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Recourse For Poor Customer Service?
eleventypie writes "I am in the Army and currently stationed in Afghanistan. Recently I found myself without a laptop so I decided to build a studio 17 from Dell. I designed/customized my laptop on 2008-09-17 and placed my order, which totaled approximately $1,700. The laptop was built and apparently shipped on 2008-09-28. Given my APO address, I know mail can sometimes take a little while to get here, though 7-10 days is normal. Dell said to give my laptop 6-8 business days and occasionally, it might take as much as 4-6 weeks. So on 2008-11-12 I sent another email to Dell informing them I still had not received my laptop. One person said to give it more time, while another person responded to my message telling me to send my address again and they would send me a replacement. So I sent my address immediately and never got a response. It is now the 30th of November and I still have no laptop and Dell seems to have quit responding to my emails. This is very frustrating being out $1,700 and not having a laptop to talk to my friends and family and do school work. Phone calls aren't easy so calling them is pretty much out of the question. Any advice on what I can or should do at this point to get the computer I ordered or get my money back?"
...and dispute the charge. No laptop = no payee.
and have them reverse the charges
call your credit card company and charge back the $1,700
of course you bought this on your credit card right? considering your circumstances and location the extra insurance afforded by purchasing on a Credit card means you wouldn't have through of using any other medium
Otherwise you will have to speak to Dell or any trading standards operated in the USA for proper legal advice
This is my sig, there are many like it but this is mine
It most likely got stolen by a corrupt employee on its way to you. Dell thinks you got it and won't send another one, so the place to take this is your credit card's fraud resolution process, who will most likely eat the loss.
Send in the Marines! Once Dell HQ is surrounded I'm sure they'll find your laptop.
Honestly e-mail CNN with a story about how hard it is to deal with issues like this when you are out of country in the service. You can even file an iReport. If they run with the story I think you'll find your laptop showing up in record time with a heartfelt apology from Dell.
Apparently you're at a computer with internet right now, you should try using SkypeOut or another free software VoIP service to call tech support and figure out what's going on.
Get your problem posted to the front page of slashdot?
There are members of the U.S. Armed Forces who attend college while enlisted and even while stationed overseas. Certainly you've heard of online degree programs offered by schools such as Argosy University or University of Phoenix?
My blog
...I predict that Dell Customer Relations will be acting very quickly to get you a nice laptop. ;]
consumerist.com
If I can not smoke in heaven, then I shall not go. -- Mark Twain
My son is an Army JAG Attorney. He was telling me that helping servicemen with such problems was part of the job that gave them much satisfaction. They can write some very good letters on your behalf. You probably have a few deployed with/near you.
Presumably, you've paid with a credit card. Call up your CC company and dispute the charges.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
meh, i would have had the laptop shipped to a relative and asked *them* to ship it in a plain box (not one marked DELL DELL DELL) with insurance, delivery confirmation or whatever option they could get from USPS or whoever.
as others mentioned, do a chargeback. :)
then buy a thinkpad
By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth. -- George Carlin
Go to consumerist.com they have numbers and email addresses for corporate customer service.
1) Dispute charge with your credit card issuer (as others have recommended)
2) Check out the consumerist blog (consumerist.com) and use their guidelines to get consumer satisfaction.
Don't let them BS you - put the beef out in public and you're more likely to get results. Dell and other large companies don't care about you, an individual consumer - make it public and affect thousands of buying decisions and you'll likely fare better.
Note: If they resolve this to your satisfaction, also post/email/whatever a follow-up showing that they made good on a bad situation. If they do not, of course you should let everyone know that as well.
Good luck!
Not sure about their consumer oriented stuff, but their business products and support is great. I wouldn't buy a consumer type laptop from anyone, consumer stuff is garbage.
Every time you post an article on Slashdot, I kill a server. Think of the servers!
Full of that fresh, shiny VISTA goodness.. you'll be deliriously happy!
Be patient, my lad - The WOW starts... soon!
you had me at #!
Looking at Reseller Ratings Dell has a really shitty customer service team.
I would suggest:
Good luck
Actually in the Army you can get a degree from most normal colleges while deployed as well. Theres a college exchange program where you can take classes at any approved college (including some classes taught by the army itself both online and offline) and receive your degree at the participating college of your choice (and they do have a good selection of participating colleges.)
I've heard of many great success stories from people employing a new consumer tactical weapon: the EECB, executive email carpet bomb.
But it's only to be used as a last resort, no matter how justified or important you think you are. After you've tried everything else, dig up the email addresses of Dell executives (which are generally not hard to find, surprisingly) and send *all* of them a well-written, rational letter explaining why you are dissatisfied with their service and what they can do to set things straight if they want to keep you as a customer.
For bonus points, mention tactfully that you have a blog. Good luck, soldier.
Of course you can just cancel the credit card charge.
However, I'm not sure really what you do about Dell's customer service. Or, indeed, the CS from any large corporation if you have a problem.
In such companies, the goal is to reduce customer contact (by fobbing customers off with canned answers) and maintain a satisfaction rate of about 80% (usually through fraudulent stats practices). That means that most customers will either be satisfied or simply give up due to inadequate answers.
Most CS is either outsourced or in a contact center far from the head offices. Most CS staff are looked down on by Head Office staff. Communication is one way -- FROM head office. If you have a complaint about CS, the first person you complain to is from CS. If your complaint is serious, or is a good suggestion as to how to improve the business, then CS staff usually have very little opportunity to pass that to Head office, other than through a heavily bureaucratic process. Often it will get thrown out in the 3rd or 4th tier in the process. It's very unlikely that you will be able to contact someone in head office directly to raise issues with CS. CS has a vested interest in hiding any issues from head office.
Which leads me to wonder why any corporation ever bothers to provide any CS at all. It being such a cost center, and one that bosses clearly don't care about -- otherwise it would never be outsourced.
Send a letter to the president of Dell, CCing the vice-president of sales. Lay out the problem. Emphasize your presence in Iraq and service and self-sacrifice. Lay it on thick.
Well, I mentioned Argosy University particularly because my wife attends there and there is someone stationed in Afghanistan who is currently taking the same class she is. Their program is actually only partially online -- there is part that is on-campus as well.
My blog
I had similar problems with Dell Australia recently, and after a month or so of trying to play nice I looked up the location of their Australian office and contacted the Department of Fair Trading in that state to ask them for assistance. They took over from there and within a week I had the Executive Customer Escalation Manager for Dell Australia ringing and emailing me (and leaving me her direct email/phone number), apologising profusely and trying to get everything sorted out.
I don't know if a similar government regulatory body exists in whichever state Dell US are based in, but do a little research and if one does exist, ask them for help. Make sure you let them know eveything you've tried so far, and include any and all documentation to support your claim.
Good luck!
Argosy's psychology program is very reputable.
My blog
You can do that online (BBB.org); my experience is that a real person in Texas will respond and help resolve it. That's what happened when an order of my went into Dell's little version of customer service hell. I spoke with a real person in TX who not only solved it but gave me a credit for a future purchase. As a side note - did you checkout the deals on AKO? Soemtimes they are better than those online.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
I'd suggest you first pick up a telephone and have a real-time conversation with somebody.
