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Original poster

To warn anyone buying a computer

56 replies

dontbuyadell · 04/12/2023 20:55

To not buy a Dell!

Their customer service stinks!
Bought a new Dell laptop 3 months ago. The battery unit has failed. Known fault.
Failed on a Friday night - no customer service over the weekend.
Contacted tech support on the Monday morning. Said they would send tech engineer next day - fine
Tuesday - answerphone message (phone never rang) to say call cancelled due to part not arriving. Rebooked for next day by Dell.
Wednesday - same thing
Thursday -same again. Contact Dell support again promised it would be fixed next day.
Friday - cancelled again. Lots of back and forth with Dell. Who escalate things and firm promise for today it being fixed.

Once again today they cancelled. Each time it's just an automated message.

All phone lines are robots. All chats are robots. Even social media is robots. All give me word for word answers.

Absolutely no way of escalating it further.

I'm now posting all over social media in an effort to get someone to help fix it.

I'm losing business and money now as a result. I don't have a spare computer. I live alone.

So please if anyone is thinking of buying a Dell computer please reconsider. Or you could end up being me.

Am I being unreasonable to think we deserve better from large companies?

OP posts:
Original poster
dontbuyadell · 05/12/2023 00:30

And I wasn't attacking anyone! But suggesting that I should just accept it being broken isn't helpful.
It's faulty. It's under warranty. The company are uncontactable and have done nothing to resolve the issue. That's not ok.

OP posts:
Silvergreenblue · 05/12/2023 00:34

dontbuyadell · 04/12/2023 23:42

Huh? no I'm not being snotty I'm being factual!

Not being able to be used unless plugged in is not in normal working order. And not acceptable for a laptop of less than 3 months old. And anyway even when it's plugged in it doesn't function correctly and randomly switches off and takes along time to reboot afterwards.

Would you be happy having spent nearly £500 for your computer to not function correctly 3 months later? Really?

Show quote history

You get what you pay for. Not a lot to spend on a laptop. The higher end Dells are usually better.

Original poster
dontbuyadell · 05/12/2023 00:37

@Silvergreenblue how is that helpful!!!

I'm just starting to recover financially from having had cancer and having had a lot of time off. Just beginning to rebuild my business.

I didn't have more to spend.

£500 might not be a lot to you but it is to me. And yes I do expect a £500 laptop to still work 3 months after I bought it.
And the price of the laptop isn't relevant anyway. Had a bought a £2000 computer the customer service would be the same

OP posts:
Silvergreenblue · 05/12/2023 00:50

Ask your bank to reverse the charge and send the laptop back.

Dibbydoos · 05/12/2023 00:54

I think your bank may help. Talk to them.
I have to admit I never had a prob with my Dell but I bought it years ago. Have since moved to Asus and HP.

I would email them and be clear you are losing business, they need to refund or replace and compensate for loss of earnings. Set it all out for them.

Hope you receive support soon

In the interim, could you buy a laptop or chrome book from cex?

Good luck.

EmmaEmerald · 05/12/2023 01:36

Try chargeback with your bank first

I hope that works but if no luck then try https://www.resolver.co.uk/

I had to do that with TalkTalk and it was apparently the only way to get their attention.

octoberfarm · 05/12/2023 02:51

Just here for solidarity. Back when we had dell laptops, they had literally the worst customer service I had ever encountered. Painfully bad. Sorry you're dealing with it Flowers

similarminimer · 05/12/2023 08:35

Given you said you were losing money and business, I think the suggestion about the power cable was an idea to help you work until it was sorted, rather than a lifetime suggestion. So 'thanks, but..' would have been less snotty than 'dont be ridiculous'

tanstaafl · 05/12/2023 09:14

£500 is more than enough to get a reliable laptop.
Like OP we’ve only had Dell laptops in our household and never had problems.
As a pp stated we always bought from the Dell Outlet section of their website too.

Shame if this is the way of things with Dell now.

OP, do you mind mentioning what model it is you have ?

Original poster
dontbuyadell · 05/12/2023 09:56

Well well well! They have shown up this morning!!!
Guess making a fuss about it on social media platforms does work!
Hopefully it is now sorted!

I still do not rate Dell at all for their customer services.

