One Dell of a problem

Audrey Paterson thought she was getting a good deal from Dell when she ordered her new computer system and found that, as a little sweetener, she could choose a free gift.

It was a case of eeny, meeny, miny, mo as she pondered whether to plump for a digital camera, printer or scanner.

She chose the scanner and looked forward to it being delivered with her system. But she was in for a bitter disappointment as she told me.

"On 17 April, I took delivery of my new computer system to replace my steam-driven 486 and was absolutely delighted with it," she explained.

"The sales service, delivery, colour coded set-up instructions, pre-loaded software and CDs supplied were all wonderful. But there was no sign of the free Epson 1250 scanner I had chosen."

After a week waiting to see whether the scanner would be delivered separately, Mrs Paterson phoned Dell and asked where it could be. She pointed out that, although the scanner was not mentioned on her delivery note, it had been included on two confirmatory emails from Dell.

"Everyone at Dell Customer Services has been unfailingly charming but, despite well over a dozen phone calls, emails and faxes, no-one has ever 'got back to me' as promised, or done anything about sorting out the problem even though they promised to," she said.

"I have already asked them to resolve the matter by close of business on 1 August. Not surprisingly, I have not heard anything."

The Dell representative I spoke to didn't know why this had all gone haywire but promised to get to the bottom of the problem.

She did this very quickly and I was told that Mrs Patterson should be receiving her complimentary scanner within days.

Mrs Patterson then wrote to me and said that Dell had told her the same thing and sure enough within a week she had been sent a scanner, with a little bonus for all the trouble she had endured.

"The scanner has arrived and I was pleasantly surprised to get an upgrade. The offer was for an Epson 1250 and I have received an Epson Perfection 1650," Mrs Patterson told me.

The problem is that Dell hasn't enlightened Mrs Patterson or me as to why the scanner was not included with the original order. More importantly, Dell has not said why the emails, phone calls and letters were effectively ignored.

"With such a good product, efficient initial sales service and charming staff, why did Dell allow something like this to completely ruin my confidence in the company?" asked Mrs Patterson.

"I realise that this is not a huge problem in the Dell scheme of things, but getting it right and answering my complaint isn't rocket science. Why on earth couldn't some one at Dell sort this out before?"

This kind of problem is really exasperating, especially when staff are so sympathetic to the customer as Dell employees were in this case.

So why they forgot all about her when she got off the phone is perplexing, but Dell had this explanation for us.

"We at Dell believe that we have [some] of the most efficient post-sales service in the industry," said the representative.

"We have recently won awards for best after-sales service support and reliability and, in addition, Dell conducts its own research monthly which shows that the overwhelming majority of customers are very happy with the quality of service provided.

"However, like all businesses, we do occasionally have issues, as witnessed by Ms Paterson's experience.

"Clearly, there is always room to improve and our teams work hard to continually refine the way we work to strive for an even better overall experience for our customers."

Well, quite. And while Dell does have one of the better reputations for dealing with problems, it is not alone in its need to improve customer support services. I still can't understand why repeated complaints that are genuine just aren't handled with more care.

Until that question, which is on the lips of every consumer who has been ignored, can be answered I fear the problem will continue.

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