Dell Customer Support : Not better than a sharp poke in the eye

I don't normally do a lot of ranting on my blog. I like to keep things generally positive, inspiring, or at least informative. But real life doesn't work that way so neither should my blog. I recently had (and continue to have) a frustrating, bewildering and completely negative experience with Dell Customer Service that I decided to share it with you. For both our sakes. For me, I need an outlet for my rage so I don't take it out on the cat, and you need to be warned of what you are in for if you ever contact Dell asking them to stand behind their product.

I bought a Dell laptop, Studio XPS last May, about 9 months ago. It never was a stellar piece of hardware but over the months, it grew increasingly more unreliable. The screen would black out, the sound would come and go, it didn't recognize peripherals, it took no less than 15 minutes to shut down. Applications would freeze and the battery drained unusually fast. And all these problems would occur randomly and without warning. Like half-way through a blog post or when I was presenting, in a hurry, or trying to make a deadline. I actually grew accustomed to rebooting the thing from 3-5 times per day.

I bought the computer at Best Buy and made that my first stop for help. The said they only take returns within 20 days of purchase. They'd be happy to run diagnostics and try to repair it, but for a price. I wanted whoever made it to fix it or give me a new one. Since we were still within the year warranty period, they said I needed to call Dell. I should have seen where this was going to end.

I took notes and tweeted during the call to Dell, mainly because I needed something to do while I was on hold for so long and thought it would be fun to capture the adventure. I don't want to bore you with the annoying details but here were the highlights via my Twitter stream:

There is one exchange during the call I will never forget. I had asked for the manager and was explaining to him that the return window at Best Buy had expired so I was invoking the one-year warranty that came with the computer. This is as close as I can remember the conversation:

Manager: If you bought the computer at Best Buy, you need to take it back to Best Buy.
Me: But the warranty on the computer is with Dell.
Manager: Who did you actually pay the money to when you bought the computer, Best
Buy or Dell?
Me: Well, of course I paid Best Buy, but they bought the computer from you.
Manager: Well Best Buy buys the computers in bulk, they didn't buy your specific computer individually from us.
Me: They still bought it from you. So you're telling me that I have to take the computer back to Best Buy if I want any problems fixed.
Manager: yes, ma'am
Me: But the computer says Dell on it, its your product. You manufactured it.
Manager: I am sorry we can't repair it for you. I can transfer you to a technical representative who can help troubleshoot the problems over the phone.

Can you believe that?! The Manager actually tried to convince me that because I paid the actual money to Best Buy that Dell was not responsible for the defective product. And this isn't a reply this guy was making up on the spot. HE WAS TRAINED TO SAY THAT.

I eventually caved after an hour because I wasn't making any progress and we scheduled a service call-back for later that day. That call was to come from a technical rep who would walk me through their trouble-shooting process. That was 4 days ago and they have yet to call back.

I haven't decided what my next steps will be. I know now that will never never never buy another Dell product. Not only will I not buy one, I will encourage everyone I know and care about not to ever buy a Dell product EVER.

In the meantime, meet my new BFF. She's fast, powerful, reliable, sturdy, elegant, and comes with great customer service.