Great Product - Poor Customer Service
Written: Apr 15 '02
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Pros: Excellent product, great prices & deals.
Cons: Customer service & sales staff is incompetent.
The Bottom Line: Great Product! Not much can be said about the sales and customer service staff.
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| twnguy808's Full Review: Dell Dimension 4400 (A-D0314) PC Desktop |
I bought my first Dell computer over 7 years ago. It was the best computer I have ever owned and it is still going strong today. However, technology has changed and I finally decided to upgrade. My first experience with Dell was excellent which is why I decided on Dell again. This time around the service side wasn't all that great. First off I'll explain about the computer I purchased. Then I'll finish off with the whole nightmare experience I had with the sales and customer service staff.
Dell has exceptional deals that run on their web site. The specials seem to change on a weekly basis. I was able to pick up a Dell 4400 P4 2.0 GHZ with 80GB HD, 64M Video card w/TV out, 256 RAM, SB Live Premium Sound Card, DVD drive, 24X CD Burner, Modem and Ethernet card, Win XP, MS Works, 6 months of free MSN Dial-up access, no monitor (using my old Dell monitor for now) all for a little over $1000 including free shipping. The computer arrived well packaged and very easy to set up. The CPU in one big box and the speakers in another small box. On the very top of the packing is a large poster like sheet with pictures on how to set up the computer. All of the plug inserts on the back of the computer are color coded to match the corresponding plugs on the hardware (ie, keyboard, mouse, speakers etc). After completing the entire setup and turning on the computer for the first time, you are greeted with music and set up screen that will only appear the first time you turn on your computer. The screen describes Dell's Express Service ID on the computer should you need technical support etc and then continues on to the Windows XP setup. The whole set up process was very user friendly and a breeze. I was up and running in no time.
Over all the computer feels solid and looks sleek in it's black case. The keyboard feels a little lightweight and cheap but I like the actual touch response. The included Harmon Kardon basic speakers are good for the average user however I opted to use my old multimedia speakers w/subwoofer for that extra kick. Its too bad that you can't subtract the speakers completely and just have the difference taken off the price of the system. The basic speakers are included or you can choose to upgrade to better speakers. The computer is whisper quiet as is the hard drive. A big improvement from my old Dell. There are 4 USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports on the computer to attach any external plug and play hardware (scanner, printer etc). Its nice that two of the ports are in the front of the computer for quick easy access to plug in a digital camera or MP3 player etc. The two USB ports along with a headphone jack are hidden under a flip cover on the front.
I chose the basic software package which included Windows XP home and MS Works. There were also some extras such as MS Money, Quicken and Turbo tax 2001 included. Since I chose the CD burner and DVD drive, Roxio's easy CD creator and DVD player software was also included. Windows XP is the operating system and I won't go into detail. It is similar to past versions of Windows with some changes here and there. MS Works is a good basic program for the home user. It includes MS Word, an Excel like spreadsheet program, a calendar program, and a database program. MS Money and Quicken are nice extras if you like to do your budget and expenses on a computer. The included Roxio CD creator is good for basic CD/MP3 and data copying. They are however limited versions and the programs do ask you if you would like to upgrade to a more feature rich version for a fee. Overall the hardware and included software is more than ample for the average computer user. Dell's great reputation makes their computer systems a solid buy. Now on to my negative experience with Dell.
A tip for all the buyers out there. Be absolutely sure about what you want before placing your order and don't plan on changing anything after it is placed. My whole nightmare began when I ordered through the phone. Mind you, I would have preferred ordering online however for reasons unknown by the sales staff, the online system would not give me the free shipping promotion here to Hawaii.
The Beginning:
When I called in and spoke to a rep, they were able to give me free shipping. After building my system online I called Dell's sales department directly. Since I had previously purchase from Dell years ago, my name and address was still on file. However they had my old address, so I gave the rep my new address and she took my order. The ordering process went well. I didn't really like the reps response when I decided not to go with the 3 year warranty. She said "Well I guess you enjoy paying $30 for each phone call you make to tech support." I am a computer consultant so I am fairly familiar with computer troubleshooting of hardware and software so I decided not to go with the extended warranty. That said and done my order was taken and was told that I could view my order status online. The next day I decided to check the status of my order. I input my order # and zip code for verification. No luck. After several tries with no luck I decide to try my old zip code. Bingo my order comes out. Obviously they got my address wrong so I call the following day as customer service had already closed. Spoke to customer service and yes they did have my wrong address so they took my new information again. But guess what, my system had already shipped! Talk about speed. They whipped up my computer in 24 hours and it was on its way. Got the FedEx tracking # and called FedEx to see if the address change was made. Nope! So I call Dell again and speak to customer service. They agent takes my new information AGAIN and assures me that she will call FedEx to make the changes AGAIN. I call FedEx again only to find out that she made the changes to one of the two packages. In the end, i ended up changing the address through FedEx myself. But this is only the beginning of what is yet to come.
The Package Arrives:
My computer arrives but the FedEx agent tells me "One of the boxes came pretty beaten up." The box was smashed open. So on the advise of FedEx, I refuse the shipment and they ship the system back to Dell. In the mean time I return home and look on their website only to see that they have even better deals. So I call Dell up and explain to them what happened. The customer service agent tells me that they will rebuild another system with the same specs as the original and ship it out to me. I say "No, just cancel that order and I'll order a new system because you have better promotions running." The agent agrees and tells me to call again in the morning and speak to a return specialist to get a return confirmation.
New Order Placed:
I call and get a return confirmation from customer service and place an order for my new system. When ordering my new configuration, a standard 48X CD Rom drive is not an option with the 2.0 GHZ system. You can only get a DVD drive. So I decide to just order the CD burner alone and purchase the CD Rom drive through Dell's parts department and install it myself. I get my order confirmation and my system is off to production. In the mean time I order the 48X CD Rom drive through Dell's parts department. Later when logging in to check my order I discover that Dell shipped another computer -which should have been canceled-of the original configuration out! And get this! After the numerous times I called to get my address corrected, they still sent this rebuild to my old address! So I immediately call customer service and explain the whole story over again. They cancel the shipping while it is in transit. In the mean time my 48X CD ROM arrives 1 day after ordering it. The thing didn't have any cables to install it like the web site said it would! I call customer service and they arrange to send a return air bill out to me (which by the way I am still waiting for). Frustrated I just decide to get an installed DVD drive and forgo the frustration of waiting for another CD drive with the cables.
It gets worse:
I immediately call my sales rep and leave a message for her to call me back regarding a change in my order. I call her twice but she never returns my call. Knowing how fast they build their systems, I'm worried that it will ship before any changes can be done. So I tell her in my voice message "If you can't call me by today then please put a freeze on my order until I speak to you." I go online later that evening only to find out that the witch canceled my order!! In the end I called the next day and finally spoke to a helpful sales person that assisted me in getting what I wanted.
In conclusion, Dell computers are well built, easy to set up and include an excellent amount of basic software at great prices. There is however big room for improvement on the customer service side. Dell has grown to one of the largest computer manufacturing companies in the world. However their customer service, which always won awards in the past, has declined. With the attitude of the staff, I was given the impression that they do business on a very large scale so that my sale was insignificant. I wanted to cancel my order completely and try ordering from Micron or Gateway, however their prices were significantly higher than Dell's. If you order from Dell, build your system, order it and don't look back. By all means use the web site. Your shipping address and system specs are confirmed clearly when you place your order online. You won't have to deal with the sales staff.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1000+
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
twnguy808
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Reviews written: 7
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