Survey: Dell customer satisfaction unsatisfactory

PC maker Dell continued to have difficulty meeting all of its business customers' expectations for service during the first quarter, according to a survey.

The Round Rock, Texas, PC maker's overall customer service and support satisfaction rating, as measured by Technology Business Research's Corporate IT Service and Support Customer Satisfaction Study, fell slightly from the fourth quarter of 2003 to the first quarter of 2004.

The slip helped Dell rival Hewlett-Packard take the satisfaction lead among the three major PC makers for the first time since TBR began the quarterly study in 2000. Dell, which had led or been tied for the lead in satisfaction among the PC makers since the study's inception, fell back to a tie for second place.

While HP moved into the top position among the PC makers, with a score of 81.85 out of a possible 100 points, Dell garnered an 80.32, and IBM scored an 80.94. Dell and IBM were considered to be in a statistical tie for second place, according to the survey, as TBR requires a distance of at least 1 percent between vendors in order to rank them separately.

Even though PC makers' scores tend to fluctuate from quarter to quarter and Dell's first quarter score was only slightly lower than its performance in the fourth quarter of 2003, the change in rank is significant in that Dell had either led or been tied for the lead in satisfaction during 14 of the previous 15 quarters.

Thus the latest survey shows Dell, which TBR analyst Julie Perron says practically wrote the book on customer service in the PC industry, exhibiting a continued downward trend in customer satisfaction ratings. The decline comes despite efforts such as beefing up its telephone support staff and training and re-routing business tech support calls away from its call center in India.

TBR's study surveys, on a quarterly basis, hundreds of corporate IT buyers on eight aspects of service support. TBR takes into account factors such as phone support, replacement parts availability, warranty upgrade price and overall satisfaction, and assigns each one a weighted score for a total of 100 possible points. The survey, which does not include consumers or professional services organizations such as IBM Global Services, basically measures the current opinions of people who are paid to buy and administer to computers from companies like Dell, HP and IBM.

Along with tracking the top three PC makers, TBR's survey also measures satisfaction with companies' in-house tech support operations. In-house support, which is considered to be the closest to an ideal situation for many companies, typically ranks the highest in the TBR survey (though at times, Dell has come close to the scores of in-house support organizations). In-house operations received a score of 85.40 out of 100 during the first quarter.

On a sequential basis, Dell's first-quarter 80.32 score is only somewhat lower than its fourth-quarter 2003 performance of 81.33. But it represents a relatively large decrease when compared to its first quarter 2003 score of 84.08. HP and IBM also saw their scores fall during the fourth quarter, hitting 81.5 and 80.72 respectively, but they bounced back in the first quarter to hit the 81.85 and 80.94 marks.

Some of Dell's slide is reflective of factors it cannot control, such as more competitive pricing by its rivals and also changing attitudes among those surveyed about the value of service and support, the TBR report says. Other factors, including how phone support is delivered, are more easily controlled by Dell.

To its credit, and its downfall in this case, people seem to expect more from Dell. At the same time, the company has acquired many new customers and its support organization has had to keep up with its huge growth over the last few years while continuing to operate in a low-cost manner.

"Dell set a precedent quite some time ago--and not just for customers that have been with it--it's also well-publicized so that any new customer would have high expectations (for service) just because of its reputation," Perron said. But, "If you're not satisfied with some aspect of support, then you're not going to be as satisfied overall."

Dell says it is working hard to address customers' concerns, with multiple programs designed to improve service, including collecting more customer feedback and beefing up phone support.

"We're totally committed to producing a world-class customer experience, from sales to technical support," said Dell spokesman Bob Kaufman. "This is an issue that's being focused on at all levels of the company. We are planning on and are making the investments and improvements necessary to continue to provide the best service in the industry."

Dell's efforts may be beginning to work: TBR has seen some improvement in customers' perception of Dell in second-quarter surveys, Perron said.

Based on that information, "I think (Dell) may have hit bottom in the first quarter," Perron said.

TBR's second-quarter customer satisfaction report is due in August.

The company compiled its report from surveys of 688 IT, technical support, purchasing and infrastructure managers from 688 companies in North America between Oct. 1, 2003 and March 31, 2004.

