RANT: Why I'll never order another Dell

MatthewClement

Please excuse my ranting. But here's why I will NEVER deal with Dell again.
After good reports about Dell customer service, I decided that I would take the plunge and order my new Axim X5 with GPS kit from their online site here in the UK

The long and short of it is this: the order is shipped in two parts - the Axim comes directly from Dell, the GPS kit is drop-shipped from TomTom.

My Axim arrived today (four days after ordering it). My GPS hasn't arrived, so I called to try to trace the problem.

Apparently, despite paying for the entire system at once, the order is broken into two parts - the Dell part and the drop-shipped part. Both parts are charged separately. No one ever bothered to enter charge details for the drop-shipped part, so no onwards order was placed with TomTom.

I keep speaking to the helpdesk in Delhi. They're very friendly, but it's clear that they're working off scripts and cannot deviate for any reason whatsoever. So I tried to route my call to the Dublin call centre.

After being told by one CSR that they had no way of telling whether the credit card had been charged, and told that they don't keep any credit card details, I called Amex to see if I have been charged. The Dublin CSR assured me they could help me out of Dublin. After calling Amex, I rang back. I got through to Dublin. But after telling me that "I should never order off the web -- it never works and there's nothing we can do to help you when it all goes wrong", the CSR told me that I'd have to get in touch with Dublin.

It would appear that my credit card has not been billed. I'm half-tempted to purchase TomTom elsewhere and tell them to pursue me if they want payment for their Axim or if they want their hardware back. I'd dispute the charges, but they haven't even bothered to file them.

Rest assured. I'll never buy another piece of kit from Dell.

I'm less concerned about the fact that something has gone wrong with my order (these things happen) than with the fact that NO ONE will take ownership of resolving the situation. As I write this, I still have NO MORE clarity about what the next step is in the process, nor any idea when my additional hardware might arrive.

Admittedly, this is a leisure purchase. But they don't know that. I'd sure hate to be in this position if the hardware I was acquiring was business critical.

:x :x :x

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