Proof of Dell's Incompetence...

[Framnk]

I ordered my Axim X5 32MB version about a week and a half ago and couldn't get any online status for my order and the only phone status I received was "sent to manufacturing".

Well my co-worker ordered the same version of the Axim about 4 hours after I did and he lives only a couple of miles away and his arrived yesterday! Naturally curious I called Dell and they are quoting me a ship date of February 11th! They claimed it was backordered.

Both of us did not order any accessories, we both ordered the same shipping and we both live in an area served by the same UPS office.

The ONLY difference between the two orders is that when I called, they gave me a $40 instant rebate and my co-worker only got a $20 instant rebate. (Again, Dell was no help when he complained that I got a $40 instant rebate only hours earlier).

Is it possible that they prioritize orders based on how much $$$ they receive for the Axim???

[dwinget]

It sounds like they shoved your co-workers device out the door when they complained. It is sad, but sometimes vendors don't respond unless there is a complaint.

[Big-Dummy]

Good luck, even after complaining. I got my Axim for Christmas and now it squeels like a pig. I finally got them to accept that it is faulty and send me a new one. I was told I would get my replacement in 2 - 3 days, but here I sit 2 weeks later with no replacement Axim. I called and e-mailed and all they will tell me is to be patient and they won't even give me the satisfaction of a delivery date. Sad to say, this is my last Dell product.

[leudogau]

dear lord people, it is a new product. did they think it would take off like it has, most likely not, but they should have done some more research. but for the love of god, stop btching. i order mine before xmas and got it three days before they said i would. your story is sad and everything but this is not a forum for a btch session about dell, but to share ideas and new things. keep your complaints to dell service reps, there is nothing we can do for you.

[Big-Dummy]

leudogau -

Thank you for your insightful post. Your well composed message added much value to this form also!!

[Big-Dummy]

Might I also add that overpromissing and underdelivering is a flawed business plan, and I hope Dell soon realizes this.

[Framnk]

leudogau -

Last I checked, this is a public forum. The subject of the forum is not "to share ideas and new things" it is "Dell Axim Pocket PCs" and as such, I think letting people know about Dell's quality of service on this product is VALID, especially if they are considering making a purchase.

The subject of this thread was pretty clear, so you easily could have avoided it and read up on all the great new ideas you are looking for, but no, instead you choose to post in here about how much you hate the kind of threads you purposely clicked on!

- Framnk

[Big-Dummy]

more proof of Dell's stupidity. I have been exchanging e-mails with Dell Custoemr Care on the status of my Axim exchange. They finally told me to call tech support as they can't seem to tell me where things stand. I called tech support today who told me they have no access to those records and that I had to call Customer Care to get my answer. I might just see if I can return the Axim and get an IPaq

[Iguana73]

Quoted from a CNN Page.

"Dell Computer Corp., which stirred the handheld computer market late in the year with the introduction of its first line of PDAs, shipped 54,000, according to the study."

Could yours be one of the ones after the 54,000 already shipped. That is alot of PDA's for two months.

[Big-Dummy]

Not really, not for a multi-national company. Not only that, but shame on them for not doing manufacturing and demand feasability studies. They should have known there was going to be a rush and worked through supply-chain issues before going to market.

Anyway, after a heart-to-heart with a tech he gave me the following number and extension: 1-800-624-9897 x41820

When you hit that, option three is to escalate your issues to a manager. I found them to be much more helpful (and there was a zero wait time!!)

[Nitro]

Hey guys, I ordered my Axim 300 mhz on Jan 26. On Jan 24 and Jan 25 Dell was still experiencing that global virus that was going around. I am sure you knew that but in case you didnt, that may be the reason orders have been slowed.

Just a thought.

BTW, what is this $40.00 instant rebate i have been hearing about. By me ordering mine on Jan 26, was I too late to receive that rebate?

Thnx

[Framnk]

The $40 instant rebate seems to only be offered if you push them. As I mentioned earlier, they offered it to me but not to my co-worker who ordered a few hours after I did.

