My Problem with Dell's Customer Service

I was a good customer of Dell, having bought over a dozen computers from them over the years, and never once utilized their tech support since I can fix most common computer problems on my own.

A week ago, I bought a laptop from Dell as a present for a relative -- but there was a glitch with the order.

I've heard horror stories from people about Dell's customer service, and today I had the privilege of experiencing it first hand. It was mind numbingly BAD.

I found out today, 5 days after I placed the order (by checking the order status online, without any notifications from Dell), that the laptop I bought as a present for someone had been canceled. I called Dell Customer Support and after 1 hour of being on hold and talking to various departments, five transfers including having my call dropped twice, I was finally transferred back to the department I first called -- Customer Service, and was told by Monish, a "senior customer service rep" who refused to let me speak to his supervisor, that there was nothing he could do for me to either reinstate my order, which was canceled due a system glitch, or, to reinstate the promotion coupon or give me another one so I could place another order for the same price as my canceled order.

I am puzzled. Does Dell not understand that I do not need to buy PC from them? Once I hung up the phone from Dell, I bought a Toshiba laptop from Newegg.com. The order was confirmed and the credit card charge was processed in seconds, and within three hours the laptop is being shipped to me via free 1-day UPS ground shipping from New Jersey.

So I guess Dell can say goodbye to me as a loyal customer. I could be wrong, but very few good businesses survive for the long run by continuously providing sub par customer service.