Dell customer support continues its downward plunge. Everything is great as long as you never need to call Dell. But when you do, here is what to expect....

Revised Feb 12, 2007 Revised Jun 29, 2006 Revised Nov 18, 2005. Last Revised Oct 1. 2005. Original Publish Date: Oct 3 2002.

For instance here is one Dell customer's experience wasting over an hour on the phone just to return an obviously broken product.

And here is a Dell Quality laptop in operation.

Read more about it here, here, and here. Also be sure to read the comments from Dell customers after the first article.

Here is Dell's most recent Reseller Rating. Basically the rating says: Products are cheap and support is very, very poor.

Basically, if you value your own time do not buy a Dell. Otherwise, you'll spending a lot of your invaluable time on the phone if anything goes wrong. And things *will* go wrong if you connect a Dell to the Internet as it is delivered.... we've seen this over and over.

The recent news releases about how Dell has ceased the outsourcing of customer support to India only applies to large corporate accounts, home users and SMBs still get 3rd world call center support.

Dell's idea of service is a like a car manufacturer who sells you a car and then tells you that if anything goes wrong (during the warranty period) just give them a call. So one morning you go out start your car and it makes a horrible noise. Thus you call and listen to soothing "on hold" music for 15 to 40 minutes until a usually pleasant, but clueless operator guesses your problem by typing keywords into a computer and tells you to get your tools because *you* need to adjust the pollution controls. But they'll walk you through it by reading a screen of instructions. Now after hours of being guided if this does not fix the problem, the operator will authorize a service person to come out and swap one part. But nothing else. If the swapping of that part does not work, you will have to call Dell back and spend more of your time diagnosing the problem with a new operator. Who may send another service person only after you spend even more phone time with them. This will go on until either the issue is fixed or you give up trying. Dell does not seem to care much either way.... after all they already have your money!

And that is the level of support you can expect when your system is in warranty. After the warranty period is over, you are better off just chucking the computer rather than repairing it, because Dell uses just enough proprietary components that you have to have Dell do many of the repairs on their systems. Thus our recommendation to buy locally. That can be troublesome also, but at least you can walk into the vendors location and say (or scream) "fix this!" That's why over 50% of all PC sales are through manufacturers (NOTE: NOT MERCHANTS. A BestBuy, Walmart, Frys, Circuit City etc. is not a local PC maker) local to the purchaser. Because when you need support talking to someone reading you a script 12 time zones away is a recipe for disaster.

We covered customer support hell and why it's the way it is in an article over 2 years ago. Alas, no brand name manufacturer is much better as they've almost all adopted the "Dell Model" of customer disservice. Thus our suggestion to buy locally.

Typing the term "dell hell" into Google gives quite a number of tales of woe from Dell purchasers.

Gripellog has a Hall of Shame. Dell is in the number 1 position., followed immediately by Microsoft.

More tales of Dell's hellish support.

Or as one recent Slashdot poster put it: "Buying a Dell is like dropping the soap in the prison shower."

Consumer Affairs has quite a list of complaints about Dell.

Here is another former Dell Customer story. And another.

And yet another forum chock full of Dell Horror Stories.

Dell is not alone in selling shoddy products.

If you'd like to counteract some of that Dell "feel good" branding, someone (not us) has created a Dell Hell T-Shirt.

Dell Hell is a problem for customers worldwide.

050127: It took a while, but the Dell astro turfers have finally arrived in the comments section.

How bad is Dell Supoprt? Well, here is what Dell Support Employees think about Dell Support.

REMEMBER: If you would never buy a car that you could not get serviced locally, you should never ever buy a Dell. Because they do not service anything locally and *you* are the technician.

Dell does not want you to call. They already have your money. In fact, they want you to help each other, because that does not cost them anything.

Here is a website with even more bad news about the quality of Dell service, their products and how hard they work to make sure that after they have your money that you'll never get it back.

UPDATE: October 1st, 2005 => BusinessWeek is finally doing artlcles on how lousy Dell service is.

Looking for the Dell Phone Number: 1900-WEGOTYUR$ so don't bother us. Actually some real numbers are here if they haven't changed again.

Of course, if you are looking for these you are already in "Dell Hell."

UPDATE: August 15th 2006 => Now Dell competitors are not worried. Dell once a juggernaut is now known for poor products and service by the PC buying public. It is no longer just how cheap a PC is. It is how cheap a *working* usable PC is. Dell service and quality have slipped so much that customers now refuse to even consider Dell.

Read more here, here, and here.

Aug 18th 2006 => Dell is finally reaping what they have sown and are reporting a 51% DECLINE in profit.