Dell Canada call center

Has anyone here had any dealings with Dell Canada? If so, how would you rate it?

 

Totally :crap, it took 159.5 billion year for them to answer the :*** phone for me i ended up nearly smashing the phone to pieces !

 

Cute Rusty! LOL I never knew there was a Dell Canada ??? When ever I called support, I always got someone in the Philippines, except for ONE time, I got a guy in Texas! I could really understand him too.:-D

 

Would hate to try that, I don't speak Canadian. :-D

 

You had to WAIT? I got my calls answered right way, which didn't do me ANY favors. I ordered a rather expensive laptop in behalf of my son (his money, but he's not old enough to own his own credit card yet, so I made the purchase), and I was trying to talk to customer service about the order because there's something weird going on. For 2 days I've been getting the canned speech that customer service is not available, call back in an hour or 2 hours. This has turned out to be the worst customer service experience I have ever had. These people speak in a rapid monotone with heavy accents, one can barely understand them. I actually thought the customer service person was a recording until an exasperated comment on my part made her go off script and actually speak like a normal person for a few seconds. The sales and service reps don't sound interested and they don't really dialogue with the customer. Honestly, I've had more pleasant and helpful conversations with "Leonardo", the Xbox 360 tech support bot! I mean, really!

It is totally unprofessional and unacceptable that a customer service department of any company cannot, for 2 full days, access information about a purchase a customer has made. They are handling peoples' financial information. I mean, what is going on there? And this is a COMPUTER company. They can't provide tech support for their own sales and service department? How are they supposed to help their customers with technical issues???

I had to walk away, I was so disgusted, not to mention feeling bad for my son. I have not mentioned this to him, as I do not want to worry him. I am just hoping this laptop actually gets here and that all its hardware is good for the year long warranty, as I certainly don't ever want to actually speak to any of these people again. If anything comes up, I would sooner ask you guys, you're all 1000x more helpful.

There's my rant, held on to that one all day. But I did join the user forum at the Dell site. I see some of their staff read it, and they should really see this.

And my advice to anyone considering a Dell purchase--just realize that if you go this route, you had better hope you don't ever need to talk to them about anything because it is just an awful experience. And that includes even the sales department, which is surprising because if you get one of those nice fliers in the mail and you go to order your first computer over the phone, THIS is the person you want to be talking to? This is Dell's presentation to the customer base?

Yeah, I think the people I spoke to today were a LONG way from Canada! Somewhere in Asia, for sure. I wonder how they manage with the French Canadian customers? :-D Yes, really, there is actually an option to choose service in French! (Maybe I would have been better off!)

You just have to say "eh?" at the end of every sentence, eh? And by the way, we actually do pronounce it "abowt", not "aboot"! :-D Eh?

 

Oh, Amethyst_08, that sounds like a NIGHTMARE! I have had a Dell for 3 years, (Knock-on-wood!) I had my rounds with them, but to make a long story short, they did honor their warranty.... I DO HOPE you bought the extended one also! I did, and my hard drive DIED just 2 days after the original 1 year warranty, and they replaced that, then that HD went south too, and they WERE going to replace it a third time, but I told them, I was not going to have a new HD every week, and they had better come up with a better solution than that, not to mention the Tech having to come out to my house to work on it.. They replaced the tower after a LOT of help from the Tech. She said she wouldn't put a new HD into the Dimension, because it isn't the *** HD... So the old Dimension is gone, and I now have an Inspiron 530s.. Have had real good luck with this one..

Stand your ground, and know your rights... Can you get into their website and check on your order? If you have the order number, you should be able too... My warranty is on until Dec. 28,2009, and they haven't offered me any renewal...

Just don't take "please hold" for an answer.. Do you have a sales invoice? Contact them and tell them you are considering canceling your order... I am sure you will get someone on the line then....

Do keep us posted, and yeah, those reps in the Philippines are a real challenge to understand..... GOOD LUCK.... I will check for some numbers for you in the meantime.

