Dell's Kissin' my Rear... Is it Enough???

[Hypnotist]

Dell's trying to keep me happy by blowing me kisses... are they sweet enough?

Here's my email and their CSR response:
_____________________________________________________________

> Hi & Happy New Year!
>
>I have two questions tonight...
>
>1) I have a Dimension 8400 on the way from Dell Home, sort of. It was to be shipped via 2 business day delivery, however, I received a shipment notification email from Dell indicating that it would arrive in 1 to 5 days. This is not good to start with... 2 business days is not equal to 1-5 B-dys. Then, while checking the tracking data with UPS, they state that the shipment is "rescheduled" and will not arrive until 01/05/05. Dell's shipment email and online shipping status represents that the 8400 was shipped on 12/29/04. By my calculations, this is definitely not 2 business day shipping. Why do you represent that this will occur when it will NOT... and how will you rectify the problem in this NEW customer's mind?
>
>2) I'm to receive a FREE Dell 720 printer. It was originally scheduled to arrive(?) on 01/18/05 and now shows a later ship date. At this point I could care less about the delivery date... my concern is that the order shows that Dell is charging me about $25 for a FREE 720 printer! If I'm charged for the printer I will be MOST unhappy. And a side note... the printer order is missing from areas within "My Account". Is there a printer or not? Is it FREE or not? Please help me to understand why these tasks are not being handled as was originally represented to me by Dell.
>
>Thank you in advance for your lightening fast attention to this Customer Care Matter.
>
>Regards,

And the CSR response:

Dear Mr. XXX
Condensed intro:
Here's what we show...yada yada, kiss kiss, hug, we're so sorry...
Oh what can we do... BAD UPS, BAD!

HERE'S THE MEAT:
I offer you with a FREE upgrade to Dell 922 photo printer by canceling
the existing 720 printer. The 922 printer is much more advanced than the
720 and is easily available. You may also visit the following link to
see the specifications for the 922 printer:

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/prod...=19&l=en&s=dhs

Please get back to me with an acceptance to the above offer so that I
may cancel the 720 printer order and place an order for the 922.

Dell?s premium motto is to provide complete satisfaction to the
customers. We at Dell pride ourselves on providing the best customer
experience by offering quality products and services.

As a gesture towards Dell award winning customer service and support,
and valuing you as our esteemed customer I offer you with a discount
coupon $90.00 or an item worth upto $75.00. Please get back to me with
an acceptance to any one of the above offers so that I may provide you
with the same. I will appreciate if you could provide me the Dell part
number or link for the item, if however you choose it as an option.

Condensed closing:
Yada yada yada, It's been good for us we hope it was good for you too. And call us sometime... we really do love you!... Yada yada.

Question:
Aside from the fact the guy needs more English education, is the offer sweet enough, or is there room for a bump? I've not negotiated these guys before. And please no comedy... my side hurts from reading OT threads.
_____________________________________________________________

[iramarine]

You should be glad they are offering you anything. In one of my worst experiences... I ordered a DVD burner from them many many moons ago and it took ~6 months for it to arrive. Multiple inquiries said they were backordered but their own forums had members report ordering after I did and receiving their orders while I waited. The difference was that they changed their part number (manufacturers part number remained the same) and they raised the price. Dell's advice was for me to cancel my original order and place a new order ($50 more).
Bottom line. If you are content with the price of your order, and as long as it arrives within a month, whatever they offer to add on is gravy. Take it and be happy.

[DJjeff1080]

I am surprised that they offered you money off and an upgrade. My guess is that they are out of stock on the 720 so they upgraded you to get it to you sooner. I have bought a number of items and I usually have to call a few times before they offer me money off. Although after the third flat panel they sent me had bad pixels they did give me another $100 off of the $550 I paid.

I would suggest that you keep an eye on the expected date and if it increases again, complain again and they will probably give you some more of a discount.

[Gothic Girl]

Dude, dell sucks. I hated them right from the start. When we got our computer, I messed something up and had to call tech support. the guy told me to do all this stuff, which I found out the next day, had wiped out half my hard drive. I called back that night and was told that I had to pay for their services since my 30 days of free support was up. needless to say, I was p!ssed! I couldn't see why I had to pay to talk to their tech support when it was them who screwed it up! There product is good, but all their people suck.

