I hate Dell! Yes, hate them! They are the worst company to deal with on the planet and I’m sick and tired of their stupid promotions and horrific customer service.
About 4 months ago I purchased a notebook computer from Dell’s Outlet. This allows you to buy scratched and dented, refurbished, or returned items at a discounted price. I chose a returned, but never used notebook, got a great price on it, and used Dell Financial Services to finance it.
Everything went well until the computer showed up. It was the wrong one. A completely different system than the one I ordered, not even the same model. I called and they apologized profusely and said they would send the replacement immediately.
I received a replacement system (better specs but refurbished) after a few days and mailed the other system back with the form they included so that I would receive proper credit for it. I followed the instructions closely and called customer service to verify the numbers and address.
That’s when the trouble started. They called and emailed me repeatedly to ask if I had returned the first computer. I provided the tracking number on at least 5 different occasions, and was able verify online that the order had been delivered to them.
They even called me on my cellphone while I was on vacation in Florida! It was my birthday, I’m on the beach, and my cell rings. I’m thinking it’s a family member wanting to wish me a happy one, but it’s some idiot from India who wants the tracking number again!
After returning home from vacation, I called them back and was assured that everything had been taken care of. Then, a few weeks later, I get an email from Dell telling me that I was going to be charged for the wrong system because I had never returned it. The email actually asked for my permission to place the charge on my account! I replied with an emphatic “NO!” and called them only to receive more reassurances that everything was in order.
So… that brings me up to today. I have been making payments on my account for the last few months, and had a bill due on Sunday. I went to their website to make the payment on Friday, and was informed that it could not be made that day unless I paid a 13.95 fee to process a “same-day payment”. I reluctantly chose to do that to avoid a late charge and a negative impact on my credit rating.
After checking my account today, I noticed that I had received a 29.00 late charge anyway. I immediately contacted DFS and the payment provider, CheckFree, and am still waiting for a response. I’ll update this when I have more information.
I hope this works out and I can get rid of this account quickly. I will NEVER buy anything from Dell again, period.
UPDATE #1 – The payment processor, CheckFree, says that Dell is supposed to update my records to remove the late fee. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
UPDATE #2 – Dell reversed the charge, but I still hate them. ;)
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