I call Dell this morning to inquire about the status of the power cord I ordered last week.

Habibi : Hi, I'd like to confirm the status of my order please.
Dell : Hmm, Mmm, well sir, it shows here that it hasnt left Texas yet.

Habibi: What seems to be the problem?
Dell : Well, you only ordered it on the 15th, you must be patient.

Habibi: Patient? Today is the 21st and I ordered it 6 days ago, don't you think something is wrong if it hasnt even left Texas yet?
Dell : No Sir, this is standard, it will get to you within 7-10 days.

Habibi: What if it doesnt, will it be free?
Dell: Mmm, no, you will stillbe charged the full amount

Habibi: The cord itself is $9., and Dell is charging me $15. for shipping, is this correct?
Dell: Yes Sir

Habibi: I don't mind paying Fed-Ex rates if I am getting Fed-Ex service, but you guys are charging me the high rates but now I have to wait 7-10 days, do you see where I am going with my question?
Dell: Well sir, this is a standard rate Dell charges

Habibi: Why is it so high though, it's only a power cord.
Dell: Mmm, well sir, it's very time consuming for us to ship this order to you, and these are "standard" rates, and remember, the cord is coming all the way from Texas to Canada.

Right there I knew I was talking to a brick wall - "all the way from Texas"

You know, I would have more respect for them if they were just honest about it.
"Yes sir Mr Habibi, we at Dell like to bend our customers over, and drive it to them hard, that's our policy here sir, and if you don't like it, tough chit"

Just be honest Dell, don't lie to me!!

 

I refuse to deal at all with Dell any more. I tried to order a PC from them a few years ago and kept getting this part or that part unavailable. After so long they have to call you to see if you want to continue your order. This went on for a couple of months. Finally, late on a Thursday afternoon, after I had left from work they called and left a message that said they needed to verify by 9pm that day whether I wanted to continue the order. If they did not hear from me by that time the order would be cancelled. I came in the next day, got the message, verifioed the order had been cancelled. I sent a message to them, No response.
That same day I ordered the same PC from Gateway, and had it in 10 days.

 

Not to mention Dell's customer service is now out of India.

 

That sucks...sounds like they're puttin the screws to you.

I've always had good luck with Dell though. My computer has been great, no problems with ordering at all. I built it online and receieved it a week later, with free shipping. They came in about $200 cheaper than a comparable Gateway too.

But of course that was almost a year ago. It really ticks me off that all of these companies are taking jobs away from Americans and sending them overseas...paying "Haji" half price.

 

Haji has to eat too it's not his fault. If you feel so strongly about it then dont spend your money with these companies.

 

Right, just don't buy from them. Remember, Habibi, someone in the US is hungry tonight because they got laid off when their job was moved to India where that girl that you talked to makes 2 bucks an hour to not care whether or not you ever get your power cord, as long as you get off of her phone. As a matter of fact, she probably hopes that you never do get it. I'm personally boycotting Dell, I think it's BS to move jobs to a completely different continent. I mean, it is `economically viable`, but people here ain't working now, and people in India are, and the majority of the profits go back to the owners, because they pay the workers there next to nothing, so it isn't helping anyone out except for the owners, so F `em, let them take someone else's money.

 

I guess im the only one who likes dell, I have had flawless service and support, my dell rocks.

After my dell was built it was on my desk in three days.

I have not had one issue with my machine...Go Dell

 

ill stick with my hp thats what ive always had and thats what ill always buy never had any problems with the machine or the service

 

This is interesting.
I am writing an assignment on "arguments" (identify, analyze, and evaluate)
Since this is due tomorrow, the Dell argument is a perfect example.

I'm personally boycotting Dell, I think it's BS to move jobs to a completely different continent. I mean, it is `economically viable`, but people here ain't working now, and people in India are, and the majority of the profits go back to the owners, because they pay the workers there next to nothing, so it isn't helping anyone out except for the owners, so F `em, let them take someone else's money.

