Hello,

My name is Mike, I’m a Technical Analyst at Dell corporate headquarters in Round Rock, TX. I’m part of an internet outreach team developed to interact with the online community regarding technical questions and issues that customers face with Dell products.

I’m sorry about the way your call was handled. The Best Buy purchases can be a bit confusing when it comes to support. The basic version is this; Dell can help with basic troubleshooting such as determining if a problem is hardware or software related, showing you how to run diagnostics or PC restore, and determining error codes and stop codes. You would need to take the machine back to Best Buy if any service needed to be performed on it. Here is some documentation for you to look over which should hopefully keep any confusion out of any future support needs.

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/best_buy?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/policy/en/policy?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~section=010

Again, I apologize for the way you treated by the chat agent and the phone rep, but hopefully this should answer any remaining questions you have.

Thank you,

Mike
Dell customer advocate

Why didn’t you buy online from Dell? You must have overpaid going to Best Buy…they are always overpriced.

I NEVER buy from local stores like Best Buy and Circuit City (known by another name too). The customer service is non-existent and prices are too high. Why pay more money for the exact same thing?

Your problem wasn’t Dell–it was going to Best Buy.

That said, Dell and/or Best Buy should detail, exactly, how they expect a customer to request support, terms, etc. rather than just handing them some legalese warranty document.

Funny, the few times I’ve actually bought something at best buy (i.e. cheapo, ten dollar analog phone for testing or something like that) the cashiers always want to sell me service contracts that cost more than the item itself and I have to laugh. However, your purchase of a several hundred dollar (or more) computer results in confusion about support…this is why I can’t stand spending any money in these brick & mortars…their priorities stink!!

Good luck…

Nothing like an end run by the manufacturer, but did you contact the retail outlet and inquire as to their return policy on this item? I don’t see the need to go online to purchase everything IF the same item can be bought locally, as long as pricing is competitive. Comparative shopping is really not that difficult these days.

Nothing wrong with a brick & mortar outlet IF the prices are close enough (don’t forget shipping/handling charges on online purchases either!). IF you can get a better deal online, then of course, go for it. Also, you sometimes luck out on not getting zapped with sales tax. This normally makes a wash out of the s/h charges.

With Dell’s horrendous history of bad customer support, it defies logic why people still do business with them! AND yeah, the customer service rep from India is something you won’t find at GATEWAY. There I go again! LOL

Mike B.
Thanks so much for stopping by and providing the links.

Mike,
I believe that Best Buy should tell the customer who provides what and when.

Don,
I tend to agree. I shop brick & mortar when the price is right. I don’t miss calling India.

Ron,

It’s my pleasure! And to your point, Best Buy should be completely forthcoming with the terms of the support on any computer they sell, let it be a Dell or not. I’m sure the information is somewhere in the documentation they provide with the system, but it should be an upfront conversation during the sale.

In response to the brick and motor stores, I agree with Don. When factoring in the costs associated with shipping and handling, plus having to deal with time in transit, and even having to be home to sign for some deliveries; brick and motor outfits can usually offer a competitive edge with online stores. With that said, I too have shared in the silent chuckle brought about by the bombardment of up-sells, reward cards, special interest rates, etc… associated with a face to face transaction. Although I can find the humor that Mike finds in being pitched a warranty that costs more than the product itself, my initial snicker is in response to the fact that the sales representatives look almost as annoyed that they have to offer it to me as I do in having to turn it down, sometimes two or three times for the pushy ones.

As for Don’s comment about our “horrendous history of bad customer support” I’d have to say, my apologies if you were affected in any negative way by our support, but I’m sure you realize that every company has its horror stories. We’ve been actively trying to improve our support, even implementing a site where we give our customers the opportunity to give their own ideas on what we should offer or how to improve our business (and even offering rewards for the genuinely active ones). It’s already made drastic changes in our support offerings as well as system designs and business model. Feel free to take a look at ideastorm.com and join the conversation if you have something you feel would improve the business.

