Devices

Dell Pre Order Nightmare

Picture this scene. It is a Saturday afternoon of one of the busiest holidays in the country. The week before, you found some coupons for a very nice discount at your family’s favorite restaurant. Since you know that it is going to be difficult to get a table in such a busy holiday, you decide to get there earlier than usual. You gather your kids and your wife and arrive to the restaurant nice and early.

Unfortunately, in spite of your foresight, the place is already full when you get there. The hostess informs you that there is a waiting list and she asks if you would like to be put on it. You are told that the wait is expected to be about forty five minutes. You decide to agree and proceed to wait. After some thirty five minutes have passed, you observe that some newly arrived clients are taken immediately to a table instead of being put on the waiting list. Then, you observe this happen a few more times. You approach some of these clients to ask them if maybe they had reserved over the phone, but they tell you that they didn’t. They simply arrived as usual and were taken to their tables without any trouble. You go to the hostess to ask for an explanation and you are simply told that they are sorry but all the tables are being used. You ask, “well how much longer do we have to wait?” She says, “well, it looks like its going to take at least another forty five minutes.” By now all the other restaurants are packed. If you leave, the wait somewhere else will likely be even worst. How would you feel then?

Well, a similar nightmare scenario has happened to many customers of Dell. On November 5th, Dell issued a coupon that could be used in the purchase of the highly anticipated Nokia N900 mobile device. The word on the internet got out and it didn’t take long before Dell had to remove the item from the website. Everyone that managed to place an order felt very fortunate. The item was expected to ship in a little over a month, but everyone decided that it was worth the wait. Besides, every one thought that the device would likely end up shipping before then, as it often happens.

Sure enough, around November 21st , word began spreading about some orders starting to ship. Of course, everyone got very excited. Like when they announce that you plane is starting to board. People who received their devices began posting their experiences, and everyone else waited excitedly for theirs to arrive. Unfortunately, the days began to pass without their orders being shipped.

And then, some customers began reporting that orders they had just placed where actually shipping too. That is right, orders that were being placed weeks after the original customers had pre-ordered, started to get their devices shipped! You can imagine the confusion that arose. People began to call Dell to ask them what was going on. They simply answered that the device was not in stock. Customers began consulting with one another to try to figure out what was really going on.

That is right, orders that were being placed weeks after the original customers had pre-ordered, started to get their devices shipped!

Several of the customers that got their devices without having pre-ordered them were happy to help the rest. They provided their order dates and delivered dates, and some customers were even able to get a few of the late ordering order numbers so that they could be verified. When Dell representatives were presented with this evidence they simply said that they would have to “investigate” the matter and that they would get back in touch soon. They also tried to pass the blame saying that they simply send orders automatically to Nokia for fulfillment as soon as the purchase takes place. According to them, it was Nokia that was holding back deliveries to those that had pre-ordered from Dell. When asked if there was a way for the customers to contact Nokia in order to get to the bottom of this failure to honor order dates, the answer was that unfortunately that was not possible. Then, all of the sudden, everyone that had ordered on November 5th saw a change in their online order page. The expected delivery date was moved to January 20th, 2010.

I personally was one of those customers. It was at that time that I decided to do something about this. I contacted Dell and asked for an explanation. I received the same canned response, they would have to “investigate” the matter, but nothing could be done. Outraged, I sent an email to Dell telling them that I was considering placing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. This was their response:

Monday, December 14, 2009, 6:03 PM

Sir,

All efforts has been made to have the item shipped out but due to highly constrained backlog and a very limited inventory into the distribution centers the distribution centers will ship to the customers within their respective regions only.

As much as we wanted to ship the item out soon but we really cannot guarantee you since it will depend on the availability of the item. Since you are in a hurry to get this item, the only option here is to cancel order and you can just buy one from a local store. Thank you.