Excuse me. No. We respect your service, and he has every right to ask for help from people he trusts. That apparently is us. They said they'd send a replacement.. but didn't. So now we are discussing resolutions. You had no right to make those assumptions.
Unless you are buying literally thousands of PCs, the fact that you had to write them multiple emails implies that they have crappy service.
By all means, troll to your heart's content but PLEASE make it intelligible so that our minds can experience the troll as yours did..
Requiem for the American Dream
...everyone else is just trying to get their shit back!
Brother someone stole your shipment without a doubt. I can't believe you would even order something like that while in country. When I was in Opsec, Afghanistan we had our mail stolen all the time. Mostly just cartons of smokes. You should have ordered it through AAFES if you couldn't wait to pick one up on your R&R.
We also had quite a few CONEX get broke into during shipping. They would simply take the hinges off, take what they wanted, and weld it back shut.
My suggestion to you is to make sure you report it. Maybe one good thing out of it is one of those USSR employees will get fired.
Good luck Sir
I want to be retired when I grow up.
>Seriously. We respect your service in Afghanistan, but this is clearly not a
>question for Slashdot other than you are trying to use Slashdot's fame to draw
>attention to your case to get you preferential treatment. Clearly if what you
>cared about was your money, you'd call your credit card company and the matter
>would be settled in minutes.
And, given that he is risking his life in Afghanistan, why the hell shouldn't he get preferential treatment?
Brett
7-10 days is pretty quick for an APO. I'm waiting about 5 weeks per package on my APO in Antarctica. Same old C-17 delivery, but damn do they take their sweet time.
Tim Smith - Ramblings from Nerd Land
Purchasing your Dell computer through AAFES (Army Air Force Exchange Services), online or off, has 2 benefits:
1) Tax-free.
2) Your Dell helpline service tickets will be assigned to the Small Business department, instead of Joe Public.
PS: You can also buy your Harley-Davidson motorcycle through AAFES while you're deployed.
Recourse For Poor Customer Service?
Homeland Security. I've had the impression long before 9/11 that Al-Qaeda has infiltrated Dell customer service.
And, given that he is risking his life in Afghanistan, why the hell shouldn't he get preferential treatment?
Because, as a non-american, I don't support the war, and i don't support his actions.
Why should he get preferential treatmetn for living in a country that sends him to war for no reason? Why should he get preferential treatment because he was idiotic enough to sign up for the military in the USA?
Another thing to ask is if they ever shipped it and if they did what the tracking number is. At least this way you can try to work out whether the blame is with Dell or the internal courier service used by the military to get it there (I imagine this how it works). Once you can work out where the computer should be you will know who you be dealing with.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
being a premier partner with Dell, when ordering somewhat customized laptops or desktops, I get really late estimated shipping dates due to the amount of CPUs and lithium ion batteries on hand at Dell's factories. one think I will say, is that sometimes Dell likes to discontinue certain models of laptops without telling the customer until it is way too late. or, the particular configuration of your model might have some parts that might be discontinued as well. as much as I like Dell for their excellent warranties (crucial for business customers), their inventory control needs to improve.
*plays the Apogee theme song music*
He doesn't have the laptop so he can't submit the story. Dell knows this so they aren't worried.
Run and catch, run and catch, the lamb is caught in the blackberry patch.
I've had an APO address for the better part of a decade. In that time, I've had the following articles stolen in the mail:
a monitor
2x laptops
a workstation
3x motherboard/cpu combos
They were all bought with credit cards; so I got my money back, but it's still a major pain in the ass to have to deal with
Overseas military mail is an easy target for criminals. The required customs declaration makes for easy pickings.
Sometimes, they do catch the perps and the penalties are harsh. That's your only consolation.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_/ai_n15827460
If you insure your mail, they are required to have a positive chain of custody and proof of identity before delivery.
you have a dodgy supply chain to your location. bother the supply chain
uh... no. The supply chain is Dell's responsibility. The ability to purchase a machine over the Internet and have it sent to you is THEIR BUSINESS MODEL. Thats what they're promising for your cash - if they aren't able to reliably deliver the machine to your location, they shouldn't be taking your cash.
and Bin Laden's typing his myspace profile on it right now. Go get him!
Seriously though, what are we supposed to tell you? Contact somebody higher up the chain, preferably by phone. Yeah it may be hard, but so is delivering a $2k package to a 3rd world shithole.
Wait a minute... I thought asshole behavior was what Slashdot is all about?
You can be a non supporter of the war *and* support service personnel, who are doing a job that I know I couldn't do. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive, and you certainly don't have to be an ass about it.
I would be very happy to follow up with Dell at no charge for a service person serving in Afganistan protecting our freedoms! This is not a joke, I am very serious. Thank you! Rick
maybe it's god's(buddha's) way punishing you for being involved in the illegal invasion and occupation of a sovereign foreign nation
Uh ... what? Your vitriol is not appreciated and serves no purpose. You may leave.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
In all wars BOREDOM is a factor.
Computers are important to morale and communication, because snail mail is painfully slow and government web and email access is often limited.
"I'd also question your choice of laptop. For challenging conditions, with heat, sand, and a lot of bumps, I'd suggest a panasonic toughbook or other ruggedised solution. Unless of course, you're a REM who's several hundred clicks from any forward operating post, and have ready access to 24x7 electricity with no spikes, aircon and constant net access. Apologies if I've called that one wrong, but you're not exactly giving the impression of being at the sharp end of business out there."
Snarky much? It's easy enough to care for electronics in the sandbox. Bags, boxes, scrounged electronic equipment cases,large ammo cans (mmm...gaskety), etc offer plenty of stowage options.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Your hometown TV station probably has a consumer reporter who would love to do a "local hero in Afghanistan abused by big faceless corporation" story, especially during sweeps. Also, even though the election is over, your Congresscritter would love to have his/her name on a press release announcing the resolution of you problem.
I'd agree that you should know your card company's chargeback procedure, and understand how to do this. But don't start with the chargeback.
Disputing the charges is "the nuclear option" in terms of working with a customer service department. It will generally make all future conversations adversarial. It will rarely help you get your order fulfilled--at best, the company might grudgingly agree to cancel your order. It can also in some circumstances result in getting a collection agency placed on you (and the resultant damage to your credit rating).
Keep this in your back pocket, but if you have other options (see other suggestions about trying to escalate to someone senior in the customer service department), try them first. If you still want your Dell, you need Dell to be willing to work with you. Don't burn any bridges until you're convinced the transaction is beyond saving.
guessing that you're already aware of the "dispute the charges" option, and were here looking to solve the problem differently. People stateside in this situation are most interested in getting their money back and ordering somewhere else etc so that's why so many answers are going that way. You being deployed are probably more interested in any other way to get the laptop you ordered.
