Subject: Thank You - Customer Service
From: "Robbie Wigley"
Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2005 01:52:49 -0600
To: "Griff Wigley"

Message
Greetings Felix,
 
I received the new battery Wednesday morning, another one of your customer service staff needs to be recognized for his quick and courteous response to my situation.  I talked to Alex Cavnar who was apparently contacted by Tina Peton, on Tuesday morning....  Jared had forwarded my email to Tina Peton asking her to help find someone to contact me that could solve my problem.  Alex and I discussed my situation and I had a new battery by Wednesday morning February 2, he overnighted it, along with a pick-up tag for the battery I bought.  >From the first time I spoke with any one, through the email communication, and then when I received the battery was a total of 5 days.  Impressive!
 
I charged the battery and have been able to get 3 + hours out of it.  It appears to be a different more powerful battery... just looking at the numbers, and is certainly preforming a lot better then the old one.  The battery that came in the machine is a 2693 PanasonicDell 7P867 and when I check it on the computer it states that it has 1.4 hours at 98%, the new one is a 185panasonic4P894 and states that it has 3.22 hours at 97%.   I will test it a couple of more times .... but this is much better.   

I thought I'd let you know that my husband posted the whole customer service email exchange about my laptop to his business weblog at:
http://www.wigleyandassociates.com/2005_02_01_archive.html#110730400989490769
 
Thank You once again for your outstanding customer service team.  Computers can be and are very frustrating for the everyday consumer, and it appears that you have a group of people that define their job as " what they can do for the customer".... not what their "job definition" is! 

Robbie Wigley
(507) 645 6065
(507) 645 7521 fax
(507) 319 5543 cell
(877) 777-1129 toll free
http://wigleyandassociates
 
 
From: Jared_Long@Dell.com
To: robbie@iglide.net
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 8:39 AM

Robbie,
 
Thanks for providing feedback directly to my boss!  It really goes a long way.  Most of all, let's hope your issue is resolved. 
 
Regards,
Jared

From: Robbie Wigley [mailto:robbie@iglide.net]
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 5:56 PM
To: Chou, Felix
Subject: Thank You - Customer Service

Felix,

I just wanted to drop you a note commending the wonderful customer service provided to me by Jared Long. I understand you are his supervisor.  

I had been in a rather length snarl for about 4 and a half hours trying to get to the bottom of why my battery was not performing as it was stated it should. 

In total frustration I ended up calling the purchase or lease line and getting connected to Jared.  Even though I know this was not his area of responsibility... he took my complaint seriously and advised me to send him a review of the situation.  That he would try and pass it on to the appropriate people.  He was indeed true to his word... unique in this world of business.

I wrote up the summary on Sunday the 30th and by today, Feb 1st, had a response back from him by email.  Within an hour or so, after that I had a call from Alex who has hopefully resolved the issue.  I want to say thank you to Jared for his quick attention to my distress.

I want you to know that I really was treated well on all the other calls... from 12 noon to about 4:30... which is documented in the email below this note.  The only thing I wish was different was the length of time it took to finally get to someone who could address the problem.

The Tech guys were nice and really quite amusing.... and if I hadn't been so annoyed, would have been fun, but there was nothing they could do for me and I kept getting shuffled around.  Fortunately Jared came to my rescue. 

He is a terrific representative of your company!

Robbie Wigley
(507) 645 6065
(507) 645 7521 fax
(507) 319 5543 cell
(877) 777-1129 toll free
http://wigleyandassociates  


Robbie,
 
I made a few calls and "finally" came across a person who can possibly help.  I will continue to follow up with her over the next few days doing my best to help you.  I definitely understand your pain and am sorry for the inconvenience.
 
Thanks,
Jared Long
Dell Financial Services, LP
Preferred Accounts Division
Customer Advocate Program Manager - PAD
Phone:  800-955-3355 ext 87158
Fax:  512-283-9362
Email:  Jared_Long@Dell.com

From: Peton, Tina
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 2:39 PM
To: Long, Jared

Jared - I'll forward along to a Tech Support Specialist who can pull any call records for previous Technical Support and contact customer for resolution.
The 3-4 hours is noted as "approximate" and greatly dependent upon what the customer is running on their PC.
 
