safe For Lunch). More »
—>Every day for the past eight months, Dell has called Kat to demand payment for a bill she doesn't owe. Kat unfortunately inherited the phone number of a Dell debtor when she started a new job, something Dell would rather overlook—along with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Kat has tried calling, escalating, and having the debtor tell Dell to leave her alone. Dell continually assures her that the problem has been fixed. And then they call again. More »
—>Reader Jake says he just opened his 45 day old laptop and the LCD cracked for no reason. Now Dell doesn't believe his story and won't cover it under his warranty. That sucks. More »
—>Even though I have asked them several times and waited several months, Dell won't stop sending me catalogs, so I'm burning them. Every other company that sends me catalogs that I've requested to be removed from their mailing list has done it. I have called customer service on two different occasions and requested to be removed. I have gone to the special website on the back of the catalogs and requested to be removed. I have done this for both the sets of names and addresses they have on file for me. They don't care. I tried to be nice but obviously that doesn't work. So burn, baby, burn. It may not stop the mailings, but I felt better afterwards. Another image of Dell catalog immolation, inside... More »
—> Seth wrote in to describe the response he got from Dell recently, and compared it to the response he got four years ago. That was a more innocent time, before rags like BusinessWeek blew the lid on our EECB strategy by printing it in old media that execs would read. More »
—>There have been several business article written about how Dell is changing its bad customer service ways, but after you read Anthony's horrible tale, you will know that Dell hell is very alive and very real:
In April of 2005, I purchased a Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop computer. Approximately a year later, I was given a replacement for ongoing issues with the computer, and that replacement served me fine for approximately another year before it too had ongoing issues and was replaced under warranty. However, this is where the problems began...More »
—>Ethan writes:
I purchased a laptop through my company in 2005. The laptop I bought was the Dell XPS (Gen2). I had several issues with the DVD burner right off the bat. Within months Dell was replacing my 6800 Ultra laptop video board due to video artifacts. This happened again and more parts were replaced. In Late 2006 Dell swapped my Gen2 system for a M1710. In my book, both the customer service and the quality hit the fan. They sent me a laptop with less memory and poor video. More »
—>Responding to a Dell pricing controversy that boiled over last week, a spokesperson for (Product) Red, an initiative whereby company color some of their products red and donate a portion of the profits to an AIDS fighting charity, left a comment on our blog to try dispel some of the confusion they felt had arisen over the issue. At stake was a computer Dell sells for $1,299 that you can get in the (Product) Red version for $1,599, with $80 of it going to the Global Fund. What about the other $220, asked gizmo blog Engadget? Well, we could tell them that it's because you're getting Windows Vista Ultimate and Microsoft Office and Student 2007 instead of Windows XP and Microsoft Works, but we'll let the comment from Bich Ngoc Cao of (Product) Red do the talking... More »
—>Over at Engadget there is a debate going on about Microsoft and Dell's collaboration on a (Project) Red XPS PC that is $300 more than the standard XPS, with $80 going towards AIDS relief. More »
—>Dell has promised to stop shipping individual CDs in 10x19x10 boxes after Christian over at Technologist for Hire posted a rant about Dell's growing love for wasteful packaging. More »
Reader Keith just bought a Dell computer last week. Right after he bought it, the price dropped $60. He wanted Dell to give him $60 back. The basic customer service reps he called "couldn't/wouldn't do anything," so he ended up calling the returns department. There he met with success and got his money back. Good on ya! So remember, if you can't get in the front door, trying going the side door. Sometimes you'll have more luck calling a different number than the standard 1-800 line. More »
—>If you've exhausted the normal routes of solving your problems with Dell, try sending an email to Customer_advocate@dell.com. More »
