IT Professionals

Dell Has An Image Problem

Posted by on Sep 8, 2008 | 5 Comments

Not even considering the circus of events I went through when I foolishly believed Dell was capable of selecting a shipping agency with a clue, it seems that overall, their choice of shipping companies has really begun to further erode the Dell image. What is interesting is when I speak with Dell users on the enterprise side of thing, it’s all roses. Helpful tech support, competent deliveries of new items, the works.

Yet somehow the ball is dropped when it comes to Dell non-enterprise customers. Why? That is a great question – because honestly, some of the PC products are pretty good. Truth be told, if you buy a Dell product from Costco, I have found that the buyer ends up with a fairly good product. Best of all, they do not end up with the nightmare of hoping that ordering it through the mail/online will translate into a lot of wasted time waiting for a machine that may or may not make it to the destination!

What say you? When building it is not really an option, order the PC/Mac online or buy it local? Hit the comments, let’s hear the verdict.

  • AG Wright

    Order your Dell from Wal-mart and pick it up at the store?

    AG

  • Dennis Finn

    I moved here a little over 2 years ago and as I repair computers as a sideline, I regularly receive packages from most of the major shipping companies. Without a doubt DHL is by far the worst, even when you call to complain about the service they are reluctant to make anyone accountable for the error, they will just send you a couple of free overnight letter envelopes. I can remember one overnight package that was shipped from Montreal which is about 3 hours from me, took 10 days to arrive! I called them everyday and excuse after excuse I heard and the package was in the depot waiting to be delivered. They even had made 2 delivery’s to me in that time. Calling their corporate offices was an exercise in spin control, they are well versed and very ineffective. The cost of package was refunded and I did get 6 free overnight letters, but, they will never get any business from me.

    Unfortunately it would seem that it is a fact of life in this country that everything is being outsourced to get the cheapest labor possible. DHL is a German company that needed to spend millions lobbying members of congress and obfuscate the court system until they were allowed to operate in this country. They are just another example of what happens when our elected officials listen to the corporate dollar before the good of the American people. Globalization is the buzzword for the corporate world these days, it’s just their way to tell us they will go wherever they want to avoid the environmental laws of this country and to find the cheapest labor possible. Rather than build the things we are good at and send them overseas, we move the company to where it can be made the cheapest! Dell is no different. Just last week they made it known that they were going to sell off their factories worldwide, to the Chinese no less. It’ll all be over soon as there is little else left to sell.

  • James McCourt

    Del will not even speak to you for orders unless you first give them your corporate demographics. That indicates contempt for smaller purchasers. Therefore they loose that market demographic. No one who buys less than 200 machines a year should consider Dell.

  • bern muller

    I have been receiving packages from DHL for around 3 years. At first they delivered to the wrong address, and seemed slow. But quickly shaped up. Now, I don’t notice any difference between UPS, Fedex and DHL, at least in our area. UPS and Fedex tracking are still a bit better, but that is improving also.

    I have, over the years, purchased 3 refurbished Dell laptops, and one refurbished Dell desktop from Dell. All have worked perfectly, and when I have had a problem, the instant messaging help line has with rare exceptions been able to steer me in the right direction, if not solve the problem directly. When I have a bad experience, I will look elsewhere, but so far that has not been necessary.

  • Andrew

    Order from the Dell small business department, it’s a whole different world with different support and often you can get an equivalently spec-ed system for a lower price than the normal home consumer division.