You’ll also see people like me going out online and actively engaging in conversations with our customers, helping to resolve any problems or questions they might have about our products or support. We respond to questions, problems, and comments on a multitude of platforms such as large forums, blogs (like this one), and even personal blogs from customers who are just posting to write about their day. Please don’t take this a shameful ploy to self promote, I’m just trying to drive the point that no, Dell hasn’t been perfect, in fact far from it, but we’re making the effort to try and better ourselves. I could go on for pages about the improvements and industry firsts we’ve implemented in attempt to give our customers a stronger voice, but as I said… no shameful ploy to self promote

Thank you Ron, for giving me the opportunity to chime in here! And thanks to your readers for the opinions, suggestions, and conversation.

Mike
Dell customer advocate

Mike, in all fairness to you and Dell, I think they make a good product. In fact, my son has a company-issued Dell laptop and has had absolutely no problems with it. He does work for a large commercial software company in Burlington MA (you can guess which one) and of course, they probably have direct contact people to call when a problem arises, which the average home buyer does not.

If Dell truly wants to get back on track and gain customer confidence, then they really need to have more spokespeople like yourself and GO PUBLIC and say what you just did in this blog. Maybe a 1 minute commercial in prime time saying something like: “hey people, we screwed up but we’re trying to fix the problem”. That would go a long way in winning back the loyalty of your customer base.

Don

Hi Don,
“Maybe a 1 minute commercial in prime time saying something like: “hey people, we screwed up but we’re trying to fix the problem”. That would go a long way in winning back the loyalty of your customer base.”

Two-thumbs up!

We consumers are a forgiving bunch, especially if a company admits they made an error in judgment. Dell was always noted for their superior service. It is time to gain that reputation and respect back from the public.

Just my two cents.

I just want to say that I believe Dell really is changing customer service and support for the better. I have a Dell laptop that I’ve had for 14 months now with no major problems so I decided to order a Dell Inspiron 531 desktop from WalMart’s online site and about 2 or 3 weeks after I got it I had a problem with it not recognizing the hard drive. There was confusion to begin with on Dell’s side on who was responsible for tech support on the problem but WalMart and Dell got it worked out inside of 30 minutes or so and then we got on with diagnosing the problem. At first we thought it was the hard drive so they shipped me another one and I got it 3 days after talking with tech support who also called me 2 or 3 times before I received the hard drive to see if it had arrived and I was ready to install it and see if it fixed the problem. It just so happened it arrived after I had spoken wtih the Dell tech support person so my husband, who is an industrial electrician and instrument tech, btw, and I swapped out the drives and I still had the same problem. So, my hubby decided to test out something he’s run into on much bigger systems and lo and behold it turned out to be the SATA 0 cable! The end that plugs into the hard drive was not fitting properly. So, the next day when the Dell rep called me I told them what happened and I sent back the hard drive and they sent me a new SATA 0 cable a few days later which fixed things perfectly. Oh, they also emailed me about all the shipments as well. I kept missing their calls after being sent the SATA 0 cable due to my father-in-law being in the hospital so I emailed them back to apologize and let them know that everthing is working perfectly now and they called back and left a nice message about being able to solve my problem so quickly. One rep even joked to me that we should let my hubby do tech support! Now, my Dell support program shows me that I have tech support and warranty service on my desktop til December of this year before the extended warranty I bought with WalMart kicks in from there. Also, I got a bit impatient with the first tech support person as she had to talk me through the stuff I knew wasn’t going to be the problem and she apologized for it taking so long several times as I was on the phone with her for about 2 hours or so. My hubby and I are pretty good with computers and have even built one for our oldest granddaughter with parts from my old computer when I would upgrade it but now that the prices are so much better from several years ago we decided to just start buying them instead of building them. Anyway, I have been totally satisfied with Dell’s response and I think I’m going to like their new support program you download to your computer as it brings up the firmware updates you need. The only downside to it is that you have to allow Dell to collect your service tag information and on an ongoing basis allow them to see the configuration of your hardware and software environment. They do say they cannot identify your computer with the information they collect but it still makes me uneasy as they are seeing my service tag number which has to be unique to my computer. All in all, though, I have to say I’m very happy with both my Dells and the desktop even has Vista on it and so far, knock on wood, it’s been running just fine after getting the SATA 0 cable problem fixed! Would I recommend Dell? Yes, and as a matter of fact my best friend’s HP and Sony Vaio desktops have gone completely and I’ve been trying to get her to buy a Dell. I think she’ll be greatly impressed if she does.

