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Mad as 'Dell hell' and not going to take it anymore
Sunday, December 03, 2006

BY KEVIN COUGHLIN
Star-Ledger Staff
This is a story for anyone who's ever languished on hold trying to reach a live human being from tech support.

It's a story for anyone who's finally gotten through, only to repeat the details, from the very beginning, again, to a distant person whose English is spotty.



It's a story for anyone who's been handed off more times than an old football, and been given more case ID numbers than a city homicide squad.

Pat Dori wants you to know he feels your pain. And you can fight back.

That's what the Hackensack businessman did when Dell Inc. lost his laptop computer, which he had sent for repairs in July.

Dori, 49, sued one of the world's biggest computer makers in small claims court.

There's a twist.

Fed up by what he described as a colossal runaround, and inspired by an old college textbook and an episode of "The People's Court," Dori found a way to make the Texas-based mail-order giant pay attention.

He had the legal papers served to a Dell kiosk -- a counter where blue-shirted Dell reps sell laptops and HDTVs -- in the Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus.

"If you try to speak to a human being on the phone, you're stuck on hold forever. I am sick of it! If they have kiosks, you can sue them, you can make their life miserable!" Dori said last week.


When court officers visited the kiosk in October to collect a $3,000 default judgment -- awarded to Dori after Dell failed to show in court -- the company turned to one of New Jersey's most high-powered law firms, Riker Danzig of Morristown. An appeal hearing is set for Dec. 14 in small claims court in Bergen County.

Dori said it's not about money anymore. Or even, really, about his lost computer. He contends Dell misled him about its shipping policy, and strung him along as he tried to sort things out.


He spent countless hours on the phone, mostly to call centers in India and the Philippines, he said. He spoke to Talia and Pravin. And Usha and Amy. And Mike and Renee, Sonny and Raj, Deepak and Brecca.

Dori said it took 16 calls and numerous disconnects to reach someone in the United States -- on "Michael Dell's Personal Escalation Team."

Dell spokesman Dwayne Cox said that while the Round Rock, Texas, company is "committed to providing an outstanding customer experience," corporate policy bars discussion of pending cases such as Dori's.

Cox said Dell is spending more than $150 million to revamp customer service and tech support, sore spots that have spurred countless online rants about "Dell hell."

"Our number one priority is to get better at problem resolution," declared a corporate blog Dell launched in July -- during the same week Dori's telephone odyssey began.

Dell's blog has conceded many customer service calls took more than 30 minutes to answer -- when the phone numbers worked at all. Readers of Computer Reports gave Dell's laptop support low marks in a recent survey.

Jeff Jarvis, who has blasted Dell on his blog BuzzMachine.com, said Dell is improving but has a long way to go. "To this day, if you go to my blog, you will see Dell comments -- responding to posts from a year ago," Jarvis said.

Dori's legal battle is about insurance.


When he first arranged to send his laptop to Dell for repairs, he says, he offered to personally insure the shipment for the full $2,000 price he paid for the machine in 1999. But he said a Dell representative assured him the full replacement value was covered, via an arrangement with Dell's shipper, DHL.

So, when the Inspiron laptop was lost and Dell offered only to replace it with a refurbished model -- backed by a skimpy 90-day warranty -- he was miffed.


"I don't want someone else's dirty computer," Dori said.

Dell even refused to sell him an extended warranty for the replacement unit. Dori recorded that telephone exchange.

"It's insane what they put you through. They grind you through until you're so fed up, you take what they give you. It's a meat grinder," said Dori, whose company sells advertising knick-knacks.

Weeks before his problems with Dell began, Dori saw a consumer win a similar insurance case, involving a wristwatch repair, on "The People's Court."

Dori got the idea to sue the Dell kiosk when he saw one while shopping.

He mistakenly thought targeting a local franchise was the only way to sue an out-of-state company in small claims court.

Even so, the ploy has practical advantages, said Robert Pitt of the state Administrative Office of the Courts.

"If you succeed in getting a judgment, at least there are some physical assets to go after to satisfy the judgment," Pitt explained. Court officers can seize and auction merchandise, and even padlock a kiosk or store, he said.


Seton Hall law professor Jon Romberg praised Dori's "creativity and tenacity," but said it will be tough beating Dell's legal team. Targeting the kiosk may not constitute proper notification of Dell, said Howard Erichson, another Seton Hall law professor.

"Even Goliath needs protection of due-process rights," said Erichson, adding that questions of legal jurisdiction "get hard with mail-order companies and, particularly, in cyberspace."


Paul Bland of the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, in Washington, said many aggrieved consumers shy away from confrontation, or don't realize they can sue big companies and win.

"I say, hats off to this guy," Bland said of Dori. "He's gone way beyond what most consumers would do. It's a very effective way to send a message. Companies should get the point that they shouldn't treat consumers this way."

Dell tried to have the case tossed on a technicality, Dori said, by claiming he had gotten the company's name wrong in his suit. But he beat lawyers to the punch, amending his complaint to replace "Dell Computer" with "Dell Inc."

This isn't Dori's first trip to small claims court. Years ago, as a business student at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Dori represented his father, an ironworker from Italy who spoke broken English, in a case over shoddy car repairs.

Dori said he won that one using "The Principles of Business Law," the same dog-eared college text guiding him now.

The Englewood resident beamed at the memory of his college triumph during an interview at his office last week. And, moments later, he roared when the postman delivered a special offer -- a discount coupon from Dell.

"Can you believe the irony?" Dori said.



Staff writer Joseph Perone contributed to this report.