Dell really DOES suck! (well their service)

I've been doing business with Dell for over 4 years, ever since I made the choice to do my PC rollout with them I've been ordering from them. The only things I've really ordered from them have been PCs, Laptops, Monitors and a NAS. Though I remember, when I first ordered my PCs, which was a nice sum of money for them, I had a pretty cool Rep. She was always quick about ordering things I asked and she had some brains.

Now, I started noticing over the years (and at first it was just theory) but now I feel it is confirmed, the less you buy, the crappier service you get. Not to mention, the stupider Sales Reps you get that usually don't give a flying rats arse if you buy from them or not.

I am serious, ever since I've purchased less, I've had the most moronic service reps I've dealt with. Here, lets start calling out names, my rep, "Fred", sucks monkey arse. Get this, he would email me replies to another email address that I no longer checked at all...though I kindly reminded him about 5 times that I had changed my email and to update his contact list, I would still get emails to that old email address that I no longer checked. You can imagine the confusion it caused on several of our orders. Finally it appeared he got that small task correct, because I actually started getting replies to the correct email address.

But now, its hard for me to even get a response from the Dell reps LOL. I emailed "Fred", (this has happened several times mind you), to get a quote for a couple of laptops (looking to spend about 3-4 K. So I email him on Monday:

I need a quote for two notebooks, for home users.

They need the following:

Windows XP
Internal Wireless
40G HDD
512 MB RAM
Celeron (just for basic usage, not heavy media)
2 Batteries, must last at least 2-3 hrs if not more
All standard ports (usb, pcmcia, ethernet, modem etc)
Flash drive (thumb drive 128mb)
Office 2003 (Excel, Power Point, Word) Student Edition if possible since it is for students
CDRW

And they need a carrying case, one for each.

Thanks.

Ya know, a simple to the point email, the type that says, "I want to order something, I kn0w what I want, send me a quote so I can buy." Well....3 days pass, no reply. I even checked my Exchange Server to make sure the emails were not stuck in queue (I am such a considerate guy!)

So I send another email, to "Fred" just in case--but with a firm tone:

I asked for a quote a couple of days ago. I expected a response from you that same day, is there any reasonable excuse for such a long delay? Also remember, I receive email on this address.

And guess what, no reply. WTF? Is he dead or something?! I highly doubt it--if he were alive anyway he would still neglect his customers--thats whats crazy!

So no reponse, so I send another email. Keep in mind, my boss wanted this quote a few days ago, so I am also working under the gun--but I cant get a freakin quote! I email another sales rep (storage I believe):

Who can I speak with on customer service? I’ve been trying to get a quote for the past 2 days and I can not get my Sales Rep to respond.

Thanks

And guess what....no reponse! Wow, who woulda thunk? So I get pissed off finally and Go to my guy over at PC Connections. Always been there and has always wanted me to buy outside of Dell.

I finally get 3 quotes from him, all on the same day (nice) and I can be an anal mofo--so I'm told, so thats pretty impressive in my opinion.

I finally choose what I want, get them ordered, and I just got all my hardware I asked for, its actually sitting next to me right here. Let me take a picture (pauses):


w00t, take a look Dell, I bought from HP--which was my sworn enemy for merging with Compaq resulting in my layoff! :-O However it was a pretty kick arse laptop(s)....

Anyway, stay away from Dell if you can. They have killer prices, but now you know why, they sacrifice customer service it seems (ugh!). I can't say too many bad things about their machines, I've used Dells for a while now and I've never had a problem with them, they have always been scalable and reliable for me. Its just their service sucks. Their Power Supplies could be better, and also the type of ram, but whatever, I am not here to complain about their machines, I respect their machines (generally) however I have no respect for their crappy service, HP bought my service with a smile and I am good with that. This doesnt mean I am going Pro HP, I've had my share of HP stories, but until then, GO GET MY PC WITH A SMILE LIKE THEY DO IT ON THE COMMERCIALS!!!:@