Dell Hell -
what can happen when a company does not listen
“Dell Hell” was a term coined by influential blogger Jeff Jarvis as he recounted the failure of his Dell computer and the failure of Dell customer service. His blog posts resonated with many readers who added their own comments of misery at the hands of Dell customer service. These posts caused the first popular study of the influence of blogs on brands, and have come to be definitive of the effects of a brand not listening.
The archives of all posts on Jeff Jarvis’ blog related to this can be found by going to http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/cat_dell.html.
The archives of all posts on Jeff Jarvis’ blog related to this can be found by going to http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/cat_dell.html.
The series of posts began on 21 June 2005, in a post that has elicited over 250 comments to date. The laptop Jeff Jarvis had just bought was clearly not functioning as it should. What irked him even further, though, was that he had “paid a fortune for the four-year, in-home service” yet he was told by Dell that if they sent someone to his home to assist him, the person would not have the parts necessary to fix his machine.
The post ends:
“DELL SUCKS. DELL LIES. Put that in your Google and smoke it, Dell.” Jeff Jarvis catalogued the repeated failings of Dell customer service, from emails sent to him that used the wrong name, to many time inefficient diagnostic tests that Dell wanted him to carry out, and still after much to-ing and fro-ing he had a computer that did not work and a warranty that seemed useless. His posts continued to attract many comments, and he often spoke directly to Dell in his blog, exhorting them to listen and to respond.
Eventually, he worked out the email address of Dell’s Chief Marketing Officer and Vice
President for US Consumer Business and sent him an email detailing the ongoing saga that was not being resolved. Predictably, Jeff Jarvis received a phone call, and eventually the matter was resolved when he obtained a refund in early July 2005.
Analysts noted the influence of social media and a brand’s online reputation, and this showed in the falling consumer confidence in Dell. It may not be directly related to one blogger, and Dell admitted to neglecting customer service for some time, but “in the midst of this silicon opera, Dell’s customer satisfaction rating, market share, and share price in the US all shrank.” (Jarvis, 2005)
The post ends:
“DELL SUCKS. DELL LIES. Put that in your Google and smoke it, Dell.” Jeff Jarvis catalogued the repeated failings of Dell customer service, from emails sent to him that used the wrong name, to many time inefficient diagnostic tests that Dell wanted him to carry out, and still after much to-ing and fro-ing he had a computer that did not work and a warranty that seemed useless. His posts continued to attract many comments, and he often spoke directly to Dell in his blog, exhorting them to listen and to respond.
Eventually, he worked out the email address of Dell’s Chief Marketing Officer and Vice
President for US Consumer Business and sent him an email detailing the ongoing saga that was not being resolved. Predictably, Jeff Jarvis received a phone call, and eventually the matter was resolved when he obtained a refund in early July 2005.
Analysts noted the influence of social media and a brand’s online reputation, and this showed in the falling consumer confidence in Dell. It may not be directly related to one blogger, and Dell admitted to neglecting customer service for some time, but “in the midst of this silicon opera, Dell’s customer satisfaction rating, market share, and share price in the US all shrank.” (Jarvis, 2005)
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| The stock price for Dell Inc shows a decline that seems to correspond with Jarvis’ Dell Hell. |
Today, Dell has come a long way. Dell has launched www.dellideastorm.com – Dell IdeaStorm – where Dell customers and enthusiasts can communicate with the company. Crucially, customers can, and do, tell Dell what features they want in a laptop, and Dell then feeds this into its product development.
