Really, why does Dell suck so bad?

[billyboyblue]

So , I've recently decided to buy directly from dell, this is my first time ever owning a dell product, so I figured i'd give it a try. However, it's now been three weeks, and, well... I still dont' have anything :\ I've outlined some of the problems I've been facing.

• They don't stock computers, and build everything to order? What?!
• Their live chat really only works if the workers are in the mood to work
• Most of the accessories on the site are either not in stock, or can't be ordered
• I ordered an XPS 12 on the 3rd, the shipping date has been changed twice, and it's supposed to be here this thursday
• Their products are generally, just not as good compared to competitors
• They seem to be focused on the business or bulk purchases
• The website is extremely unintuitive
• Sometimes when I log in, it sends me to the business accounts, and sometimes it shows my personal account
• Each order has it's own customer number, so my account doesn't show all of my orders ( about 5 ), so I have to hunt them down individualy in order to find what status they are in.
• Dell only uses two statuses now, production, and shipped, other companies give considerably more detail, what gives?

Is this just a one time experience ? I tried out the Inspiron 7000 series 2-in-1 just to see if i liked it, as that was the only thing i could find that they had available to ship the next day, figured it give it a try while i waited on my xps 12. It was a very unpleasant experience. The thing has bezels on the bottom the size of a small baby. Has dell decided to do away with consumer support / sales all together over the last year or so ? In exchange, focus on bulk orders / business ?

 

[skstrials]

I disagree.

Dell's certified refurbished products are very cheap, AND come with a full factory warranty.

I own 3 Dell products and have recommended one to my gf and my mom.

For example, I picked up a Dell Venue 11 Pro 7130 with an Intel i3 and a 128gb storage for $400. There is no way that you could get an equivalent Windows tablet product from anywhere.

Posted via the Windows Central App for BlackBerry 10

 

[RumoredNow]

I've not tried a custom configuration ordered from Dell so I can't address the majority of your issues...

FWIW, in recent years I've had a Dell Venue 8 Pro with Dell Active Stylus and Dell BT Keyboard folio. Worked great and I felt it was value for the money. Recently my wife and I bought matching Dell Inspiron i3543 Signature Edition 15.6" touchscreen laptops from the Microsoft Store. We got them specifically for upgrading to Windows 10. They have pleased us both. They run cool and quiet and do what we want them to. Any minor issues we have had would be software related and not hardware. Again, good value IMHO.

When I used to work on and run various PC boxes as a hobby I had many devices come through my hands. People used to donate their old hardware to me and I'd refurbish boxes and whole systems to give them away to people who needed a computer. The goodwill this earned kept a steady flow of all types and makes of hardware running through my hands and allowed me to run and upgrade PCs for free or low cost. During this time I was most pleased and impressed with 2 brands. Dell and Gateway.


Before the Inspirons we have now, I had a Gateway laptop, my wife had an HP. My Gateway ran more trouble free, lasted longer on the calendar and saw more hours of use than her HP. That HP unit was frequently in need of attention. When her HP died quite suddenly after only 3 years service, we tried a Toshiba. It, quite frankly, is not a good device and somewhat difficult to work with. I'm in the process of trying to rehab it for use as a home server. IMHO it has a few QA issues. Seems the RAM was not seated fully and this caused random reboots. Also the Toshiba bloatware is some of the largest and poorest performing firmware I've ever seen.


I like the Dell I have now and would buy from them again in future.

 

[billyboyblue]

I've not tried a custom configuration ordered from Dell so I can't address the majority of your issues...

FWIW, in recent years I've had a Dell Venue 8 Pro with Dell Active Stylus and Dell BT Keyboard folio. Worked great and I felt it was value for the money. Recently my wife and I bought matching Dell Inspiron i3543 Signature Edition 15.6" touchscreen laptops from the Microsoft Store. We got them specifically for upgrading to Windows 10. They have pleased us both. They run cool and quiet and do what we want them to. Any minor issues we have had would be software related and not hardware. Again, good value IMHO.

When I used to work on and run various PC boxes as a hobby I had many devices come through my hands. People used to donate their old hardware to me and I'd refurbish boxes and whole systems to give them away to people who needed a computer. The goodwill this earned kept a steady flow of all types and makes of hardware running through my hands and allowed me to run and upgrade PCs for free or low cost. During this time I was most pleased and impressed with 2 brands. Dell and Gateway.


