Dear Mr. Dell,
The following letter was sent by me to Dell Corporate Headquarters on Friday via FedEx Priority Overnight. It was received at 7:46 this morning according to FedEx's online tracking tool (http://www.fedex.com, tracking number 855570270916). Just in case you missed it, here it is again.
8 December 2005
Michael Dell, Chairman
Dell Computer Corporation
One Dell Way
Round Rock, TX 78682
Dear Mr. Dell,
My name is Richard Barrett. I am writing to you because I have a problem regarding an order I placed with Dell that neither customer service representatives nor their managers appear to be able to fix. Please consider the following course of events:
5 November—I order a 700m laptop from Dell.com, order number #658597424. Shipping option: USPS, 4-7 business days, pickup at post office. Anticipated shipping date: 12 November. Seventh business day after anticipated shipping date: 22 November.
12 November—The laptop ships according to online account status. Shipping status of order: "In Transit", with a note that a tracking number should be available in 48-72 hours.
17 November--I get an automated phone call from Dell telling me that the laptop has shipped and that I will get another automated phone call when I can pick up the laptop at the post office. Shipping status of order: "In Transit", with a note that a tracking number should be available in 48-72 hours.
22 November--No laptop. Shipping status of order: "In Transit", with a note that a tracking number should be available in 48-72 hours.
28 November--I still don't have the laptop. An online chat session with Ashakiran Sharma in customer service produces the information that there was a "shipping error" and that the item could not be delivered. A replacement is initiated, and I'm told my original shipping charges will be refunded, I'm given reference number 65469087, and I'm told that a new order number should be trackable online within 24-48 hours. A new machine will have to be built from scratch, I'm told, and that will take 5-7 business days, but then it will be overnighted to me at no additional charge. Session ID for this chat: 402723. Shipping status of original order: "In Transit", with a note that a tracking number should be available in 48-72 hours.
30 November--An e-mail from a different rep (Neeraj, #339429) in response to a "lost item" claim again confirms the "shipping error", with the further information that the carrier lost the shipment. I am again assured that I should be able to track the new order's status within 24-48 hours. A reply I send to this e-mail is never responded to. Shipping status of original order: "In Transit", with a note that a tracking number should be available in 48-72 hours.
4 December--A new order number still not being in evidence, I initiate another chat session. Khushboo Sharma tells me that the replacement order was cancelled because the shipping status is still "in transit", meaning that it's on its way to me. This person (assuming it was a person, I very much got the impression based on the canned nature of some of the responses that it was an automated system) had absolutely no idea why anybody would tell me that there was a "shipping error" or that the carrier lost the item. I was told that I would get a tracking number when it reached the carrier's regional center--within 48-72 hours. I reply that it shipped on 12 November and was supposed to get to me in 4-7 business days. We're already well past the 48-72 hour mark. Yes, the representative replies, but I have no information that the item was lost. Then when should I be getting my laptop? I ask. I don't know, is the reply, and I'm sorry for the confusion, but I have no further information for you. I file another "lost item" claim online, and I'm assured a response within 6-12 hours. Session ID: 544823. Shipping status of original order: "In Transit", with a note that a tracking number should be available in 48-72 hours.
5 December--No response to my lost item claim. I call Dell Customer Service. Helen, id# 861568, says that they are sorry, that they will initiate a replacement request, that they will do it right now while I'm on the phone, and that they will do it by calling a person to make sure the system doesn't kick out the replacement request because of the "in transit" status being shown in the database of the original order. If they have a machine with the specs I ordered, they'll get it out to me today; if not, they'll have to build one. After being placed on hold for a few minutes, this person comes back and says that they couldn't get through to anybody, and that they don't want me to wait on hold any longer, so they say they'll call me back within 2-3 hours with confirmation information. This call never materializes. In the evening, I call and ask for a supervisor. I explain the situation to Michael, a "special case representative", who explains that Helen initiated another request but that one was cancelled as well because they have no information that the package was lost. He tells me that APX shows the package as having been accepted at the post office on 22 November, and says that somehow the notification that should have been generated letting me know it was there just didn't get generated. He says he'll send an e-mail to APX, including me on the CC line, asking them to re-route it to my home, and that I should have it within 48 hours. He also provides me with the APX DirecTrace tracking number, 9102112047761501001040, and assigns this customer service interaction case #117469918. A phone call to APX confirms this information. The e-mail promised by Michael never appears. Shipping status of original order: "In Transit", with a note that a tracking number should be available in 48-72 hours.
