My new, bigger and better blog is up here http://comodisc.blogspot.com/ , along with an explanation for the change. This blog will be maintained as is for a while, but any new content will be posted there.
I think SE Calgary News is well worth checking out. Young talent is encouraged, and the articles tend to be just a little bit different in tone and style from the mainstream press. Of the several Calgary news sources I follow, I suspect this will become my favorite. Fresh and inspiring.
http://www.secalgarynews.com/
I finally have a little bit of time, so I think I should wrap up the Dell saga. Hopefully it has concluded.
A Dell rep got in touch with me, and let me know that they had found my "missing" payment, and that it had gone through their bank on the day they received it. She advised me not to answer any more calls from their collection department, and to consider the issue closed. Since she did this in writing, I feel adequately protected from any more silliness.
I still get emails and calls from various branches of the Dell family, but now I just store and ignore them.
If anyone needs to know who to contact at Dell when in a similar situation, send me an email and I will pass on a few addresses.
It still seems very odd to me that a computer company does not have a public email address for serving customers, and to me that is one of the more telling items in understanding Dell's business model.
Dell, you might not be a scam, but your business runs like one enough that this consumer can't tell what the difference might be.
It really should not be this difficult to be a customer, so my future computers will definitely not have "D" emblazoned on the cover.
PS, our little Acer netbook is a jewel. Good job Acer.
Today I made an audio recording of a Dell Financial representative telling me definitively that the person who I was in contact with via email does not work for Dell Financial, and that the address the gave me was not a Dell Financial address. Your welcome. Glad to be of some help.
I am now going to print excerpts of my email correspondance with Dell and Dell Financial, with bits that might harm an individual removed of course.
First, a nice collection of out of office messages, all from different people at Dell Whatever.
(Dell missives in red)
Thank you for your message. I will be out of the office Wednesday, July
28th. I will not have access to email or voicemail, but will return all
messages as soon as possible on Thursday, July 29th.
For emergencies, you may contact XXXXX_XXXXX@Dell.com .
Guess what, no reply from XXXXX
I will be out of the office until August 10th with limited access to vmail and email. For any urgent matters please contact:
Yeah, you know how that one ends
This address seems to exist only to send out this form letter:
Dear Chris,
Thank you for the email. In order to provide you with proper follow-up contact on this issue, it would be very helpful if you could provide the information requested below:
Dell reference number:
Postal code:
Daytime phone number:
Cell phone (If any):
Let me assure you, I intend to address your concerns.
Regards,
XXXXXXXXXX
Let me assure you, he has no intention of addressing my concerns.
The "Dell Reference Number" is a complaint number I have to get from Dell Financial, not my Dell Account number.
I have left the office for the day and will return on Tuesday August 4th. In my absence, please email Ca_dfs_customer service@dell.com for assistance.
Best regards,
XXXXX
In this case including the referenced email address seems to be ok with me, since it doesn't exist.
The following message to
The reason for the problem:
5.1.0 - Unknown address error 550-'#5.1.0 Address rejected Ca_dfs_customer service@dell.com'
The letter from the woman who purportedly does not work for Dell Financial giving me an address that purportedly is not a Dell Financial address:Good morning Chris, Here are the information you've requested: The payout amount is $1,008.27. You can mail a cheque payable to Dell Financial services Canada to P.O. BOX 8751 Station A Toronto, Ontario M5W 3C1 Please write your account number xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on the cheque for prompt processing. Please let me know if you need anything else. Best regards, XXXXXX XXXXXXX Bilingual Team Leader HSB Operations Dell Financial Services Limited Toll free : 1-888-438-1112 ext xxxx Fax : 1-888-438-1117
Note that on the phone I was told once that Dell Financial does not accept cheques for full payouts.
Also, as per my recording, I was told that the above phone number is not a Dell Financial number.
Hmm.
Phoning it proved otherwise.
The above email came with this disclaimer:
DISCLAIMER:
The content of this email and any attachment may contain proprietary and confidential information. It is intended to be conveyed only to the designated recipient(s). If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender by replying to this message and then deleting it from your system. Use, dissemination, distribution or reproduction of this message by unintended recipients is not authorized and may be unlawful.
Since I am the intended recipient, I assume also that use, dissemination, distribution, and reproduction by me is therefore legal and lawful.
