Well Unfortunately the Alienware deal is Dead,
First off when I ordered this computer the estimated delivery date was July 6Th, Once the order was confirmed it went to July the 11,. On July 15Th I was told that my computer would be delayed because on July first Microsoft put out a new service pack for windows seven which resulted in a new sku number resulting in them having to redo my order so that all the part numbers matched. Does anyone find this strange?
Of course I was assured that I was a valuable customer and a customer care specialist would be assigned to my case.
Forward to July11, a customer care specialist phoned to say that all was going ahead fine and i could expect my computer on the expected shipping date.
Forward to July 15, after two customer service reps called me within 5 minutes of each other to say all looked good no part back orders etc, I get another call apologizing because they are waiting for an LCD screen for my computer and the expected delivery date would be now the week of July 25. So I phoned customer care and was told that not only was the LCD screen backordered, but a new network card was needed, which would result in, you guessed it a new order number and the expected date of delivery was now August 15Th.
The customer care specialist admitted they have no control over the production as it is done in the US, no way of finding out anything until they are emailed and no liaison with their US counter Part. All this after they were suppose to be fast tracking this computer and had two customer care specialists working on it, who could only tell me what I could get off the order status page of their web site. HMMM
So up the escalation ladder we went. to A customer care Manager, who gave me the usual, its a popular compute, we are sorry for the delay, we understand, But i ordered this June 25, and had the order canceled 3 times, Not satisfied up to VP of Customer Care, Who begged me to wait a week and he would have a computer at my door in a week and give me a 300. dollar discount on top of the 200. discount i already had. However I reminded him , how is this possible when you have told me you are waiting on parts. No Comment from him.
I then told him that it doesn't matter how great the machine is if you cant get it to the customer, followed by this was my first and last time i would deal with dell, followed by the fact I could buy an ASUS GW73 -XT1 which has the same specs for 700 dollars less and have it in a day, while it has taken them over 6 weeks for a computer I still don't have.
This was followed by I am sorry we have messed up. I replied well this is unfortunate for you as I have had all these problems and I haven't received the computer yet. This was followed by give me a chance to rectify this, I replied You have already had more then enough time and I have already ordered my computer from Tiger Direct. So Please cancel my order.
Keep in mind I have all the paper work, plus all the emails all the order cancellations etc. I phoned back 2 hrs later to find my order had not been canceled so I insisted that it was on the the spot, called Visa which blocked them from making any charges on my account.
The Paper work was forwarded to Consumer Affairs where they will look into Dell Canada's order process. I don't expect anything will come of this. Dells apology letter was especially enlighten, in which they do very little to take accountability for what happened. You can read the email yourself.
Dear JOHN GARDNER,
Thank you for contacting Dell Customer Care.
I am concerned to read your email and regret to know that you did not get the most courteous and professional service. This is not the way we train our people to conduct business services.
It is something that we are constantly focusing at, as a daily business practice for improvement. By bringing this to our attention, you have provided us with crucial data in our ever-vigilant efforts to raise the standards of individuals, upon whom we rely to give excellent service to our customers.
Your feedback will be seriously considered in our ongoing endeavors to improve services.
I can understand the inconvenience this may have caused, as I would also have felt the same had I been in your place. I would call this a rare case where we did not meet our customer's expectations.
We, at Dell, firmly believe that we have reached such heights only because of customers like you. It is our endeavor not only to fix the customer's problem but also to make him happy during the interaction.
On behalf of Dell, I apologize that your experience with Dell did not meet your expectations. We hold ourselves to a high standard and apologize for falling short in addressing your needs.
I have also reported this matter to my manager and we would look in to it that nothing of this sort happens with our valued customers in future as your feedback is very imperative to us.
Your patience, efforts and co-operation is highly appreciated on this matter.
Sincerely,
Jatin Jyoti
Manager Dell Canada Customer Care.
Post note, I ordered my new Asus computer on July 15Th and had it upgraded to match the Alienware computer and Had the computer in my hands by 7.30pm that night. Which begs the question, What is dell doing that I could not get my computer before the 15Th of August when I ordered it June 25, before Parts Shortage. If this is the level of competence they have and the way the treat Potential Canadian customers, I hate to think what their technical support is like, and perhaps they should close up shop in Canada, as this type of Customer Service we Can all do without.