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General discussion

Help? Dell Have Not Delivered Laptop 6 Weeks After Shipping

Jan 24, 2010 7:20PM PST

Hi,

Sorry to bother you with this, but I really don't know where to turn anymore. Here is my story in short. I live in London, United Kingdom.

I ordered my Dell Studio 17 with the i7 on the 9th of December and it was shipped on the 17th of December. I arranged a delivery date on the 23rd, alas, I was unable to be at home at the time. Long story short, my laptop was not delivered and no contact card was left by the courier, so I could not call to arrange a new date. I left for a holiday until January 5th and upon my return, I found a card on my doorstep.

Calling the number, I was informed my laptop was returned to the sender (Walsh Western central hub in Hinckley). I spent the next week calling up Walsh Western only for them to tell me the laptop is still not in their hub. Finally, they told me it arrived and I arranged a delivery date for the 13th of January, morning. I took a day off and sat by my window. By 3pm I realised it wasn't coming. I called Walsh Western again and the fellow told me it should be on its way, that he'll call the courier directly and he'll let me know immediately. I'm still waiting for him to let me know.

I contacted Dell via their email Customer Service form (there is no phone number on their website). They told me it's not their issue, that it's Walsh Western's issue. So I bugged Walsh Western. I arranged another date for the following Friday, 15th. Once again, it didn't come and I was told they would follow it up and let me know immediately. I'm still waiting for that call as well. I arranged a final delivery date for Tuesday, January 19th and, as you can probably imagine, it didn't come.

According to the tracking website, the laptop is in the Bpo Docklands warehouse and it's been there since the 13th. But it never left the warehouse, on either of the delivery dates. I spent over 70 pounds on hold and calling Walsh Western. Finally, I contacted Consumer Direct and they told me it is indeed a Dell issue, as I paid Dell for both the manufacturing and the delivery of the laptop. They also told me that Dell are in breach of contract.

Armed with this new knowledge, I emailed the Dell Customer Support last week, two different emails to two different sections of Customer Support. Despite their 24-hour reply pledge, no one has replied. In fact, I haven't heard from Dell for over a week. Arranging another delivery date with Walsh Western is futile, I would think.

So here I am. With a 900-pound laptop in a warehouse 40 minutes from my home, almost a month and a half after the shipping date. And that was supposed to be a Christmas present.

I really don't know where to turn or what to do. I'm rather desperate and shocked and upset and surprised that I paid all that money, they took it so readily and now I'm completely ignored. I am very disappointed and certainly won't ever look in Dell's direction again after this (nor will I recommend anyone else do so) but I want a resolution after all this time, either the laptop or my money back. It's quite a purchase for me and I do need a computer for my studies rather urgently.

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. And thank you for reading this.

Have a pleasant day.

Discussion is locked

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paid by Credit Card?
Jan 25, 2010 1:44AM PST

If you paid by Credit Card then ring your Credit Card company and see what they can do. You may be able to put the payment in dispute and get the charge reversed.

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Dell's delivery infrastructure
Jan 31, 2010 10:03PM PST

I would agree that pursuing this via your credit card company (if applicable) is probably by far the best way forward. I've done this successfully before - and also via Paypal.

I also agree that Dell are not even at the starting post regarding customer care. I am in battle with them too ... not on the same scale as yourself, but nevertheless it's frustrating and debilitating. When Walsh Western failed yet again to deliver last week, I gave them the ultimatum of either posting the item to me (an external CD-drive, so that I can repair the netbook they supplied in December which died within minutes of switch-on) or cancelling the order. Their response is the usual cut'n'pasted insincere apology - "I assure you that your situation is not indicative of the quality service Dell is capable of providing" - but no explanations, and to crown it all: "I'm sorry we would not be able to send the order through registered post, neither we would be able to cancel the order." Not a phone number in sight, of course ...

And dealing with Walsh Western is just a joke. "Your call is valuable to us" - but we charge you 10p a minute and have no intention of answering it; we'll just leave you in a loop of supermarket musak and watch the cash-meter go round. They even emailed me to ask for my order number ... so I copied and pasted it for them from their own Track & Trace webpage.

I've been loyal to Dell for a number of years, but this is the end of the road. I'd neither buy from them nor recommend their products to anyone. In fact, I'd advise potential buyers to look at other brands, or at least to purchase via a fast, reliable and responsive retailer such as Amazon.

Sorry not to be able to help with your own particular issue, but I think these experiences should be made known.