 

We had a horrid time with them. Everytime we looked at the ship date it was always being moved back. We called and they always answered quickly and talked Canadian too, it wasn't until I threatened to cancel the order that they patched me through to the shop floor, somewhere in the US. It must have been located in a northern city as I understood him.(@Fred ) Darn took a whole month to get a cheapo bottom feeding vanilla flavoured machine! This was 4 years ago. Never again!

 

Hi Augie, I can understand ya just fine, and you aren't even using the "eh"! :-D A lot of the locals here use that same term... IF I could have gotten a Canadian Cust. Rep.., I probably wouldn't have needed a translator... REALLY, yes... Also, it is sad to hear how Dell's C.S. has gone down the tubes. It is also a shame you have got to threaten to take your business elsewhere... Truly is... In today's economy, you would think they would help you in any way they can. Sure doesn't sound that way.

Today, I was in town, and my van was making a 'weird noise' so I pulled into the dealership I bought it from.. They took me in right away, and checked it over, and found it needed new brakes and rotors... Had me back on the road to home in an hour.. That is service to me, and I think Dell is missing the boat to not give their customers the service they deserve....

This will be my last one, I know that...

 

You're in the U.S., TeeCee? Oh, I see..."MI" is Michigan? I was checking around online and I found a post by a Canadian who advised dealing with the U.S. division of Dell instead. I chose Canadian so we would pay in Canadian dollars and not have to deal with customs and duty, which would be quite steep on a purchase like this.

I can check the order status online, and it says the order has shipped 2 days ago, but there's something strange going on with the billing that I would like clarified and it was just a simple question, should have been answered in less than 5 minutes. I have the courier company's tracking number, but the info from that is pretty vague right now, and only indicating it is in transit in the U.S., which could actually mean the courier doesn't have it in THEIR system yet, but that it is somewhere between Dell and the courier. The courier has not actually scanned it anywhere yet. I've contacted Dell via their website and I'll see if it is straightened out tomorrow. I'm wondering if I would have better luck calling a U.S. number.

 

Hi there! Yes, I am in the U.S.. I don't know where you are, but if you are in another country, it may just be a case of not being able to track it... Here in the U.S., you can only track a package up to leaving the U.S. Then, it is just wait and see...... I have shipped items overseas, and that is how I know about that. Where are you at? :confused

Here, check out this number, and see if you get any info:1-800-822-8965
I would have PM'd it to you, but I can't find any contact for you.

I also have an e-mail I can send you, but I don't think it a good idea to post it here...

 

Ah, I live near a small town, where the staff still carry your groceries to the car for you. And they'll make a point of making sure they have a particular flavor of ice cream on hand because they know I like it.

A company like Dell needs to remember that customers are their life blood. I used to work for a company whose motto was, "A customer is not an interruption of your work, he is the reason for it."

 

Very good! I hope the phone number gets you some answers.... Also, when you go to Dell's website, click on LIVE CHAT and chat live with one of them... Hey, at this point, it sure couldn't hurt, AND they will send you a transcript of the entire conversation..... Go for it...

I live in a small town too... with BIG prices! LOL

 

Hello Dell Canada how can i help ? roflmaoroflmaoroflmao

 

Good one!

TeeCee, I've checked my credit card statement, and it looks like things are now as they should be. So I'm not going to phone Dell today. Hurray, so glad I don't have to! This outsourcing of customer sales and service calls to Asia? Have any customers ever had anything positive to say about that? (Rhetorical question.)

Thanks so much for the information, I'll keep it on hand for future reference (and hopefully I won't need to use it, eh? )

I think if I ever need to phone them, I'll try the numbers from the U.S. website anyway and see if I have better luck.

