The Great Dell Rip-off…or Why Dell Has Lost Its Market Leadership
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My saga with Dell continues. While I try to be a good customer, I am thwarted at every turn. First I am lied to by Dell Sales Rep Matthew Konk, who tells me he can configure the same computer I want (a 6400 Inspiron in the Small Business section) in the home and home office section ( an E1505) for “only an extra $100 or so.
The problem, outside of him saying some terrible things about his own company and specifically the computers built by the Small Business division, is that he was NOT quoting me the same system. For instance, the notebook he quoted me had integrated video - the 6400, which was cheaper, included a 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 video card.
So I went back to try a different configuration on Small Business. I know, I know I am a glutton for punishment. I just find it hard to believe that a company would work SO HARD not to sell me a notebook.
This time I configured the 6400 with less RAM but a better battery (an 85WHr 9 cell Lithium Ion battery versus the standard 53WHr version) and added 1 yr of Gold Service. It came out to $875 before taxes; shipping on all systems was free. The similarly equipped E1505 came out to $1139. More than a $250 difference.
I was, contrary to a statement by Mr. Konk, able to configure the system with an Intel Core Duo T2250, which was the same as the E1505. He had told me earlier that the reason the price was better on the 6400 was it came with an “inferior processor” because the business division was willing to sacrifice processing power in order to sell systems cheaper.
The final straw however was when I was told that I could not use my Dell Preferred Account to buy the Small Business system. Strangely, I went through this same routine three or for years ago when I wanted a 4600 desktop and the home version only offered the 533 FSB non-hyperthread processor. The same computer in Small Business had the 800 FSB Hyperthreaded version. I wanted the hyperthreading for lots of reasons, but mostly because it sounded cooler. Somehow they managed to cut through the red tape and process the Small Business system on my DPA. No more, apparently.
If anyone is looking for a reason why Dell is getting its ass kicked in the marketplace, this is another good place to look. I finally had to go to the HP site and source a notebook. After being a Dell junky for all these years it was a pretty difficult thing to do, but I did.
Thanks, Dell, for the memories.
[tags]Dell, Dell Computer, Dell Financial Services, Laptops, Notebooks[/tags]
8 Comments
RichardatDELL
February 15th, 2007
at 2:23pm
Hi there
I hopped on the hobo train and didnt find this a ramble….although it was a little bit of a rough ride. On behalf of Dell, I am so sorry to learn about your experience and want you to know we apologize for the difficulties you have experienced.
Its not suppose to be difficult to get our customers the customized configurations they want. We are revamping a number of processes that came with rapid growth and have led to complexity and bureaucracy. We know we need to make fixes and we are onto them. The experience you had is now one more example of the kinds of things we will solve.
While that is no excuse, and it doesnt solve your issue, or the fact we lost a customer, I want to thank you for taking time to bring this to our attention. I also want to let you know that Dell has heard you….better now than never.
Please feel free to email me directly if you have not bought a system elsewhere and I would be pleased to stick handle the situation and get it solved!
abenjamin
February 20th, 2007
at 2:07pm
I sent Richard a private email. We’ll see if he can truly lend a hand or if it is just lip service.
Stay tuned!
RichardatDELL
February 21st, 2007
at 8:24pm
got it and on it….thanks Ben :-).
By the way, hope you will also check out our latest initiative Ideastorm http://www.dellideastorm.com
because I think you will find some ideas that mirror yours, so you might want to vote for them. smile again.
chill
May 2nd, 2007
at 9:22am
Try being 1 day late with a payment…min payment $29 finance charge $26 [gee should only take me 10 years to pay for a $1000 laptop]. late fee $30.00 I HATE DELL SENT THEM FULL AMOUNT AND WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER PRODUCT FROM DELL.
stencil
April 20th, 2008
at 7:50pm
Bought an XPS system 1 yr ago. Has had little quirks since day one, beginning with the anti-virus’s inability to upgrade, followed by the dvd-r meltdown, all along not being able to make changes in msconfig due to lack of authority. All of this and others were patiently being lip-serviced by the warrantee group at Dell until last week when it expired and I was told that, from now on, if I had an issue it would cost me $40 per phone call. None of my issues have been solved, it has been over a year and almost $3000 and I still have a craptacular computer. I’m sorry HP that I ever left. It won’t happen again. (Hell, my next computer will probably be a Mac…)
nike
July 6th, 2008
at 1:06pm
I was very excited to get my dell laptop. it performed well except for the housing which cracked in several places even though i was always very delicate with it.
this was my first and last dell. i financed through dell financial and can say that it has been the worst credit experience imaginable.
please take it from me and don’t make the mistake yourself. avoid dell. i even went so far as to get a macbook pro.
take that dell :)
Angie Donald
August 1st, 2008
at 4:20pm
I am looking to sue DELL. I am with a debt consolidation company that pays my DELL bill on time. Instead, my bill has never gone down. DELL claims its late and I am charged on every bill. Can’t talk to anyone, service is horrible, they need to be exposed for the horrid company they truely are! If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
Thanks!
dude
November 7th, 2008
at 1:49pm
i got lied to by dell. i was at a dell kiosk and i asked the sales rep if i could up the video card in a laptop after i purchased it. i purchased a vostro 1400 with an integrated card and the rep said that i could easily send back in the system and get the card upgraded if it did not suit my needs. after 2 days of having the system, i decided to call in and ask for the upgrade. not knowing much about laptops, the dell rep on the phone told me i can’t up it and that it would cost me the same amount as a new system just get to discrete video card. i’m still very angry about it, because dell keeps telling me that i have to buy another laptop from them to get video card. dell’s drivers also suck very much.
don’t bother getting a dell, trust me