Here's the email I received from Dell's legal type person that first gave me the email address and phone number of the woman quoted above:
Licenced Paralegal
Dell Legal Department
I did inform the Dell Financial rep on the phone that I too was recording our conversation, but I don't think she heard me over her spiel.
This is only a sample of my attempts to resolve this using email.
You would think a computer vendor would understand email service, no? The Dell Financial I talk to on the phone two or three times a day does not have an email address, and refused my offer to set one up for them in order to transmit my information to them.
Anyone with similar stories to tell please chime in. I am quite willing to add my testimony in any outstanding lawsuits of this nature as well.
Dell, how I despise you.
Let me recount the whys.
Let's see, a few years back I bought a Dell for my wife and I to use. At the time, being on a bit of a budget and really needing a new machine, I decided to finance it through Dell Financial.
This is how horrible things happen. Innocently.
For awhile, things went just fine. We received our machine, plugged it in, it all worked.
In fact, I have no product quality complaints whatsoever.
Then, around Christmas time, I decided to buy a Dell for my son, who had outgrown his trusty old laptop.
This time I planned to pay for it outright, having clued in to the exorbitant interest I was paying on our machine.
That didn't go so well.
I got a call from a Dell representative, yes with an Indian accent, who told me they could not ship to the address I had given.
We had moved to the countryside, and our mailing address is now a box number. That's just the way it is out here. Despite the fact that my Dell bills already came to this address and always got paid, he insisted it come to an actual street address. Arranging for a courier to bring it to us so we could sign for it at our physical address took a lot longer than I thought it should, but there was a language barrier between me an the Dell guy. No problem.
I expected the machine to arrive with a bill, or a bill to arrive and then the machine.
Nope.
My Dell arrived, no bill, and I discovered they had added the payments to my present Dell account, to be automatically deducted. No big deal, so I let it slide. We were too busy settling in to our new home to worry about it.
My bank account through which Dell payments came has no local branch. It was a vestige of our former life.
Eventually I tired of driving 45 minutes to top up an account that just served my Dell debt.
I attempted to make different arrangements, but again, language barrier, so I gave it up and just let the bank account lapse. I knew we had enough money to pay the whole account off outright, and figured this was a good way to find out where to send the payment and how much it would be.
Sure enough, robot voice from Dell starts leaving messages.
Eventually I get back to them, punch the series of numbers required to get a human, and a few minutes later I'm in, only to discover that not having my account number memorized is a bad thing.
So I wait, and next time Dell calls I answer. Lo and behold a person.
I explain to her my situation.
She does not understand that I do not want to pay $28.00, but instead want to pay it all.
I am placed on hold.
Eventually, she returns and tells me if I do not pay within ten days the amount will increase.
Fine, I tell her, email me the appropriate information and a cheque will be in the mail tomorrow.
She reiterates her caution about the ten day thing a time or two again.
Etc.
Two days later, no email still, and according to her the clock is running.
I have not recorded my conversation with her, that has been a one way affair.
PS: way to treat a customer.. like a crook after years of on time payments.
I try to find an email address to send an explanation of my situation, and perhaps have proof of my own that I am being a responsible consumer who just wants to pay his bill in full .
Tell you what, YOU try to find a customer service email address for this company that sells computers on the internet. You won't find any such thing on any Dell Canada page, that's for sure. All phone numbers lead to India.
I found a few on a Dell complaint site, after Googling "dell email" or some such.
I sent of a carbon copy email to all of the addresses I found in this manner, and forwarded copies to the Better Business Bureau and CTV.
In return I got some form letters, and one real email from a lawyer on the list, who sent me a contact who might be able to help.
Not for the first time, nor by far for the last, I was told of the difference between "Dell" and "Dell Financial".
This individual I then contacted. Upon understanding my issue she sent me a physical address, telling me I could send a cheque there. Note that, it becomes important.
Now I'm getting smarter.
I fill out the cheque.
I mail it "Registered" so someone has to sign for it from the addressee, "Dell Financial", at the post office in Toronto.
The calls from Dell Financial keep on coming.
Once I even answered it, and tried to explain that the situation was essentially resolved.
The person on the other end was not interested in my point of view, instead seemeing to have a script that had to be followed.
I hung up.
Recorded of course.
Then, a few days later, today in fact, I used the tracking number and saw that indeed someone had signed for the envelope in Toronto, their name is recorded by Canada Post even.