Thank you all for your stories and suggestions, it’s incredibly motivating to know that we can make an impact like this. Based on your comments, I think you all might take interest in reading the official Dell blog at direct2dell.com sometime. It’s edited by our digital media manager Lionel Menchaca, who is one of the most straight forward, upfront and honest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. He’s one that’s never afraid to go out on a limb and publicly say when we botch something, along with taking suggestions for correcting it and delivering our plan of action in making up for those mistakes. He’s also very active in responding to comments, so if you have something to say or something you’d like to talk about or would like covered, give him a shout… I’m sure he’ll be happy to oblige.

Dell has not only asked, but insisted that we, the digital media teams and online outreach team, drive customer advocacy hard here at Dell. That means giving unprecedented strength to the voice of our customers by delivering it (raw and unedited) straight to the people that can make changes on a global scale. Our success in getting things changed has been over the top; and it’s due to the comments of customers like you, and blogs like this. After all it’s you, our customers, that make our business. That message has been received loud and clear.

Again, I thank you for taking your time to comment and share, and Valorie, I’m glad to hear that you were able to get everything fixed. I know, first hand, how frustrating some of those support calls can be, and I appreciate you hanging in there with us. Don and Ron, I’ll pass on your idea about the commercial, it’s a good one, and I know our marketing teams are always looking for feedback like this.

Mike
Dell customer advocate

Hello,

I’m the guy who posted the original comment about my frustrating experience with the Dell computer from Best Buy. Thank you Ron for citing my original comment, and thank you Mike for the explanation.

First off, about the price– at $899, this machine was quite competitive with Dell’s online offerings. I haven’t compared every detail with the online product but the stripped down version on the Dell website goes for $999 and has the same amount of memory, the same CPU, and the same amount of hard drive space. Even if there’s something missing from the store model, like fewer USB hubs, I’m okay with that, part of the fun with this machine for me is its expandability.

Mike, you say “Dell can help with basic troubleshooting such as determining if a problem is hardware or software related, showing you how to run diagnostics or PC restore, and determining error codes and stop codes.” That’s exactly the kind of assistance I was trying to get. Instead, I was put through the spin cycle and hung out to dry.

I tried dealing with this through email and– you guessed it– I was told to contact Best Buy. I wrote back and never got a response (I could tell the email support person had not read the original message, he just fired off a boilerplate response that arrived 4 days after I sent the question to Dell). I also tried posting something about this on the Dell blog Direct2Dell as a response to an entry about the service policy for machines purchased at Best Buy. Interestingly, there are two posts, the first one says Dell will provide customer service for their machines, with a correction and apology by the blog author saying he was incorrect and that he would post later with the actual policy. The second post, the one I tried to comment on, basically says the same thing Mike says.

Mike, how do you reconcile the information on your website with the printed warranty that was in the box? I would think that the printed warranty would govern. Ironically it starts out with “PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY! IT CONTAINS THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE THAT GOVERN YOUR PURCHASE, UNLESS YOU HAVE A SEPARATE AGREEMENT WITH DELL. THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS, AS WELL AS LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS THAT MAY APPLY TO YOU.”

Have you read this document, Mike? Seriously, you should read it, I want to know where it says Dell is not responsible for the manufacturers warranty. For your reference, Mike, please refer to the Dell publication dated April 2007, Rev A02, with a P/N of YK181.

Even if Dell is not bound by this printed warranty, is Dell not responsible for the warranty represented on the Dell support site when I enter my Service Tag? To wit:

Next Business Day Parts Delivery: BBF 1/28/2008-4/28/2009 (409 days)
Next Business Day Parts Delivery DELL: 4/29/2009-7/27/2009 (89 days)
Technical Support - Phone Assistance DELL: 1/28/2008-4/28/2009 (409 days)
Technical Support - Phone Assistance DELL: 4/29/2009-7/27/2009 (89 days)

As you can see, the warranty for my machine is clearly spelled out, down to the day (as of a few days ago) and the type of support. Best Buy is responsible for parts, but doesn’t this really mean that Best Buy is responsible for ordering the parts from Dell, who presumably will provide them to Best Buy at no cost? That’s how it worked for the last computer (a Sony) that I bought from Best Buy. I brought it to the Good Guys counter and they dealt with Sony.

