Since our company had a Dell contract for most of the time I've been here and I buy a lot of things from Dell, I've dealt with their customer service a lot. I agree, sometimes it is the BIGGEST pain in the ass the way they do things. Most of the time though their CS department gets it right and their prices are pretty fair.
Those few calls that don't go well though really do put a sour taste in your mouth though. Sorry to hear your frustrating story