—>Dell is going to start selling laptop and desktop computers at 900 Best Buy locations in the U.S. says the WSJ. Dell has already started hocking their wares at Walmart, and has deals with "Staples Inc., France's Carrefour SA and Gome, China's largest electronics retailer." More »
—>Sue, whose Dell laptops were stolen by dirty, dirty DHL thieves writes in to update us. More »
—>Here's a lovely coincidence: DHL keeps "losing" brand new shiny laptops from Dell. How mysterious! More »
—>Dell has decided that Saundra's warranty, which ends in 2008, ends in 2007, and won't repair her motherboard for free. Saundra has informed them of the error and sent them the relevant documents, to which Dell has shrugged. Saundra has now decided to sue Dell in small claims court. Which mall kiosk which she deliver the court papers to? Who knows, there's got to be thousands of them around the nation... Her story follows. More »
—>Being "green" is so hot right now. Everyone's talking about it, even Walmart, and now their best computer buddy is joining in for some of the hot, hot PR action. More »
—>Reader pr0zac would like the world to know that Dell sent him Halo 3 slightly early. He'd like to thank Dell (and DHL) and apologize to everyone who has to wait, um, a couple hours. More »
—>Nobody at Dell can help Kevin return two broken hard drives. Kevin's Seagate 320GB FreeAgent drive refuses to power on, and his 160GB Western Digital won't boot. Kevin sent Dell a note after wrangling with eleven CSRs over five hours:
I called tonight due to 2 harddrives I purchased 26 days ago. Both drives have completely failed. One is knocking and the other won't power on at all. I called Dell and have been transferred to 11 people and 3 different calls: More »
—>Just when you thought it was safe taste to eat a pomegranate... a Dell laptop catches fire and self destructs! This time, on 9/03, in a Shanghai office. More »
—>April's Dell said it couldn't find "systems 32 config" and after going through a series of troubleshooting steps with a Dell tech in chat, he said it was due to a bad sector on the hard drive and it would need to be replaced. While that very well may have been the case, we were amused by how the conversation wrapped up, as shown in the logs April posted to the RolePlay Gateway message board... More »
In recent visits to five Wal-Mart stores in the San Francisco Bay Area, however, TheStreet.com found a company still struggling to find its footing in the rough world of retail. More »
—>Dell's Oregon based call center experienced a massive layoff this morning, according to KPIC. All of the employees were herded into a conference room and told that their positions had been eliminated. More »
—>Dell sent a tech to replace the CMOS battery on Richard's computer. The tech did replace the battery, but he also ripped out the I/O cable to the motherboard, and ruined Richard's $150 video card. Richard writes: More »
—>I was very close to tossing my computer through some glass this morning. More »
—>Coca-Cola has come out on top of the "Best Brands" Harris Poll for the first time ever. Sony, the leader for the past 7 years slipped to number 2. More »
—>Marc ordered an Alienware laptop 19 days ago and, despite frequently calling and escalating his issue to a supervisor, Alienware just won't ship his laptop. Why? Computer glitches...or maybe its because they're waiting on parts... or maybe it was because of his credit limit... or maybe it's Dell's fault for canceling his order... More »
—>Attention those who hate bloatware and crapware: Dell is offering PCs that are free of everything except Google Toolbar. More »
Unable to resist, we sent Gawker video wunderkid Alex Goldberg to tape the affair awesomeness. We hypothesize the fete was conceptually tied to Dell's new line of Insprions which come in different colors, meaning that Dell has finally caught up to Apple, circa 1998. More »
—>Meet Tim. Tim has a simple request. He'd like to run Windows XP on his new laptop and Windows Vista on his old laptop. This requires him to switch the operating systems. Sounds easy. It's not. Tim writes:
So, I'm running XP on the new laptop and Home Premium on the old laptop. I have the Dell OEM Home Premium disk and the Windows Anytime Upgrade disk with a CD key. More »
—>Dell announced today that Walmart will be selling Dell Dimension PCs in-store as part of a new retail strategy. From
In a statement, Dell spokesman Bob Pearson said, "Our customers are asking us for additional ways to purchase our products and we plan on delivering on a global level. Offering Dell Dimensions in Wal-Mart is a great example of this approach."Dell seems to be contemplating offering their computers in other retail outlets as well.
