IP: Some IPer comments on Dell experiences

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

They make interesting reading  and seem to contradict the first comment 
below. I have removed the names but they come from , in the main, senior 
experiencing people in the computer/networking field. They do not say very 
much encouraging about Dell's future (unfortunately)

Dave

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This seems to be an example of bad statistics. You had a very bad 
experience with Dell, and it makes perfect sense for you to not want to go 
back to them because of the sour taste in your mouth.
However, your one bad experience does not match the vast majority of Dell 
users. Dell comes out at the top (or in close second) for service every 
single year in the PC Magazine survey of tens of thousands of users, and in 
similar positions for other magazines' ratings of service. Thus, 
extrapolating your one bad experience to *other people* not buying from 
Dell isn't really valid.
You are a noted scientist: you should use statistics more carefully.
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I ordered an LS laptop with Windows 98 from Dell. It arrived while I was 
doing a lot of travelling, and it came with Windows 2000 installed. So I 
left it alone until I got back.
I pointed out that I didn't want Windows 2000, and by the way, the Ethernet 
didn't work. After a run around I was told that it was beyond 30 days, so 
they couldn't do anything about changing the Windows 2000 to Windows 98. 
Customer service and technical support didn't call back as promised, 
several times.
I was dangling on hold on the help line for hours at a time, while 
technicians kept telling me do things that obviously had nothing to do with 
the problem to kill time. I was told that I couldn't run the floppy and CD 
ROM at the same time. Great! I realized early that it was a hardware 
problem and I insisted on a hardware repair. I had a service contract for 
on site repair. But they stalled and stalled saying that it is almost 
always a software problem. Finally I got someone to show, who replaced the 
board and it worked.
Next, getting new drivers for Windows 2000 turned out to be a pain. I 
finally found an independent consultant who showed me how to run the CD ROM 
and the floppy at the same time.
Dell was once a good quality company, but I would never voluntarily buy 
another Dell product until they got their act together.
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Proprietary boards and systems are old hat. Every computer vendor offers
essentially fungible product; the differentiation is in the service
accorded customers.
I currently have an IBM computer with which I've never experienced any
problems whatsoever--however, it was comforting to know that after the
purchase, IBM was there with on-site service pronto.
Dell has certainly come a long way! After all, Michael Dell (Veccio)
started his firm in a college dorm room. It's unfortunate that he's
forgotten his roots.
If a well known leader in the scientific and academic communities and a
gent who's just served a term in Washington in the public interest cannot
get any satisfaction from Dell, I suppose that it's a hopeless cause.
Maybe IBM, H-P, Compaq , or a local well-known and long established shop in
your local area would work for you in the future. Insofar as a present
"fix" is concerned, some would suggest requesting your bank to repudiate
the credit card-facilitated funds expended on this unit until the vendor
gives you basic satisfaction.
Just a thought.
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I had a comparable experience with Dell late last year. I helped my father 
by an 800 MHz Dimension PC and it was shipped with an AOL 5.0 browser (and 
one year free of AOL service) as well as Windows ME. When he had both open 
doing something simple the system crashed. When I called Dell service, I 
was put on hold repeatedly and then hung up on. When I called back it 
started again. Finally, someone there confided to me that Dell knew that 
Windows ME did not work well with AOL 5.0, and that AOL had fixed things 
with AOL 6.0, so that I should just replace AOL 5.0 with AOL 6.0. When I 
asked why Dell couldn't have made this switch before it shipped the 
machine, since AOL 6.0 had long been available, he said that that is what 
he would have done. I wrote to Michael Dell to complain about why Dell was 
shipping a combination that it knew was problematic rather than giving me 
the option of Windows 98 and AOL 5.0, I got a form letter telling me that 
software compatibility issues were not Dell's problem.
------------------------------
I have had similar experiences. If you have caller ID, you might notice 
that Dell outsources it help desk. This causes many problems, including 
conflicting and wrong advice comming from multiple "helpers." Its a problem 
of motivation as much as improper training, etc. If they don't even work 
for Dell, why would they really care?
I am convinced that Dell, along with many of the other PC makers, only use 
the consumer market to establish awareness of its products and to help it 
gain enterprise customers. The evidence is the continually horrible 
customer service. Ironic, consider Dell is the same company that 
establishes extranet sites for its important enterprise customers. Insult 
is added to injury when we have faster and faster processors shoved down 
our thoats instead of increased reliability and ease of use for the average 
consumer.
---------------------------------------
had the very same experience with Dell regarding upgrade of my 7 month old
Dell Pentium III 933 mhz fully loaded system. This system was purchased
with Windows 98 second edition as the operating system since Windows 2000
was not yet an accepted Dell operating system. I wrongly assumed that I
could upgrade to Windows 2000 in the next few months.
When I called Tech Support for assistance with an upgrade to Windows 2000
(my own private copy), they pointed me to a Web page with a series of
drivers. When I asked Tech Support which driver matched my system, they
would not assist me in any upgrade to Windows 2000 muttering something about
licensing issues with Microsoft. In addition, I was informed that Tech
Support would no longer support my computer on anything if I upgraded to the
Windows 2000 operating system.
If anyone has an idea on how to let Dell executives know about what is
happening in certain parts of their organization please let me know.
------------------------
Dave, get a Mac.
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wow- that is really a downer- we have had great service in the past on two 
dell computers-
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I wouldn't blame Dell for this as much as Microsoft.
You can't buy an OS that wasn't build for robustness and then be
surprised when it crashes.
I bought a Dell a little over a year ago and paid them extra to
install NT on it. It's been extremely stable and reliable. Not a
single problem.
Since when was upgrading Microsoft OSes easy? My advice and practice
has always been to start with an fdisk and do a clean install. Their
upgrades are usually a bit on the buggy side. That's why I paid extra
to get a clean NT install originally. :)
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i had similar nightmares in october when i was trying to order a dimension
desktop with win2000: sorry, they said, we cant customize it.
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I'm DELIGHTED to see you post that, Dave.
I've had slightly similar experiences with Dell, re some systems for some 
friends of mine. Really quite appalling!
If you and enough "famous" people will start to make such statements 
publicly, with specifics as you gave, then maybe there'll be some wee-tiny 
hope of turning around some of the increasingly arrogant, oppressive abuses 
of the ever-larger, ever-fewer corporate conglomerates that are taking over 
our nation (and the world). [Although I admit to having severe doubts about 
any significant redress.]
Give 'em hell, hairy! :-)
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Instead of using it as a doorstop, why don't you try installing the
Windows XP Beta on it?
Of course, your point about Dell is well taken.
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My experience with PC's is that the more generic the PC is the better it 
will work. The more the vendor does to "improve", the worse it will be. 
This means that buying from Dell, IBM, Gateway, etc. will result in a worse 
experience over the lifetime of the PC (e.g., OS upgrades, new disks, 
etc.), than getting a no-name brand with an intel MB. The best I have found 
is to get one where the video, ethernet, USB, IDE, etc. are all built into 
the Intel MB. Then intel provides the drivers and the are also likely to be 
supported by the basic OS.
The goal is to find a vendor who can't afford to "improve" it.
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