When Dell Doesn't Deliver

I've never had a "bad" experience from Dell (Australia) with the exception of the outsourced sometimes hard-to-understand technical support.  So it is interesting to watch what happens when Dell doesn't deliver the way they promise.

Here's the sequence of events.  For the record, I do not and have never worked for Dell, nor do I receive any free or discounted goods or services from them.

14 April 2008

Ordered Dell Precision M6300 laptop including a Logitech MX Revolution cordless laser mouse with CompleteCover Guard and Next Business Day Onsite warranty.

November 2009

The mouse stopped charging (charging light flashes red when placed on charger).  I didn't do anything at the time since I was busy.

12 January 2010

My first contact with Dell about the mouse.  Was transferred from their usual warranty number (Indian speaker) to the "premium" warranty area (Australian speaker).  Was told a new mouse would be here in 2 days.

18 January 2010

Received email from TNS requesting I complete a survey regarding my recent call.
Completed the survey on the same day.  I noted in one of the survey questions that the issue was "unresolved" since I had not received the replacement part

<= 22 January 2010

Decided to call Dell again to find out about the mouse.  Warranty told me that the part had not been sent, and it would have to be handled by Logitech.  They transferred me to Logitech who took details of the mouse and told me to expect a new one up to two weeks later.

27 January 2010

Received a call from Dell regarding the survey I completed.  The caller asked if I had received the part, and offered to get the original person ("Nick") to look into it.  He asked if I had a mouse to use in the mean time (I said yes).

27 January 2010

Received a call from Nick from Dell.  He asked about the part and said he would check with Logitech and get back to me.

27 January 2010

The mouse arrived in the afternoon!  I called Dell to let them know they could stop looking for it!

So it took 9 days to respond to the survey.  The replacement mouse was here in around one week, although not in the next business day as the warranty implied.  But then, it was an accessory and not a typical spare component of the laptop.

And in case you're wondering about the Gold Phone Technical Support, apparently it's the difference between speaking to someone in India vs someone in Austrlia.  The "Pro" warranty personnel even answers the phone "This is <name> in Sydney".