The crux of
the matter with Dell, as a corporate culture, is the following: Who and what is
your focus.
As an
example, Amazons corporate policies show that they believe it is the customer.
Turns out in
Dells case, their corporate policies show it is Dell - customer be damned.
Nothing
brought this home clearer than trying to order a computer from the company this
March. After a pleasant conversation with a US based Customer service rep, my
computer was ordered and on its’ way. When received, it came without an SDS
card reader, one of the order requirements.
When
Customer service was contacted, (now India based), I was told that I would have
to send it back, get a refund (wait 30 days), and then start over and order a
new computer. I asked if they could simply exchange it for the one I ordered.
No. When I stated it was Dell’s fault, they relayed this was the only procedure
and I would have to do it. Period. To sum up:
- · I would have to send back the computer.
- · I would have to wait until they received it.
- · I would have to wait 30 days to get a refund
- · I would have to start a new order to get the machine I ordered in the first place
- · I would then have to wait another couple of weeks to receive it.
Simultaneously,
I had ordered the computer screen from Amazon. It came (I thought) missing a
part. Customer service was called. A new screen is going out immediately to
replace the one sent, and a return label was sent. I was also asked if there was
anything else they could do? To sum up:
- · Everything was fixed.
I then wrote
to Dell Corporate, (go to Elliot.org to get their emails) and their response
finally came through email from a resolution specialist (India based) who said
that after consideration they would exchange the machine for the correct one I had
originally ordered. Great!
Then the
next day I received an email that informed me they had simply cancelled the
order altogether No explanation. Not so great.
Days later, I
received a wonderful call and email from a senior resolution specialist that
stated I would receive my new computer... and not to worry. Dell would take
care of it.
Great, I
thought. They are trying to fix it.
Finally some Customer service.
Ten days
later it arrived by Fed Ex. YIPPIE. I have my new computer.
Not so fast
there, kiddo.
Opening the
box I saw there was no SDS card slot and now there is NO extra 8 gigs of ram
that I paid for. Worse than the first computer.
Wrote this
senior customer resolution specialist and stated the obvious - they again sent
me the wrong computer.
Guess they
are giving up at this point. They sent me a new UPS return label and said they
would credit my card in about thirty days.
No offers to
fix their mistake a second time. Only I am sorry. But inthis case Sorry doesn’t
have any meaning. Sorry for what? Sorry for the loss of my time? Sorry for the
inconvenience? Sorry that they screwed up the order twice> Maybe sorry that
they have to even deal with me?
It is
personally sad for me, because Michael Dell revolutionized the industry and
prided himself and his company on customer service. Now, the daisy wheel of
customer service has been designed, at least at Dell, to punish the consumer by
onerous requirements and shoddy policies. They sound like they are being
helpful, but underneath the hood there is no customer service at all.
Smoke and
mirrors that sound like they care and are offering first-class customer service,
but that is all it is: smoke and mirrors.
So which company’s
corporate philosophy of how they treat the customer resonates with you?
I’m betting
Amazon.
And I’m also
betting that Amazon will be around in five years.
Dell, unless
something drastically shifts... not so sure.
Not with
their abhorrent customer service and inability to deliver the right products.
Next call
for me: Amazon.
