Dell from both sides

By James Gaskin, NetworkWorld.com, 09/19/06

One reader accused me of slamming Dell just for something do to a slow news day, because I highlighting their refusal to install products they sell in their catalog. After all, according to this reader, if the products aren't on the customization page, everyone knows Dell won't install them. He also called Iomega's Zip drive outdated third party equipment, but that's his insult, not mine. I think Zip drives still have plenty of value to many users.

My response: I hate hypocrites. Dell runs national TV ads showing how they install anything a customer wants in a custom PC just for that order. If they can grab up mathematicians writing on a chalkboard for the buyer on TV, they can install the internal Zip they sell in their own catalog. If not, they should change their ads.

A Dell employee forwarded an e-mail address for a group that works on customer problems: customer_advocate@dell.com. While most of my friends with Dell problems have finally gotten them solved (or moved to another brand), feel free to use this address yourself if you're having problems. Maybe it will help.

I have noticed Dell has slowed down their rebate madness, but not completely stopped it. I wrote series of Dell rebate stories back in 2004 (here's the first one) and received more feedback than just about any other story. Looking through the Dell website today, I only noticed rebates on non-Dell products like Samsung monitors.

If you have Dell rebate problems, let me know. If you're tired of Dell stories and don't want to hear about them any more, let me know that, too.

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