 

I sure don't want to offend anyone with my comment about outsourcing tech support calls to Asia. (I do worry about how things come across on the internet.) However, I do think that many people in North America are probably not too thrilled about it, and the biggest problem likely is the ability to communicate clearly. If we're calling for tech support, we really do want to speak to someone we can understand and it's important for tech support to be able to understand us, too. A few years ago, I had to call tech support re setting up my Linksys router, and the young lady I spoke to seemed to be very far away. She sounded like she was from the Philippines, actually, just judging from the accent. She was very sweet and kept apologizing for her English. There was no need to, I had no problem understanding her at all. However, she spoke a little too softly so I had trouble hearing her. I decided in the future I would just go to their support forum instead.

If everybody is friendly and personable and clear, I don't care about the geographic location of the caller, really.

 

OK, update time. And in the interest of being fair to Dell...

I had sent an e-mail to Dell via their website, where they say they'll respond in 24 hours. Well, it actually took 3 business days (plus the weekend) and I was starting to wonder if they would answer, but they did. I had followed up the first e-mail with an update telling them the billing issue appeared to be resolved, and they responded to that one as well, thanking me for the update. So this aspect of it is not looking too bad. In the future, I just might try the online chat thing if I need to communicate with them, however.

The laptop arrived yesterday and we set it up. Windows and AV updates installed, my son installed a game which required a massive update that took several hours (nothing to do with Dell) and he was playing it this morning. Everything seems to be working thus far.

When the order was placed, the delivery date was actually November 2, so this is earlier than we expected. Again, also a point in Dell's favor. In my online reading, I see lots of complaints about delivery dates being pushed back.

So thus far, it appears that it is just the telephone experience that leaves something to be desired and the customer service department being unavailable for 2 days was a rather weird experience as well. (A computer company that provides tech support to its customers--shouldn't it be able to quickly fix its own problems and have some sort of backup system? I could see the irony and the humor, although when I was on the receiving end of wanting info from customer service, it was frustrating for me, not to mention a little worrying to me as someone dealing with a company for the first time ever. rolleyes)

Anyway...for now things look fine, just have to get the unit registered, which we'll do later today. (My son has turned it off while he's in school, and I'm going to try to be as hands off as I can, since this is HIS computer and I don't want to be too much the meddling Mom. :innocent Although I AM insisting he pay close attention to security, and I'm going to be something of a dragon in that regard. :major :tas I had to be involved with the money end of things because he's too young to have a credit card just yet.)

Thanks for the phone number TeeCee. Oh, and you were right about courier company. Once it entered Canada, I had access to detailed information about where the item was at each spot where it was scanned, but when it was in the U.S., that information wasn't available to me.

So onward we go. Hope the kid has fun with it.

 

Thanks for the update, Amethyst_08:wave Yes, I agree, the Company itself is super, and I enjoy my Dell, but they sure do lack in customer service, for sure.... Glad things worked out, and you stick to your :guns with that security... Somebody has to do it!
Glad all is well now

 

Same here, I either get someone in the Philippines or India, I have not gotten anyone in the US. I think I would have a heart attack if someone answered and I could understand what they were saying! :-D

 

Hey, I did ONCE :-D It was a Tech in Texas! I almost fell off my chair, because I didn't have to ask him to repeat what he said 3 times roflmao roflmao Now, I am not putting down Dell, but I doubt if there is anyone left in India or Philippines that isn't working for them....:-D :-D

 

When I read threads like these I understand why my customers are so nasty and unpleasant. They're used to being treated this way.

While I appreciate that Dell and Microsoft have lowered the bar of expectations for the rest of us, they've also trained customers to expect that they have to be pain-in-the-keister-jerks of shrill and condescendingly demanding proportions in order to receive help from Customer Support. I would rather have the high expectations...

 

I have an Inspiron531S my warranty ran out the end of July. My friend told me not to bother buying the extended it was a waste of money, sounds like I made a mistake. I wonder if it is too late to buy the extended and if it is worth it. Thanks....
My HP that I bought at Costco lasted 7 years and then it got so full of spyware , Trojans etc, that I have it sitting in the bedroom waiting to fix for my 2 year old grandson I was able to buy my Dell from Walmart for less than 500 dollars and that was with a 19 inch screen, so, I am pretty happy with Dell so far, except for their customer service on the phone, their live chat is very good.

