Dithering and deceitful Dell (dell.co.uk)

Member Name: moonpoppy

Product:	dell.co.uk
Date:	06/10/06 (190 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great website, love the idea of building your own spec at great prices

Disadvantages: Ridiculous waiting times and a few deceitful advisors

Oh boy. What a reputation Dell have for outstanding customer care ... where was it when I tried to order a PC from them recently?

My beloved HP laptop was terminally-ill. She was taking a long, long time to load up anything, surfing on the 'net was definitely out! My partner and my mother (both Dell fans) ganged up on me and soon I found myself ordering a super spec tower PC from them online.

Eager with anticipation, I checked my emails the next day ... all going ahead nicely, payment had cleared etc. I telephoned the number given on the notification email and yes, it was in the "holding" area for new orders. I turned on the girly charm and bleated pathetically that I desperately needed my new PC as a matter of urgency (well, it WAS true! all my promotional material was still on scraps of paper, not prettied up in techno-form). The advisor said he would place my order as high priority. Yippeeee, I thought to myself.

Hmmmmmm. Tuesday I checked online to see the status update. Still in "holding" area.

By Wednesday I was getting nervous. My poorly laptop was really having a rough time of it, she was close to nervous exhaustion and needed a Dell companion to help take the pressure off her.

Wednesday lunchtime I caved in ... with my status update report showing "holding" and a delivery date of four weeks away, I wondered why my high priority order wasn't coasting it to the courier van. When I rang in, I explained the urgency and previous telephone call on Monday. The advisor (a different one) assured me that she would fast-track my order but that the 4-week delivery date was just an estimation at their end, rather than a factual date of delivery.

By Thursday I was getting very concerned and telephoned them again. It seemed that no-one could help shift the order out of "holding" but I had repeated assurances from two separate advisors that they were doing all they could, and that someone would revert back to me.

Friday morning dawned. It was getting very serious at home, with my poorly HP-laptop so tired that she was struggling to boot up. I telephoned Dell again bright and early, to complain that my status was still showing as "online" and that if I hadn't heard back from them by 12 noon, I was cancelling my order. THIS particular advisor told me that (a) there was no way to fast-track or prioritise an online order (hey?!); and (b) yes, my delivery date was truly the estimated date. For such a high-spec computer, they were running at full capacity.

At last. Someone who wasn't trying to pull a fast one. So I thanked them sincerely for their assistance and cancelled the order promptly.

By Sunday I had a beautiful new very high-tec wireless PC from a local store nestled up to my HP laptop. Eh? How can I run dial-up on a wireless PC? Oh, therein lies another tale ...

Summary: Dell's bells ... what a shocking performance!