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.
dell
Drunk Dell Tech Repairs Laptop With Hammer
By 4.12.08
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!
Dell's Website Prices Are Based On Caprice And Whimsy
By 4.11.08
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.
Round 20: Wellpoint vs Charter Cable
By 4.9.08
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.
Round 19: Dell vs Home Depot
By 4.8.08
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.
PHOTO: Dell Breaks Your Laptop, Sends Replacement Full Of Pubes
By 4.8.08
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).
Dell Has Called Every Day For The Past Eight Months… And I'm Not A Customer!
By 3.23.08
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.
Dell Is "Too Cheap To Realize That I Have A Defective Laptop"
By 3.14.08
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.
Dell Won't Stop Sending Me Catalogs So I'm Burning Them
By 3.13.08
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…
Dell Growing Deaf To EECBs
By 3.11.08
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.
Man Haggles With Dell Over Laptop Since 2005
By 3.11.08
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…
Dell Closing All U.S. Dell Direct Kiosks, Effective Immediately
By 1.30.08
There was a rumor going around since last night that Dell was shuttering its 140 mall kiosks nationwide in another wave of belt-tightening. Now it’s official: “Dell Inc. will close its 140 kiosks in the U.S. as the computer maker is changing its retail strategy to sales in partnering stores.
Man Haggles With Dell Over Failed Laptop For 3 Years
By 1.29.08
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.
(Product) Red Responds To Dell Pricing Controversy
By 1.28.08
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…
Is Dell's Pricey (Project) Red PC A Ripoff?
By 1.25.08
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.
Dell: Let's Ship Tiny CDs In Massive Boxes!
By 1.19.08
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.
Reader Pries Price Drop Refund From Dell's Claws
By 1.11.08
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.
Dell Replaces Out Of Warranty Computer Messed Up Since The Day It Was Born
By 12.19.07
I understand that Dell is an enormous company that does not make any of it’s profit from customer service, but I hope that maybe you’d like to help your PR… at least in my mind. My name is Dave S and I purchased an Inspiron 600m directly from dell a year or two ago for $1100. The man on the phone was pushing very hard to sell me the extended warranty. I asked if he had so little confidence in the product he was attempting to sell that he insisted it would break within 30 days….
