X3i dead - Dell customer service is horrible

russp · 10-28-04, 10:43 AM

I have loved my X3i ever since getting it back in February. However, recently it up a died completely. Its not the battery as it won't work even in the cradle. Well, its still under warranty so I thought, no problem, Dell should take care of it. I'm hoping they eventually will but after 2.5 weeks I still have yet to get any info. from them on how to return it. I'm waiting for some sort of customer info. to be corrected in one of their databases before they can proceed. Every 2-3 days I keep getting told it will take 2-3 days before its done. Horrible.

Resellerratings gives Dell a 3.7 average rating while the average reseller rating is 7.5 Customer service is rated at 1.65. From my experience so far Dell absolutely deserves this rating. I know for one I will never buy from them again after this experience as no amount of savings are worth this hassle. Terrible.

FallN · 10-28-04, 07:19 PM

I think the general consensus is that the end-user customer/tech support is horrible. With outsourcing to 3rd World countries like India and Mexico, it's hard to find anyone that knows what they are talking about and you actually being able to understand them!

I'm dealing with Dell tech support right now. They still haven't resolved my problem or issued me a replacement. I'm waiting for a "call" from one of their tech support ppl... what a pain in the ass.

justinnike83 · 10-28-04, 08:54 PM

email tech support. customer service never responds to emails

FallN · 10-28-04, 09:07 PM

Email and what? Wait HOURS for a cryptic response, then send them another email and what? Wait for another cryptic response? Wash, rinse repeat?

No thanks.

I tried the "Dell Chat" but no one ever seems available.

I'm still waiting for someone to call me back 8 hours after calling... great Tech Support you have there, Michael Dell.

justinnike83 · 10-28-04, 09:20 PM

i got responses within 12 hours from tech support, but no luck still with customer service

FallN · 10-28-04, 09:40 PM

^^^ You have a valid point there... but no one should have to wait 12 hours+ to get help from a huge company like Dell.

fdcisco · 10-29-04, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by FallN

I think the general consensus is that the end-user customer/tech support is horrible. With outsourcing to 3rd World countries like India and Mexico, it's hard to find anyone that knows what they are talking about and you actually being able to understand them!

I'm dealing with Dell tech support right now. They still haven't resolved my problem or issued me a replacement. I'm waiting for a "call" from one of their tech support ppl... what a pain in the ass.

This all sounds strange Dell's PDA/wireless support is in Texas. PDA tech is not outsourced, unless this happened overnight. When contacting Dell it's best to follow the phone prompt and use you express service code that should get you directly to PDA/wireless support in Round Rock TX. If you can call during business hours, this will insure that you don't get switched overseas.

toranut97 · 10-30-04, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by fdcisco

This all sounds strange Dell's PDA/wireless support is in Texas. PDA tech is not outsourced, unless this happened overnight. When contacting Dell it's best to follow the phone prompt and use you express service code that should get you directly to PDA/wireless support in Round Rock TX. If you can call during business hours, this will insure that you don't get switched overseas.

Well, my first axim had to be replaced when I had the ever-popular bent and broken pins issue. Now the replacement (reconditioned one) has taken to crashing regularly, and according to Ashwani, Abhishek and Partha -- the three tech support folks who have been responding to my emails -- I will get a replacement again. Sure sounds to me like the email function from the web page is routed to India or Pakistan.

I have no major gripe with the tech support I have dealt with -- but I am a bit fed up with the Axim itself. My iPaq had a lousy battery, but it lasted for a couple years. My Handspring Visor never croaked (I got tired of monochromatic display) and here I have had the Axim for less than a year and it is getting replaced for the second time. That is not much of a record, I think.

I love my other Dells -- laptop and desktop -- but I doubt I would buy another Axim!

Donna

djm3801 · 11-02-04, 07:54 AM

Wife got an AXIM refrub where the wireless light would not work. Tech on the phone ran through a few items, determined the unit to be bad, when I told him she was leaving on business soon he expressed a replacement. No complaints. Obviously the tech was in India, but great job.

Oddly, when we went to pull out the battery, the old unit had a weird issue and "blew up" - screen has a dark mark on it and unit is dead!! Glad we got the replacement. Apparently there was more wrong with that than we thought!

Dan M

russp · 11-02-04, 09:00 AM

Update:

Well, finally today UPS is going to pick up my Axim and take it back to Dell for replacement. The idiots on email support just jerked me around and its almost like they never read the history of the emails when replying. They finally acted like Dell already had my Axim but did not know what was going on so they suggested I call the support number which I did. By talking to a live person (again, someone from or in India) I was able to actually get good and quick service. Let's just hope they send my replacement quickly. Hence, the moral at least so far is to absolutely forget using the email support system as it's a disorganized crappy service.

toranut97 · 11-02-04, 09:58 PM

Well, Axim #3 arrived today and died after about 3 hours of use. I am so

FRUSTRATED!!!!

I am going to try calling support this time and see if anything can be worked out. This is getting ridiculous.

Donna

russp · 11-11-04, 02:30 PM

Update:
Dell is still messing around. Phone support is only better in that you can repeat the same information to them 5 times in a row on a single phone call rather than 5 separate emails over 5 days. I have given them my service tag # at least 7-8 times now. Dell clearly has no central database to track your issues. This should all be linked to your customer number but clearly is not.

Moral of the story is that while Dell has some nice stuff it is not worth it given their horrible customer service. What is really stupid of Dell is that they don't realize that not only have they made it so I won't buy from them at home but now I won't buy from them at work either, which represents many tens of thousands of dollars in Linux workstations. Foolish.

Originally Posted by russp

Update:

Well, finally today UPS is going to pick up my Axim and take it back to Dell for replacement. The idiots on email support just jerked me around and its almost like they never read the history of the emails when replying. They finally acted like Dell already had my Axim but did not know what was going on so they suggested I call the support number which I did. By talking to a live person (again, someone from or in India) I was able to actually get good and quick service. Let's just hope they send my replacement quickly. Hence, the moral at least so far is to absolutely forget using the email support system as it's a disorganized crappy service.

jcomea · 12-07-04, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by fdcisco

This all sounds strange Dell's PDA/wireless support is in Texas. PDA tech is not outsourced, unless this happened overnight. When contacting Dell it's best to follow the phone prompt and use you express service code that should get you directly to PDA/wireless support in Round Rock TX. If you can call during business hours, this will insure that you don't get switched overseas.

Wrong. Dell's Axim support is based in India.

russp · 12-07-04, 09:08 PM

Originally Posted by jcomea

Wrong. Dell's Axim support is based in India.

Yep, that's right. I was handled by someone in India when I called in. It seemed like some of the email support was handled by an American but most of the email support was Indian also. In any case, I finally got my Axim back but was lied to at the end about Dell replacing the battery I had sent in. They never gave me instructions about what to send in and I included the battery. They sent me one back without a battery, said they would send one, but never did. They truly suck.

However, the Axims are so dang cheap I would still likely buy one. Just don't count on any kind of good support. Dell is pretty much like Taco Bell. Great prices and often a really good deal but don't ever expect any kind of customer service other than crappy.

kronchev · 12-08-04, 12:24 PM

The key with dell support is acting like a moron. no, you dont know why it doesnt work, oh, you didnt think of hard resetting, how do you do that, etc.

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