OP posts:
EmmaEmerald · 05/12/2023 18:10

I hope it is sorted OP.

Shade17 · 05/12/2023 18:19

My employer uses Dell and has for the past 10 years I’ve been there. They’re pretty reliable from what I can tell.

salamirose · 05/12/2023 18:49

dontbuyadell · 04/12/2023 23:32

No because funnily enough I bought a laptop because I need it to be mobile. Just because it could function in a much more limited capacity doesn't absolve Dell from their responsibilities to fix it.
It's 3 months old and is not fit for purpose

Show quote history

No need to be snotty. Loads of people buy laptops even if they aren't needing it to be mobile.

Original poster
dontbuyadell · 05/12/2023 19:11

@salamirose I don't understand your point. Just because some people would be happy with a device that is broken I should?
I'm not being snotty I just don't understand why I should be expected to be satisfied with a 3 month old device that doesn't have all of its functions working correctly? Even if I didn't use it remotely 90% of the time I still wouldn't be happy.

OP posts:
lolstevelol · 05/12/2023 20:03

Lucky I only buy MacBooks. The customer service and aftercare is top notch from Apple.

idontlikealdi · 05/12/2023 22:03

Had dell for years for work and home, old school PCs then laptops, never had an issue

Londonrach1 · 05/12/2023 22:05

Totally agree ..the one dell I bought lasted one year and one week and never worked. Never ever ever buy a dell unless you need a doorstop
Yanbu.

Wintersgirl · 05/12/2023 22:08

I'm typing this on a Dell laptop, it's ok, a bit slow mind. I had a Toshiba before and it was brilliant, went on and on for years, sadly Toshiba don't make laptops anymore.

salamirose · 05/12/2023 22:15

dontbuyadell · 05/12/2023 19:11

@salamirose I don't understand your point. Just because some people would be happy with a device that is broken I should?
I'm not being snotty I just don't understand why I should be expected to be satisfied with a 3 month old device that doesn't have all of its functions working correctly? Even if I didn't use it remotely 90% of the time I still wouldn't be happy.

Someone suggested a desktop and you said "No because funnily enough I bought a laptop because I need it to be mobile." It came across a bit rude

wjpa · 05/12/2023 22:19

I had a dell laptop that accidentally got closed whilst a pen was on it, damaging the screen. They wouldn't supply that particular screen. They want people buying new laptops.

ImpossibleGirl86 · 05/12/2023 22:30

Not one person has said they would be, or that you should be, satisfied with a broken device. They were simply trying to offer you an intermediate solution. Fair enough that doesn't work for your circumstances, but they weren't to know that, were they? None of that information was in your OP.

LostMySocks · 05/12/2023 22:31

Have you tried telling the AI chat that you need to speak to a human? You usually need to do this a couple of times as it will try to deflect with another question but it usually gets you through to a real person.

AdobeWanKenobi · 05/12/2023 22:42

Those suggesting chargebacks etc. OP has stated they paid on their business debit card. This means it’s a business to business purchase which has different laws than consumer to business. It’s not really as simple as it would be if OP were a normal customer.

I’m not confident enough personally to be be able to offer OP advice on this as it changes things, but hopefully someone with B2B consumer knowledge will be along soon.

Original poster
dontbuyadell · 05/12/2023 23:12

ImpossibleGirl86 · 05/12/2023 22:30

Not one person has said they would be, or that you should be, satisfied with a broken device. They were simply trying to offer you an intermediate solution. Fair enough that doesn't work for your circumstances, but they weren't to know that, were they? None of that information was in your OP.

At no point was I looking for solutions though 🤷🏻‍♀️
I was warning people of the shocking level of customer service they could expect from Dell!

Anyway the situation is resolved now so I will ask for the thread to be removed

OP posts:
Museum10662 · 06/12/2023 00:22

dontbuyadell · 05/12/2023 23:12

At no point was I looking for solutions though 🤷🏻‍♀️
I was warning people of the shocking level of customer service they could expect from Dell!

Anyway the situation is resolved now so I will ask for the thread to be removed

Show quote history

"shocking level of customer service"

that does not mean it will be the same for every person,

Swipe left for the next trending thread