Dude, you’re getting a dell. And by “a dell”, I mean pwnd.

If Dell didn’t already have enough problems, check out what’s floating around out there on the Intertubes about their customer service.

If you haven’t seen the coverage, the TLDR version is as follows:  Apparently a US woman called up to talk to Dell about some technical problems she was having.  One might question her decision here, but she apparently called because she couldn’t find some nude pictures of herself and was concerned that they might be exposed somewhere without her consent.

After a whole long string of shenanigans, she wound up the victim of fraud to the tune of 800 dollars as well as the subject of an online pornography website featuring (guess what) the stolen pictures from her computer.  Apparently her concern about her privacy being exposed just didn’t register with the creep at Dell she was dealing with.

All this would of course be unacceptable in and of itself, but what’s really pushes it over the line is that this isn’t the first time this kind of thing has happened.  Which makes us ask the question of what’s going on at Dell.  My thinking on the topic is that there has to be a systemic problem. Either that or it’s one whopper of a coincidence.  Look at what’s occurred over the past few weeks:

• Malware built into the motherboard.  Now this kind of thing could happen to anyone.  But their response to customers was both insulting and problematic:  they elected not to provide technical details, to schedule replacements 10 business days in advance, and to not issue an online recall notice.
• Placing customer photos on pornographic web sites after their data is stolen.
• Knowingly covering up (potentially) life-threatening risks to consumers.

Looking at the most likely root cause for these areas, I question whether there is an inherent cultural disrespect or ingrained contempt for the customer over at Dell.  All of these issues seem to have one thing in common: lack of respect for the customer – for their digital infrastructure, their data, their privacy, or even their economic well-being.  At least that’s what it seems like from the outside.

So, go on Dell, prove me wrong by making sure this kind of thing doesn’t just keep happening over and over again.  The first time’s a accident, second is coincidence… I’m not sure what the fifth time is, but something tells me your customers won’t be patient forever.