Dell should stick to computers !!!

[kimnicho]

I've been reading complaints about this company and that but no one has recently mentioned DELL. My saga with them is going on two weeks now ! To make a long story short, I ordered a SONY digital camera (for my friend) which showed "ships in 24 hrs" and it didn't ship for 10 days. So I complained and they gave me a $50 coupon which I used to buy a 512 SD card. Well, guess what? Their website accepted the coupon code with no problem but a week later, my CC is charged the full price ! So I call AGAIN....it took me 3 different customer service people to credit my CC $50. So they gave me ANOTHER $50 coupon (which I'm not complaining about). So, I just ordered the Canon SD200 + BONUS SD card for myself. Now, it's showing a shipping estimate of 3-4 weeks?!? I didn't realize this two weeks ago, BUT they only have a 1.5 star buyer rating online - AND NOW I KNOW WHY !!!!! I would buy a computer from them without a moment's hesitation but I'm done buying cameras or accessories from them.

[David Metsky]

I had the exact opposite experience with Dell.com. I purchased my SD300 right before Christmas with an online coupon and it arrived 2 days later. The memory card I ordered arrived the next day. Both prices were about the lowest I found online, I have absolutely no complaints.

Sorry you had such a bad experience, but I've ordered several things from the site and had no problems.

-dave-

[Robert]

Not to kiss up to Dell but I'd have to agree with Dave. I 've bought several things from Dell including digicams and a laptop and have had no problems whatsoever. I think most of the problems with the logistics of supply and delivery have a lot to do with the fact that the larger mailorder houses often ship merchandise from large regional supply warehouses with whom they are not directly affiliated. This doesn't justify the screwups but it does explain to a degree why there are sometimes problems with even the more reputable mailorder houses. The fact that Dell offers some compensation for the screwups indicates to me that they are at least trying to please folks.

[suemccartin]

I've bought a PDA from them, no problems. Recently I bought a EF Lens, a 550EX, and a bg-e1 battery grip for my rebel, no problems with any of that.

They do have problems, personally I think caused mostly by their "non-native" english speaking customer service staff (their call centers are in India and places such as that). I've also heard of problems with their order system software. The only really stinky thing I've heard about them is the way they handle extended warranties, for whatever reason business customers get better replacement terms than the home user (sounds a little bit illegal to me actually).

I don't know if it's got anything to do with it or not but I only buy when they're running a sale, perhaps because of that there is more attention to the correctnes and more stock of the sale items. Every large company has problems but they do seem to have more than their share at times but myself I've never had one problem. Just ordered a pixma printer yesterday, it shipped today, still no problems for me. Another thing that might be helping is that I use their credit card--perhaps that system works better than other parts of it.