As most know, Nordic PC does not sell laptops. This is simply because there's no way for me to innovate on the product, unlike desktops which I can do wonders with. I usually recommend either Dell or HP when a client needs one, with Dell's Outlet being the most economical choice these days. I then provide the service of making sure the machine is up to snuff by removing any unneeded software and installing antivirus and office solutions. Today, however, I was thrown into the abyss of Dell Support in a very bad way, and just wanted to share my experience.

When one orders a machine from the Outlet, they are getting a piece of equipment which may have been setup several months ago. Because of this, the Inspiron 11z that I ordered for my client did not come with any Windows 7 upgrade materials, which is fine because I didn't really need any piece of paper telling me where to go to register for it. I do have Google, and it was nice enough to point me to Dell's Site. The first time I went to this site, I was greeted with a very polite error saying "An error has occurred." Decent enough, I thought, I'll wait a minute and try again. After a few refreshes, I was finally greeted by the welcome message, and proceeded to plow through the information gathering process. That was until the next issue cropped up.

Checking now, this issue has been resolved, but at the time I was getting paid by the hour and needed to get this upgrade on the way. The error was in one of the drop downs for system type. I saw "Method Error 500" instead of "Inspiron," "Latitude," or "Vostro." Great, broken website, I thought. Well, it can't be too bad, I'll just call customer service and I'm sure they'll help me out. This was the start of a very frustrating experience.'

I was greeted by a representative from a call center very far from home, who was speaking into what must be the world's worst headset, but I pushed through and tried to explain the situation. I gave her the service tag from the machine, and she was able to pick out the system quite readily. She asked me to go to the website, and I did, and I recited exactly what I saw: "I see 'Welcome to Dell,' and then 'Your Windows 7 Destination,' and then some tabs, but under that it says 'An Error has Occurred' and I can't go any further." She very quickly decided that my brand new system must have a problem, so I needed Technical Support. Okay, I'll play this game, I said to myself.

A few short minutes later, a gentleman equally far from home, who must have the world's second worst headset picked up. He asked about my problem, and I explained that the website was broken and I just needed someone to register the system for me to get this upgrade. "Ohh, we have a special center for your type of system, please hold." Joy of all joys, I'll get a special netbook center now, w00t!

Again, a few short minutes later, another gentleman picked up and began asking the same questions I had answered before. "Here's my service tag, yes, my name is... and this is my address. Yes, thanks. All I need to do is get the Windows 7 update on the way for this system, but it appears your website is having trouble." He put me on hold, and then returned to tell me that his supervisor said this system was not eligible for the upgrade. "Really?" I asked, "the sales rep that sold it to me told me it would be. And Microsoft's website claims that any system purchased with Vista between July and January would be also." "Well sir, you will need to contact our customer service department then to get this issue resolved." I looked down at the timer on my Vonage device, and it said 50 minutes. "Do you have a pencil and paper to take down the number?" "Of course, but can't you just transfer me?" "I'm sorry sir, I cannot. The number is..."

That number happened to be the same number I called in the first place. Apparently once one is transferred out of there, they cannot return. I called back in, got another very distant lady with a bad headset, and tried to explain the situation. "I've been on the phone now for nearly an hour, and your website is broken and I need to order this upgrade." She said, "I understand, let me transfer you to a representative who can help you with that problem." Awesome, one more time.

This time I got a representative who obviously took the British version of Dell's "How to speak English" class, but he was a nice enough man. I explained that I had been on the phone now for over an hour with support, I was very frustrated, and just needed to get this Windows 7 upgrade ordered so that I could get on with my life. He asked me to pull up the website, which I did, and I read him the error. He politely put me on hold, and roughly 5 minutes later, came back on. "I have begun the process for you sir, and I just need to verify some information to get this completed." Really!?!?! That's amazing! I was actually smiling at this point. "Sure, anything." "Please verify the address." "Absolutely..." I continued to answer a couple more questions, and then he said "I have completed this for you and you will receive your product upgrade in 2 weeks. Is there anything else I can do for you today?" "I just want you to know that I've been on the phone now for an hour and 15 minutes for something that you accomplished in 5 minutes flat. Thank you so much for your help, and I hope that everyone that calls in gets the same level of professionalism I finally found in you." He wasn't amused, and quickly said "Thank you sir, good bye."

I don't deal with big OEM support very often, but this experience reminded me of why I started Nordic PC in the first place. I wanted to make computing a pleasurable experience again for my clients, and I'm sure that I do that. If you ask anyone, they'll tell you that I'm responsive, easy to talk to, and can quickly diagnose and resolve any issues they've had. Most support calls are handled in under 10 minutes here, and I like it that way. Needless to say, I have a couple clients who got their Windows 7 updates two weeks ago, and they were given a very prompt response from Microsoft. The shipments went out the same day as the public launch, and no one had any issues what so ever with activation. Dell has obviously had a little more trouble than that, but I was glad to have been able to keep a client from an hour and 15 minute adventure through Dell's support nightmare.