Unfortunately you may be downhill of someone that makes a business of lifting computers from the delivery chain there. It won't matter how many times they send it, you won't get it. One poster recommended seeing if you can get special instructions to plain-mark your box. A better option is to get it delivered back home, and have someone ship it to you. Then you are not dealing with Dell as the shipper that has to go after the shipping company. Right now as the receiver you're pretty powerless to get involved. Should save on shipping costs from your friend's stateside base to you of course too as another option.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
I was also in the service and know how bad the mail system is. The mail is handled by regular people like you, me and the guy or gal reading this post. Integrity is not a requirement to join the rate that handles mail, and I recall several incidents every deployment where PS's were actually stealing electronics from the mail. There's no way to prove they were actually received, except for documentation kept by the PS's, who if stealing your electronics would not be quick to document it.
You can do it online. The first thing they will ask is if you are in the military. That puts you at the top of the list. When I did it (for the same reason) I got a response from Gateway the same day, and a new laptop sent two days later. Gwee
The general attitude at least two electrical places I've worked at, with some managers there has been that once we've got the customers money, sod it. If something bad happens, they have to do all the waiting around and pissing about till the item gets fixed. They think there's plenty of other fish in the sea. And they used to be right, but now they're losing money hand over fist, they need to realise that customer service matters, or die like the dinosaurs they are. I'm not saying to bend to every customers demand, because the customer sure as heck isn't always right. But just stonewalling/messing them about is no good any more.
Like the 100s of Millions of US Dollars 'lost' over there.
The servicemen get abused by being sent to fight for a lie, and the politically connected contractors rub salt in the wounds by getting rich.
The only positive in this whole mess is that US casualties are much much lower than in Vietnam. Other than that, the only honor is being a good soldier and following your orders. :(
Blar.
Why on earth are you ordering a Dell laptop delivered there? Are you that stupid or that arrogant?
I don't know about Afghanistan, but we've send several high-dollar ($2500-3600) notebooks to Iraq without any problems. We were always sure to use USPS Express Mail (did dell use express or priority?) with full insurance and declaration as to what they were. They were always received in pristine condition and within 7 days. We had one get there in 3 days! We thought the guy was pulling our leg, until he sent us the pictures.
Because, as a non-american, I don't support the war, and i don't support his actions.
Why should he get preferential treatmetn for living in a country that sends him to war for no reason? Why should he get preferential treatment because he was idiotic enough to sign up for the military in the USA?
No reason to wage war on a nation that was harboring and encouraging an organization that carried out several attacks on US soil, killing thousands of US citizens? Exactly why isn't this a reason?
I used to work for Dell in a call center doing technical support for business and the Army was one segment that I supported quite often. I dealt with many calls from overseas Army bases and it was always a headache. It's called OCONUS or Outside the CONtinental United States and it is a completely different process to send something OCONUS than it is to ship normally. The reason for this is because of export restrictions and other trade regulations. If Dell screws up and sends something where they aren't suppoesto they could loose their ability to ship anything outside the US so they take it very seriously. There is a special department in Round Rock TX that deals with this, all of my shipments went through them. I had to set it up a certain way, or it wouldn't work, nothing would be shipped and I wouldn't know it wasn't shipped unless I remembered to check back a couple of days later and see the status of the shipment. So, the end result is that because most agents don't get many OCONUS calls, possibly 1 or 2 a year, they either don't know that it has to be done a certain way, or they can't remember how to do it the right way so it fails to ship and the agent who set it up is NOT notified unless they take the time to check a few days later on the status which they usually don't have time and would not think to do anyway as 99% of the time it is unnecessary. Now bear in mind, this is in hardware warranty support, not sales and it has been about a year since I last worked for Dell so things could have changed but, I kind of doubt it. This was an ongoing issue for me as I worked the night shift so I got at least 3 or 4 OCONUS calls in a week which is much, much more than the average agent. I became the go to guy for OCONUS (in my department) calls because I did so many of them. Another issue is the APO address. We were told NEVER to ship to an APO if there was any other address available because it could often take 3 to 4 MONTHS, not weeks to get there if it ever did. I ALWAYS had issues shipping to APO's. So that could be the issue as well. You need to realize that the agent could be trying to do their best to give you good service (which may or may not be the case) but they are very limited on what they can do and more likely, do not know all the options they have available to them. As this is a rare case - shipping OCONUS to an APO, most agents would not have ever done this and not know how do do it correctly. I would follow the advice of some other posters and call and talk to a live person, during business hours in EST which probably means you need to call at 2 or 3 am your time. Be prepared with all the information you can possibly get and be ready to spend quite some time on the phone as it is better if you can stay on the phone while the agent goes and talks to someone who knows what to do or looks for someone who knows what to do. Shipping overseas is a pain and is always a hassle. also it's not Dell making the hassle it's the US trade regulations so blaming the Dell agent won't accomplish anything, even though it might be their fault for not sending it correctly in the first ( and second and third...) place. Asking for a supervisor won't work as there are no supervisors for you to talk to. there are managers who do not talk to customers, the best you can do is get another agent but then you will be starting back at square 1 and have to explain everything all over again. Another person posted offering to follow up with Dell for you, this won't work as they are not the person how placed the order or the cardholder so Dell probably will not talk to them, this is the normal customer confidentially policy Dell has. the easiest thing to do would be to have a family member buy a computer for you and then send it to you the way you normally receive mail from family and friends. Any other company (like HP or Apple) will have the same difficulties shipping to you as Dell but they might have better trained agents, or not. I'm not trying to defend Dell here just tell you the realities of shipping from Dell to your APO.
When our son, deployed in Afghanistan, ordered his laptop, we had it delivered to our house, then repacked it in a plain brown box, before shipping it out to him insured. Sure, people can still look at the customs form and see it's a laptop, but that's better than shipping a box with "Dell" in large letters on the side that you can read at twenty paces.
You're a special kind of asshole, you know that?
He needs a laptop so he can stay in contact with loved ones and to be able to STUDY, you know, better himself as a human being while doing this horrible thing that the rest of us don't want to do.
...
For those yes, I'm sad for their losses ... now for the losses of some army boy ... give me a break!
Sounds to me like an open-and-shut case of breach of contract. They took your money. They failed to fulfill their side of the bargain. Unless they refund your money (perhaps with interest, perhaps not) or give you the laptop you paid for, they're guilty as hell. Maybe I'm naive, but I'd bet a lot of judges, juries and predatory, razor-toothed lawyers would take a pretty dim view of a corporation ripping off somebody risking his life in service of his country.
I imagine a letter from the aforementioned predator (maybe accompanied by a warning that the media would be involved soon) would generate some kind of response.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
You've obviously never dealt with APO/FPO addresses.
Once the item is dropped off at your APO/FPO address, Dell's responsibility for the supply chain ends and the military's begins.
APO/FPO mail is notorious for being delayed days, weeks or even months for just simple letters. Packages can vanish into smoke.
Nowhere does the poster say he's in the US Army. He could be British, Canadian, French, German, or even perhaps he's a new member of the Afghan National Army. I know Dell doesn't sell just to people in the USA, so you can't make those kinds of assumptions.