Before the Inspirons we have now, I had a Gateway laptop, my wife had an HP. My Gateway ran more trouble free, lasted longer on the calendar and saw more hours of use than her HP. That HP unit was frequently in need of attention. When her HP died quite suddenly after only 3 years service, we tried a Toshiba. It, quite frankly, is not a good device and somewhat difficult to work with. I'm in the process of trying to rehab it for use as a home server. IMHO it has a few QA issues. Seems the RAM was not seated fully and this caused random reboots. Also the Toshiba bloatware is some of the largest and poorest performing firmware I've ever seen.


I like the Dell I have now and would buy from them again in future.

The XPS 12 can't be configured in a custom way, and I don't think I have a problem with dells quality per say, just THEM directly. Purchasing from them, using their service, etc. my points, overall, should have nothing to do with ordering a custom machine, just pre-built ones on the site they have listed.

 

[billyboyblue]

I disagree.

Dell's certified refurbished products are very cheap, AND come with a full factory warranty.

I own 3 Dell products and have recommended one to my gf and my mom.

For example, I picked up a Dell Venue 11 Pro 7130 with an Intel i3 and a 128gb storage for $400. There is no way that you could get an equivalent Windows tablet product from anywhere.

Posted via the Windows Central App for BlackBerry 10

I don't think I referred to price anywhere? Again, i'm not really worried about the cost, or the products, but the website, the cluster it is to deal with them directly. The website doesn't work, the chat doesn't work, the products are always delayed. Maybe it's because i'm ordering a flagship device all the time from them directly, rather than picking it up in a store. Nonetheless, i would expect the same great service / products dell gives in store than they do on their own website / storefront.

When I can order their computers from amazon, quicker than them, with better English speaking support, I'd say they have a problem, no?

 

[Kwincy]

I bought a new XPS 12 9250 off of eBay for pretty cheap and I like it so far. My previous tablet is a Dell Venue Pro 11 7139 model, and I took out my 4G LTE card and sim and put in the the 9250 with no issues. The only problem I'm having is that I cannot boot from USB at all. I have a passive USB-C to USB 3.0 female cable and while it works just fine in Windows 10 with mice, a flash drive and a keyboard, the BIOS does not recognize any USB device I plug in. I even purchased a USB3.1 flash drive so I could try booting from that, and even it didn't work.

Also, there seem to be many eBay sellers selling the 1080p versions of these tablets for hundreds less than Dell or the Microsoft store, all with valid 1 year warranties. How is this possible? I got mine for less than $800 and I've seen some go as low as $650 new in box!

 

[Kavu2]

Gotta say, I agree with OP. I used to think Dell was forefront...but no longer. I've had several laptops and desktops from them over the years...the latest being a Dv8P tablet. Support is now a nightmare and their driver's and software are fubar. Despite being promoted as 'W10 ready', I'm scared to death to upgrade due to driver issues(lack of updated drivers). The only reliable support is thru owner forum postings....Dell is AWOL.

 

[rahulpah]

no dude you are wrong i can't believe this i am using dell laptop for almost three years didn't got any problem...

 

[i_hiker]

I've never had a major problem with a computer until I bought a Dell. Laptop had a defective keyboard on delivery. It was repaired in a timely manner. Now the screen is messed up. The Venue tablet I bought is a piece of junk! Once Dell has your money and you're past the return policy date, if Customer Support cannot resolve the issue, if your product is sent to the USA Dell service center and sent back to you in worse shape.....you're just screwed. Once you've reached that stage there are no phone numbers to call to get a satisfactory resolution and Advanced Tech Support will not return your communications. Sure...everything's great when things go smooth and your product works but my experience with Dell has convinced me they sell cheap, underperforming products and then don't stand behind the product when you have an issue they can't resolve.

 

[Dusteater]

I attempted to order the Dell XPS 12 from their website direct. To make a long story short, all I ever received was the USB-C adapter which took them over 1 month to process the refund for. Would never try and buy from Dell again after my terrible experience with their customer service.

 

[Geodude074]

The only time I've purchased from Dell is when I'm able to find a coupon code. If a Dell product isn't on sale, then it's overpriced compared to its competition. It seems every day I'm stumbling across another coupon code for a Dell product - seriously, why not just keep the product on sale price if they're going to repeatedly offer coupons for it anyways? No one is going to buy it at the normal price if they know they can wait 1-2 weeks for the coupon to pop up again.

