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Over the past year or so, I’ve read several articles on how Dell has supposedly pumped millions into improving their customer service, among other areas of their business. Their stock was slipping - going from ~$40 in January of ‘05 to ~$20 in June of ‘07, and apparently, they realized that if they didn’t do something, they would get pushed under by their competitors.

Sadly, although Dell’s stock has rebounded somewhat, it doesn’t appear that their service has changed much. My brother purchased a laptop from Dell’s refurbished website a few days ago. After seeing his estimated ship date, he contacted Dell customer service. Below is the actual chat transcript:

09/18/2007 07:26:07PM System: “Your chat session will begin shortly.”
09/18/2007 07:26:09PM Session Started with Agent (Savitha Shetty)
09/18/2007 07:26:11PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Thank you for contacting Dell Customer Service Chat. My name is Savitha. How may I help you?”
09/18/2007 07:26:16PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Hi Matt, how are you doing today?”
09/18/2007 07:26:22PM Matt: “Good thanks”
09/18/2007 07:26:38PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “How may I assist you today?”
09/18/2007 07:26:55PM Matt: “I just placed an order for a refurbished Inspiron, and it says on my email confirmation that my estimated ship date is not until 10/10/07″
09/18/2007 07:27:20PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “I will personally review your records and will obtain the information for you.”
09/18/2007 07:27:30PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Please verify the full name on the account.”
09/18/2007 07:27:40PM Matt: “Matt *edit*”
09/18/2007 07:28:02PM Matt: “the billing name is *edit*”
09/18/2007 07:28:13PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Thank you for the verification.”
09/18/2007 07:28:25PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Is *edit*@*edit* your e-mail address?”
09/18/2007 07:28:32PM Matt: “yes”
09/18/2007 07:28:43PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Thank you for the information.”
09/18/2007 07:29:18PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “I have researched on your order and see that, your order is in production stage with Estimated Ship Date on 10/10/07.”
09/18/2007 07:29:42PM Matt: “right, that’s the problem”
09/18/2007 07:30:01PM Matt: “one of the reasons i chose to buy from Dell Outlet is that the orders are supposed to ship quickly, most within 24 hrs according to the website”
09/18/2007 07:30:02PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “It is just an estimated date and the order might get processed much earlier.”
09/18/2007 07:30:50PM Matt: “Aren’t the ones posted already refurbished…you can modify / customize them at all, so shouldn’t they be ready to go.”
09/18/2007 07:30:56PM Matt: “can’t modify that is”
09/18/2007 07:31:26PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “I understand that you are upset over the Estimated Ship date.”
09/18/2007 07:31:37PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Whenever you place an order with dell, an estimated ship date is generated depending upon the availability of the item. The estimated ship date is a tentative date and the order can ship on or before the estimated date.”
09/18/2007 07:32:44PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “I haven’t received a response in over a minute. Please respond within the next two minutes to allow the system to continue our chat. Please let me know if you’re there.”
09/18/2007 07:32:48PM Matt: “I understand that; however, there should not be a question of availability in this case, as the item was posted on the refurbished site. If it was not available, it should not have been posted. It’s not a custom order.”
09/18/2007 07:33:34PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Yes that is right but, I apologize for any inconvenience or frustration this matter caused. We value you as our customer and your satisfaction is very important to Dell. As a mail order rule company we can only provide the estimated ship date only.”
09/18/2007 07:34:37PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “I haven’t received a response in over a minute. Please respond within the next two minutes to allow the system to continue our chat. Please let me know if you’re there.”
09/18/2007 07:35:12PM Matt: “I am going to be very unhappy if it takes three weeks for my computer to ship. I will wait for now.”
09/18/2007 07:35:26PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Thank you for your understanding.”
09/18/2007 07:35:28PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Are you satisfied with the level of services provided during the chat session?”
09/18/2007 07:36:05PM Matt: “Not particularly”
09/18/2007 07:36:16PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Is there any feedback for me or Dell as a company?”
09/18/2007 07:37:18PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “I haven’t received a response in over a minute. Please respond within the next two minutes to allow the system to continue our chat. Please let me know if you’re there.”
09/18/2007 07:37:53PM Matt: “Sure…I am leaving this chat with no information beyond what I already knew. Some reassurance or explanation of why a product that should be ready has “availability” issues would be helpful.”
09/18/2007 07:38:08PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Thank you. We appreciate your feedback.”
09/18/2007 07:38:10PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Is there anything else that I can do for you ?”
09/18/2007 07:38:45PM Matt: “Nothing at all”
09/18/2007 07:38:50PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Thank you for visiting Dell Consumer Customer Service online chat and allowing me the opportunity to assist you. I have included your case # *edit* to reference our interaction today. Please keep this on file; it will assist you when contacting Dell Inc in the future. Also, feel free to visit us again at support.dell.com.
09/18/2007 07:39:13PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “You’ve indicated that there are no other issues you need my assistance with. With that in mind, is it okay with you if I exit this chat now?”
09/18/2007 07:39:23PM Matt: “sure”
09/18/2007 07:39:30PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “It was pleasant assisting you.”
09/18/2007 07:39:31PM Agent (Savitha Shetty): “Good bye.”
09/18/2007 07:39:33PM Session Ended

While I agree with Matt that refurbished units that are not available for shipment should not be displayed, it wasn’t Dell’s response to his concern that surprised me so much; it was the fact that his feedback seemed to have so little impact on the customer service rep. I mean, if you are going to sound concerned enough to ask for feedback, at least sound concerned when feedback is given - especially when the customer has just stated that you were of no help at all!