[Neotrope]

Dell customer support lacking...

I recently purchased a Dell web server for several thousand dollars through their small business site. While the eventual delivery of the product was excellent, the support of the sale was "hideous." Try to log back into the site to the account you create to order - you can't track your order. Contact customer support, they say there is no order (and of course you first deal with a nice person in India). All email confirmations are sent in HTML, which means for those of us who (in the tech fields) "run secure" using Eudora with graphics off to prevent web-bugs, etc. - we see nothing but an empty message with no help or contact info (literally a blank message - not even an html attachment caught by spam assassin...!). If you call, there is no order in the system... what's your order number (how can I know if the email is blank?). So, it turns out you have to log-in to a special support website, unrelated to the site you place your order on... and there, you log-in to a totally different system to track your order. Of course, if you try to type in your order number in this system to find your order, it won't work. You have a different tracking number in the small business "Support site." Wild stuff. Worst customer support experience spending $5K ever, which is quite remarkable since they're one of the oldest ecom sites (along with Gap and PhotoDisc). Great product. Won't use their order system ever again.

[Neotrope]

Dell customer support lacking...

I recently purchased a Dell web server for several thousand dollars through their small business site. While the eventual delivery of the product was excellent, the support of the sale was "hideous." Try to log back into the site to the account you create to order - you can't track your order. Contact customer support, they say there is no order (and of course you first deal with a nice person in India). All email confirmations are sent in HTML, which means for those of us who (in the tech fields) "run secure" using Eudora with graphics off to prevent web-bugs, etc. - we see nothing but an empty message with no help or contact info (literally a blank message - not even an html attachment caught by spam assassin...!). If you call, there is no order in the system... what's your order number (how can I know if the email is blank?). So, it turns out you have to log-in to a special support website, unrelated to the site you place your order on... and there, you log-in to a totally different system to track your order. Of course, if you try to type in your order number in this system to find your order, it won't work. You have a different tracking number in the small business "Support site." Wild stuff. Worst customer support experience spending $5K ever, which is quite remarkable since they're one of the oldest ecom sites (along with Gap and PhotoDisc). Great product. Won't use their order system ever again.

Dell - customer service and products

Dell needs to move problem resolution up more quickly. To waste hours doing Dell's diagnostic work on the phone is not the best use of my staff's time. The products have become more unreliable because of cheaper components and I've moved on to another vendor. Also, my orders were never big enough to get the attention of my latest account rep so he would pass it off to his gopher. 3 years ago I received great service and great account support. Now I've let all maintenance lapse and moving on. I won't be going back to Dell for computer purchases. I've tried a couple of projectors, we'll see how those go.

Dell - customer service and products

Dell needs to move problem resolution up more quickly. To waste hours doing Dell's diagnostic work on the phone is not the best use of my staff's time. The products have become more unreliable because of cheaper components and I've moved on to another vendor. Also, my orders were never big enough to get the attention of my latest account rep so he would pass it off to his gopher. 3 years ago I received great service and great account support. Now I've let all maintenance lapse and moving on. I won't be going back to Dell for computer purchases. I've tried a couple of projectors, we'll see how those go.

[curioone]

Dell support

I paid 2,275 for a dell dimension with all the quality stuff inside over a year ago,I have had very bad experiences with both esupport and phone support,they can't seem to realize that there is something wrong with the computer they sold me.there favorite suggestion is to reinstall the op system,they have had me do this twice complete install and 3 times a repair install,the phone support is so terrible that you never get the same person twice in a row on an issue so the issue never gets resolved,they have about 5 or 6 proceedures they have you perform over and over again and again no matter what is wrong with your computer.I would never purchase another computer from them based on support.I don't see where people get it that they offer good suppport in the first place.read some of the complaints on there chat room discussions.sorry for dumping all this on you all,I am just stuck with a computer that I have yet to be able to use.computer crashes on boot,they did replace a video card once but after that they ignored my problem. thank you Terry Hall

[curioone]