If I’m lucky, a covered part will fail in the 89-day honeymoon I have with Dell AFTER April 29, 2009, when the standard Dell contract directly with me kicks in.

Right now, I am hopeful there will be no hardware issues. However, in the next 500 days or so, I am likely to have a technical/ diagnostic type question, even if this is only because the Dell-provided computer scan is telling me there’s an issue. Mike, can you tell me who I can contact at Dell in the event that I need technical assistance for my XPS 420? I have tried every avenue I could think of short of showing up on your doorstep– chat support, phone support, email support, even posting on a blog about this issue. (As described below, I also stopped by the retail outlet where I bought the machine.) At the end of my rope, I was hoping that maybe I would find something about this in the user-run forum on the Dell site– no luck there either.

Mike, for that contact info, please don’t tell me to use the customer support contact info on your website. That’s how I reached all these dead ends to begin with. If you need my email and would like to contact me directly, I give permission for Ron to send it to you (you do have it, right Ron?).

Regards,

DB

(The following is the message I tried to post on the direct2dell blog, with a few more juicy details regarding the situation. It was probably too specific, but I was hoping the blog author would have pity on me and send me an email).

Loyal and very happy Dell customer here. In particular, I have been extremely impressed with the various customer service improvements Dell has made over the last two years or so (a HUGE improvement over the experience I had with my first Dell back in 1999). I love the Dell Support Center widget, it makes diagnostics a snap. My only other PC experience is with Sony, a company with no customer service focus, and HP, which seems about on par with Dell.

I’ve had an XPS M1710 for a couple of years– incredible machine. A couple of weeks ago I was at Best Buy casually looking at desktops (my Sony was on its last legs) and I immediately gravitated to an XPS 420. I found a store with one in stock (this particular item is especially in demand at Best Buy, it seems) and when the Good Guys salesperson asked me if I wanted to purchase their extended warranty I told him “no thanks, I am very happy with Dell’s standard warranty” and that was that.

After I got the baby up and running I ran the standard Automated Scan and it identified a couple of problems (nothing major as the machine runs like a dream). There was a button on the right that said “tell me more”. I clicked on it thinking that I would be directed to a FAQ sheet but instead I was kicked into a chat with a Dell service person. He started helping me but as soon as he realized that the computer was from Best Buy he told me to call Geek Squad and basically dropped the chat.

Instantly, my phone rang. It was an automated call from Dell customer service to check on whether I had any remaining issues because they knew the chat was terminated prematurely. As soon as the lady heard I was a Best Buy customer she also refused to provide support and told me to call Geek Squad.

At this point I decided to do some research. I poured over the printed Limited Warranty in the box. Everything clearly states that Dell is the responsible party. I find nothing about a third party being responsible if the product is purchased from a retail outlet other than Dell.

Then I used the Dell Support Center to find the warranty associated with my service tag, here’s what it says:

Next Business Day Parts Delivery: BBF 1/28/2008-4/28/2009 (409 days)
Next Business Day Parts Delivery DELL: 4/29/2009-7/27/2009 (89 days)
Technical Support - Phone Assistance DELL: 1/28/2008-4/28/2009 (409 days)
Technical Support - Phone Assistance DELL: 4/29/2009-7/27/2009 (89 days)

Armed with this information, I called Dell customer service. The state-side service rep was very sympathetic as I explained how Dell’s own documentation is steering me to Dell, starting with the button that called up the chat. However, after consulting with his supervisor each time I made another point, all he could do is– you guessed it– tell me to call Geek Squad. At one point his supervisor told him that my status was the equivalent of an HP customer calling Dell for help.

So I took the advice and I called Geek Squad. I explained to the lady that I had an error message from a Dell Scan and I am trying to interpret what it means. She promptly told me that if I want to talk to anyone at Geek Squad I would need to shell out 49 bucks. When I protested, she suggested that I stop by the Geek Squad counter at Best Buy.

I did just that and I was told by Best Buy/ Geek Squad staff that EVERYTHING they sell comes with a manufacturers warranty. I asked for some kind of proof and he called up my machine on their retail website and pointed to the “1 year warranty” line saying that this always means manufacturers warranty (and I believe him, since it says the same thing for all their devices, including stuff that Geek Squad wouldn’t know how to fix).

