Customer Service 2.0

re: Customer Service 2.0

sean — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:05:35 GMT

Dell, like Shell, Ntl, all have a similar ring to their name and it seems to their level of customer satisfaction, perhaps they are competing for the worst company of the year award...anyway asides my obvious dissatisfaction so far, i am trying to purchase a new pc from them , having paid by credit card yesterday, i received a call from my bank to say Dell or someone at dell had tried to claim a second amount on my credit card later that evenin !!!

i am beginning to realise using Dell for my pc purchase was a big mistake,,it seems they have a criminal element involved within their ranks who try to extort extra monies from peoples accounts. i have so far been unsuccessful in receiving any help, all the managers are in meetings etc....

i wonder if Dell will ever respond reading previous comments above, or will i be completely ripped off like others..!?

re: Customer Service 2.0

Somdeb — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:30:59 GMT

Posted this comment at http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/05/18/15194.aspx#comments but this is probably as good a place to reiterate the importance of fixing core tech support competencies.

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I think if Dell really wants to regain any credibility in the customer-care domain, it needs to look at grass-roots level. This means, apart from optimizing number of tech-transfers etc, it needs to address the level of competency of the tech support agents themselves.

My own experience in this matter has been far from satisfactory. I have chronicled them at http://replays.blogspot.com/ and at http://www.epinions.com/content_5003124868

Some quick googling throws up many other similar experiences. In my case, what frustrated me most was not the number of tech transfers I had to go through... but that the lack of comprehension of simple technical aspects was *so* lacking even at the highest level of customer resolution team.

I think most people would happily spend 2 hours on the phone if at the end they go back with the feeling that the person on the other side had the capacity to solve the problem *and* did all he/she could to solve it, whether or not the problem actually got solved. What is frustrating is to have to spend unreasonable amounts of time (order of months) to fix a problem and come away with the knowledge that we have been talking to a brick wall all the while.

Bottomline: yes, tech support *process* needs to be streamlined. BUT, a bigger priority should be what kind of people you recruit to work that process.

re: Customer Service 2.0

Steve — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 23:15:49 GMT

That about sums up my DELL experience then... Mr Invisible

re: Customer Service 2.0

Steve — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:52:01 GMT

I posted a comment on here earlier today regarding my nightmare of an experience exchanging a monitor, but hours later it is still not on here?

Sorry if I am being impatient but I was really hoping for some help.

Steve

re: Customer Service 2.0

Bob Collins — Fri, 18 May 2007 08:52:05 GMT

Bob Collins said:

I cannot believe the rubbish service from Dell .My Vista upgrade was lost by the carrier DHL UK on March 21 2007. DHL UK have admitted it is their fault and have informed Dell USA, asking for a replacement for me. So far nothing. Dell customer service are useless telephone operators who never contact back. After many many calls and emails to Dell they are rarely answered and I still have no resolution, I have been told to contact the carrier, I HAVE many times .They say they cannot help me as Dell is the customer. Why has Dell not contacted me with any help, updates or solution ! It seems that I shall have to resort to either send back my Insprion 6400 or claim in the small claims court for the product that was paid for in November 2006.

Come on sombody at Dell HELP !!

Bob ( Unsatisfied customer)

re: Customer Service 2.0

Vin — Tue, 15 May 2007 13:58:40 GMT

A blog with a >24 hour delay, that's clever. Kind of like a e-commerce Web site with an ordering system that doesn't work...

You guys might want to think about hiring some new Web people...

re: Customer Service 2.0

David H. Deans — Tue, 15 May 2007 00:09:39 GMT

Lionel,

I sincerely hope that at least one of the new Dell customer care efforts is a truly remarkable "bold goal."

So many organizations that re-engineer their business processes settle for mere tweaks and adjustments, which usually result just in bringing the organization back to parity with the recognized leaders who already set the bar of expectations in the marketplace.

BTW, I attempted to think beyond the ordinary with my "Dell Customer Corps" suggestion that I submitted on IdeaStorm. Granted, it's not at all what you'll find on a competitor's website -- but isn't that the preferable?

Meaning, at some point, you have to let go of damage-control reactions and allow yourself to think much bigger and better than the norm.

re: Customer Service 2.0

Jason Ganz — Mon, 14 May 2007 22:33:54 GMT

I currently am the owner of a Dell XPS m1710 with 2GB RAM and a 7950GTX card in it. I have called several times inquiring about why my Norton Utilities did not come with the XPS while it was on the invoice. I called XPS service and was sent out to inspiron service, where they did not know that an m1710 notebook existed. Finally I was sent to XPS service, which was located out in India (I think Bangalore, i'm not sure). It amazed me that Dell's best computer line would be sent to India while an e1405 user would be entitled to USA service.

After the requisite questions, I was told i have XP home on the system when it came with XP Pro and said so on the invoice. First big mistake; the lack of networking between what a computer has and what people see on the screen. This slows customer service and shows a lack of networking on Dell's part between its USA and India centers. Going on, I inquired about receiving a Norton Internet Security Disk as was stated on the invoice. 3 Days later i received one, that was in 2 pieces. I promptly called back XPS support and was asked "what do you mean by the disk is in 2 pieces, can you put the disk in the CD drive?". How can one put a broken disk in the CD drive, that's the most absurd concept i ever heard. A replacement was sent out on May 4, 2007 and on May 7, 2007 I received a Norton Internet Security for Vista disk (which is a foulup as i'm running XP).