Dell support

I paid 2,275 for a dell dimension with all the quality stuff inside over a year ago,I have had very bad experiences with both esupport and phone support,they can't seem to realize that there is something wrong with the computer they sold me.there favorite suggestion is to reinstall the op system,they have had me do this twice complete install and 3 times a repair install,the phone support is so terrible that you never get the same person twice in a row on an issue so the issue never gets resolved,they have about 5 or 6 proceedures they have you perform over and over again and again no matter what is wrong with your computer.I would never purchase another computer from them based on support.I don't see where people get it that they offer good suppport in the first place.read some of the complaints on there chat room discussions.sorry for dumping all this on you all,I am just stuck with a computer that I have yet to be able to use.computer crashes on boot,they did replace a video card once but after that they ignored my problem. thank you Terry Hall

[normoose]

Dell Customer Support or lack of

I make money recovering users new Dell PC equipment on a regular basis even though the equipment is under warrantee. Users can't understand the techs or steps needed to recover a system are too involved.

I also noticed that you won't see any ads for $399 Pentium 4s from Dell. They have finally changed the ad to a Celeron for $399.

To bad they don't have to answer to the same laws I do.

[normoose]

Dell Customer Support or lack of

I make money recovering users new Dell PC equipment on a regular basis even though the equipment is under warrantee. Users can't understand the techs or steps needed to recover a system are too involved.

I also noticed that you won't see any ads for $399 Pentium 4s from Dell. They have finally changed the ad to a Celeron for $399.

To bad they don't have to answer to the same laws I do.

Non-existent tech service from Dell

I recently purchased a new Dell desktop. This is my 4th Dell. I had heard that Dell's service was slipping quickly and I have had an opportunity to experience it first hand. Last Friday night I contacted Dell's technical service via the telephone. That was at 8:40PM Eastern time. I put the call on speaker phone. The first person who answered the phone said she could not help me with my problem but that she wold forward the call to another technical support peson who could. She did not seem to understand that I had already been on the phone for over 30 minutes. She insisted that someone would answer immediately. Approximately one hour later, a man answered and said his name, but his accent was so thick that I could not understand him. What I did understand was that he said he was not a technician but that he would transfer my call to technical support. I protested but he said he could not even listen to my question since he was not a technical support person. He transferred my call. I was put on hold with a music loop that kept repeating itself every 45 seconds or so. At about 11:45 Eastern time, the phone clicked two times and went dead. I was so angry that I called and pretended that I was going to buy a Dell, I knew I would get a live body or at least I thought I would. I did get someone and he told me to call customer care the next day. I asked if customer care was open on Saturdays and he said they were in the AM. Needless to say, as of this date I have been unable to get in touch with customer care. I have tried for many days now to e-mail tech support and customer care without success. There is always a glitch in the forms that I cannot seem to over ride. Tonight once again I tried technical support and the same thing happened again. I tried the trick of pretending to purchase a Dell and I could not understand the person on the other end of the line. But he got the drift when I told him I was so angry that I would not hang up until I had technical support - first he said they were not at work since it was 11:00 CST - when I questioned this he told me to wait and he would transfer me - that he had someone in tech support. Why was I not surprised when the phone hung up. I called back and the message was that I should call back during working hours.

This Dell has many little problems that could probably be solved easily but the service that I had woith my first Dell about 6 years ago is non-existant. And the messages on the recordings as you are waiting are irritating to say the least. I purchased in house support and I am going to demand it - I did once before and they had to come through several years ago. Have any of you had this problem? For 2 cents (or maybe even less) I would return this piece of junk tomorrow. This will be my very last Dell. If I knew who to write to to comment on their lousy service I would do it for what its worth.