As others have said, contact your credit card company and block the charge. Don't be shy about telling them you're in the military and in Afghanstan. Remember, the credit card company has a reason to be on you side.
Then, contact Dell and tell then what you've done. Tell them you asked for advice on Slashdot and the you've blocked the charge.
My guess is that this will get you a new laptop.
Frankly, as someone who served at a few APO addresses, my guess is that someone on the Afghan side made off with your purchase. I once ordered a pair of replacement contacts lenses from my D.C. optometrist to be sent APO only to have them arrive, weeks late, in the local mail. Never figured that out.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
I cannot fix your problem with Dell.
I will recommend, to others I know, that we not buy as many Dell products as in the past years. With this economy ... I am not sure of the impact ... many are cutting back. Anyway... it can cost Dell more than $1* over the next few years, but my colleagues always get good price deals from all the technology OEMs and big distributors like Arrow, CDW... (no real need for dell).
MercysVictim's reply sound like a marketeer lurker on /. providing spin and cleans services for Dell. He is right about export laws on technology, scopes, sensors..., but APO is USA Government mail/parcel delivery ..., best I remember same rules apply for all US Mail delivery in/out of the USA, but maybe the laws changed with 911/Chaney.
Dell should answer their mail, or file for bankruptcy and a Government bailout.
Anyway, THANKS MUCH for helping US.
Unaccountable leaders are masters, and unrepresented people are slaves. How do US and EU fare?
Redneck? That's a leap if I've ever heard one. Crawl back to your basement, fucker.
Yeah, what I said above applies to you too.
Yeah, my post said nothing about Bush or Vietnam. When you're done with your little tantrum, please point out to me when it became appropriate to accuse anonymous soldiers of shooting at random civilians just because you disagree with Bush. It's not their fault that they're in this situation.
Jarheads are Marines, and they don't refer to themselves as "soldiers".
Your attempt at humour fails miserably.
or pretend to be one and ask them if there is some problem shipping laptops to asscrackistan
Contact Media Relations
Working media members may contact Dell's Media Relations team by calling our press line at (512) 728-4100 , or by using the form below.
The press line is staffed from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday. A recording at that number provides emergency and weekend contact information.
I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
I say if you can't resolve your customer service issue in the first call, ask for the supervisor, or the next level of service. In my experience, it usually gets you connected with somebody with a) knowledge and b) ability to make decisions on behalf of the company, much faster. In some cases that may get you speaking with a native english speaking person for the first time.
APO/FPO mail is notorious for being delayed days, weeks or even months for just simple letters. Packages can vanish into smoke.
That may be the case, but its still Dell's call. Dell need to make a business decision as to whether or not they are going to the location in question. If they go ahead and take your money then they are also taking on the responsibility of getting the package to that address.
I agree that if Dell can show they DID get the shipment to the address specified - then its no longer Dell's responsibility, but until someone authorised at the destination address signs for it and takes ownership, its Dell's problem.
If Dell DOESN'T want that responsibility - its up to Dell to review where it will and won't ship to.
It is in the same place as the weapons of mass destruction are in Iraq.
Shouldn't you be in school doing school work? Do they have army teachers and things shipped out to Afghanistan as well? What happens if you are in a lesson and you get attacked? Do you take a pencil, eraser, workbook AND a machine gun to class?
wow!
Do they do the good work of maintaining a list of companies that provide good customer service?
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
American dollars, or real money?
(I voted for Obama, but I can't resist egging you on, and I bet that comment eggs you on, even with this explanation.)
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
I wouldn't. Insurance by the postal service is worth almost as much as no insurance at all. It takes literally years of fighting past insane bureaucracy to get reimbursed, and even then they will try to weasel out of every single penny they can.
Dell would probably treat you better than the USPS.
But the people they outsource to are hideously lacking in knowledge of their role so anything out of the ordinary, such as your case is likely to make them crosseyed.
Don't worry - you've already got their attention.
I record my sleeptalking
Yeah assuming things can be crazy but I am indeed in the US Army so his assumptions were/are correct.
love is like a mouthful of broken glass
Charge Back.
Airstrike.
Invoie cost of airstrike.
1 (short ton / firkin) = 89.1432354 slugs / keg
actually now that you mention it, youre right. i once bought postal insurance and they refused to pay, because i couldnt produce receipts for the items, and the one i *did* produce a reciept for they bitched about.
but still, i had delivery confirmation and the *box* got to me, at least, so there!
By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth. -- George Carlin
If the time comes where you have to email executives or go to the news, then that company's support has failed you, and quite epicly.
Rather than leaving it in the hands of the company, as they have already shown you that they don't care about your satisfaction by half-assing their support/service budget, I think that you should go directly to a lawyer. Get the proof they need, sue Dell in whatever court you can, and then make them pay your legal fees and for your wasted time. The benefit to this method is that they HAVE to respond or the judge will go ahead and grant you whatever you asked for, regardless of how retarded it is.
99.99% chance that they'll give you everything you ask for without going to court, unless you're one of those douchebags that wants seven million because you were inconvenienced.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
I had an APO address for three years at Ramstein AB (ie, the place that *all* APO mail headed to Europe and SWA goes first). The OP's representation of the amount of time it takes to receive mail from the US is misleading at best. It takes 7-10 days to receive letters from the US. I have received packages in that little time, but the average was perhaps 4 weeks, and 8 weeks was not unusual. A few times it took up to 10 weeks. The package is being sent to a *war zone*, have a little patience.
It's always a long day... 86400 doesn't fit into a short.
You are a sick fuck, and a disgrace to this nation. Turn that M203 on yourself and do us all a favor. You disgust me.
I had this same problem a long time ago.
I put in the order, paid up and waited. Now, at the time I was in college and life was pretty busy. So a similar amount of time passed.
I logged in to note my order had been still in the pending state and was fairly curious as to why.
SO I picked up the phone and made the call. For whatever reason, the rep said that sometimes orders get stuck and have to be manually corrected and pushed on.
The rep was going to have to cancel and re-enter my order to correct the issue. (It's automatically canceled after X number of days anyway or at least it was.)
The problem with this approach was I was going to lose my sale offers and jump the cost of the laptop. Some parts were no longer offered (such as the standard cd-rom).
I was very strong about not paying more then I had originally intended and wanted the model I picked out. They wanted to try and bump the price to fit the new parts, but I wouldn't budge on it. I simply said, if I'm going to pay more I might as well pick up the Toshiba Techra line since the only reasoning with going Dell was the price difference.
The rep discounted, dropped shipping charges, added bonuses and pretty much anything he could do. He only asked I meet him half way on the difference between the CDROM and better CD RW that I had to purchase. (25$ more oh noes).
I ended up with a better deal and a better laptop configuration simply because I stuck to my guns.
Just keep that in mind, you're loss in time can be your gain!
On a side note, you would probably get a better deal from a Dell re-seller. You can goto e-Bay and find them. Usually things like warranties are discounted and the re-seller price drop really helps. I picked up a drop shipped 9300 a few years ago for about 500$ less then I could build on Dell's site and the unit still shipped from Dell. (I'm still running on my 4 year dell complete care warranty as well.) Also, check the option for second chance offers since they normally employ price jacking bids. ;)
Now, if you can't call you are going to have to arrange for a friend to give them the one on one.