Dell declined to make executives available for an interview, and Mr. Pearson declined to give further details. He suggested that other retail moves might be in the offing, however. More »
—>New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is suing Dell and he wants your help. More »
—>Ordering through Dell Small Business and you'll never step into Dell Hell. They have vastly superior reps and techs than those devoted to the Home and Home Office lines. More »
—>Chris said he was able to finally get his faulty Dell computer returned by filing out a report at their unresolved issue link. This was after a week of going through crappy Dell "trouble shooting" which treated him like a child and made him repeat steps over and over again. He writes, "I'm an advanced technician at my office, I manage over 50 computers and 8 servers, so when I tell Dell their box isn't working, I mean it." More »
—>After hearing from over 10,000 users wary of Windows Vista, Dell has decided to once again sell computers loaded with Windows XP. Most computer makers stopped offering XP after Vista's launch, even though many users, especially small businesses, are wary of the newfangled operating system. Dell did not consider these concerns reasonable at first.
But on Dell's IdeaStorm Web site, where visitors can post suggestions for the company and vote on the ones they think are important, a plea titled "Don't eliminate XP just yet" racked up more than 10,700 votes.The consumer outcry has restored XP as an option to four Inspiron laptop models and two Dimension desktop models. Dell will only make Windows XP available to U.S. customers. Sorry foreigners, you are stuck with Vista. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER More »
—>Recently we posted a Dell tech support chat in which the Dell rep cut the call short by blaming windows for a (probable) hardware issue, claiming a Windows Vista Upgrade was "third party software." Oddly, it seems that Microsoft likes to pull the same trick on Dell owners. More »
We can understand his rage. We'd be angry too if we were born so stupid we couldn't figure out how to press and hold the power button. More »
03/27/2007 01:18:23PM Agent: "Did you purchase your copy of windows from Dell?" More »
—>Vocal Laboratories, a company that helps other companies improve customer service by surveying customer calls, is working on project to improve tech support at Apple, Dell, Gateway, and HP, and you can participate. More »
Dell doesn't understand the difference between business hours support and 24x7 support. Dell's website states "We will respond to your sales e-mail inquiries within two business hours, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!" Wow, what excellent service. More »
—>Brad bought his Dell on October 25th, the day before Dell announced that all future purchases would be eligible for a free upgrade to Vista. Brad called to cancel his order so he could reorder it and be eligible for Vista. Dell, ever the kind soul, told Brad not to bother; they would give him the upgrade for free. More »
—>Over at TGForumz, rdguerrero writes that Dell replaced his computer's x6800 processor with an extreme edition 955. That sounds about 7.12 times worse.
My dell computer has been giving trouble form the day i got it. finally they replaced the motherboard and processor however instead of replacing my x6800 they gave me a pentium extreme edition 955. the guy from Dell says this is an upgrade i think he id trying to pass off something on me which chip is better.His hunch is right. One comparison declares, "Even the X6800 Core 2 Extreme which is clocked at just 2.93GHz is able to kill the 955 Extreme Edition processor pretty much all of the time." Rdguerrero, taking the sage of advice of forum members calling bs, had a nice little chat with Dell.