Now I see the policy you refer to in this blog post, but I have to say it’s a bit vague. It says that you are supposed to take your computer to Geek Squad in order to get it fixed, but it doesn’t say whether the actual service is provided by Dell. My Sony laptop was bought at Best Buy and when the hard drive died I took it to Geek Squad and they sent it to Sony for me.

If you look at the above citation from my Service Tag warranty it just says that Best Buy is responsible for “Next Business Day Parts Delivery,” whereas Dell is responsible for phone support (and I assume this would include chat support too).

Right now I am not having any problems with the machine. In the event something goes wrong, I will insist on Dell support because the warranty that came with my machine says I am entitled to Dell support. Is there a way to get clarification from someone at Dell about this who is high enough up the ladder to actually look at the documentation I am providing regarding the warranty that Dell is telling me I have with them?

After visiting the store I attempted to deal with this through email support and, once again, I was told to call Best Buy. However, the email support guy didn’t respond to anything I said, he just reflexively told me to go away when he saw the phrase “Best Buy.”

Correction to the above, at one point I said “Good Guys” when I meant Best Buy. Good Guys, may they rest in peace.

Hi DB,
Yes I have your email address.

Thanks for the concise explanation of what has happened to you.
All the best, Ron

thanks ron, but I think the appropriate descriptor is “verbose”…

DB
Let us see if we get a response.

no response but at least we achieved one thing: this is the first item that pops up when you search “best buy dell customer service” on google.

even when I logged out of my google account (ie not tailored to my search history, I think).

as for Live Search, it appears nowhere. the first entry is best buy’s main webpage, the second is the direct2dell blog post I refer to above. it turns out Mike’s boss actually posted my entry, but no response yet:

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/01/14/41166.aspx

Hi DB,
I emailed Michael at Dell as well with the additional comments you have provided. Let me know if he gets back to you or not.

Regards, Ron

DB,

I’m sorry for the dealy in replying. I’ve sent you an email to the address that Ron has forwarded to me. Once I have all of this cleared up I’ll post back here with the results.

… and thanks to Ron for keeping me on my toes!

Mike
Dell customer advocate

This is directed to Mike, the customer service guy from Dell. It’s a little crazy to post this here, but anything is worth a try at this point.

For two days now, Dell service has made one bumbling mistake after another on a service call for my son. They totally got his phone number wrong on Tuesday so never showed up and yesterday the person that finally called him never passed along the ticket to the actual tech. As far as I know he’s still waitng today (I’m afraid to call him).

The mother board on his computer has died and the computer is still under warrenty. He’s in a real bind without his computer since it has several specialized programs specific to his classes–engineering programs that you can’t find on any old computer.

So Mike, if you see this, please feel free to e-mail me at doribeth@hotmail.com

FYI, this never got resolved. As I suspected, I was the first of many to experience this problem. Google “best buy dell warranty problems” and you will find other reports starting to trickle in from customers who have been burned by Dell on this. Despite my repeated requests, I never was able to obtain the warranty that spells out their responsibilities toward servicing Best Buy-purchased units.

Hi DB,
Thanks for the update.

From Mike:
“Why didn�t you buy online from Dell? You must have overpaid going to Best Buy�they are always overpriced.”
–> Dell notebooks prices at Bestbuy are better then Dell site and it does not take weeks to get the PC.
“Your problem wasn�t Dell�it was going to Best Buy”
–> I think the problem is Dell it self, Any Computer/electronic company offer fisrt years warranty on hardware, for example if i buy a HP, Emachine at bestbuy or Circuit City or Wal-Mart and i call the manufacture for hardware issues they support that customer, I have never heard of a company not supporting their own product for the first year if it is a hardware malfunction if the unit was not purchase from the manufacture it self.
I think Dell it’s wrong on this issue, Bestbuy just sales the product just like any other product in their stores. If i buy a Xbox in bestbuy and the power supply failed within the manufactures warranty should you call bestbuy or Microsoft???
Mike�s answer for dell not supporting their own product sound like a sales pitch.

..and Dell Technical Support has confirmed that they will not support Bestbuy customers that purchase Dell’s PC’s/Notebooks if there is a hardware malfuction in the PC.
What Companies offer fist year hardware warranty if unit was purchase at any electronic store:
ALL of them except Dell.