Don't buy a Dell

[Silound]

If I understand you correctly, you were attempting to make a purchase, and pay for it using gift cards you already had in your possession? What exactly was the problem? Were the employees not knowledgeable in how to handle the transaction? Was there a language barrier issue?

Your original assessment, however...that I have to disagree with rather strongly. The frustration is understandable, but you haven't told us exactly what happened. You may have had a bad experience with them, it's understandable, it happens to almost everyone with just about any company possible (including myself and Dell a few times). More factors than we can think of go into making a company operate smoothly, and just one random, seemingly insignificant factor can cause the whole system to come to a crashing grinding halt in mere moments.

Being the the tech field for over 12 years, I have absolutely nothing against Dell as a company other than the period where the call center was outsourced to Asia somewhere. I generally recommend Dell products to most people purely because of the superb warranty service. And I've ordered numerous computers via phone and web orders before from Dell with not a single problem on their side.

[forgop]

Originally Posted by Silound

If I understand you correctly, you were attempting to make a purchase, and pay for it using gift cards you already had in your possession? What exactly was the problem? Were the employees not knowledgeable in how to handle the transaction? Was there a language barrier issue?

Your original assessment, however...that I have to disagree with rather strongly. The frustration is understandable, but you haven't told us exactly what happened. You may have had a bad experience with them, it's understandable, it happens to almost everyone with just about any company possible (including myself and Dell a few times). More factors than we can think of go into making a company operate smoothly, and just one random, seemingly insignificant factor can cause the whole system to come to a crashing grinding halt in mere moments.

Being the the tech field for over 12 years, I have absolutely nothing against Dell as a company other than the period where the call center was outsourced to Asia somewhere. I generally recommend Dell products to most people purely because of the superb warranty service. And I've ordered numerous computers via phone and web orders before from Dell with not a single problem on their side.

Yesterday at 3pm, I chatted with a Dell sales rep. He said I could use a promo gift card (card in possession) with regularly purchased gift cards. Dell has a special that for every $300 in gift cards you purchase, you get an additional gift card. Thus if I'm spending ~$750 for a computer, it's a no brainer to buy and purchase with gift cards. After all, it's like an additional $100 off, right?

I purchase 2 gift cards (wouldn't allow me to buy 1 card for $600). Immediate notice to call and verify. Within 15 minutes, first card arrives via email as she said both would be emailed. An hour later, still nothing. I call back and said never got the 2nd card. She said she resent it and would have it in 3-5 minutes (no, it's not in my spam folder). Never happened. I call again and then get them to email to an alternate address and shows up. By that time, the outlet sales is closed and not a live person to talk to and I'm passed back and forth between departments, put on hold waiting to speak to a "supervisor" (that never happened by the way). The problem is Dell's site doesn't allow you to use more than one gift card per purchase, although you can with a live person on the phone.

Just finished another 45 minutes of calls and from what I'm told, they're not even certain if my order was processed. I have a order acknowledgement from Dell stating the system, pricing, etc. They won't know until tonight if the order actually went through or not. My gift card still has the full balance on it.

So now, I'm between 4.5 to 5 hours on the phone with someone from Dell and there may not even be an order in yet. If the order is not confirmed tonight, I'm calling the gift card dept and demanding my money back. I'll get something else instead.

[Silound]

Originally Posted by forgop

Yesterday at 3pm, I chatted with a Dell sales rep. He said I could use a promo gift card (card in possession) with regularly purchased gift cards. Dell has a special that for every $300 in gift cards you purchase, you get an additional gift card. Thus if I'm spending ~$750 for a computer, it's a no brainer to buy and purchase with gift cards. After all, it's like an additional $100 off, right?

I purchase 2 gift cards (wouldn't allow me to buy 1 card for $600). Immediate notice to call and verify. Within 15 minutes, first card arrives via email as she said both would be emailed. An hour later, still nothing. I call back and said never got the 2nd card. She said she resent it and would have it in 3-5 minutes (no, it's not in my spam folder). Never happened. I call again and then get them to email to an alternate address and shows up. By that time, the outlet sales is closed and not a live person to talk to and I'm passed back and forth between departments, put on hold waiting to speak to a "supervisor" (that never happened by the way). The problem is Dell's site doesn't allow you to use more than one gift card per purchase, although you can with a live person on the phone.

Just finished another 45 minutes of calls and from what I'm told, they're not even certain if my order was processed. I have a order acknowledgement from Dell stating the system, pricing, etc. They won't know until tonight if the order actually went through or not. My gift card still has the full balance on it.

So now, I'm between 4.5 to 5 hours on the phone with someone from Dell and there may not even be an order in yet. If the order is not confirmed tonight, I'm calling the gift card dept and demanding my money back. I'll get something else instead.

Ahh, now that I understand the problem I can see the angst that would arise from the situation. It's a problem when these kinds of things happen, and there's certainly no excuse for not having someone on staff at all times that can handle the situation. At the very least, they could have postponed the purchase until someone more experienced was around to make sure it was processed correctly.


Personally, it wouldn't turn me off from Dell, but I agree with the earlier comment. I would send out more than a few emails with some constructive criticism towards the situation. I only emphasize constructive, because in all of the times I've sent emails and letters, both scathing and constructive, I get a LOT more positive responses back from the constructive ones (Macy's gave me a $50 in-store voucher good for 24 hours because of a snafu over a ~$35 billing issue online last year).

Good luck with dealing with the problem. I hope Dell makes it right for you and you're satisfied with the eventual purchase!