3/6/09 – updated below.
This falls under the category of how not to do business in a sagging economy.
About a week ago, I called Dell to order a new LCD screen for a laptop (which cost about half of what I could have spent to buy a brand new laptop). I explained to the CSR that I needed the part no later than 3/6. She informed me that Dell could not guarantee an exact date of delivery, but that it would arrive on or before 3/11.
Since 3/11 was too late, I asked if there was any way to get it shipped to me by an earlier date. Thankfully, if I agreed to pay an extra $16 for next day shipping, they could get it to me on or before 3/5. Perfect!
Well.. yesterday was 3/5… no LCD screen.
Called the Dell automated order status line and the nice voicebot on the other end told me my order had been cancelled. Uh.. what? Hello, voicebot.. how did my order get canceled. Voicebots are not real good with answering stuff like that, so I pressed 2 and was transferred to a real live human…
Well “D” (will use first initials to be nice here) confirmed my order had indeed been canceled, but great news, they submitted a new order on my behalf and the part would get here on or before 3/11. Oh how wonderful… the same exact date it was scheduled to come if I didn’t pay the $16 for overnight delivery.
I politely (I swear, I was very polite) informed “D” that this was unacceptable and asked to speak with a manager, which landed me on hold for about 15 minutes.
Thinking they had somehow accidentally lost track of me, I hung up, dialed back in, and went through all the prompts until I reached my next human, “M”.
Well, “M” explained that my order had been cancelled and that Dell had submitted a new order on my behalf and, great news, the part would be here on or before 3/11… ummm.. already knew that. After some debate, finally convinced Mark it was time to really connect me with a manager since Dell was about to lose a customer of over 10 years.
Enter “MM”, the manager. She listened patiently as I explained that I needed the part no later than 3/6, that if it is not going to arrive until 3/11 it might as well arrive 3/12, 3/13, 3/14… whenever because I don’t really care how many days it takes to get here if not by 3/6.
I was “surprised” to learn that Dell had canceled my order and submitted a new order on my behalf and, great news, it would be here on or before 3/11. Guess they don’t pay managers to speak off the script either.
I did learn something new though. “D” and “M” had told me the part was currently “in production” and that is why it couldn’t be shipped. “MM” informed me that the part was in stock, but could not explain why it hadn’t been shipped, could not explain why the original order was canceled, could not explain why I was never informed it was canceled, could not explain why, after the order was canceled and the delivery date moved out one week, I was not contacted to determine if I still wanted the part on the delayed time line and… and… could not explain why I still had to pay $16 for overnight shipping when I no longer wanted the part shipped overnight.
Apparently, Dell can make PCs, they just have no clue how to use them to do such complex tasks as sending emails to customers about canceled or changed orders or changing shipping method prior to shipping or even waiving the $16 fee when they screw up a customer’s order.
So… doesn’t look like Dell and I will be continuing our business relationship after this current transaction. But they certainly helped provide Thinkin’Bout Stuff with a perfect illustration of how not to do business in a sagging economy.
For that I am truly grateful…
3/6/09: A part arrived four days after the original delivery date. I say “a part” because it wasn’t “the part” I needed.
So… I called the folks at Dell, explained they had sent the wrong part (probably just a miscommunication between me and the CSR who was clearly not located somewhere in the USA) and asked for return instructions. That’s when my blood pressure spiked.
You see, this rather expensive part could be returned as long as I agreed to pay a 15% restocking fee!
To their credit, after I calmed down they agreed to waive the restocking fee.
And so ends my business relationship with Dell.
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