Even though Dell has spent millions in trying to improve its customer satisfaction rating, the #2 PC maker once again finds itself with a low rating. The Austin American Statesman is reporting that Dell will be once again be dinged in the next customer satisfaction poll being released today. The article states:

Dell Inc.’s customer-satisfaction ranking dropped sharply in a nationwide survey due out today, losing the ground it regained in last year’s poll and raising new questions about the company’s efforts to improve its service levels.

Once the highest-ranked computer maker on the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Dell dropped to one of the PC industry’s lowest scores with a 74. The 5 percent drop returned its score to 2005 levels, when the company’s service and support operations were the source of scorn from many consumers.

Dell refocused on customer service last year and said it would spend an additional $150 million on improvements. The company has beefed up its call center staffs in the U.S. and overseas, and it has developed a new arsenal of tools it can use to tap into a customer’s computer and remotely fix it or give it a regular tuneup.

Judging by the widely watched ACSI survey, it appeared that those efforts started to pay off last year. The company rebounded to a score of 78.

A strong customer experience once was a calling card for Dell, which was the ACSI’s highest-ranking computer company from 1999 to 2003. Since then, Dell has dipped while Apple Inc. has jumped to the top spot.

So it would appear that Dell still has a lot of catching up to do in order to regain the customer service edge it once enjoyed.

Though I have set up, serviced, and repaired many a Dell system, I have never personally owned a Dell system myself. So I would like to ask what your Dell experience has been?

Comments welcome.

Complete article here.

Tags: dell, customer, satisfaction, experience