"Bottom line is that we're getting pissed off at Dell's "Chinese menu" which no longer offers us even simple things like choosing the type and quanity of memory we want, as opposed to the inventory-dumping "options" they want to foist on us."
Do you think this is related to a shift in the type of person who buys from Dell? From technically savvy to, "beats me, I don't know--what do you think?"--and the status conscious.
Of everyone I know, 4 people who have purchased a computer within the past year bought Dells. 3 were notebooks and one, a desktop. The desktop was purchased by my computer illiterate neighbors across the road as a replacement for their old PC that died. They went cheap. It's too early for me to give them a call, but I'm sure they paid less than $500. for everything, including the 14-15" monitor and printer. $350. sticks in my mind for some reason, but I could be wrong.
My neighbors are under some kind of illusion that owning a Dell imparts them with some kind of status and sophistication. I hate to admit it, but one of my brothers, one of the 3 who bought Dell notebooks this past year, appears to think the same thing. The way he says, "_I_ have a _Dell_," makes me want to throw up. He doesn't know what model he has, just that he has a Dell!
The other two Dell notebook buyers, one of whom is a cousin? No idea, but if either gets warm and fuzzy feelings about himself for owning a Dell, they don't make it obvious.
What I do know is that both the FedEx and Airborne guys who deliver to my house have told me they will *never* buy Dell. Both have told me basically the same thing: They have heard many Dell horror stories, including multiple pick ups and returns to fix the same problem.
Maybe a troublesome machine is what one expects when purchasing a status symbol--until the buyer realizes fixing the problem is not as fast and easy as on that Corvette??
I have not seen a Dell commercial is quite a while, but I do think their old ones targeted two types of people: Those who knew dip-squat about computers, were willing to buy what they were told to buy, and people who had a need to buy something that made them, "Special." That dude guy got his message across to at least my neighbors and brother.
Lynn |