6 December--a phone call to Kathy at the post office, telephone number (812) 988-2262, reveals that they don't have the package, and furthermore, she tells me, they never did. It's explained to me that pallets are scanned, not individual items, and if they got the pallet on which the laptop was supposed to be, plus the manifest, then the tracking system would show that the item was "accepted" regardless of whether or not the individual shipment was present. Amanda at APX (telephone number 888-335-5744) confirms that the post office only got the manifest, and that the original shipment is lost. She tells me all I can do is call Dell and ask for a replacement. I call Dell Customer Service again, explain the situation, and ask for a supervisor. Rita tells me that one will call me back later in the evening, and gives me case #118861175. I never receive a call back. Shipping status of original order: "In Transit", with a note that a tracking number should be available in 48-72 hours.
7 December--At 2:25pm, I call Dell Customer Service again and ask for a supervisor. Cathy, id# 56765, tells me one will call me back within two to three hours. At 5:39pm, having not gotten a call back, I call again. Elisa (who did not provide an id#) says she will transfer me to a supervisor. An hour and fifteen minutes later, I'm still on hold. I hang up and call again. Finally I am connected to a supervisor named Jacquelyn, to whom I tell this entire story. She says that the severity of error leaves her speechless. All she can do, she says, is refund my money--for whatever reason (this is not explained) a replacement is simply not possible, so she will credit me for the full amount and I can place a new order once that occurs. She assures me that she will put that through that evening, and that in 5 business days maximum, I will see the money back in my checking account. She further assures me that I will not need to call again. She gives me case #118861175. Shipping status of original order: "In Transit", with a note that a tracking number should be available in 48-72 hours.
8 December (today)--I receive an e-mail from Dell confirming that a credit has been processed—for $24.00. This appears to represent the original shipping charges. A further phone call to Dell Customer Service and a conversation with Binny, id #98303, reveals that Jacquelyn put through a credit request for the full amount, but that it cannot be honored until the machine is recovered, and that even then it will take 7-10 business days for it to be processed. "I don't know why you were told what you were told," she says. I explain that APX told me that the package was lost, which is why the problem exists in the first place. Binny calls APX, who tells her that the machine is on its way back to Dell. She then tells me she will e-mail me as soon as it has arrived, and will do so again when the credit has been processed. As with Jacquelyn, Binny assures me I will not need to call again. This gets added to case # 118861175. A phone call to APX on my part connects me to Gloria, who says that their system still shows the package as having been "accepted" at the post office, confirms again that it's lost, and knows nothing about the package being on its way back to Dell or any phone call from Binny. Shipping status of original order: "In Transit", with a note that a tracking number should be available in 48-72 hours.
Mr. Dell, I'm afraid I have little confidence in the ability of your customer service department to fix my problem at this stage of the game. This has long ago crossed into territory that can only be described as "ridiculous". Therefore, I am writing to you in hopes that you might be able to do something about this. I have had wonderful experiences with Dell in the past, and ordered a Dell laptop this time because the last Dell laptop I ordered was fantastic, and the ordering process was painless. I intend to make another laptop purchase within the next year, and the resolution of this issue will have a significant impact on how I make this future buying decision.
