After ordering a Dell Studio 15 laptop on Christmas Eve, I thought the remainder of the order process would be straightforward – unfortunately, it just wasn’t to be. Here is a recount of my absolute frustration with Dell NZ.

I initially chose the Dell Studio 15 because it looked nice and very similar to my HP Pavilion dv6000 which I love the look of. Not to mention that it was a great price – NZ$1,700 – for what I wanted in it. So, I asked the customer support personnel if the current offer (a free sound card upgrade) would be the same next week, or if it would change (as I would prefer to get the best offer I could between now and next week). I was clearly told that the offer would be exactly the same next week.

So, I order the aforementioned product on Christmas Eve, my credit card is charged, and my order confirmation tells me that it will take 10 working days from the order date for it to arrive. That seemed reasonable and in accordance with what Dell’s NZ localised site states. However, the customer service representative tells me that it will take 2 – 3 weeks to arrive! So, seeing online that Dell usually deliver well before their proposed delivery date and add a ‘buffer’, I thought it would be okay.

Yesterday, the free sound card upgrade expired and, lo and behold, it has been replaced with a different offer – a free upgrade to Office 2007 Home and Student! I was absolutely furious with the blatant lie I had been told by Dell. To add to the shear frustration, I have been told that the laptop will be here on or before January 19th 2010 – more than 3 weeks, wouldn’t you say? After attempting to make contact with Dell in New Zealand, it turns out they have no actual operators in New Zealand – what a joke! All the 0800 numbers just get redirected overseas, although that’s hardly surprising in this day and age.

I am now awaiting contact with a supervisor who will hopefully settle the matter as to why I was lied to. To be perfectly honest, I would be happy with a refund so that I can get far away from Dell and never go near their products again. If you are in New Zealand and are considering Dell, my recommendation is not to go near them – if this is the courtesy I am provided with just after my purchase, I would hate to think what their customer support is like later on down the track. If I can’t get a refund, then this will be my first and last Dell (my previous two laptops were a Compaq and HP respectively – both great machines purchased at retail stores).

Update: Just spoke to the aforementioned supervisor and all the issues have been sorted. It turns out that Dell don’t actually know about the latest deals – I passed it on to them that they should tell people this in the future. Also, the reasons for the delivery delay are because of the holiday period. If only I’d been told this sooner!

Steven