[Hypnotist]

Dude, dell sucks. I hated them right from the start. When we got our computer, I messed something up and had to call tech support. the guy told me to do all this stuff, which I found out the next day, had wiped out half my hard drive. I called back that night and was told that I had to pay for their services since my 30 days of free support was up. needless to say, I was p!ssed! I couldn't see why I had to pay to talk to their tech support when it was them who screwed it up! There product is good, but all their people suck.

Product (CPU) = Good
Support (ALL) = Bad

Seems to be the consensus. I've just gottem makin' offers and I want to know how far to push... realistically.

[Jeffbx]

For sure, take what they offer & don't push any further. Most of the time in a case like this you'd get a long apology & maybe the printer upgrade. The extra merchandise is a nice bonus.

However, I'd recommend selling that printer on ebay & getting yourself a Canon if you really need an inkjet.

[ramazank2]

However, I'd recommend selling that printer on ebay & getting yourself a Canon if you really need an inkjet.

You recommend Canon printers over HP? Most other people I would let that comment go. But since I value your opinion... Why?

[Jeffbx]

You recommend Canon printers over HP? Most other people I would let that comment go. But since I value your opinion... Why?

Hey, I appreciate the endorsement!

For everyday inkjet printing use (text only, color brochures, Powerpoint slides, etc) I'd probably still give it to HP. For laser, hands down they're the best.

However, for photo printing I think Canon has everyone beat in terms of resolution & ink cost. I've had Lexmark & HP in the past, and while the Lexmark had fantastic resolution, the cost of the ink was killer ($75 to replace the black & the color). The HP was better in the ink costs, but resolution wasn't as good for photo printing.

I've also heard good things about Epson for photo printing, but I haven't used an Epson inkjet in a long time.

[Hypnotist]

For sure, take what they offer & don't push any further. Most of the time in a case like this you'd get a long apology & maybe the printer upgrade. The extra merchandise is a nice bonus.

However, I'd recommend selling that printer on ebay & getting yourself a Canon if you really need an inkjet.

Really... take the first offer? No room for further negotiation? The printer is truly a non-issue b/c as you point out, a better printer is required. The 720 is FREE and I was gonna give it to my Dad. But as I think about Dell printer's notoriously high ink costs, maybe I won't do him that "favor". And isn't Fleabay a hassle, not to mention the fact that I have a feedback total of 1 positive. My real concern is that the system delay has somewhat slowed a new business venture. That's where the "time is money" reality validates some level of additional compensation. I was thinking more like... forget the printers and just send someone from tech support to come rebuild the engine in my truck ... think they'd go for it?

[Jeffbx]

I was thinking more like... forget the printers and just send someone from tech support to come rebuild the engine in my truck ... think they'd go for it?

Yes, but it might take a while to get someone from India to your house...

[cheapie]

i'd take their offer in a heartbeat. seems like they are genuinely trying to make it right.

[guiseppewv]

i'd take their offer in a heartbeat. seems like they are genuinely trying to make it right.

Take the offer. They are trying to make up for their mistake and most merchants wouldn't care.

[brainsmile]

ask them for a wife.

[Hypnotist]

ask them for a wife.

Translated = Get a life? I know, huh?

[BigJon]

In my experience...I heard the Dell printers suck! They use their own cartriges...so last I checked, you can't buy them at OfficeMax and such (I could be wrong now though...). They are Lexmark printers that have the cartriges slightly modded so that you can only use Dell's supplies. That just sucks....

[Hypnotist]

In my experience...I heard the Dell printers suck! They use their own cartriges...so last I checked, you can't buy them at OfficeMax and such (I could be wrong now though...). They are Lexmark printers that have the cartriges slightly modded so that you can only use Dell's supplies. That just sucks....

I'm hearing that a lot BigJon. Working on an alternative to ANY Dell printer right now. They claim they can't negotiate FREE promotional items... only upgrade the freebees. Sounds weak ... if you can offer discounts, seems like you can do most anything within reason to satisfy the customer.