On Mar 2, 7:15*am, RnR wrote:
On Sun, 1 Mar 2009 18:01:47 -0800 (PST), AndyHancock



wrote:
After reviewing Consumer Reports, I went to the Dell site to order a
laptop. *No options but glossy display, and only Vista. *Tried chat
and phone, but they're closed (phone icon says 8am-9pm, but
apparently, not). *Swum around the site in a few circles trying to
find an email address, which seemed highly abnormal in its
elusiveness. *Finally found a webmail form. *Filled in the many
mandatory details (most of which only makes sense for post-sales) and
got repeatedly asked for a correct address.

I took stock of the time spent at the Dell site. *The result was an
overwhelming sense of futility in dealing with a vendor in this
manner. *Spending the evening swimming around a site designed to
confound the visitor and not getting beyond square one is a bad sign,
especially if this is only indicative of presales behaviour. *The
debacle with the user group forum drives the nail into the coffin.

I don't understand you. *If your experience is that bad, why bother
with Dell? *Can't you buy another brand? *I think what Consumer Report
says is irrelevant if your experience is so different. *

Consumer Reports does not evaluate the website. As for buying another
brand, I am weighing options. The Dell laptop is apparently a good
one, and I'm weighing that against the tremendous headache in
interacting with the vendor. Trying to divine how much of that one
will be subjected to after taking ownership of their product. Make no
mistake, this usenet group can make up for a lot (especially on the
technical front, in the face of a dysfunctional vendor hosted forum),
but it cannot substitute for dealing with the vendor.