Non-existent tech service from Dell

I recently purchased a new Dell desktop. This is my 4th Dell. I had heard that Dell's service was slipping quickly and I have had an opportunity to experience it first hand. Last Friday night I contacted Dell's technical service via the telephone. That was at 8:40PM Eastern time. I put the call on speaker phone. The first person who answered the phone said she could not help me with my problem but that she wold forward the call to another technical support peson who could. She did not seem to understand that I had already been on the phone for over 30 minutes. She insisted that someone would answer immediately. Approximately one hour later, a man answered and said his name, but his accent was so thick that I could not understand him. What I did understand was that he said he was not a technician but that he would transfer my call to technical support. I protested but he said he could not even listen to my question since he was not a technical support person. He transferred my call. I was put on hold with a music loop that kept repeating itself every 45 seconds or so. At about 11:45 Eastern time, the phone clicked two times and went dead. I was so angry that I called and pretended that I was going to buy a Dell, I knew I would get a live body or at least I thought I would. I did get someone and he told me to call customer care the next day. I asked if customer care was open on Saturdays and he said they were in the AM. Needless to say, as of this date I have been unable to get in touch with customer care. I have tried for many days now to e-mail tech support and customer care without success. There is always a glitch in the forms that I cannot seem to over ride. Tonight once again I tried technical support and the same thing happened again. I tried the trick of pretending to purchase a Dell and I could not understand the person on the other end of the line. But he got the drift when I told him I was so angry that I would not hang up until I had technical support - first he said they were not at work since it was 11:00 CST - when I questioned this he told me to wait and he would transfer me - that he had someone in tech support. Why was I not surprised when the phone hung up. I called back and the message was that I should call back during working hours.

This Dell has many little problems that could probably be solved easily but the service that I had woith my first Dell about 6 years ago is non-existant. And the messages on the recordings as you are waiting are irritating to say the least. I purchased in house support and I am going to demand it - I did once before and they had to come through several years ago. Have any of you had this problem? For 2 cents (or maybe even less) I would return this piece of junk tomorrow. This will be my very last Dell. If I knew who to write to to comment on their lousy service I would do it for what its worth.

Dell Customer Service One Word.. BAD !!!

My experiences with DEll were nothing short of perfect up until about a year and a half ago. Now Nothing could be further from the truth. Anytime I call any Dell rep, I get someone who is not very understandable, and does not understand me well. Also, I have never had a harder time getting in touch with a real person. The automated services that are available basically take you in a big circle. None of the reps seem to know where to send you for the information you need. MY average call to Dell has gone up to about 10 minutes a call. I'm sorry, The systems that Dell put out are great, but the service is CRAP...now..They need to deal with this problem soon, or their service may be their undoing..

Dell Customer Service One Word.. BAD !!!

My experiences with DEll were nothing short of perfect up until about a year and a half ago. Now Nothing could be further from the truth. Anytime I call any Dell rep, I get someone who is not very understandable, and does not understand me well. Also, I have never had a harder time getting in touch with a real person. The automated services that are available basically take you in a big circle. None of the reps seem to know where to send you for the information you need. MY average call to Dell has gone up to about 10 minutes a call. I'm sorry, The systems that Dell put out are great, but the service is CRAP...now..They need to deal with this problem soon, or their service may be their undoing..

[AuntieSt]

it is so true they need to speak ENGLISH!!!!!!!! HOW many times do you hear I am sorry about that. well fix my issues and stop saying your sorry when you don't mean it Right

[ruiman]

where is that nice guy on the TV ads?

Horrible service from Bangalore India

[ruiman]

where is that nice guy on the TV ads?

Horrible service from Bangalore India

Dell Support?

Dell has Tech Support?...I thought they just had a very annoying answering machine that keeps you on hold for days....I have yet to talk to a real live person but can repeat every commercial they play while on hold verbatim.

Dell customer service suck

I totally agree with that Dell really have a problem with customer service, specially about the refund. Read reading the story. I find my situation is similar, first I got the bad 9300 laotp which does not boot up at all. Then I called for return, the support staffs said I can get a replacement with extra 21 days return period. Now I decide to return because the laptop is not that good. Dell refuse because I past the 21 days return period. Dell's left hand does not what the right hand doing. Or that is the bad system pratice from Dell to cheat customers.

Dell Support?

Dell has Tech Support?...I thought they just had a very annoying answering machine that keeps you on hold for days....I have yet to talk to a real live person but can repeat every commercial they play while on hold verbatim.

Dell customer service suck

I totally agree with that Dell really have a problem with customer service, specially about the refund. Read reading the story. I find my situation is similar, first I got the bad 9300 laotp which does not boot up at all. Then I called for return, the support staffs said I can get a replacement with extra 21 days return period. Now I decide to return because the laptop is not that good. Dell refuse because I past the 21 days return period. Dell's left hand does not what the right hand doing. Or that is the bad system pratice from Dell to cheat customers.

