Dell from Hell...

Wow, where I do I begin on this one?

Ah yes, the evil underground customer service ring out to screw the world.

This time they have disguised themselves as Dell Representatives.

So after much consideration, I decided to purchase a Dell Inspiron 6000 with a WSXGA LCD screen and a bunch of other cool superdy dooper specs that simply means RAW POWER.

On September 8th I placed a phone order and received a confirmation number. Everything went smoothly.

So I thought.

To avoid tax I had my order shipped to my friend in New Hampshire.

Now I was just playing the waiting game.

And wait I did.

I checked the status of the order online and it showed pending.

A week later, it still showed pending!

So, I called Dell.

They asked for my confirmation number and in return proceeded to tell me that that confirmation number is not valid and apparently the order was never placed.

Here we go!

Hmmm. Excellent time to get some type of compensation for the delay.

They were happy to give me a $75.00 coupon.

And so the waiting game continued...

Oddly enough I received a phone call from them the following week explaining to me that they were out of the $75.00 coupons and would have to give me a $100 one.

After giving it much thought (for approx. about a second) I said ok!

And so everything was going as planned.

My friend received the laptop and shipped it to me.

I opened the box and...

WRONG LAPTOP!

No WSXGA but instead WXGA.

I immediately called Dell, in which they said, "No problem, we will have someone pick up the order."

Amazingly it took them only ONE day to pick it up; if only there customer service were as amazing as that!

So this should be an easy mistake to fix. Just place the same order and hey, use the $100 coupon I received. Excellent!

So, I'm back on the phone with Dell placing the same order. Except there is one problem. About a $400 problem.

The promotion is over!

And even though it was THEIR mistake they cannot give me the same deal.

So I managed to rework the specs and even upgrade from a 512mb to a 1GB. This raised the price $100 from the original amount I was going to pay, but the coupon would cover that.

Great! Order is placed and I receive an acknowledgement email NOT a confirmation. I was told I would receive a confirmation via email within one day.

Four days pass.

Again calling Dell, in which by now I should have them on speed dial!

I can't even believe what I'm about to type next.

The Dell representative replies "Sir, we show no order placed."

WHAT THE F ***?

What do you means the order was not placed? I got an email ackowledgment from Dell.

"Sir, we don't know what happened there. You will need to place the order again."

So we have to redo the order once again. The price they gave me was $100 more. This is BULL S***!

"Hey, what about my coupon?" I asked.

"Sorry sir, that has been redeemed and can not be reused."

Ok, how can an order never have been placed and yet the coupon used is redeemed? That question will never be answered.

However, after battling with these guys for an hour I was able to get another $100 coupon.

With restrictions of course! I have to use my credit card and not my preferred account in order to redeem it. At this point, who cares!

So once again, i go online praying that everything goes fine this time.

Order placed. Received confirmation email. My laptop is shipped to New Hampshire.

I get a call from my friend who not only tells me he received it but um..."Dude, you got two shipments!"

What the hell!!!

At this point everyone at Dell knows me by first name!

Apparently the FIRST order did go through and therefore I was charged twice!

I was instructed to tell my friend to NOT ACCEPT THE PACKAGE. If he did I would have to pay to have it shipped back.

Seriously, could someone please wake me up from this nightmare!

By now I have built up enough confidence in asking for some type of compensation.

Dell offered me a 720 printer (worth $49).

I declined saying I didn't want a printer and that instead I would prefer a $100 coupon. Sound familiar?

The conversation was friendlier and briefer than last time.

Initially the representative declined the request. I asked them to talk to their supervisor. Again, declined!

And again, I pushed!

Hello $100 coupon...with only 30 days to redeem.

I still have not received my laptop but I should be getting it by Thursday.

Coupons anyone? Talk to me...