The service rep has informed me that he has started the Exchange process and i will be informed by e-mail of updates, but should take approximately 19 labor days for the system to arrive.19 days? Oh, Dell. Is there anything you can't bumble? — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER More »
—>Dude, you're getting a shock. An electric shock. If you have a Dell 9400, e1705, m1710, m90, or 6400, and a two-pronged power adapter, Dell has a special hidden feature just for you: More »
On Monday morning I was heading to work like any other day.. little did I know that my home was being consumed by a raging fire. I arrived my desk to find that the phone was ringing - I needed to come home immediately was the message. More »
I work for Dell headquarters in Round Rock, TX and would like to provide assistance. Though this circumstance is not very common, this error may have occurred when our weekly promotions are being updated and refreshed to the website. Please be assured, our online marketing team is very engaged when issues like these arise and work fast to fix the error. I appreciate the concern you have noted and will forward this information to our website team as feedback. If you have any other readers who have encountered this error and is it being incorrectly reflected on their order, please contact me directly. Send your order number to customer_advocate [at] dell [dot] com. Thanks and have a great day! More »
—>Reader Jonathan sends us a screenshot from Dell with the message, "Dell needs a new calculator." The receipt from Dell lists the "unit price" of a laptop at $1710.00, then at the bottom shows a discount of $386 dollars...resulting in a "subtotal" of $1549. Either their math is wrong, or this is the worst receipt ever. Where did the extra $161 come from? Shouldn't that sort of thing be clearly marked? —MEGHANN MARCO More »
Listen to these calls and you'll understand why Dell has a long way to go with their customer service: because people are stupid and don't work a voice tree like they're supposed to. It doesn't help that once this customer finally gets a person, in hardware, he transfers her to a tech support line with a busy signal. More »
—>Matsushita announced plans to mass-produce a laptop battery that won't explode. More »
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- Please tell me there's a way to get our laptop back (and fixed) from Dell? More »
—>Eric Farraro's friend's Dell laptop broke. He sent it in to Dell for repairs. It sat there for weeks without notice of when it would ship back. He tried to contact Dell by phone, email and online chat, only to get told, "You should have more information in 72 hours." More »
(cag2012)
They try to test the heat using a remote thermometer (like the one mentioned in today's Morning Deals) but the temp is so high, the instrument gives an error code. This means the temperature was over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. More »
Cute flash movie about Foamy the Squirrel trying to get technical support for a Dell laptop. NSFW with a few lil' cursies. More »
—>Contrary to the vituperations of Lowell G, Dell is not charging people for swapping out their exploding batteries. More »
—>UPDATE: No, they're not. More »
UPDATE: New version with more subtitles, better audio and timing. More »
Frustated by lousy sales support and bad customer service, a faceless hand ineffectually stabs a Dell box with a pencil. More »
—>If there's one thing you expect Dell to know, it's computers. And although that assumption may be baseless when you're talking to a CSR from the Orient, telling you the only solution to your monitor being broken is to wipe your hard drive and reinstall, if you're a business-class customer, talking to your Dell contact to set-up a RAID, you at least hope that they have an inkling of what they are doing. More »
—>We received our replacement keyboard for our Dell laptop today. More »
—>Dells exploding. Apples melting scrotums. Now Lenovos conflagrant. And it's all apparently over pesky Sony batteries. More »
—>Sometimes, even though a product sucks, the producer sorta kinda maybe comes through to fix the problem. Not fix the product, mind you, but at least make amends with the buyer. More »
Virgin Atlantic becomes the latest airline to limit laptop use on board, thanks to the threat of exploding batteries. Qantas and Korean Air already have imposed restrictions. More »
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—>Surely there's got to be a slightly less unfortunate name for this chat n' chew. More »