[ign9]

Dell Customer Service and Dell SUCKS

I have been contacting dell for 3 WEEKS now in hope of getting back my money for a cancelled order.I called every other day the 1st week and every single damn day the 2nd and 3rd from 8:30 break at 12 and back on by at least 2pm.I have still not got my matter resolved. Supervisor after supervisor in some cases even have it out with me on phone. The agents have no idea who they are transfering people too. Far less understand who they are talking to, it ridiculous. I have been disconnected on average 13 times a day and every single word of this is true. As I type this here I am on the phone with the escalation department (I THINK). The tell lies toes especially the managers. I am never buying or dealing with dell ever again. In addition this was a business purchase,even worse.

[ign9]

Dell Customer Service and Dell SUCKS

I have been contacting dell for 3 WEEKS now in hope of getting back my money for a cancelled order.I called every other day the 1st week and every single damn day the 2nd and 3rd from 8:30 break at 12 and back on by at least 2pm.I have still not got my matter resolved. Supervisor after supervisor in some cases even have it out with me on phone. The agents have no idea who they are transfering people too. Far less understand who they are talking to, it ridiculous. I have been disconnected on average 13 times a day and every single word of this is true. As I type this here I am on the phone with the escalation department (I THINK). The tell lies toes especially the managers. I am never buying or dealing with dell ever again. In addition this was a business purchase,even worse.

[deedlesbop]

dell customer survice

I RECENTLY BOUGHT A DELL SYSTEM. IT IS OK BUT THE CUSTOMER SERVISE SUCKS. I MEAN THAT IN A VERY SERIOUS MATTER. I HAVE CONTACTED THEM 8 TIMES TO SETTLE A SMALL MATTER ON A $50.00 REBATE. DO YOU THINK THEY COULD MAKE IT SIMPLE? NO! BY NO MEANS. YOU CAN'T EVEN TALK TO AN AMERICAN SPEAKING PERSON. IMAGINE THAT! YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND THEM AND THEY SURE DON'T UNDERSTAND ME. I SAY WHAT,AFTER EVERY SENTANCE, AND THEY REPEATE EVERTHING SEVERAL TIMES WITH A YES MAM YES MAM WHATS UP WITH THAT? THE BOTTOM LINE IS I STILL DON'T HAVE MY PROBLEM RESOLVED AND MY 30 DAYS IS UP TO APPLY FOR MY REBATE. I REALLY DON'T THINK THEY WANT TO GIVE AN AMERICAN MONEY, BUT THEY WANT OUR AMERICAN MONEY. GO FIGURE. THERE SERVICE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

[deedlesbop]

dell customer survice

I RECENTLY BOUGHT A DELL SYSTEM. IT IS OK BUT THE CUSTOMER SERVISE SUCKS. I MEAN THAT IN A VERY SERIOUS MATTER. I HAVE CONTACTED THEM 8 TIMES TO SETTLE A SMALL MATTER ON A $50.00 REBATE. DO YOU THINK THEY COULD MAKE IT SIMPLE? NO! BY NO MEANS. YOU CAN'T EVEN TALK TO AN AMERICAN SPEAKING PERSON. IMAGINE THAT! YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND THEM AND THEY SURE DON'T UNDERSTAND ME. I SAY WHAT,AFTER EVERY SENTANCE, AND THEY REPEATE EVERTHING SEVERAL TIMES WITH A YES MAM YES MAM WHATS UP WITH THAT? THE BOTTOM LINE IS I STILL DON'T HAVE MY PROBLEM RESOLVED AND MY 30 DAYS IS UP TO APPLY FOR MY REBATE. I REALLY DON'T THINK THEY WANT TO GIVE AN AMERICAN MONEY, BUT THEY WANT OUR AMERICAN MONEY. GO FIGURE. THERE SERVICE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

[scottsgw]

What a disappointing experience

In the past, Dells service was great. It was easy to get a hold of a sales rep, return a product that was incorrect or get a knowledgeable great person for tech support.