The bottom line, Mr. Dell, is that Dell Computer has $2,180.54 of my money for a laptop I've never seen and don't know if I will ever see—and I can't seem to get anybody in your customer service department to care or do anything about it. I have been apologized to several times in the last twelve days, but it would appear that no effective action has been taken. I simply don't understand.
Please, Mr. Dell, help restore my confidence in your company.
Sincerely,
Richard Barrett
1610 E. 1st St.
Bloomington, IN 47401
(812) 219-0286
richardtenor@gmail.com
Now, Mr. Dell, I really wish I didn't have more to tell you. Sadly, I do.
On Friday, I called Kathy at the Nashville, IN post office again to ask if she could send me a letter stating in writing her stance that they don't have the package and never did. She agreed to do so. I then called APX (http://www.shipapx.com) again to ask why, if they agree the package has been lost, they don't update the shipping status to "lost" rather than leaving it as "accepted". Speaking with Amanda again, she said that "lost" cannot exist as an official shipping status. I pointed out that because of this, every time I talk to Dell Customer Service, I have to re-convince them that the laptop is indeed lost. Then I get an apology and an assurance of action--only to have the action cancelled because when it gets looked up, the tracking system says it's at the post office, and I'm back at square one. Amanda acknowledged that Dell doesn't want to hear me say it's lost, that they need APX to acknowledge that it is lost--"Ask for a conference call with you on the line the next time you call them," she suggested. In the meantime, she said, she'd initiate a warehouse search at the originating warehouse in Clayton, OH, and see if it turned up anything. She said she'd call me before close of business on Friday.
She didn't.
I then went to Key Bank and asked what my options were under these circumstances, given that I placed the order on a debit card rather than a credit card. I was told that I could certainly dispute the charge, and that they would essentially tell Dell, produce his laptop or we're taking the money back. "I'm guessing they won't want us to do that, and that this will get resolved pretty quickly," I was told. I'm waiting for the forms to arrive.
Today I tried calling APX again to try to follow up on the warehouse search Amanda said she'd initiate. I got Gloria again, who despite agreeing with me before that the package had been lost, now said that the shipping status of "acceptance" reflects a physical scan on the part of the post office, so it has to be there. "No," I replied. "What the post office told me is that they got the manifest and scanned the pallet the package was supposed to be on--that they don't scan the original item itself. And when I talked to you last, you agreed that that was the likely scenario."
"I'll transfer you to Amanda," was her response.
I waited on hold for Amanda for a couple of minutes. Gloria came back and said, "Can I take your number and have her call you back?"
"I'll wait," I said.
"You'll wait?" she asked, sounding a bit confused.
"Yes. The last time I did that I didn't get a call back. So I'll wait."
"Well, sir, I can't let you do that, because there's just the two of us, and I can't transfer you to her because her line's busy. I'll make sure she calls you back."
That was four hours ago. I still haven't received a call back. I tried calling again a half hour ago, and Amanda was on another line. Again, my number was taken. Again, I'm waiting.
Mr. Dell, I have to tell you, I'm getting ready to file complaints with the attorneys general of California (APX's home state) and Texas (Dell's home state). When I call Dell Customer Service, I'm effectively told they can't do anything because the tracking system still shows it as being out there somewhere, and until they have a recoverable package, they can't (or won't) do anything for me. When I call APX, I'm told it should be at the post office. When I call the post office, they tell me they don't have it and refer me back to APX. When I subsequently call APX, I'm told that all they can do is tell me to call Dell and ask for a replacement. When I do that, the whole cycle starts all over again. I'm satisfied with the post office's response--which leaves Dell and APX, neither of whom seems terribly interested in taking responsibility for this situation in which I am stuck.
And that situation is, in summary: Dell Computer still has almost $2,200 of my money for a laptop of which I thus far cannot confirm the existence.
Shipping status of original order: "In Transit", with a note that a tracking number should be available in 48-72 hours.
Mr. Dell, I look forward to hearing from you.
Richard
