When we had problems in 2003 or so their csr stated that “That was not alot of computers” then had a nice follow up to say, “we dont care how many computers you have purchased”.

I was just tired of getting shoved to India for Tech help. Its not the India problem it is the Americans speak American and India just 99% of the time do not have the articulation to understand the problems outside of their bookworm world Dell provided them.

Dell just became whores and that is said with love and all due respect. I stopped buying Dells altogether and moved to the Box store enviroment. If service is gonna be bad then buy the cheapest crap u can buy and throw it away when it breaks. Dont reformat, dont fix, backup and throw away.

I long await the day that their is a computer company that can charge a good price and care enough about its customers to take care of them in the USA after the sale!!!

WHHeeeeeewww, I am glad I got that off my chest.

Thanks for the post and review of history. Couple things that may simply be nuances but I think are worth noting:

1. During the “dont touch” period we believed that our interactions and involvement with customers on the Dell forums was important…..we were not ignoring all forums nor do I recall shutting forums down. I understand the bigger issue you point out, but to suggest we were not listening or involved anywhere is a misnomer…..however, you are correct to suggest not as broadly as it likely should have been.

2. Since your post included lots of links to the issues we confronted, I think it is worth sharing some links that offer perspectives about Dell’s journey as we made strides to listen, learn, and engage online. These are links I think are informative for those wanting to better understand the journey (not just the outcome) for a large company. For example:
- Jeff Jarvis wrote this piece for BusinessWeek: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2007/db20071017_277576.htm
- Dell’s Chief Blogger, Lionel Menchaca outlined how we were learning and finding our way as the Dell blog launched
http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2006/07/25/979.aspx
http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2006/07/13/428.aspx
http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2006/07/11/117.aspx

James, you are correct, we are not perfect…and we continue to make strides (both online and offline). There is no easy fix to some issues, but as Michael Dell often notes we can constantly listen learn and improve and make our business a better one — off and online. You might find this three part series of interest too: http://www.serviceuntitled.com/dick-hunter-of-dell-part-2-of-3/2007/05/16/
If you google other large tech companies and service issues, you will see the numbers are as large or larger than ours — and that is no excuse, it is just an area you have to continually work to improve. We are.

James, if you are on Twitter DM me your service code # and Ill look into things….or Lisa can give you my email as believe she has access to both our emails.

Phil M, Interesting perspective and I appreciate your view. Rather than engage today, think I will let you know I hear you and am taking your points of view into consideration, as well as sharing with others in the business.

Again, thanks for the commentary here.

They still have problems with getting products to market on time, no clear brand identity and other much more serious and presssing operational and strategic issues than whether bloggermouths approve of their Twitter strategy.

Social media is one of many elements of marketing, branding and customer service.

This is the crux of my issue with Dell – they are good online, where they are terrified of a repeat of the backlash that nearly killed their business, but offline, when they are dealing with the luddites -aka Mom and Dad – who think a twitter is a rare form of sparrow and a blog is something requiring minor surgery, they are almost as bad as they ever were. I say almost because I haven’t heard about one of their guys hanging up on a customer recently (it’s been 5 years and I’m still not over it).

James: Have you tried reaching out to any of the Dell folks on Twitter, blogs or elsewhere in the community? If you have and they’re still ignoring people, then that’s no good. Personally, I’ve been really impressed with how out there they’ve been and what they’re offering customers. The small business resource center they have is absolutely out of this world. But if they’re not putting in face time for real customer service complaints — you may want to call them out on that.

Muthu: Admitting you were wrong is always the hardest part. In business and life. :)

Dell have definitely improved their internet facing image, but their customer service still sucks in a bad way. So while their shoddy customer service acted as a catalyst, it seems like it was their refusal to join the conversation that really hurt their brand. As soon as they boarded the social media express, things started to look a lot rosier.
It almost feels like they cheated; their customers are still getting screwed but because they aren’t flagrantly ignoring us, we dont care so much.

Great post. I can only hope that those needing to read this post actually do and actually put this into practice. For 25+ years my customers have loved me – when I worked for someone else and now that I am self-employed and its because I pay attention and respond. Especially now that I am developing a brand do I want to keep on top of their requests for communication.

Keep up the good work!