 

[xandros9]

Anecdotal evidence time!

When my Venue 8 Pro developed a touch issue, I had some of the best customer service yet. The rep wasn't necessarily hog-tied and "on rails," they footed the shipping bill as well as provided the box, etc. The Service Tag system is pretty smart too IMHO.

I'm a fan of their Latitude and Venue lineup but I'm still a ThinkPad fan though heh. I considered them, but they didn't have a PC that fit my very specific bill.

 

[i_hiker]

Service tag issue might be "smart" but it IS
NOT SECURE! Dell has an issue with keeping our personal information confidential and safe. Maybe you know another way for scammers to get the Service Tag number, model number, home, business, and Mobil phone numbers and your name.

Yes, in the USA the Dell Depot will overnight you a box, expedite the repair and overnight your device back to, hopefully fixed. However, your personal information with Dell is UNSECURED!

 

[SageAZ]

I had the exact same problem. I love dell products. After pushing back my arrival date 4 times ( 3 months total )- I gave up, canceled my order, went onto newegg and bought a dell from them- same computer. Arrived in 2 days.

I mean, really .....

 

[John Callaham]

Ive owned several Dell products, along with Alienware PCs..no problems with any of them so far

 

[mredwinthuku]

Wow, it's encouraging to see that the problem is not with the product itself. I wish to buy one soon

 

[Arch Stanton2]

My first and LAST Dell computer is this Inspiron 2 in 1 Tablet with built in keyboard.
The Keyboard is some cheap Chinese garbage that is soldered into the plastic housing and covered with aluminum tape so if a key breaks there is no way to fix it.
I discovered this when I was changing out the hard drive to a faster SSD drive and replacing the Wifi Chip to one with AC.
The Keyboard stopped working in the upper right hand corner so I thought I messed something up.
Nope, come to find out that this is an issue with this model and there are many complaints across the internet about it.

What really steams me is that not only did they know about it, they skimped on the cost in parts with some cheap garbage.
Not only that this was made back in Windows 8 time yet touted and priced as a modern Windows 10 Tablet combo over $400

Like I said, LAST time I purchase Dell and I only got it for my wife to use because I build my own PC's
Dell has always been garbage and I should have known better.

 

[Arch Stanton2]

Tell you what.
My experience is when Moderators get involved they tend to CENSOR in favor of sponsors and self preservation.

Now you will find one less person to participate with your website.

Now, see how that hurts you in the long run.
It certainly hurt the Democrat Party this election didn't it.

 

[Ryansteele]

Service tag issue might be "smart" but it IS
NOT SECURE! Dell has an issue with keeping our personal information confidential and safe. Maybe you know another way for scammers to get the Service Tag number, model number, home, business, and Mobil phone numbers and your name.

Yes, in the USA the Dell Depot will overnight you a box, expedite the repair and overnight your device back to, hopefully fixed. However, your personal information with Dell is UNSECURED!

Bud, the service tag system has existed for decades. It helps you find drivers/software quicker, in addition to assisting tech support. Calm it down. Please, explain how this is insecure. What if I inherit a Dell laptop from my friend? It's got the service tag still, which works for the reasons I already mentioned. It is in no way tied to your identity. If you're that paranoid, purchase in cash. Nobody gives a **** about your information.

 

[Da Neon Skull]

Same problem here. Except my product is bad. Awfully bad. I would definitely not recommend to others and ensure you that Dell laptops are really bad.
1. They crash way too often. Whenever I am using any formats like Word and Excel to record data and comments I am never able to save because of this constant crashing. It has been happening since I first bought it too.
2. Processing speed. Now many can argue depending on your 'i' (i3,i5 and i9 for example) it changes processing speed. In some cases yes, but in mine no. i's are more commonly used for platforms like gaming and teaching due to excessive amounts of data being constantly used. I do neither of these so I feel processing speeds below i7 are always naturally slow
3. Tabs! Tabs are always an essential part to our computing lives to gather plenty of info at once. However, sometimes Dell decides to do the work for you. Occasionally you may want Cortana to help you when it actually doesn't and when you want quiet... it decides to bug you. It randomly opens, closes and duplicates tabs. What's more to say?
4. Sensitivity. Now this problem happens vice-versa. Sometimes sensitivity is so good that your mouse will go all over the place. If it's bad it takes about 4 minutes for you to open something/close something etc.
I would personally never ever buy a Dell laptop again.
Hope my advice was helpful!