Not That Impressed With Dell These Days

I am pretty unimpressed with Dell lately.  They used to be the go-to company.  Maybe they're getting too big to be responsive, or something.  

I have a laptop (it may be three years old, granted, but still is quite usable and I like it) that needs some serious cleaning out (i.e. we plan to reformat it), and also my burner needs to be replaced--sounds easy enough, right?

I ordered a new burner online and then looked through the packet of software and stuff that I got when I originally got the laptop.  There was no disk for Office, which didn't surprise me too much--TheLimey got his computer just a couple of months after I did, and his didn't come with the actual disk either.  He had to call them and order it.  

I think they may even do this as a matter of course now, since you can reformat and restore it to factory specs with the image.  But I should be able to get the actual software disk if I want it--I own the license, so give me a copy of my own software if I want one already!  I called them, and they refused to do so, stating that they only do this if a person calls within 30 days after receiving their order.  So that ticked me off pretty well.  I can't even get a disk of the software that I spent all that money on with them? Ludicrous.

Well, we decided that we'd go ahead and reformat it using the image method, and TheLimey could uninstall all the crat that I don't want, install necessary patches and updates, etc. But not before I get my new burner, because we want to make sure that we can back up my data and reinstall my other software that I need and so forth, before wiping everything out.  

Unfortunately, every week on the estimated shipping date, I've been getting an email telling me that my order has been delayed and it will now ship the following week.  And then that following week, I get another email, and then the next....etc.  So today I called them to see if I could get someone to tell me approximately when it might actually be shipped.  I need that laptop for my work, and need to make plans accordingly.

I spoke with six (6) different people, who all transferred me to other people, who then gave me phone numbers I had originally called.  (Seriously--I have them all written down.)  The last guy was not overtly rude, but he was pretty well verging on it.  Come on!  I just want someone to tell me if this is typical and how long I might realistically expect to wait, rather than telling me what I can already darn well see on my online account myself! : "the estimated ship date is January 30..."  Well, duh.  

I didn't need to talk to six (6) different people to know that.  People who all asked exactly the same questions and told me the exact same thing that I could already see for myself on my account.  The last guy finally told me essentially that he could not give me a date (which is not what I asked for), but they were trying to get all orders out as soon as possible (yes, I understand that) and as soon as one was available from the supplier, it would be sent to me (I get that, also).  That's not particularly useful, and I don't want to be condescended to, either.  I'm not trying to be a pain, I don't want to be treated like one, and I think I was about as polite as someone who's waiting week after week and has spoken to six people can be. I wonder how that guy would feel if his computer was in my computer's situation.

Finally, he insisted on getting my email address, which is bizarre because all my weekly delay notifications have come by email anyway.