Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Way to go, Dell
You asshats made my mom cry. After two hours of your special brand of Dell Hell the frustration overcame her and she cried. You even forced her to eventually be unkind to your phone drones, something that is highly uncharacteristic. A one and a half year-old desktop computer crapped out today. After spending all that time on the phone and talking to God knows how many people she was told that it was a hardware problem; either the power source, the motherboard, or the processor. So she could start ordering parts and trying them one-by-one. They recommended she start with the cheapest. Thanks for nothing, asshats.

She called me wanting to know what to do. Should they buy a new computer? Could they retrieve the stuff saved on their hard drive? I recommended that they take it to someone who could put their hands on it and isolate the problem without making them buy parts to try out one by one until someone decides it was a software problem after all.

I've been through Dell Hell myself. All I wanted was to have the fact that I was a Dell preferred customer reflected on my online account. I needed to eliminate a second account and consolidate the information. You would think I was asking for the Red Sea to be parted. I eventually talked to twelve different people and was passed back and forth between three departments, because no one thought it was their responsibility. It's an infuriating experience because each time you're passed to a new person you are trying not to fry them with the sins of all who have come before them. But eventually you can't take it anymore, the total bureaucratic indifference of each phone drone because none of this is really their fault. They could give a shit if your blood pressure is about to land you in the hospital if you're asked to hold one more frickin' time. And the pisser is...it isn't their fault, so if you lose your cool then you're the asshole. (This happens in doctor's offices too, btw)

Dell is truly f***ing over their brand. I have bought probably twenty Dells over the last few years. I recommend them to friends and family. People depend on me for advice and help with their computers. Dell has lost my trust and it will be difficult for me to recommend them or bring myself to purchase from them again. The pity of the situation is that I don't know who does it better. (And please don't recommend Apple because I won't go there).

I'm sorry, Noni. I know you bought that Dell on my advice. Every brand makes lemons, but the trip through Dell Hell is a specialty of theirs that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
Written at 9:20 PM by Highlandgal.
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