Dell Sucks

Dell had a 1.5TB external hard drive listed on their site for $67. Knowing that in all likeliness it was a typo, I still went ahead and ordered it. I've been looking to update one of my external drives as it is nearly full with Time Machine backups.

So it was really no surprise to me that Dell "modified" my order - by canceling it. But here's what really pissing me off. Read the response they send me:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your recent order.

We regret that, because of a pricing error, we have cancelled this order as it relates to a SimpleTech 1.5 TB Hi-Speed USB/eSata-300 Duo Pro External Hard Drive.

As you may have noticed, Dell specifically indicates on our web pages, catalogs, advertising and order-confirmation that Dell cannot be responsible for pricing or other errors, and reserves the right to cancel orders arising from such errors.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. We truly value our relationship and reputation with our customers. Please be assured that we are working hard to avoid similar issues.

We invite you to visit www.dell.com or call 1-800-999-3355 if you wish to place an order for this product at its correct price.

Sincerely,

Dell

Any guesses at what pisses me off? "Dell cannot be responsible for pricing or other errors...". What gall. Not responsible? Bullshit. It's Dell's web site - not anyone else's. Whose responsibility is it if not Dell's? If they truly "value our relationship", they'd take responsibility.

As I said before, I knew it was probably a typo. But it's how they handled it that pisses me off. Instead of a cold "it's not our fault, screw you" email, they could have sincerely apologized, taken responsibility, and offered something - on a future purchase perhaps - $5 bucks off, free shipping, a free USB cable - jebus, just about anything - to try an keep me as a customer. It doesn't take much to earn/keep a customer. But they succeeded in taking responsibility for customer retention, and failing miserably.

No wonder why their market share and customer satisfaction scores are in the toilet.

Other companies take note - it's not your products' features that people ultimately respond to. It's an overall good experience.

Update: Now that I think about it some more, wouldn't it have at least been semi-smart of them to give me the option to purchase the item at it's full price? They make a half-hearted effort, but they certainly don't make it easy or inviting. You know, something like "we cancelled the order due to a pricing error, the real price was $xxx.xx. If you'd like to re-order the item at this price, click here. Dumbasses.