 

Mimsy, we are not trying to be a pain, really.. It is just so rare to get a Tech Rep from the U.S. when we call . When you have to ask someone 3 times to repeat what they are saying, because their English is so broken, it does take a toll on one...

I had to call Dell once, and the Tech tried to tell me to "remove the BIOS" and all would be fine... NO, I didn't do it, but that is what we have to deal with as customers, and I sure hope they paid that guy enough..... rolleyes

I would gladly take a US Tech any day, Really... I am sure that Amethyst_08 would also... When you get support from "India or Philippines " your chances of getting someone who speaks GOOD English is very slim... They are very hard to understand. No disrespect meant, and we all know you have to put up with some real wacko customers... I am not used to being treated that way, and I don't treat CS that way.. Just need to understand what they are saying.. Yes, it was a real treat to get someone from Texas....
Who could actually understand the problem, and assess it and offer a solution.. No, no need to remove the BIOS.... Obviously, the "BIOS" means something different there than here....

 

Meah! Yeah, I'd say it is just a tad late now, but you could have called them before July, and they may have allowed you to purchase one.. You can try online, log into your account, and see if it is even offered..I would kinda doubt it.....

I bought the extended 2 yr. warranty, and glad I did.. Not a waste of $$$ at all. When it comes to warranty work, Dell is super, and sales, super, quality super, but when it comes to customer service, I think they need to work on that...

 

I know. I've gotten that impression from my customers. LOL And I know you don't mean anything by it. It just makes me really tired when a customer immediately treats me like an ignorant tool without even giving me the benefit of doubt. I am good at my job. If you give me five minutes I can win you over. So for obvious reasons it pisses me off when people don't give me those minutes.

I have never had a problem understanding them. Never. But then, I grew up in a city and country where various foreign accents are an every-day occurrence. I mean no offense to anyone, but I don't think the fault is entirely on "them". If the average American was exposed to foreign accents more often, he'd find them a lot easier to understand. But he isn't, so he doesn't.

 

Here you go. Post your logs in that forum after running the guide. The Malware Fighters here are anti-malware super-heroes.

 

Yup, you may have a point there, Mimsy. I personally haven't been so exposed, but I do have friends all over the world, (none of these are on MG) in Belgium, Austrailia, Israel, and The Netherlands... I don't have any problems understanding them.

I have always treated all Techs with much respect, and keep my frustration for after I hang up the phone... (hubby will back me up on that one! LOL)

NO, you should not be treated as a tool. Heck, tell them to go to Ace Hardware and pick up whatever they need.. :-D You deserve and should be treated with respect absolutely.. I wouldn't dream of treating someone that way.. But then again, I guess it takes all kinds to make a world, too... Yeah, gotta have a few idiots in it to keep the mix proper, I guess. :-D

 

Last time I did, I was treated to an impromptu one-on-one with my supervisor and HIS supervisor.... rolleyes

Funny thing is, what they told me to do was to "escalate them!". My bosses think that being a target of abuse is NOT in my job description. So the next time it happened I IM'ed my supervisor and told him I had to escalate this customer before I lost my tempter. He said "absolutely, send them over" and after the call he came over to my desk specifically to tell me I did the right thing. He also told me he told the customer that I am great at technical support and I would have been able to solve his problem without an escalation if he had only let me do it.

There's a reason we like this guy and volunteer over-time hours if he asks.

 

That is great, Mimsy I like the ""escalate them!". Very good idea. I am glad your boss understands..

No one should have to put up with that. I think that can fall under abuse at times too. NOT YOU! That customer that is so rude.... :mad you shouldn't have to take that from anyone...

I think I would be doing overtime for him too LOL

 

So are we.

My supervisor has a very loyal Level 2 Tech Support team working for him, and with good reason. He's earned it.

 

LOL! I think it is safe to say that you have job security ! :-D:-D
YOU GO GIRL!

