(Notice: This post is entirely based on what just happened to me while attempting to discuss an order I placed Online with Dell, all the information posted is based on my experience)
My son has been wanting an XBox360 for a while now because it has a number of games that are Xbox only games that he wants to play. He has worked very hard in school and at home (doing everything asked of him), to show me that he deserves to get his Xbox. So for his birthday (after seeing how hard he has tried) I started looking around the net to order him an Xbox, and found the best deal from the Dell Website. (I have screenshot of the page from Dell’s site, I also found the discount coupon code 65G7RQ11J?M2LH from the dealnews site ( http://dealnews.com/Xbox-360-Arcade-Console-for-170-free-shipping/309111.html (http://dealnews NULL.com/Xbox-360-Arcade-Console-for-170-free-shipping/309111 NULL.html) ) which brought the price to $169 dollars).
The Dell page for the 360 Arcade bundle seemed to me to be a little lacking in formation, but this is Dell, this isn’t some person I’ve never met on an e-Bay auction, this is Dell one of the biggest players in the computer and technology markets so I didn’t make much of it. Additionally, prior to making my order, I saw the posting on Microsoft’s own 360 website concerning the XBox360 arcade edition ( http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360arcadesystem/ ) which told me that the 360 arcade bundle came with a 5 game CD (Pac-Man, Uno, etc……). Even though the information was lacking on the website, Dell posted a picture that shows the console, cable, controller, memory card, and arcade CD and its Dell so that what I should get, or so I figured. WRONG!!!!!!!
So there I was and I placed the order online with dell. Received the order and waited for my son’s Birthday which is today. He was so happy when he unwrapped his gift and saw it had gotten his wish. Then we started opening the box and in that’s when the fun began.
In the box was the Xbox console, a wireless controller, the power supply, and the cable to the TV. That it. So where was the memory card and the game (Check out what they show on the Dell picture)
So I called Dell, and that’s where the “fun” part of my story comes in. My calls started at 9:30a (EST) and as of 1:30p (EST), I have now been so frustrated and given up to the point where I will just go to my local store (probably GameStop) and buy a used edition of each. That’s not where my problem is, because if it was just about the $10 or $15 that the 2 missing pieces would cost, I guess this post would have never even occurred. Its about principle and the fact that I called Dell (Using both the 800-999-3355 and the 800-624-9897 numbers) and started with customer support (after a 20 min hold time) who said they couldn’t help me because this was not their issue (using those words) and sent me to customer care who told me that …………….ding ding ding. Wait they could have told me something after I explained what was up but suddenly I was disconnected and all i got was a loud tone. (**I’m not saying I was hung up on but lets see if someone sees a pattern). So I called back (again 15 min waiting) until I got to customer support and they sent me to customer care who then said that the Xbox comes with only what they sent. I explained that what I received isn’t on what is showing on the ding ding ding ding ding…wait again I didn’t get to finish what I was explaining because the same loud tone, and again I’m disconnected). So I called again, this time, I called customer care directly because I was able to find that number (the 3355 one) on-line. This time (30 min wait) I was told that they have no one of knowing what was supposed to be in the package and that I need to speak to the sales department, they transferred me to sales to confirm what’s on the order. Sales gets on the line and starts asking me if i want to start a new order, of which I explained the story to them and they said they could tell me what was in the package and was told that yes a game and memory card comes with the package…..when I then asked to get back to customer ding ding ding ding (lets see is there a pattern here or what……) , again I’m disconnected with the same loud tone as before. So I now call customer care back and get back to the same person as before (at least she gave me her extension) and told her that sales said that yes I should have gotten a game, I am now told that what they need to do is order me a new system, for $199 dollars I may add because they had no way of adding the discount code I used online. Then I would go back to a different department that would then arrange a return of the system I just got and that I would then get a refund from Dell in a few weeks, The refund of course would be for what I paid on the 1st one, which was less than $199 dollars. When I questioned as to why I would have to pay 2x’s (in my opinion at least) and if this was just a game issue why they couldn’t just send me the missing pieces, ding ding ding ding…..I again get that loud tone and I’m disconnected. I was going to ask her if I would actually get that I expected if I bothered to jump thru that many hoops since sales said I should but customer care wasn’t sure, but with it “disconnecting” again, I was never even able to ask.
So with that, my son has been able to enjoy his xbox360, due to the fact that a friend from work was nice enough to let me have some of his 360 games this week (after I told him we were getting the Xbox for my son), so that my son would be able to enjoy a few games while we built his collection. So to Andrew I say thanks, and to Dell I say, (well I can’t say what I really want) NO THANKS!.
And to you, who read my posts, I just have this caution, even if the site your on is as big a Dell, pay very close attention to orders online, you may not always get what you are expecting. A good thing to do is look at the customer rating comment which I didn’t do, as I now see from Dell’s own site that I am not the only one who was expecting something that he didn’t get.
(End of the soapbox for now)