Optionally, you can post to slashdot and I suspect a Dell rep will have read this by now.
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
You do realize he is not in Iraq right?
It's true. You are in the army. Army guys have guns, like in that movie.
Now wash your hands.
I strongly believe anyone in the world that would insult a Warrior (Arab/Russian/American/Israeli ...) will support leaders/terrorist like POTUS Chaney and puppet-POTUS Bush in their own country/religion, but they'll never blame their leaders or petition the international court to prosecute (out of office) for war crimes.
Unaccountable leaders are masters, and unrepresented people are slaves. How do US and EU fare?
http://www.letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=unresolved+dell+support+problems
Exactly. Hate the Commander in Chief if you want, but don't hate on the men and women who, for right or wrong, end up putting their lives on the line out there because of the Commander in Chief's actions.
"I'm not sure I like the fugnutish tone you used in your post!" -RogL (608926)-
He is not in Iraq, fighting an unjust war. He is fighting the people who are ACTUALLY responsible for 9/11. Yes of course Bush fucked up Katrina but that doesn't excuse the Taliban.
He is NOT in Iraq, get it through that thick skull. Afghanistan is certainly a just war, unlike the other one.
This is a good start. If you want a really fast response see if you can get your hometown radio/TV news to do a segment on businesses scamming/letting down our troops.
If you liked this thought maybe you would find my blog nice too:
Nowhere does the poster say he's in the US Army.
Yes he does. "APO" means "(United States) Army Post Office". If he was British Army his mail would be addressed with a "BFPO" address, Canadian "CFPO", and German "Feldpost". Afghan Army doesn't need to use a "field post office" system because they live there, and there aren't enough Frenchies there for me to have seen how they get their mail, but I'm pretty sure they're all French Special Forces guys, so they aren't likely sitting around barracks working on their degrees in the evenings.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
there's always shock and awe!
Dude just do a chargeback and re-place your order.
Chuck
I was charged for a battery, canceled the order two months later after a lot of phone calls and even being sent all the contact details for another person that ordered the same part (I rang them thinking they were from Dell and they thought I was from Dell - stupid situation). It then took another six weeks and a lot of phone calls to get the money back. I ordered a compatable battery from a local supplier - up front they apologised that they couldn't deliver it within 24 hours but I still had it in less than two days!
Replacing a missing screw was a similar three month experience but did actually result in recieving the part. I suspect once you step outside of the USA the support from Dell is almost non-existant.
Makes me wonder why you're an EX employee.
Did you have some sort of beef with the company?
Well, actually you forgot Poland.
to reprogram the missile guidance systems with GPS coordinates of Dell headquarters. Do it. DO IT NAO!
Dell is usually pretty good, I was in Iraq and got my replacement for a failed hard drive within 2 weeks. I don't know exactly how hard you've been trying to push them on the issue but I'd call and force the phone biscuit to pass me to higher management, and then tell the management biscuit I wanted his boss, -then- start complaining. Usually when you get to the level where people can start firing those below them, the ones below start doing something. I've run into this problem with other companies though, especially though (cough)iPod(cough) who don't seem to value customers overseas and will only ship to US and require some f'ed up methods of shipping to them. As someone who just came from overseas I feel you, and all I can tell you is goodluck.
Last note: as others said, you can always go hardline and call the BBB, credit card companies, etc. Though I've noticed a lot of times going outside the company (Dell) will many times make things take longer as files are sorted through to find out who's right and wrong. It may help if you have someone in the US (my parents help me out a lot) that are able to spend hours on the phone dealing with it. Again, goodluck to you.
Whoosh.
Um... when someone takes your $1700 and then never sends you the item you purchased that is is not "poor customer service." It is, in fact, a violation of the law.
Here's two important links for you:
Texas Attorney General Consumer Complaints
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/complain.shtml
Texas State Statutes:
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/
Look under "statutes" for 'Business and Commerce Code".
Find some relevant section of the law and quote it via email to every contact you have at Dell. Tell them that you are reporting the situation to the Texas AG IMMEDIATELY and that you expect them to get your computer into your hands within X days or face the full penalty of the law.
I used a similar tactic recently on a cellphone provider and received a prompt and personal resolution.
Good luck.
Why would anyone spend more than $400 for a complete computer or $450 for a laptop? Even Dell has these prices.
Convicted? What is this, some sort of crazy bizarro reversed Nazi Germany?
For the record, I am not the AC, and I agree with you that maintaining a police force in another country is wrong. But if you honestly think the soldiers deserve scorn for not refusing their orders, I would say you're the one acting irrationaly. The problem is with the people at the top, not the bottom.
Ignore the people who are over reacting here. A lawyer is not needed, and your CC company is also probably not needed. You just need to work this out with an real person, in real time, over the phone.
Email is a tough medium to use to try to resolve things like this.
You need to call them and get a straight answer, or get the contact information for people within the company who can give you a straight answer. Should take no more than 1 call.
I deal with Dell on a weekly basis and while misunderstandings and accidents happen, I rarely have problems.
If you are unable to call them from your location, have a friend or family member do it for you. I am more than confident that Dell will resolve something like this.
Huh? They're required to refuse illegal orders. "I was just following orders" is not an excuse for immoral behaviour either.
How we know is more important than what we know.
While I was at KAF a colleague went through the exact same thing with Dell after waiting and arguing with Dell for Two months he purchased a laptop at the px. About one month later he received his Dell so he packed it up and sent it to his daughter for Christmas.
I'm sure that the supervisor appreciated some random asshole telling him how to do his job and manage his staff.
That 'random asshole' has another name. CUSTOMER.
If you're providing shitty service to your customers then yeah, he probably does want to know about it. Review the tape with the level 1 drone, see if he was on his script or not. That's his job. Managing people who are supposed to help. No help = no reason to keep someone on the payroll.
Big things are often times a collection of lots of little things. Anyone remember AOL's famous customer support? And how are they doing these days?
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Unless of course, you're a REM who's several hundred clicks from any forward operating post, and have ready access to 24x7 electricity with no spikes, aircon and constant net access. Apologies if I've called that one wrong, but you're not exactly giving the impression of being at the sharp end of business out there.
You start by outlining what soldiers on the front lines have done in past wars, then chastise him for not acting like a front line soldier when he's obviously not? Do you think guys processing paperwork in the finance office in London or Saigon were writing home about the horrors of war?
And it's "REMF", not "REM".
i'd suggest Steve Coll's "Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden"... and... "Afghanistan: A Military History From Alexander The Great To The Fall Of The Taliban" by Stephen Tanner.
Pffff. Maybe if you want to read hundreds of boring pages about the Washington bureaucracy and the ineptitude of the CIA and the State Department, and then a copy-paste of 20 other history books with a hysterical screed against Bush at the end.