 

Glad to those who got their issues resolved. I had to talk to Dell last night, I did something not to smart and ended up trashing my computer. I opened the disks that came with the computer, it is a year old. Well, there was something wrong with the CD that had the drivers on it. After working with my kind, patient, helpful, Cox Cable tech support, he said, there is something wrong with this CD and you need to call Dell.
I called , waited and waited, finally got someone who I could barely understand a word he was saying. Each time I asked him to repeat what he was saying because he was either talking to fast or I could not understand him, he had a very thick accent. ( MY grandma and father were from Sicily, so, I know about accents, however, they never worked customer service, by phone!
I tell him my warranty expired July 30th , however, there is a problem with one of the disks that Dell supplied me when I bought my computer. He says, give me your number and let me look up your warranty. I said, OK, but, it has expired. He comes back a few minutes later and says , sorry, we cannot help you, your warranty is expired... Hello, I told you that.
I explained I was working with my Cable tech and that the CD with Devices was NOT working and I needed my network adapter to go any further.
He said, I told you , your warranty is expired, I asked, well, if you sent me a bad CD with the computer, does Dell have to replace it- His responce, OK, I try, and if your CD is good, you pay me double. OMG, did he really say that? So, I asked him to repeat it, he did in an even nastier voice this time. I asked him to please not be so disrespectful, that there was a problem with the CD, and the Cox tech asked me to call him and ask if they could send me another one... he again repeated his offer to do if for free, but if he fixed it I would have to pay him double. I asked for a supervisor, he hung up on me.
I called back, was told by another Rep, that there were no supervisors working- right- he told me I could talk to expired warranty and either buy an extended for 140 dollars or I could pay for a one time fix for 50! I said, could you just send me a new CD. Nope....
Anyway, I just reformatted an old old HP that was in the closet that I was going to give my grandson when I see him at Christmas. I put XP on it.. LOL, the machine almost had a heart attack. I got rid of the bad sectors... and hoping to keep this running until I can get my one year old Dell running again. It was a Dell 530S Inspirion- AMD -sigh...
Now , Dell is saying my XP CD is not formatted right.. ROFL to keep from crying... :_)

 

Oh, mladyraven, that sounds like you really went thru the mill! I think I talked to that guy a few times....:-o Yes, with an expired warranty, it will be like pulling teeth, but seems to me, that Dell could have supplied that disc out of good faith, anyhow.. :confused I know how frustrated you felt too :mad Oh, yeah, he was for real.... I am surprised they didn't give you the $1.75 per minute rate. LOL

That is sounding scary, because mine is an Inspiron 530s Intel Pentium Dual CPU E2140 Microsoft Windows XP Professional -- My warranty expires 12/20/2009 I haven't had any problems with it SO FAR..... Hope it keeps up that way...

Maybe you can talk to someone in Software that can help you find a disc for it.... I don't know if AMD and Intel are interchangeable myself. Wish you tons of luck.....

 

Thanks, I did it today and I now have it run. I have many "bad sections" on C drive, however, windows repaired them, the Trojans are gone and I am posting using my old HP while my Dell sits across of it, lonely and hoping for a new life too !!! :-D

 

Thanks! LOL! Sorry you had to deal with him! He is a Prince of a guy!
1.75 a minute, I think that is Microsoft :-D
I would suggest if you have not bought the extended warranty that you do. I am really sorry I did not, however, I did not have the extra money at the time.
They said I can buy it now for 150 a year! I am giving this some serious thought.

I bought the AMD not the Intel, I wish I had bought the Intel Core now.
I do not mean to offend anyone , I just wish I could find customer service reps who are local and understand what I am trying to say to them!

Nice to meet you!

 

I am sorry, that people treat you with disrespect! I really try to stay calm and respectful.
I love my Cox Cable techs, they are really helpful, respectful, if they cannot help you they send you to Tech 2 level and all the people who are Tech 2 have at least an AA in Computer Science if not a BS.
They were so helpful, I was in tears by 5 a m and had finished with Dell... they helped me get the old HP online.

