Jarvis Puts Dell in Hell

Jason Calacanis chronicles Jeff Jarvis' recent horrible experiences with Dell customer support. Dell meanwhile has not rushed to help Jarvis. If I worked in Round Rock I would have my best tech on a plane to Jeff's house New Jersey tomorrow. This is inexcusable behavior given that Jeff Jarvis is an A-lister.

UPDATE 7/1: Some readers in comments are taking issue that I suggest Jarvis get special treatment since he is an "A-lister." I want to clarify this post by adding that I feel all issues raised on blogs are important to address - especially if they share a commonality. In Jeff's case, however, there's no doubt he has a bigger megaphone, which ups the need to act with urgency.

Comments

[Joel Richman]

"An A-lister??!" Comments like that undermine your assertion that all (or at least most) companies, entities, etc., need to monitor the blogosphere to help their customer support functions. Why should companies monitor the blogosphere if it's just a few of their customers that deserve private jet tech support??

If you want to draw attention to and live in the world of an elite group of "A-listers" then you're not living by the same rules you're trying to sell to potential CooperKatz/Micro Persuasion clients. If markets are conversations, don’t all the voices matter?

Treat some customers better than others because they may or may not be blog "A-listers?" C'mon, Steve. I’d be embarrassed about this if I were Jarvis.

[Steve Rubel]

Joel, I definitely feel that ALL companies should listen to all bloggers, but that doesn't mean they should send out a plane to every single person who complains. Jarvis having issues with his PC is really bad - especially since he's on TV a lot. He's got a bigger megaphone than most.

[John LeBlanc]

"This is inexcusable behavior given that Jeff Jarvis is an A-lister." Ouch. I would have preferred to see you put a period behind the word "behavior" and left it at that.

Jeff, himself, noted it was unfortunate he had to contact an "A-lister" at Dell to get some action on his issues.

Wow. On the one hand "We're all created equal" -- on the other "Some of us are more equal than others." I can't keep up any more.

One thing I do know, though: I'm not buying a Dell.

I enjoy reading your blog.

John

[Jeremy Pepper]

Well, I had trouble with my Dell notebook when it fell out of my bag and crashed into the cement. I swallowed my pride - and looked at my checkbook - and proceeded to buy a Toshiba because I didn't have the time to wait for a new Dell notebook. But, I did love my Dell notebook.

The lesson here is that I should have blogged about it and then sent the link to a friend of mine that used to work in Dell PR. Or, the lesson here is that Denton is right. Or, the lesson here is that most customer service is crap, and it is the most important part of public relations, the high-touch public interaction. Like I wrote five months ago - and note the comment, that I don't believe has yet to be addressed.

[Duncan Riley]

I'm presuming your comment "This is inexcusable behavior given that Jeff Jarvis is an A-lister." is tongue in check, if it's not, and I'm not sure by your comments, then I suggest that some PR reality checking may be in order, as his status as a "A List" blogger doesn't mean he gets special treatment, and your argument takes away from the crux of the issue, that Dell sucks. And yes, I've got my own Dell horror story as well, but I'll leave it for another day, but three words sum it up for me "Indian Call Centre".

[Greg Burton]

Um, Steve? Steve? I understand the reality of what you're saying - big megaphones do carry more weight. And whereas your average person offline might tell a couple hundred people about there lousy experience, Jeff presumably has told tens of thousands. But still...

The construction of your paragraph did your personal credibility no favors. It interferes with your message. The reality is that the 500 or 1000 or howevermany Dell customers treated exactly like Jeff are the real problem for Dell. Jeff may be an A-list blogger, but he's not Oprah (not that I've seen a massive reduction in beef consumption due to her issues). And the cumulative total of ticked-off ex-customers will do more damage in the long run that one guy who knows how to reach the top to get results.

The thing is, I'm sure you know that. Don't you?

[Stephen]

Dell? Fantastic service I’ve received so far. Had a couple of issues but they got resolved straight away. Only annoyance is when the Indian call centre operators can’t understand my English, and yes I’m English!

Hey, and I’m a Z lister too!

[David Burn]

Who the hell is Jeff Jarvis and what's an A-lister?

Just kidding. Have a happy 4th.

[Ash Buckles]

Dell Hell?

I've never experienced anything like that with Dell. In fact just the opposite; except with the Indian call center operators mentioned by Stephen (above). ;-) Dell has been there for me every step of the way with upwards of 30 computer purchases over 6 years.

Jeff, I'm really sorry you're having trouble!

[mobile jones]

In this one post, you've demonstrated a complete ignorance of what is important about blogs. The size of an individual's megaphone isn't what is important about blogs or blogging. Yours is a really a stupid assertion, Steve.

A Live Journal poster, judged by most "A-listers" as the lowest level of the blogging food chain, set in motion a fundamental change in an entire industry. The SO of an EA game developer began one of the most significant conversions the blogosphere has ever seen. EA was sued and has changed the way it compensates its employees due to the "action" of one woman with a tiny megaphone. It was her ability to start the conversation that brought about change.

The size of the conversation was what made that story, not the size of the megaphone that began it. My observation is that A-listers have a very narrow view and lack of perspective suffering from the same moral blindness that threatens the MSM types that you long to become or formerly were.

[Dee Rambeau]

I'm not even on the list, except alphabetically back in the "R" section. Whatever...I just wanted to say that I've had amazing success with Dell. My firm has had 27 units over 5 years and we've had impeccable service and results. Maybe I should write about it on my "R" list blog?

[Ash Buckles]

UPDATE! (see above post)

Neville Hobson wrote "Dell isn't listening" (http://www.nevon.net/nevon/2005/07/dell_isnt_liste.html) last week, but they heard me today. My first attempt to use tech support today was less than favorable. It wasn't that they couldn't help me -- they did. It was just the attitude that came with it. So I asked the customer rep if he didn't like his job, why not quit. Then I called back to his super and complained of his attitude. I explained that the online community is very disturbed by Dell's customer (dis)service. I then explained that I've purchased over 25 machines from Dell and never had a bad tech support experience. The super was great. She helped tremendously and all is well. On the other hand, Dell supers are very aware of their tainted online image. Maybe the executives will hear about it soon enough.

[Lynn]

I’ve spent about 3 hours on the phone with Dell over the last month, trying to get my 16 year old daughter’s 2005 Christmas present (an Inspiron 6000) fixed. I was busy moving, so she took it upon herself to call in and try to get our “under warranty” laptop repaired. She said the word “dropped” and we are totally screwed now. The laptop’s audio never worked right, the keys started to fall off randomly and then the LCD screen went. She’s 16, she knocked it once harder than she thought she should and felt responsible and was honest with them. Now they say the motherboard needs to be repaired and we have to pay $798. The computer worked fine, just not the LCD screen which means there was nothing wrong with the motherboard when I sent it out. I flipped at that and guess what … the price changed to $490 plus taxes. I gave them a choice since I knew we were doomed because she said “dropped” … I offered $200 to fix the LCD since I knew her words couldn’t be erased off their work order AND we would buy the 3 year, $209 accident insurance OR years of my badmouthing Dell and never being a customer again. They wouldn’t budge. So you know, I feel much more comfortable giving the probably $400 repair money to a local businessman and making sure I tell everyone that Dell products aren’t worth the hassle of the guaranteed repair needs.
They need to tell the customer service people not to say, “Thank you for chosing Dell” at the end of an angry, unsatisfying call! I said,”You are kidding right?”