So really, I'm not sure what it is you think he needs to be educated about. You start with the observation that he's not as concerned with the "awful conditions" at the front as you think he ought to be, and then suggest he read a bunch of political nonsense by a Washington Post inside-the-beltway gasbag?
At any rate, chastising him for pursuing an education instead of learning to hate Chimpy BusHitler or whatever is pretty lame.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
corporate managers may not be too bright, but customer service horror stories generally get their attention.
They're using their grammar skills there.
Make sure you talk about this with your CO. Don't go to the media or any place that make make this and your name / rank location public without prior approval. afaik you need to have prior approval before even making so much as a message board post.
I'm poor. Please donate. http://albanypcs.com
https://www.jagcnet.army.mil/
Regards;
People get into the military for various reasons. Probably a few get in because of "idiotic" reasons, but many do so due to a lack of other economic means. Don't judge before you know anything about that guy.
And I'm a "non-American" who utterly despises the US Administration's foreign policy, and disgusted about the wars they've initiated. That shouldn't mean we shouldn't treat their soldiers with respect and human dignity. In fact, quite the opposite. The US's foreign policy, its failure on the wars, are precisely due to unfettered arrogance, apathy and disrespect to other people's cultures, hardships and circumstances. If you're really against that, there's no reason not to give the guy a more sympathetic treatment.
Don't quote me on this.
I worked for AAFES for about a year. We were strictly prohibited from sending anything of value to an APO. If we had computer equipment to ship we'd have to get a physical mailing address.
First, since you, being overseas, will have limited ability to call Dell, give the relevant information to a family member that you can trust. Basically send them an e-mail telling them what has occurred. Remember, be as detailed as possible (dates, people talked to, etc.) Then, have them make the long grueling call to Dell. In the interim, contact Dell with your account information regarding your purchase and let met know that you are letting so-and-so friend/family member handle the account on your behalf as you are deployed overseas. Put together a nice business letter. Have someone in your unit give you some advice when you compose this letter (preferrably a SNCO or officer with some brains). Keep the letter simple and to the point. Let them know that you have not received the laptop as of current date. You have been charged for this. You will have your credit reverse the charges. In order to rectify the situation and to prevent any thefts, unless Dell can prove that it has been received by you, then they will need to send a unit to the following address . After that, the family member can then send it to you - definitely not wrapped in a laptop box. Just remember, depending on your deployment area,a laptop my be "inspected" or "held" to insure that it does not contain "contraband", even if new. You can also contact your local military PO folks and ask them how to proceed on that side. Also, if you do find yourself wanting to make a phone call, get someone from Dell on the phone. If they start giving you crap, go with asking for the supervisor. I say this because Dell started moving their call centers back to the US a couple of years ago. When you got through to them, you would deal with a level 1 who would bust their ass to try and help. It may have been tedious, but they could be bypassed by being firm and asking for a manager and they will pass you on to someone who can actually do something. If you wind up with someone with a difficult accent to understand, ask to be transferred to either someone else or another call center.
"Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet." General James Mattis
The proper procedure is to call you credit card company (the financial institution that issued the card to you) and have them start a chargeback for "goods not recieved". That will take the money away from Dell and most likely get their attention and more than likely to have them contact you.
Well the support center that handled your call was most likely in India. And you are in Afghanistan, pretty close right ? And you have ammos... lots ! I'd say, launch an offensive. Send in your platoon. 30-50 men should be ample sufficient for a small support center. M16's, grenades, everything. Pretty sure the support script the guy was reading is not going to provide him the "next step to follow" in this situation. He'll have no choice but to find you a laptop on the spot.
Go through your chain of command and utilize your unit's legal council. I'm sure a well written letter sent to Dell from the Army will get the ball rolling.
Where's my sock? There it is...
I totally agree that the Afghan conflict is hardly a sign of success socially or militarily (Read: we biffed it). But to conflate it to Iraq, a war with zero justification is morally incorrect. The parent was calling this soldier a mercenary, insinuating that he is ethically bankrupt- that is simply unfair and frankly a shame considering the many valid arguments about our ongoing conflict. Statements like yours are far more likely to open real dialogue. When a pacifist who has protested many wars like myself is fired up you know the parent is a jerk. Thanks for the info.
Ok, if you're going to ask for help on Slashdot, how about you leave your contact info so that if someone at Dell does read this, they can get a hold of you?
Personally, I work at a computer company, and most of the people I work with read /. Most of use would try to get your case# escalated, but we would need your contact info to do that.
Hopefully someone at Dell has enough of sense to read slashdot on a regular basis, if for no other reason than to search for bad press like this article and to fix silly/stupid mistakes made by Tier I or the USPS or whomever.
Estimated UPS/Fedex to Afganistan is $300 to $400,and as tough as times are with Christmas around the corner, An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?
How do you buy any better PR?
or not.......
I guess this is test to see how "American" Dell really is.
Filipino and Canadian.
I don't think that means what you think it means.
Abstinent: self-restraining; not indulging an appetite especially for food or drink; "not totally abstinent but abstemious"
I live in Austin, TX, and let me tell you: I can guarantee that 'abstinent' does not fit most Dell employees.
Call in an air strike on Dell!
Do it!
Please?
Doesn't change the fact that "jarhead" is a nickname for Marines, and Marines do not refer to themselves as soldiers.
Your attempt at humour still fails, since you can't get basic facts correct.
$1700 is no problem and $2800 is fine when the laptop has quality to it; $400 as a new laptop is asking for trouble. Now if $800-1000 can still get you a T60p that has Flexview, that's as low as one should (used, but for a higher quality than a Dell/HP/Sony laptop) go.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
He needs a laptop so he can stay in contact with loved ones and to be able to STUDY, you know, better himself as a human being while doing this horrible thing that the rest of us don't want to do.
... and which some of us don't want him doing.
Why not complain to Slashdot? The effect should be immediate.
If you can get ahold of Dell customer support by the phone ( or maybe even chat?) ask to be transferred to the 'reparations department'. The one goal of this group is 'customer satisfaction' and the can give you just about anything u want as a 'please forgive us' gesture. I found out my freshmen year as a poor college student about them and ended up with a gratis $200 Linksys wifi router, and that was just b.c. of a comparatively minor laptop repair shipping issue! At least you can get a little extra since you have waited so long - good luck!
Aww... Come on, Dell is Awesome. Don't you remember those commercials with the stone dude telling everyone he was stoked because they were getting a dell? Or how about the ones with the interns who never did any work and at one time wasn't even smart enough to look and see if anyone else was in the room before turning the lights out.
I mean don't their marketing inspire all the confidence in the world?
Um... where is the end sarcasm tags? Anyways, I think you hit on the biggest problem here.
That shouldn't mean we shouldn't treat their soldiers with respect and human dignity.
Yes, but he should be treated the same ... not better.
Pretty creepy, even for an AC.
The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
For what you're suggesting to be even remotely possible, every soldier would have to refuse simultaneously. As it is, every single soldier who refuses has to deal with the backlash from both his comrades and his leaders. Some of these soldiers are getting their education through military funding, and some of them are supporting families. How can you say that they are supposed to refuse orders and damn the consequences, and still consider yourself human?