I called up promptly again, and was told repeatedly that "oh, the Vista Disk is fine", even after i had repeatedly told (and shown through DellConnect) that the Vista-based Norton was incompatible with my XP system. It was only after contacting supervisors and executive support that a 2nd replacement Norton for XP was placed, and i'm awating and hoping that it is the correct disk. The fact that tech support cannot differentiate between Vista and XP, and are willing to lie through their teeth that the two OSs are compatible even after being shown a Vista Norton won't work on XP Pro is not only absurd, but rude to the customer trying to protect his system.

Dell is really pushing the limits of what can pass as customer service to consumers who spend $3,000+ on their gaming machines. They are in a zone occupied by high-end custom makers such as Falcon-Northwest, VoodooPC, WidowPC, etc., that not only can make a system just as fast as (if not faster than) Dell, but their customer representatives and tech support are trained to CATER to these people through abstract thought, not pre-composed scripts. Subjectively, this may be the last Dell I buy unless drastic changes are made and noticed.

re: Customer Service 2.0

Dhanik — Mon, 14 May 2007 16:06:51 GMT

I am an international student in the US from INDIA. Believe it or not, I hate it too when my calls are transferred to India. I know I might be totally wrong on this one, but I think I have figured out the way it works. The people on the line are probably given bonuses or something if they can solve a problem for a customer without having to repair or replace a part. That explains why the technicians on the line are always willing to troubleshoot (I hate tht word!)

There are 3 laptops in my family and all of them are DELLs. However, the bad experiences I have had with DELL over the last year have made them lose our entire family as customers. I would have to spend an hour if i even started writing down all the horrible experiences of the last year. The problem as i see it, is a clear lack of oversight over the CRM (which as most IS people can tell u, is the most important thing). Unless there's a real effort to make improvements, I see a very bleak future for DELL (I have a bad feeling DELL is gonna start charging more for calls to be connected within the US or something like tht)

re: Customer Service 2.0

Vin — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:36:44 GMT

I ordered a computer some time ago via the Dell Web site while I was without a cellphone (blackberry + washing machine = bad idea) and so I entered my phone number as 415-555-0000 or something of the like, because the site offered no "do not contact me by phone option". I figured that if Dell needed to get in touch with me to confirm my order, they would use the email I provided (you know, since it's 2007 and I am, after all, ordering via a Web site, not the telephone). I was somewhat unsurprised that Dell did not ship the computer, but I was shocked that I never ever heard another peep from Dell about the order. Email isn't good enough for you guys? What's up with requiring telephones? I was left with the feeling that Dell just didn't want to sell a computer at the deep discount that they had promised. I bet if I had called on a day when there wasn't a huge discount, you would have tried a lot harder to email me to discuss my order!

Against my better judgement, on May 4 I again tried to order a discounted computer. This time I received an order acknowledgement which stated that in a few days I would receive an order confirmation. Since I now know that if I don't supply a phone number, you'll just ignore me forever, I was diligent to provide all of the information requested, but again, 10 days passed with nary a whisper from Dell, either by phone of email. I called "customer service" (seriously, that's pretty clever and ironic calling that group "customer service", since I've tried as hard as I can just to become a Dell customer, and yet I've never received any service from Dell, except to be told that no, my computer was not purchased correctly) and was told that "the Web site pretty often doesn't work" and "if you want a computer, you should call instead of using the Web site."

This service agent informed me that after I ordered a computer on the site, an email was sent to me and to a sales rep, who types the order into an ordering system. He was unable to tell me why my order had not been entered into the system. He did, however sound: a. very patient and explanatory, like a good service person should; and b. exasperated that he was having to explain this broken Web site for the 44000th time. Poor guy, trapped in the morass of a broken company. I couldn't find it in my heart to berate a level-1 support dude for something that is obviously the fault of some CTO or Web director, so I came over here.

Since I do this stuff for a living, I feel compelled to tell you that yours is a horrendous workflow and it's no wonder that since June 2006, you've dropped ~$2500 worth of my orders on the floor. Last time that Dell refused to sell me a computer in a simple and timely manner, I got a handbuilt clone from a local builder who came within $25 of Dell's price on roughly the same quality equipment. He was able to build and deliver the computer that day via a Web site that he created himself He's fifteen years old. How much do you guys think you got charged for your Web site?

Trick question! Because no matter what you paid, you got straight up ripped off.

I notice that Dell's stock used to be $35 and now it's $25. I wonder if this is because investors are figuring out that a company that direct-sells computers over the Internet actually has to have a functioning Web ordering workflow.

A suggestion: scrap your Web ordering system; start over. The undertaking at which you have failed has been successfully implemented for many other Web stores. Your ordering system is the basis of your company! Shouldn't you ensure that it works properly? Isn't "selling computers" job #1 at Dell? How come I've ordered 2 computers and received zero?

I just thought I would give you some helpful suggestions from an attempted customer, but I suppose if you don't want my money, you won't be too interested in my opinion. I'm certainly not interested in any more of your Web experience.