Now it just sucks to work with Dell in all aspects. They keep changing our sales guy (like every 2 months or less) Service has become so bad if it was not costing my company money it would be humorous. As an example, we had UPS TELL US that we had to use a DELL that simply ran their UPS software. Ok the thing failed. Dell wanted me to do diagnostics on it, so far OK. They then came out and replaces the mother board/Power supply however they were too busy to test the thing. Blue screened when first booted and now wanted me to do diagnostics on the memory. OK it was bad and they sent me replacement with instructions to return it in the box with the enclosed label. Naturally no label was enclosed and I attempted to return this thing for 2 weeks. Then the threatening emails started that If this was not returned promptly, I would be charged. No one would respond to any email. OK I got the thing returned and am going through the same exercise all over again. A question for Dell, WHY AM I WASTING MY TIME WITH YOU? There are other choices!

[scottsgw]

What a disappointing experience

In the past, Dells service was great. It was easy to get a hold of a sales rep, return a product that was incorrect or get a knowledgeable great person for tech support.

Now it just sucks to work with Dell in all aspects. They keep changing our sales guy (like every 2 months or less) Service has become so bad if it was not costing my company money it would be humorous. As an example, we had UPS TELL US that we had to use a DELL that simply ran their UPS software. Ok the thing failed. Dell wanted me to do diagnostics on it, so far OK. They then came out and replaces the mother board/Power supply however they were too busy to test the thing. Blue screened when first booted and now wanted me to do diagnostics on the memory. OK it was bad and they sent me replacement with instructions to return it in the box with the enclosed label. Naturally no label was enclosed and I attempted to return this thing for 2 weeks. Then the threatening emails started that If this was not returned promptly, I would be charged. No one would respond to any email. OK I got the thing returned and am going through the same exercise all over again. A question for Dell, WHY AM I WASTING MY TIME WITH YOU? There are other choices!

[Greg Noel]

Surreal, and liquid frustration

Dell Support recently recommended an upgrade to an E310, a replacement motherboard, to address unadvertised inadequacies of that particular discount machine. Compatibility was assured.

The upgrade required tin snips to fit the back port mask, and completely fubar'ed my IDE chain. Pursuing support ( at this point due for both the machine and the new mainboard ) was a total fiasco.

My Warranty has been invalidated, my IDE chain still refuses to work with their DVD drives. And of course their new spin on customer support surmounts to what can only be called an oxymoron.

It is astounding the travails I've gone through, with executive support, and their consumer advocacy group both calling to assure me, I am indeed screwed.

In my twenty five years in the computer industry I have never been so flummoxed by company in the consumer market.

It was also surreal, receiving advertisements and customer satisfaction survey requests associated with my ignored and refused pleas for a resolution to a problem they caused.

Please take my hard earned advice, look at either HP or Apple as a supplier of desktop hardware needs - I wish I had.

[Greg Noel]

Surreal, and liquid frustration

Dell Support recently recommended an upgrade to an E310, a replacement motherboard, to address unadvertised inadequacies of that particular discount machine. Compatibility was assured.

The upgrade required tin snips to fit the back port mask, and completely fubar'ed my IDE chain. Pursuing support ( at this point due for both the machine and the new mainboard ) was a total fiasco.

My Warranty has been invalidated, my IDE chain still refuses to work with their DVD drives. And of course their new spin on customer support surmounts to what can only be called an oxymoron.

It is astounding the travails I've gone through, with executive support, and their consumer advocacy group both calling to assure me, I am indeed screwed.

In my twenty five years in the computer industry I have never been so flummoxed by company in the consumer market.

It was also surreal, receiving advertisements and customer satisfaction survey requests associated with my ignored and refused pleas for a resolution to a problem they caused.

Please take my hard earned advice, look at either HP or Apple as a supplier of desktop hardware needs - I wish I had.

[vwmark46]

Dell Customer service is the worst

Dell Inc. customer service is the worst. Dell needs to stop outsourcing to India and the Philipeans, They don't understand and cannot speak english. This last Dell computer was my third since 1999 and my last.