I just got done dealing with USPS insurance, and while it was frustrating at times, it was nowhere near "years of fighting past insane bureaucracy" to get my money back. I shipped a package in April, and by the time everything was over and done with, I had a check for the full amount of my insurance plus shipping costs in October.
Sure, it took a while, but I got all my money back, and I was able to repurchase a very expensive piece of equipment and get it to a friend.
Also, sometimes USPS is your only real alternative. Shipping the exact package that cost me $80 (fully insured and tracked) through USPS would have been over $250 with FedEx or UPS (before insurance costs).
"Hi, I'm the Army and my laptop is now 4 weeks late, can you please write down my customer reference and then give me your GPS coordinates?"
"Um, huh? We're at {address}, does that help?"
"Yeah, no proble, wait a sec.. {click}".
THUMP ........ zzzzzssssSSSSSSSHHH *BLAM*
"OK, you have two options: I see this laptop in one week, or we'll start zeroing in. If you don't know what that is, imagine the crater that was your car park slowly moving towards your building. Have a nice day, and don't fall over bits of cars on the way out."
Sometimes you just wish ..
Having said that, it can't be a fun job being on the phone to customers who are angry, especially since you can't do anything about it..
Insert
1) Ask for the tracking number. No tracking number == cancel the order, contact your credit card company and dispute the charge (if any).
2) If tracking number exists and it hasn't moved if 48 hours, see #1.
3) If you would prefer to work with Dell, tell them you want an upgraded unit at no charge shipped to you express with tracking number and if it hasn't arrived in 2 weeks you will cancel the order and purchase from someone else.
4) Finally, $1700.00 for a laptop? Are you nuts? First check the Dell refurb website (google "Dell refurb") and get something close and upgrade it to your preferences and purchase the extended warranty. Pocket several hundred dollars in savings.
Thanks for protecting us! God Bless and Merry Christmas!
Armaments, 2-9-21 And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, 'O Lord, bless this Thy hand grenade' N
As another poster point out, I didn't make any assumptions. You specifically said 'APO'. There's only one kind of post office called an 'APO' and that is a U.S. Army Post Office. ;)
Thank you for your fine service to our great nation.
My blog
It is quit common for staff of mail sorting at colleges and I would imagine even military stations to open private mail and even steal valuable packages. ... Now this is just a thought but, could it be likely that your package did arrive, was examined by staff, determined to be a valuable laptop and then stolen?
If you purchased your computer from Dell retail sales (if you bought a Studio, you did), I would recommend contacting your credit card company and reporting that the item has not shipped and you would like to dispute the charge. Once you have done that, go to the small/medium business/government area and purchase through there. Dell's retail sales group does not have the ability to ship to APO/FPO addresses - only the large business/government sections have that ability. This is an ongoing issue and has been so for many years. I used to work at Dell supervising the last group of tech support representatives in the retail division at the corporate offices and encountered this issue on a regular basis. One last possible chance - contact either the government support group by phone/email/chat and give them your order number and request they ship to an APO/FPO address. I doubt this will help, though. Again, your best bet is to cancel your order with Dell (or your bank) and reorder through the proper division there. Since Dell has outsourced their entire retail support division, only their government/large business support is still domestic and they will be the only group likely able to help you. Best of luck to you and thank you for your service! Although I am not supportive of our troops being put where they currently are, I am very proud that you are serving and hope you stay safe.
I'm on Dell's Homeland Security Team. Send an email with your Dell order number. I will contact the Dell OCONUS Army Team. I'm sure we can help you out. michael_watkins@dell.com NO SPAM PLEASE
If you paid on a credit card, then technically the laptop belongs to THEM until you've paid them back. If you purchase anything on credit card you have protection against this kind of thing. Speak to your CC company and ask them to intervene - they have huge financial and legal muscle and WILL resolve the issue very quickly on your behalf, either issuing a chargeback against the payment or ensuring Dell bend over backwards to get you your laptop.
I'll bet just getting this posted on Slashdot, where it will be discussed by a large number of people, and then probably linked to on numerous blogs and message boards, might do the trick on it's own. To all those saying he should email consumerist: Give /. some credit.
Why did you have an expensive laptop shipped to Afghanistan through the military mail system? It is notorious for lost,stolen, and misdirected mail. If they didn't get stolen on the way then you can bet both of your laptops are in some random firebase in country. For future reference, all major bases have DHL and/or FedEx locations. Bagram has one. If your not at Bagram, have a buddy pick it up for you when he travels through.
The purpose of language is communication, If the idea is clear the grammar ain't important
I had an issue with Lenovo sending a Thinkpad to a client. After a month (shipping said 1 to 2 weeks) I called Lenovo and they issued a $100.00 refund to the credit card. He was happy, but I never saw any of the refund for my time.
The customer accepts a low standard because it's prevalent everywhere. People who get hired to do $8-$12 an hour jobs tend to have IQs under 115 and thus be basically glorified bonobos. (There are a few -- a very few -- exceptions.)
I realize that's offensive, but it's also more realistic than what else is said here.
Customer service is expensive. Doing it right is even more expensive. If your competitors don't do it right, your customers are not going to pick you just because of your good customer service -- they're going to go with the cheaper option.
Your problem, in a nutshell, is uninformed, lazy customers, and a lack of intelligent, dedicated people to hire for really cheap.
Futurist Traditionalism
No, if a German soldier in WW2 had refused to fight, they would have been arrested or possibly worse by the other soldiers, and the Nazi civilian population would have cast them out. That's reality, above any pretentious idealistic sense of morality that you can throw out.
In the 1980s, I ran a mail-order operation. I shipped everything USPS "media rate" and bought insurance (about $1.50.)
One day, a customer called to complain that his package had not arrived. I immediately shipped a replacement and filed the insurance claim.
It was denied with proof of delivery. But the proven delivery was the replacement package, not the original.
From then on, I was self-insured. As apparently I had been from the beginning.
why? because I dare negativelly criticise the whining, immature comments of a single soldier?
Did I negativelly criticise all members of the armed forces? No. Did I negativelly criticise the policy or practice which put him there? No.
I pointed out that the expectations and response of some serving personnel are radically different from the past. That's not to take away from the dirty difficult job that many serving folks do at the sharp end. Spot the difference.
Pick apart my argument - fine. Pick an ad hominem attack, and you're the loser.
And before anyone gets all high and mighty, remember that the vast majority of americans don't know where Afghanistan is, or why you're deployed there. If asked, most would say "Terr'ists". Not human rights, not preventing a narco state, not establishing democracy. Also, most Americans didn't complain when GWB diverted resources from the Afghan border - who were chasing a real terrorist called OB Laden. They didn't complain when vast numbers of troops where moved from Afghanistan, creating a power vacuum, thrown into a pointless war (politically, economically, militarily)his own father declined more than a decade earlier. That power vacuum enabled the Taliban to return, and insurgents from all over the globe to gather, so that Afghanistan now has a terrorist problem, that didn't exist before.
