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Dear Dell,

I have been a loyal customer of yours for a number of years. The last two PCs I purchased were Dells. One of those is getting old and I had planned on buying a new one to replace it in about six months. If you would have asked me yesterday, I would have said that the new one would likely be a Dell.

Today, though, I can tell you that my next PC will most certainly not be a Dell.

Here's the story. To give me some extra desk space, and to plan for the future new PC, yesterday I ordered a new Samsung 19" wide screen monitor from you online. When ordering, as shown on my confirmation, you stated delivery in 3-5 days. Very good, because I need it by Friday to use as a birthday present.

Later, I get a follow-up confirmation email and it says that it would be shipped on Feb. 29... that is a full 17 days from now! Ummmm... Excuse me... but you just told me that it would ARRIVE in 3-5 days. Now you are saying that it won't even be SHIPPED for 17 days?!? What the heck?!? If you didn't have it in stock, you should have stated this right from the beginning! You are a big global company... certainly you have a stock database?

OK, fine, I have had good luck with your customer service in the past. Maybe there is some way I can get some special treatment and get a monitor by Friday. Maybe you have a small amount of stock on hand in case of emergency. So, I send an email. No response after a good 6 hours. I understand that you promise only a 24 hour email turn around time, but I had expected better for a Tuesday afternoon. I didn't have time to wait any longer, so I tried the instant message option. Well, I don't often do that... and it crashed my computer (ironically a Dell). Who knows, I'm sure my computer isn't configured very well for that since it is old. There has GOT to be a phone number to call somewhere. So, I hunt in the web site and finally find a phone number buried way down inside.

After about 15 minutes on hold, the call is answered... then I had to be transferred to another department.

The clearly outsourced customer service rep was very nice, and confirmed that the monitor was not available. He apologized that I was told I would get a quick delivery, but said there was nothing I could do besides cancel the order and buy something else. Well, I ordered what I wanted, it is YOUR mistake not mine. I need a monitor by Friday. I ordered the one I wanted, and I'm not willing to downgrade or pay extra for an upgrade. Okay, it was a 19" monitor... the 20" Samsung in the same series is just a little more. I thought Dell had good customer service and would be willing to give me the 20" for the price of the 19" for my troubles. "No, we can't do that, sir." I asked if there is anyone higher-up that I can talk to. (My experience when an unfortunate situation like this arises is that someone in charge can usually negotiate something.) "No one will be able to do anything beyond this, sir." News flash: I'm not going to give you MORE of my money after you have screwed me already.

Now... I STILL need a monitor by Friday. I'm out an extra day and if I order from someplace else, I'm going to have to pay extra for faster shipping. All because you wouldn't reveal that the monitor was not in stock from the get go. I had to waste 1/2 hour on the phone screwing around with you... you were unwilling to do anything that would begin to make things right. And, therefore, I had to cancel my order.

And, also therefore, all my good experiences with your company have been erased. After years of buying Dell exclusively, in a few more months someone else's logo will sitting on my desk. Sure, it all seems like a small thing... and normally it probably would be... but this time it has caused me a great deal of stress. There is plenty of competition out there. I wish you the best of luck in the future.

Sincerely,
Former loyal Dell customer