—>Seems our lil ol blog has finally raised the ire of Dell. A day that will go down in history. John Q. Pope, acting as media relator for Dell, wants to correct a post of ours, "Dell Battery Recall May Not End Explosions." More »
—>Even if you sent your Dell battery back before it could explode and tear off half your face, you still may not be in the clear. Some computer engineers are pointing out that computer architecture might have just as much to do with the exploding Dell laptop. More »
—>The fire that consumed a family of five's South Venice, Florida bungalow may have been due to a Dell laptop left on a couch that spontaneously erupted into flames. More »
—>This gem is from the Orange County Register, Marketplace section, page 3, Wednesday August 16th. Article 1. Article 2. More »
—>In a recent Brandchanel piece, Abram Sauer posits there are four states of mind for viewing Gawker blogs, different states positions ways to view Gawker blogs, "uncaring unfamiliarity," fanboysim, playa haterism, and fear. Sauer writes "Consumerist.com has the most fear-provoking potential. This is because Consumerist.com is a brand killer. " More »
—>Earlier this morning, we facetiously wrote about the recall of exploding laptop batteries: "It is perhaps not coincidental that this comes at a time when laptops are being increasingly viewed as potential terrorist weapons by the FAA. Dell — the Islamic fascist's suicide bomb of choice!" More »
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—>Dallas, TX got a glimpse of Dell's foray into the retail world. More »
—>A Dell Inspiron laptop. A stock 1966 Ford pick-up. Several boxes of ammunition. A sunny day on the shimmering shores of Lake Mead. A fireball erupting into the sky! A million bullets shredding through the air! A shrapnel storm of jagged metal shards and flaming tires! More »
Truth in advertising, from the Yahoo! homepage. More »
—>Hot on the heels of last week's Dell notebook calling in the firetrucks, a Singapore man tells the Sydney Morning Herald about his self-immolating laptop. More »
Incendiary photo evidence of a Dell laptop fire has thrown an extra log on the fire of Dell's woes. More »
—>Jessica L. thinks she possibly made contact with the stupidest person to ever man the Dell phone lines. More »
—>Even as sales of Dell PCs plummet, Michael Dell has started spraying crazy man spittle out of his mouth when it comes to Apple, claiming that Apple's share numbers don't even make them competitors to Dell. This is disingenuous: world-wide, this is certainly true, but in the U.S., Apple comes in fourth place, and had a 15.4 percent growth per year compared to Dell's 6.3% growth. More »
—>Beyond mere armchair bubble-piping on Dell's eroding market share blah blah blah, a former Dell tech support rep lays out plain-spoken evidence for Dell's declining concern for their customers. It's got numbers, too. More »
—>And while we all darkly mull over the meaning of Dell's built-in keyloggers, perhaps we can cheer ourselves up by at least reminding ourselves that Dell's entire business is pretty much face down in a men's room toilet. And if the keylogging accusations are true, maybe Dell should just have its throat slit and the toilet flushed. More »
—>UPDATE 8/16: DELL DOES NOT PUT KEYLOGGERS IN ITS LAPTOPS. THE WEBSITE THIS POST LINKS TO IS A WELL-DEBUNKED HOAX. More »
—>Or 'Look! There's Lithium-Ion Leaking Into Your Lap!' More »
—>Dells spontaneously combust. MacBooks melt scrotums. If reports are to be believed, ether company's laptop is hot enough to cauterize lopped off limbs. But which one is hotter? More »
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This has been shooting around the net today but here's a nice confluence between a Dell and the flames of Hell. More »
—>Paul's email on getting his Dell laptop repaired under warranty is pretty dry for awhile. A top-of-the-line XPS laptop with continuing power and heat issues, necessitating the same repair over and over... a repair which, to Dell's credit, they have performed pleasantly and competently, once even when the laptop itself is out of warranty. More »
Today, our laptop was fixed. A wonderful man named Vinnie V. came to our apartment and all was right with the world. More »
—>Or, "Dude! You're never getting a Dell!" More »
—>A couple years back, when visiting my parents in Boston, my father woke me up in a flurry of panic in the middle of the night, dragging me groggily to the computer room. Pointing at the screen, he showed me numerous desktop icons that were all directed at sites specializing in fetishistic porn sites dedicated to the sexual proclivities of cartoon characters. While my father did admit to having visited these sites on occasion "for laffs", he uncategorically denied installing any software from them. He begged me to clean them off his computer before my mother could discover what had happened. Five minutes later, I was back in bed fifty dollars richer and my father had been introduced to scumware for the first time. More »