So let me see if I understand this correctly...
The claim you make is that "Dell" is giving American jobs to people in third world countries"
I agree with this.

The premise (reason) why Dell is doing this is to save money and make their company stronger.
The premise makes sense and also seems reasonable.

The Conclusion:
Americans are losing jobs.
Yes, if those jobs are moving to India, then this is an obvious conclusion.

Where I am having trouble with this is the whole "boycott" idea.

CNN ran a special about all the companies that were taking jobs overseas as a cost cutting measure. They said it was easier to list the companies who "went" doing this, instead of listing all the companies who were.

Is it reasonable to boycott a company because they are trying to save money? (honest question)

Should Dell or any other company not have a right to run their company in any legal manner they see fit?
Is this not what one of the privileges of freedom gives them?

I am posing this only to generate some good mind broadening debate, and nothing more.

My position is that as long as a company operates within the legal boundaries of the law, they can do whatever they want.

It seems to me that Dell would be happy to hire Americans instead if they were willing to work for the same wage as someone in New Delhi.
Is it fair to punish them because of this? We know there is no legal obligation to hire Americans, but is there some morel obligation Dell has to hire higher priced American workers? (again, honest question)

Unfortunately, this is becoming common practice with almost all companies, and while the consequences hurt us all here, I can't sit here and agree with the statement of "Let's F--- Dell!"

If you owned a company and could hire workers for 1/4 the cost overseas, would you?
I would, sorry but business is business.
I'm not thrilled with paying $15 shipping on a $9 cord, but this is a different debate altogether.

If anyone disagrees with me, please tell me why.

Habibi

Pickup man, I have respect for your posts, I just want to understand how your position is backed up.

 

I belong to the "You want American Dollar, you speak American" club. I am starting a "You want American Dollar, you hire American" club.
I know business is business, but if Americans are losing their jobs, then how are they going to get American customers? Eventually, the American customers that these companies are profitting from will shrink, and shift to new customers in those countries where the new workers reside, and then what?

 

Here is the thing people and it is quite simple…

The reason some jobs are going overseas and some Americans are losing those jobs is because MANY Americans have TOLD corporations to do just what they are doing. Many Americans have told corporations to LOWER the cost OR ELSE.

It seems funny that people want it both ways, to lower cost but yet keep high paying or even somewhat ok paying jobs in America.

Sorry people, if you want everything at bottom dollar get ready to watch more jobs move overseas as time goes by and we have nobody to blame but ourselves…

 

OR if Americans were willing to pay for those American employees wages.

Since most Americans are not willing to pay for other Americans wages jobs will continue to move overseas...

 

Excellent !!!!!!!

As far as Dell goes, I think they suck, everyone I know that has bought one has gotten screwed in one way or another.
And working on them really bites.
I would also never buy another Gateway either, had one, liked it, but they are too priopriatary(?) if you have to fix them.
If you want a really good PC that will do what you want now and a year from now, build your own and build it so it is up-gradeable then when hardware changes you can change to the better stuff.

On another note, is everyone aware that there is no longer free support or upgrades for Windows 98, and I believe it's the end of this year or next, that there will be NO support at all for Win98.
Time to upgrade to XP.

 

Just to add what may have been left out, you can not use the argument that stock holders are dictating what corporations are doing.

The reason that argument doesn’t fly anymore is because the majority of Americans own stocks in one form or another such as 401k’s ect.

Anybody who owns stocks, like 401k’s is a stock holder and the argument goes right back to we have no one to blame but ourselves…

 

No. When people lose their jobs, they usually get another job that pays less. You are thinking short-term. Who is going to be able to afford a 600-1200 machine when they are struggling to pay their rent and put food on the table. Short-term it is good for the companies, long-term bad. I guess what we're seeing now is the result of the "Me" generation's failures in raising children. I think we need to see more white-collar workers lose their jobs in this country before people wake up. From what I've read, this is happening as we speak, unfortunately.

P.S. What you paid for your cord, well, lets just say the Dell execs thank you.