Dell calls again, or rather, the Dell Financial Robot Collection Voice.
I call them back.
I have learned.
I have several screens up.
One screen has the Canada Post tracking number, and verification the envelope that I know holds my cheque has been signed for.
One screen has my Dell customer number.
One screen has the email I received telling me how to pay for my account, from someone who works for Dell Financial including the full amount outstanding, and informing me I can pay by cheque to the address which (I have checked several times to be sure) is indeed the same as the address Canada Post reports I have sent the registered letter to, and from which it has been signed for and therefore received.
Following me so far?
So, let's put several frustrating phone calls today into one pile, call it 2 hours I will never get back:
One Dell Financial human tells me Dell has not received my payment.
When I tell the person that I have proof that Dell Financial has received by tracking my registered letter and that there was a cheque enclosed, I am told that the address I've mailed the cheque to is not a Dell Financial address.
I am told the woman from Dell Financial must work for Dell, not Dell Financial. Nothing can convince them otherwise.
I am told the difference between Dell and Dell Financial several times. I'm pretty sure I understand this difference now.
I am recorded every time.
I am told that I cannot mail a cheque to Dell financial, they only accept direct withdrawals from my bank account.
Really?
Guess what Dell Financial, I am never giving you direct access to my bank account ever again. Ever.
The email I received from a Dell Financial representative tells me specifically where to send my cheque, remember.
Oh, but that person doesn't work for Dell Financial, she must work for Dell, I am told.
Hmm, funny, I say, her job title indicates that she works for Dell Financial. Do you not know her, I ask? I can give you her email address if you like, I offer. Or her phone number.
Oh this produces some funny confusion.
Somewhere in this process I was once disconnected, and twice had my call forwarded without notice to phone numbers that were no longer in service.
I am told no supervisor can come to the phone.
I discover that to escalate this complaint I need a special complaint number. Screw that.
I am told by a Dell representative that he can listen to me complain all day but cannot help me, I must return to talking to "Dell Financial".
"Would you like the number?" he asks.
Nah, I think that's them calling now..
Where does it stand now?
Limbo.
I am spending no more time or money talking on the phone to Dell reps in India.
1-800 numbers still cost those of us who use cell phones. I figure just talking to Dell Financial has by now cost us at least $100.00. That's all the service this customer wants to pay for.
I am willing to face Dell in court. I can afford to, so why not. I feel very sorry for the customers that can't take the risk. I have sent out a ream of emails attempting to resolve this, proving I am not ducking my responsibility.
A few days ago I picked up the phone as a customer who was likely to shop Dell again.
I buy at least two computers a year.
Now I am an anti-Dell advocate who will not ever give them my money for their product ever again.
Good job Dell.
How many good customers can you afford to lose?
PS: us customer types don't care about the difference between "Dell" and "Dell Financial".
I went to the Dell site, ordered a couple of computers, and I am getting screwed over, and the name "Dell" figures prominently. If you can't control your own dogs that's just bad business.
I bet it's costing your company more than you can ever know.
I'm telling everyone I know to avoid your company and your "deals" like the plague.
Apparently the word has been out for a while anyway, but one more voice in the chorus..
I just wanted to pay my bill.
Does it really have to be this hard?
Shame on you.
Relevant Links
Jeff Jarvis' Dell Hell
http://www.my3cents.com
http://www.complaints.com
http://www.nyagdell.com (lawsuit)
http://www.complaintsboard.com
Dell Fraud
DFS Nightmares
http://www.thisistrue.com
Canadian Dell Hell
A big list of complaints
Dell shoots it's own foot
I have been in contact with the Better Business Bureau. This unfortunately seems to be the best way to get Dell's attention.
Dell corporate email - As of December 2006, everybody (save Michael Dell) working for Dell U.S. has the same form of email address: firstname_lastname@dell.com
It's been awhile between posts. I'm stricken with Laryngitis, and working like a madman on several projects at once.
I posted a new song, "Pocketful of Answers" to iLike, have a listen.
I'm still working on the Gordon Crighton project at work. It's a behemoth, but at least the hours of tedium are interleavened with inspiration and beauty.
Edmonton was interesting, unfortunately I've been sick since I went.
We moved a huge cast iron printing press from Coleman to our facility. I'm loking forward to seeing it in operation.
My garden at home is flourishing.
Life is good.
