My Dad's Dell Nightmare: Do NOT Buy a Dell!!!

After much soul searching my father bought a new computer two weeks ago. I tried my best to talk him out of getting a PC. He wouldn't have any of it. So we looked at Dell's and Sonys. I have bought Dells for my business and personal use for years.

Dad's not real technical so we went with Dell because they offer onsite set up. I spec'd it out for him and he ordered it.

All of the components didn't come in on time and then it took a while for the tech to get it together to set things up.

The first pass seemed ok but the Ethernet jack didn't work. The tech said they needed to replace the motherboard. When he told me that I told him that was not a good thing. They guy showed up and took the computer apart, spreading parts all over his office.

Now it will not conect at all, wired or wireless. Dad has been on the phone since I got to his house with Dell support, who don't really want to play ball. Even though he paid for a tech to set things up now they want to charge him for it. He is now in the 3rd hour and has bumped up two times. His contact Erica, a second level manager, will not give him her last name, just her ID 323479. Erica - do you remember Jeff? Dell do you remember Jeff?

From Jeff's letter to Michael George:

"I am writing about this on my weblog in detail and you are losing customers by the day... including me. I am going to the Apple store in one hour. You may go read what I've written here. But first, I urge you to read what consumers say in the comments there. And before that, again, please read your own customer service email trail first and tell me whether this represents the best of the Dell brand.

In its first two weeks of use, this machine has so far gotten a new motherboard... cpu... memory... keyboard... wireless networking... and case. The disk drive is so bad it won't even run your diagnostic. The wireless networking still does not work. The machine goes to the blue screen of death frequently. The keyboard is still faulty.

I paid for both at-home service and complete care but have received neither. Your at-home care is a fraud; your own person has said in writing that the technician would arrive without parts sufficient to fix the machine. Complete care? The machine is clearly a lemon under federal warranty statutes and regulations and you'd be better off just to replace it. If it just burned up -- which it has come close to doing -- you'd send me a new one. But instead, your people put me through service hell. And I am left unable to do my work because I have an unreliable Dell computer.

This machine is a lemon. Your at-home and complete care service is a fraud. Your customer service is appalling. Your product is dreadful. Your brand is mud."

Pretty much exactly what my Dad is going through.

If you know anyone looking at buying a computer, please tell them 1) not to buy a Dell and 2) not to buy a PC. Friends don't let friends buy anything other than Macs. Really. Screw you Dell.