That way I hedge it. :p
+++ATH0
If you're not American... then maybe your opinion doesn't count much in a debate over whether an American company should give special support to an American soldier, who is serving America.
Wow, I'll bet that will piss you off.
Oh, you're not stuck, you're just unable to let go of the onion rings.
"Unless of course, you're a REM who's several hundred clicks from any forward operating post, and have ready access to 24x7 electricity with no spikes, aircon and constant net access. Apologies if I've called that one wrong, but you're not exactly giving the impression of being at the sharp end of business out there."
If you knew anything about this war, other than what you have read in books, you would know that there is no such thing as a front line in OEF or OIF. Your arrogant statement exposes your ignorance. This Soldier just wants a product he has paid for. Why does it bother you that he is trying to obtain what he has already bought?
I was in a tiny FOB in the middle of the Triangle of Death. I've been blown up and shot at. That still didn't preclude me from buying and receiving an Alienware laptop while I was in Iraq, and yes, it worked perfectly despite all of the "bumps" and "dust."
First, thank you for your service in the Army. AF vetran myself.
Second, Call your credit card company and tell them you did not receive the product.
Thrid, contact the legal office on your post and file a complaint about Dell.
I was in the USN and served overseas. One important point I would like to make pertains to military mail.
If you have something sent to you at a FPO/FPO mailing address, the mail gets sent to a centralized location in the US and then is routed to your duty station using the military mail system.
When it is received at that location it is as if you (service member) received it and at that point all insurance and culpability by the USPO, UPS, FedEx or other mail company and the company that you ordered it from stops there. You then are taking your chances with the military mail system.
The military mail system (as far as I know) accepts no responsibility for those packages because it is a wartime at will agreement (military mail is not a business). This means that if the ship with your mom's cookies on it gets sunk they do not have to reimburse you for the cookies.
While I was overseas they lost a pallet of packages over the side and recovered it, those peoples stuff was sea wet and ruined.
Myself, once I discovered this system out, I stopped paying for insurance on my packages since that insurance did not cover the package all the way to me. I figured I would just be taking my chances.
I'm not saying is what happened to you, but it is something for you to think about and investigate.
loose: not fitting closely or tightly != lose: to suffer the deprivation of
So, McCloskey, why should someone serving his country be satisfied with worse delivery and customer service than YOU DO, you arrogant, self-righteous, judgemental know-it-all.
How do you know what soldiers did in previous wars? It's very clear you've never served. You might find that the average veteran didn't do any of the things you mentioned. Some of the soldiers who wrote things down may have. Some of the soldiers who talked to correspondents may have. But you really don't know.
Recreational toy? Really? How do you know that he isn't buying it because the govt issued one is broken and is likely to take 6 weeks to be replaced. Or that his wife is pregnant and he wants to be able to talk to her with the illusion of privacy via Skype. Or email. Or that he wants to read the news, electronic books or play games. YOU DON'T KNOW. You're just letting you're prejudices speak.
Your last comments are equally clueless. Ruggedized laptops are significantly more expensive for what you get. If you're carrying the thing in the field maybe, in a base, it's unnecessary expense. "Forward operating post"....in Afghanistan? Yes, there are places like that but without net connections, where you don't get to carry anything extra. But just how long do you think people spend in such places? In any case, I would be willing to bet that people have been killed withing 500 yards of the guy's bunk.
A couple of books for you. The Proud Tower, by Barbara Tuchman. Seven Roads to Hell, Donald R. Burgett. Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, Nagl and Schoomaker.
As far as ad hominem attacks go, I'd say that after making one, you deserve what you get.
Then the reason would be - He shouldn't get preferential treatment because he's just a person, and not "because I don't like the war".
Besides, it's not like the OP was asking about *normal* crappy customer service. It was a freaking warzone in a third world country.
I do get your point though, but I don't really see it as preferential treatment. I think it's a genuine question asked by a guy who's in a tight situation. Relatively speaking there are lots of other "ask slashdot" articles without merit. Stupid [XXX] tricks? How to speak with your manager? And while strictly speaking not an "ask slashdot" item, the story where of the 60 line knights tour solution in python is magnitudes more lame.
Of course, people bitch anyways, I'm not exactly new here :-)
Don't quote me on this.
As someone else mentioned, use the Outstanding Issues link and you should get service (at least return emails) soon.
https://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/outstanding_issues_care?c=us&l=en&s=gen
It makes sense if you are Dell.
He ordered September 17th.
October 17th: 30 days
November 16th: 60 days
December 16th: 90 days.
Thank you for the free money.
-- Terry
You have no concept of history do you?
How we know is more important than what we know.
I expected that but people still need to be reminded that they aren't meant to enjoy war.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
There's a good chance this has nothing at all to do with Dell. Laptops are extremely notorious for going "missing" in the APO system and since that same system uses quite a few local nationals there's really no recourse. The problem is so wide spread that some downrange units were forbidding military members from having laptops shipped to them. There's nothing Dell can do about it since the product leaves their hands when it's shipped. The Post Office just hands it off to the APO center in New York and all tracking stops at that point. Because of the way APO is set up, anyone at anytime in any point between New York and Afghanistan can essentially pick up your laptop and walk off with it. When that happens the best you can hope for is that you had the laptop insured and the Post Office isn't going to squirm around too much in getting the insurance back to you.
"...taking into account all the victims in New Orleans there were the exclusive fault of your government ..."
Yeah, that huge storm had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Oh, and barring forced evacuations those people there were individually responsible for thier lives. The day my government is responsible for whether I live or die in a huricane is the day I DO kill myself because I will have nothing to live for.
When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
The moron content of slashdot is unbelievable. Afganistan is no longer a place where Al-Qaeda can operate without hindrance. Mission accomplished.
Remaining issues are being worked on; nobody said every problem was going to be solved immediately.
Well I just got an email from a Coporate Executive this morning who said he would expedite a replacement to me. I of course just asked for my money back and will be taking my business elsewhere.
Thanks for everyones great ideas and help.
-The Anyday
[close your eyes, pray for plagues]
love is like a mouthful of broken glass
uh, since when is dell an american company? I'm pretty sure it went public and is accountable to the shareholders, not to the government...
Damn, common sense. I bet that'll piss you off.
Oh that's easy, you don't matter unless your American :)
If you ARE American, then you matter if its a voting year only, and only so much that you vote for "them".
Thanks for playing Democracy: The Home Game.
...
Again, whoosh. Not to mention that the OP wasn't mine, but hey, whatever does it for you.
McCloskey....note...laptop...forward operating base
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/02/AR2008120202942.html
It's Iraq, not Afghanistan, but these are both insurgencies. No front lines. Did you think that everyone in the military who doesn't shoot is a REMF? Don't think doctors qualify.
It didn't sound like whining to me, but maybe I'm just more sensitive to self-righteousness.
eleventypie - I am the account manager for all Federal Gov't EPP programs. I would love the opportunity to work with you on this order. Could you please reach out to me? federal_epp_programs@dell.com I need your order number so I can take a look at things.