Regards,

[***********]
Dell Inc. | Americas Customer Care
Work Days: Mon – Thurs
Work Hours: 08:00a.m.-7:00p.m.CST

To that, I replied:

Monday, December 14, 2009 7:25 PM

Dear Ms *********,

Thank you for your response. I do not want to cancel my order. You see, the issue is not that I am in a hurry to get the phone. What is upsetting is the fact so many people who ordered much latter than me got their phone. Look at this two orders for example:

OrderNumber	OrderDate	Status
999999999	11/19/2009	Shipped
999999999	11/25/2009	Shipped

I will wait as long as I have to wait, but I am not happy about the situation. There is obviously something very wrong about the way the orders are being processed. My desire is for this situation to be rectified so that in the future other customers do not have to deal with this sort of issues. I thank you for continuing to try to resolve this situation and to rectify what caused it in the first place.

Sincerely,

[rm42]

Several days went by with no word from Dell. By now, I had put my self in contact with some of the customers that were in the same situation that I was and offered them to place a join-complain to the Better Business Bureau, thinking that maybe that way it would be taken more seriously (since then I have been informed that it is actually better to have each individual file his own complaint). Several customers agreed and gave me their information. I also contacted some of the users that claimed to have had their devices shipped without having to pre-order, and they too were willing to share their order numbers, order dates, and delivery dates with me. Armed with that, I wrote another email to Dell.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 11:50 PM
Dear Ms E*********,

I take it that you have no news regarding the shipment of the N900 since I have not heard from you yet. That is OK. I am resigned to wait it out. However, would you not agree that I am entitled to some form of compensation for all the trouble and frustration that Dell’s mismanagement of my order has caused me?

Think of it this way. Imagine that you go out with your family to a restaurant for dinner. Upon arriving you are told that there is a waiting list and you are asked if you would like to be put on it. You are told that the wait is expected to be about half an hour. You decide to agree and proceed to wait. After 20 minutes have passed, you observe that some newly arrived clients are taken immediately to a table instead of being put on the waiting list. You observe this happen a few more times. You approach some of this clients to ask them if they had maybe reserved over the phone, but they tell you that they simply arrived and were taken to their tables without any trouble. You go to the receptionist to ask for an explanation and you are simply told that they are sorry but all the tables are being used. How would you feel then?

Well isn’t that what is happening in my and many others cases? Here is a list of people that are in the same situation that I am:

Name	OrderNumber	OrderDate
**** *****	999999999	11/5/2009
**** *****	999999999	11/5/2009
**** *****	999999999	11/5/2009
**** *****	999999999	11/5/2009
**** *****	999999999	11/5/2009
**** *****	999999999	11/5/2009
**** *****	999999999	11/5/2009

And here are just some of the orders that were fulfilled with devices that should really have been shipped to one of us instead.

OrderNumber	OrderDate	Status (by 12/8/09)
999999999	11/26/09	Shipped
999999999	11/25/09	Shipped
999999999	11/19/09	Shipped

So, tell me, how is Dell going to try to repair our relationship as customers?

Sincerely,

[rm42]

As I write these words, I have not yet received any response from Dell. Interestingly, one customer was able to get through to Nokia to have this matter addressed. This is the email he received from Nokia:

Thank you for e-mailing the Nokia Care Contact Center.

With regard to your inquiry about the delivery date, basically it is between you and Dell, since you placed the pre order with Dell and not with Nokia. We deliver the units to Dell and Dell delivers it in return to their customers. We will have no business delivering it to their customers, since it is not our customers. We will not know who placed the pre order with them, that is basically internal process with Dell. We suggest that you contact Dell, however it is evident that they point it to Nokia to avoid blame from customers, they might have preferred customers.

If you have any additional questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us again. To ensure proper handling of your case, kindly continue using the current subject line.

Thank you very much for your email. Have a great day!

Kind regards,
Rosalie L.
E-mail Specialist
Nokia Inc.

So now I ask you, what do you think is going to be Dell’s next move, if any? What do you think their next move should be? What would you do in our situation?

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