Will see what we can do.
Tina
 

From: Long, Jared
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 2:06 PM
To: Peton, Tina

Tina,
 
I was referred to you by way of many phone calls.  I am with DFS and this customer got my number regarding an issue she is having with her computer.  Essentially, the battery is not staying charged as long as represented thus she is wanting an additional battery for free.  Sounds like she has been given a $100 gift check already.  Here is what her main pain is:
 
"I WANT EITHER A BATTERY THAT LASTS 3-4 HOURS LIKE IS STATED IN YOUR LITERATURE.... OR A REPLACEMENT SECOND BATTERY LIKE THE ONE THAT CAME IN THE MACHINE GIVING ME TWO "ONE AND A HALF HOUR" BATTERIES AND I DON'T THINK I SHOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR IT. (I will be happy to send this one back to you, please send a call tag and refund the Visa for the $38.40).

I purchased this machine....  going by the incorrect information...  according to your own tech support."

 Is there anyway you can help?

Thanks,

Jared 

From: Robbie Wigley [mailto:robbie@iglide.net]
Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2005 7:57 PM
To: Long, Jared

Greetings Jared....
 
We spoke on the 25th about this incident and you ask me to send you a short email to explain.  I will try and be a brief as possible.
 
I purchased  a Dell INSPIRONA600M on 4/18/2004 at 5:51pm according to your records.  The Customer number is 42528452 and the order Number is 724778056.  The Service Tag is 1JCQ41
 
One of the reasons I decided on the Dell Inspiron is the long battery life that was described on your web site  http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspn_600mc=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~tab=specstab#tabtop
 
 

After many months of trying to figure out why my battery would only last for about an hour... I called Tech Support on 1/24/2005.  I spoke with a gentleman in India... he gave his name as Todd.  He was very kind and tried his best to be helpful but it was a long and arduous conversation resulting in my discovering that the battery that is in my computer is NOT suppose to last 3-4 hours as stated in my USER MANUAL as well as your website on the page describing the computer in the Tech Specs tab.  The case number for this discussion with Tech Support is 91276399  It took from 12 noon till about 2:30 to figure this out. 

Todd sent me to Customer service.... at which point I spoke with Benjamin... who wanted to take me back to Tech Support and I refused.  There is nothing wrong with the battery....  It is just misrepresented. 

By 4:00pm I was more then a little ticked at being passed around with no one even knowing that the listed battery was suppose to last 3-4 hours. 

Finally I called back into the Dell phone system and acted like I was buying a computer.  I was able to speak with Nicolas... I think...  case number 91291691.....  who said the only thing he could do is let me buy another battery which would give me the 3 hours that I want.  This doesn't make sense to me but I was so frustrated by this point that I agreed to purchase a second battery (why should I pay for something that was suppose to be apart of the computer I have already paid for).  But I did and the order number is 196674321.  He gave me $100 credit on the battery so my cost was $38.40.  

I was going to let it rest and just forget about it....until I received the battery and realize what I paid for.  I have to take out my drive to put this battery in!  I do not want this kind of battery.  If it had been a battery  that could be exchanged with the one in the computer I would have just let it drop.  I AM NOT HAPPY!!

I was always treated with respect and have nothing but praise for the way the support people handled the calls....  they just couldn't do anything.

You ask me to state what I wanted.  I was told over and over that the battery did not have a 3-4 hour life.  So this is what I would like and what would make me happy. 

I WANT EITHER A BATTERY THAT LASTS 3-4 HOURS LIKE IS STATED IN YOUR LITERATURE.... OR A REPLACEMENT SECOND BATTERY LIKE THE ONE THAT CAME IN THE MACHINE GIVING ME TWO "ONE AND A HALF HOUR" BATTERIES AND I DON'T THINK I SHOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR IT. (I will be happy to send this one back to you, please send a call tag and refund the Visa for the $38.40.

I purchased this machine....  going by the incorrect information...  according to your own tech support. 

Thank you for anything you can do to make this right.  We have had many Dells in this house and right now have 3.  I would like to continue to enjoy the relationship we have had with this company.

Robbie Wigley
(507) 645 6065
(507) 645 7521 fax
(507) 319 5543 cell