[Mystar]

i'm sorry to those of you who have had problems with Dell, whether it's with the customer service or the product, but really, all i think this proves is that you can't please all the people all the time.
there's customers who are satisfied most of the time, some are satisfied all of the time and then there's the ones who never seem to ever be satisfied no matter what you do. Some people get good service and some don't. Some CSR's do their best to satisfy their customers and some CSR's don't even try.
So again, it doesn't sound like incompetence on Dell's part, it sounds more like you as customers are just having a bad experience with a purchase...it happens. If it was because Dell was incompetent their company wouldn't be growing as much as it has been, so as they enter the pda market, just chalk it up to growing pains, i hope you all get over it when you do get the satisfaction you deserve.
Good luck eh

[leudogau]

Well put!

[meadowsd123]

I think there is more to this story than everyone realizes. Yes, Dell is shipping a ton of PDA's in a short period of time and that is going to cause some issues. The issue that I have not seen anywhere is that no has realized that Dell has many corporate accounts that I would be willing to bet are getting priority over the individual user. If someone is ordering 10's of thousands of dollars of equipment and Joe user is ordering a single Axim, who do you think is going to get their Axim first?

[Mystar]

that is very true meadowsd123
it does make sense that the corporate accounts are getting a higher priority than a regular customer considering the amount of money involved.
It's too bad for the average home user in this case, but it's the corporate accounts spending all their money that helps keep businesses like Dell in business. That's really no excuse for giving bad customer service though, but it happens.
As the time passes, I'm sure everything is bound to get better with both the product and the service.
It is good that people can come to boards like these and vent out their frustrations with their bad experiences as well as sharing their good experiences.

[tm510a]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!do you want some cheese with that wine?????? come on I had Palm devices that had problems and a handspring that had issues and finally a very screwed up Ipaq but I got all of them resolved with time and the ones that took the longest to resolve I don't use anymore..........I own a Dell Laptop and bought a new Dell desk top for my daugther and have had no problems ,but one thing we can thank Dell for is bringing down the prices of pocket PC's we were over paying in the Ipaq rules era..................Peace Love !!

[Big-Dummy]

I don't know if we want cheese, but I'd take a well composed sentence from you!! Now there is a pipe dream!

[tm510a]

Well for someone named Big-Dummy and has a PDA that squeals like a Pig you have a lot to say.Oh by the way maybe I could write you a program for that Pig,what language would you like it in, VB 6 or maybe C++ !!

[Big-Dummy]

Was that an attempt to impress me with your programming prowess? Now, that is funny!! Thanks for the laugh!!

[Big-Dummy]

Originally posted by tm510a
Well[,] for someone named Big-Dummy [who] has a PDA that squeals like a [p]ig[,] you have a lot to say. Oh[,] by the way[,] maybe I could write you a program for that [p]ig. [W]hat language would you like it in, VB 6 or maybe C++[?]

I took the liberty of correcting your punctuation (or lack thereof). Consider it a learning exercise. You program and I write, what makes either of us any more special?

[jdposhkus]

Well I guess I won't buy an Axim, because evidently it turns you into a two year-old. There is none of this brand of B-S on the Ipaq board.


(Insert witty remark here.)

[Mystar]

Originally posted by jdposhkus
Well I guess I won't buy an Axim, because evidently it turns you into a two year-old. There is none of this brand of B-S on the Ipaq board.


(Insert witty remark here.)

hehe

that was pretty funny jdposhkus

[Framnk]

What the hell tm510a... you really shouldn't sniff glue before you go online. You don't make no sense holmes. You might want to stick to the easy stuff first - like putting together a coherent sentence - before writing C++ or VB code.

[rozell99]

I received my Dell through my company's corporate account and I can say that it is unlikely they are prioritizing orders based on that fact alone. We did manage to get the ship date moved up after considerable complaining however. The first one received had a defective screen though and had to be replaced.

I have been pretty happy with the replacement, other than a strange message about a locked file that keeps appearing during the backup process that I can't locate.