This list of events comes from a coworker that is trying to get a nice present for Christmas.

Good luck dude.

Dec 8, 2007 – Purchased a Vostro 1500 from the Dell Outlet Store online. Good deal – $609.00

Dec 11, 2007 – Laptop arrives quickly. Looks like a nice machine. But, the battery wouldn’t stay locked into the machine. It looks like there are two clips that hold it locked into the case, but they’re broken off..

Dec 11, 2007 – Called support talked to Patrick, who sent me a replacement battery. He was apologetic, Patrick tells me he’ll call to follow up to confirm that everything is ok. I packed up the laptop and waited for the battery.

Dec 11, 2007 - While packing up the laptop I took a look through all the accessories. The power cable they sent me doesn’t fit into the power adapter. The cable is a standard monitor/pc power cable. Uh what? Did anyone check this thing out? Broken battery and incorrect power cable?

Dec 11, 2007 – Called support AGAIN, talked to Arvin. Arvin walks me through the same stuff again and looks up the cable and sends me the cable. This is getting annoying – especially the explanations about getting put on hold. Yes, I know it will take a little while. Yes, I’ll hold on. Yes, YES YES!!! Just GO DO YOUR WORK! I understand the concept of being put on hold. This is not new to me! I’m interested in getting off the phone sometime today so please go do whatever it is you need to do!

Dec 12, 2007 – Battery arrives. It has the clips intact and works. Though it only has two bars of charge left – the clip-less battery was full. So I can’t do much since I can’t charge the battery – remember… no power cable. Doh!

Dec 13, 2007 – New cable arrives. Guess what? It’s not the right cable. This one has three rounded prongs. I need two rounded prongs without a ground, that’s angled and plugs into the adapter. They sent me Dell Item Number 5N020. This shouldn’t be this hard. Hell, the guy even checked my original order to find the cable that goes with the adapter’s correct part number. That’s pretty logical right?

Dec 13, 2007 – Called support again, talked to Tammy. Tammy apologized again and says she’ll find the right part number and send me the correct cable. She says the cable will ship overnight today and I’ll have it tomorrow. She also tells me that she’ll call to follow-up as well. I wait. Again.

Dec 14, 2007 – Tammy calls to tell me that the package shipped overnight and would be arriving today. Great, that was nice.
Dec 14, 2007 – Power cable arrives. It’s the SAME incorrect cable. Again. Wow! Could this be worse? This time I received Dell Item Number K2490.

Dec 14, 2007 – I called again and talked to Suresh. He offered to have a 3rd replacement cable sent. Yeah about that third cable…. No thanks. At this point I want a whole new power adapter and cable set sent. This thing is a gift and I want it to work before Christmas. What’s the change that I get a 4th incorrect cable? Pretty high in my estimation.

Dec 14, 2007 – He put me on hold to check with his supervisor and came back to tell me that a power adapter and cable "set" was going to take 1-2 weeks to ship. What What WHAT? I questioned whether all new Vostro laptop orders were now delayed a 1-2 weeks because they were out of power adapters. Of course not. But my adapter wasn’t part of a new machine, so those are delayed. Are these not the same power adapters? Is this the difference between ordered a refurbished vs a new system? Did anyone even CHECK this laptop and its accessories?? So I end up with 1-2 weeks. Yeah that’s not gonna work. I explain that 1-2 weeks isn’t an option.

Dec 14, 2007 – So he says he’ll sent the replacement cable. Fine. Whatever. I make a point to ask for the dell item number. I was told the item was number DF771. I ask him if he’s got an image of this thing, so he can describe what it looks like. No such luck. So, I tell him to hold as I do his work and search the internet for a picture. At this point I want to see the damn thing, before he ships it. It looks right.

Dec 14, 2007 – Suresh tells me I’ll get the cable in about a week. WHAT? A week.? Prior to this everything was shipping overnight. I questioned why it would take a week and he told me he could not be certain that it would come in 1-2 days. Ok so "I can’t be certain" about 1-2 days means I guess he can safely say "in about a week". I have no choice at that moment, but to accept to have a 3rd replacement cable sent, Fine. Send away. I’m not holding my breath.

Dec 14, 2007 – At this point this is just stupid. Was this laptop even checked? How could it have been certified refurbished with a broken battery and the incorrect power cable? If this had been taken care of swiftly, I wouldn’t be so annoyed or question the purchase as much. But this was just stupid. I went online and requested an RMA. I’m now waiting for confirmation.

Dec 14, 2007 – To make this crazier, I still need a laptop. So I check out a few deal sites and low and behold the same laptop is currently selling for $50 bucks LESS than the refurbished piece of garbage I got. And its NEW!!! Vostro 1500 $549! Save $410 instantly, it’s a better deal all around. It’s the same laptop and this machine had a larger hard drive to boot – 160gb instead of 120gb. I added another gig of ram and pulled the trigger. And now… I wait. Again.

What could Dell do to convince you to remain a customer?