We think our Dell XPS Laptop is the cat's pajamas and can't understand why all these strange people around the internet have such a burn against the computer maker. Maybe that's because we've never needed it to get repaired or otherwise tickle the warranty. More »
—>Dell's cleaning out the second quarter closet and we find not cobwebs, skeletons or Tom Cruises, but a bundle of savings. More »
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—>Wow, this is positively gaytarded. But before you bust out your effete stilettos to slit our fingers over such a egregiously offensive remark, hear us out. We believe you'll find its usage warranted. More »
Man, those QVC announcers are just unflappable, aren't they. More »
• Today's Woot! is the iRiver PMC-120, one of those 20GB Personal Media Center jobbies that Microsoft was shilling a little over a year ago. We say skip it, even at $205. Not only is it sort of huge compared to an iPod video or Creative Vision M, but the platform does all sorts of stupid things like forcing you to convert all your videos before copying them to the device. More »
• Here's a deal for we penny pinchers: SuperMediaStore.com has the Kill-A-Watt Electricity Monitor for $29, shipped. This little gewgaw tells you how much power each device you plug into it uses, equipping you with the knowledge that your desktop document incinerator is actually sort of power hungry. More »
DealHack's Dell Buyer's Guide might not be spanking new, but they've got a lot of practical advice on picking out a new PC or laptop. While it's probably worth visiting the article itself—it's a lot more in depth—here's the gist: More »
• SlickDeals is reporting that the Sony DSC-S40 4.1-megapixel camera is going for a $100, in store only. Yes, that would be a good deal. More »
—>• For the well-off goth who's looking to settle down, Sharon Tate's Opal and Garnet Engagement Ring for $25k on eBay (the one given her by Roman Polanski). [via Bayraider] More »
—>Gawkerite Scott Kidder has stumbled on a potentially handy bit of Dell Hellishness for those who have had the brass balls to order refurbished computers from the Dell Outlet—only to find they don't work. More »
• H&R Block is giving away free copies of their DeductionPro software, which we've been told is normally a $20 upgrade ot thier TaxCut software. (Although it works in a standalone mode, as well.) [via Slickdeals] More »
• Newegg has the Sennheiser PC 150 Headset, perfect for gaming or Skyping, for $30 after $10 off coupon code NYNG011006. Ships free, as well. More »
• We're unsure how the NYC transit strike can make us late to work when we work from home, but by god we've managed to do it. In celebration, have a full-blown computer for $250, after multiple rebates. Slickdeals has the details. More »
• Get your name on a microchip that isn't inside a robot from the future, thanks to NASA's Dawn space craft. Soon your name will reside with thousands of others on a dead rock in the cold reaches of space. More »
—>• Dell Game! Guess what we won today? What is the opposite of our dignity? More »
—>• Dell Game! Dell Game! Choose the middle stocking and win nothing, again and again! More »
• We have been informed that Express's Annual $20 off all jeans sale begins today, and according to their website, that is totally true. However, we have also been informed that this sale "historically never includes the ones embellished with $100's worth of rhinstones on the ass." More »
—>• The Dell Game continues apace. Tug the stockings to win a prize, or more likely, a coupon for percentage off discounts on Dell products. More »
• It would appear the Dell coupons for the Canon 20D Digital SLR Camera are already kaput, but there's still time to sneak in a 20% coupon for the Digital Rebel XT Silver Body. Add coupon code: TDZ2BZCXTN?PMX, add in another discount from The Dell Game, and use the $75 Rebate for a total of $600. Not shabby at all for a great camera, although you'll still want to purchase a lens. [via Slickdeals] More »
• Enjoy yourself some Dell Game, wherein you may be creeped out by an overzealous elf and click to win prizes. Of course, you're probably going to win bupkiss, but when you play the 'Pick a Stocking' game you'll receive a coupon code in consolation. And you can play until the end of the Holidays. More »