I agree, tell them to go to ACE Hardware!

 

I have been thinking about this whole thing, my phone calls with the Dell folks, I mean and how the ones in customer service sounded like recordings. (Gosh, I had to laugh at myself--rather embarrassed--when I realized there was a person on the line!) A boss I used to work for once said that in a conflict situation, sometimes you have to look at how you yourself are contributing to the situation. So I started to think of what *I* could do to improve things if I have to phone again.

I don't enjoy unpleasant interactions with people, I think most of us don't. So I figured if I do have to call again and the people still sound so monotone and impersonal and hard to understand, something I can do is relate to them as people instead of just getting down to business immediately. I mean, how about if I start the conversation (even if I haven't understood a word they've just said) with a pleasant, "Hello, how are you today?" A little friendly banter...it can be interesting talking to people from other places sometimes, too, eh? And THEN get down to the reason I'm calling.

Yes, that's something I'll do and try to improve things from my own end anyway.

Mimsy, you're in a tech support job? I know that can't be easy! I've tried to help people with computer stuff over the phone--just family members. I've talked my Dad through cleaning up two minor malware infections. Wow, there was one late night, me here on the farm during a blizzard and on a dial up connection, him in town with his McAfee shut down by a virus. I got him to the Housecall site, got his system scanned and cleaned up, and then I had to e-mail him a registry repair tool from McAfee. But for me to get online and do any research, of course I had to hang up the phone, dial up the computer, phone him back afterward, but we got it done. Second time, Malwarebytes took care of it, but I still had to get him to safely shut down the browser with one of the rogue screens sitting there in front of him and then get him to use a different browser and safely navigate to Malwarebytes, download, install and run it (and hope it worked, which it did, thank goodness!). But it's not easy over the phone, sometimes people don't understand exactly or don't follow instructions even when there isn't a language barrier. Hang in there Mimsy. The world needs good tech support people!

 

Yep. Level 2 Tech Support for a memory company.

Must... resist... urge... to.. rant... :-D

 

LOL :drink

 

Yes, I bought the extended warranty when I bought my 'puter in 2007, and back THEN it cost me a whole whopping $99.00 So, I can't complain. I doubt if I would want to pay $150.00 a year either! I haven't checked to see if I can renew it tho.. I'll let ya know when I go to their website, and check on that

 

Glad to hear you survived your fall! :cool Wow, you are lucky!!!!
Exactly or they are working for McAfee, Sprint, or MS.....:-D:-D:-D
How nice of these companies to keep the rest of the world working!!!! No offense meant to anyone, but dang, it would it be nice to have a few jobs in Tech Support left in the US....just saying...

 

Yes, Mimsy, we need YOU!!!
And, I agree it is not easy to help someone over the phone! Especially if they are not computer literate, I remember when I got my first computer and they asked me what was in the address bar... and I was like duh!!!

I try to be polite and friendly. When I start my conversation I say, Hi, how are you tonight , or is it day there? Are you in India? They usually are cold and say, fine, yes, and please give me your tag number... However, I will try it again next time and be super duper nice! The people at Cox Tech are so helpful, they laugh, it is a pleasure doing business with them, I wish they worked for Dell too! Har
I spoke with customer service for Sprint, he told me they had a building in Manila, and it had 15 floors, Sprint had 3 and the rest were other US companies. He said what it cost to hire one US employee, they could get two for the same amount in Manila, so, that part of the reason the jobs are there. They do not want to pay US wages. JMO -

You know , I like that, what is my part in this and how can I make this better!
One way would have been to buy the extended warranty! Har!

 

Oh, you can add Trend Mico to that list now too roflmao roflmao I agree, and I also wonder, how many are actually left in the U.S..... rolleyes

 

"Look near the top of the screen. There's a white field there that has some writing in it, that begins with http://, can you see that?"

It's the people who listen to that and then say "you've got to slow down! I'm not a computer person, you can't get technical like that with me!" that drive me to drinking way too much alcohol on my days off... :wine