Why Dell deals are nothing extraordinary

Computer maker Dell's India executives are bullish about its fortunes, with the impending opening of a manufacturing facility in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.

The international outlook for the company now led by its founder Michael Dell is less rosy, and "Dell Continues to Sink" as this blog from the New York Times indicates.

As someone who bought an expensive Vista Home Premium-preloaded Dell desktop recently, I was surprised at the impersonal way in which the company deals with its customers. One must grant Dell a reasonably high level of efficiency in order taking and supply, but after that, the company does not seem to be really concerned about the customer. The salesman from Hewlett Packard called me three times and promised total on-site support, but I declined that order because I thought the Dell way was superior. Wrong.

Dell has overpriced but not cutting-edge hardware, such as graphics cards, on offer. But if you buy your own card, they will not instal it for you. What kind of service is that?

We don't expect any long-term handholding by Dell. But we do expect basic courtesy and customer support. Without that, Dell will sell fewer PCs, despite opening a new plant in Sriperumbudur.

Why Dell is not perfect

Buying a full-featured personal computer from Dell, fully loaded with hardware to run the compulsorily bundled monstrous bloatware called Vista is no guarantee that Michael Dell's company really cares about your system.

I found that out when Dell refused to help with the installation of a graphics processor card on their brand new E520 PC that costs middle class Indians at least as much as two months' pay. Dell's problem is that the card is not sold by it, and so it will not help, not even on payment. Incidentally, Dell does not provide technical support directly in my city, Chennai, but through a competing PC vendor, Wipro. Interestingly, Dell is building a computer assembling plant at Sriperumbudur, a suburban town about 40 km Southwest of Chennai.

If you look at the flip side, the PC can have any number of external gadgets hooked up that have not been bought from Dell. If something goes wrong with the PC in that situation, Dell will probably have to look into it, because they have sold a "complete cover" warranty to me.

So why not help me get the new Nvidia GE Force 7300 GT card made by PNY in place, and earn the goodwill of a customer who has forked out a lot of money for a full warranty and next business day service?

Should we pay Dell to hear why they cannot help us with our computing needs?