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Obviously there's been a total lack of crisis planning at Dell ....
Jeez! They don't have a security certificate and you have to accept the recall site as a trusted site without it." Lame!
These days, any big company that doesn't have a crisis blog ready to roll is asking for trouble. The Internet moves at breakneck speed, and a company that doesn't move at that pace, like Dell, is courting disaster.
Nonetheless, this is an opportunity for Dell. Despite the enormity of the recall - the largest tech recall ever - Dell has the chance to gear up to handle the recall effectively, and win back some consumer confidence. Otherwise, dear Dell, it could be curtains for you. And I, for one, would hate to see another American company go down the tubes in a preventable situation. Dell needs to keep its eye on the doughnut and not the hole.
Despite how well Dell's blog says the recall of 4.1 million Dell notebook batteries is going, Bobbie Johnson at the Guardian Technology blog says that Dell is not giving a direct answer to her question: if your comptuer is still under 30-day return warranty, can you return it and get a different computer that doesn't use a Sony battery. "The best answer I got was that such cases would be dealt with on a "case by case basis". Other than that, I was given the runaround on a satisfactory answer - customers are being offered replacement batteries, and that's it."
A comments on the post noted that Dell's disclaimer says "Please allow up to 20 business days for delivery." Way too long since computers without batteries are useless.
Johnson also reports that Sony, which made the exploding batteries, blames Dell: "But although the same model batteries are also used in products from other manufacturers, a Sony spokeswoman said there were no concerns. "This is an issue specifically down to Dell's battery-charging system," she told the Guardian.
Dell's blog reports: 15.4 million folks access the website since it went live last night. "as of 11 a.m. this morning we have taken 84,000 orders, worldwide. The first replacement batteries will go out today." according to the company blog.
The task of handling the recall is colossal, but crucial. Clearly, Dell is trying. And there surely have already been lessons learned for what was once a mighty force in the computer market.
This case will go down as the Tylenol example of 2006. But the Tylenol Poisoning happened in the pre-Internet, pre-blog days when Johnson & Johnson still had message control. Dell doesn't have that luxury.
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Comments
Nearly four years ago, while working as the VP of Marketing for a mid-sized company, we considered replacing our desktops with Dell laptops, primarily for cost savings. I argued against it, as a little online research pointed to Dell's less-than-steller customer service reputation.
When American companies go down, there usually are good reasons for it. Recalling 4.1 million Dell notebook batteries is not a glitch;it is a major malfunction. And asking customers to allow up to 20 business days for delivery compounds Dell's problem.
I recently wrote a post on bizsolutionsplus in response to a Seth Godin post some weeks ago that generally says customers don't want reasons and apologies for product or service failure. They want their expectations met. Clearly, Dell has failed in this instance.
Posted by: Lewis Green | 08.17.06
I understand your view about why companies go down. But the speed with which news moves these days has changed the game in a big way.
Huge companies like Dell are struggling to understand social media. Dell is certainly getting a trial by fire.
If every company that isn't understanding how to deal with social media was to go bust, there wouldn't be many companies left.
And now it seems Dell isn't the only computer manufacturer affected.
It could turn out that they'll come out bruised but smelling like a rose because they acknowledged the problem first and had a line of communication open through the blog.
I don't think that was planned, I think they lucked out on the timing of the blog.
Lenovo is implicated -- and my Lenovo laptop sure runs hot -- but they are denying that there is a problem.
The 20-day wait is inexcuseable, but I wonder what they could do in the face of such a huge recall?
I'll tell you one thing, I'm glad I don't own Dell stock.
Posted by: B.L. Ochman | 08.17.06
Good points, B.L. I don't wish for Dell's demise and "stuff happens." But I do think businesses ask forgiveness too often, creating a wary and frustrated market place.
Posted by: Lewis Green | 08.18.06
More bad news for Dell:
BOSTON (Reuters) - Shares of Dell Inc. (Nasdaq:DELL - news) fell nearly 8 percent on Friday, a day after reporting second-quarter profit fell 51 percent, and disclosing that regulators are reviewing its accounting practices.
Are we seeing a pattern?
Posted by: Lewis Green | 08.18.06
I think there's going to be bad news for Apple, Lenovo, and others on the same battery issue.
When the dust settles, it'll probably leave only HP, IBM and Gateway standing.
Dell is clearly overwhelmed, and to make matters worse, they haven't updated the blog since yesterday.
I'm still wondering: where's Michael Dell?
Doesn't he want to try to save his company's butt?
Posted by: B.L. Ochman | 08.18.06
http://expressen.se/index.jsp?d=10&a=578852
Does HP have a recall for their defective batteries that catch fire? Did Sony make these for them too?
Posted by: Steven Smith | 08.18.06
THERE IS A COMPLETELY SAFE LAPTOP BATTERY TECHNOLOGY
The Li-Fiber cell is completely safe and with $1 million the company can produce enough cells to prove that it has a laptop battery that is not only completely safe but also outperforms all existing laptop batteries. The 2006 massive recall by DELL, Apple, IBM, Toshiba, Panasonic, Fujitsu and Lenovo of over 7 million notebook computer batteries made by Sony would be a thing of the past. The present lithium-ion battery is an almost zero tolerance technology - hence the need for protection circuits. The higher the cell capacity the more serious the problem. For high capacity multi-cell high voltage batteries, for example, 10 Ah, 200 V for hybrid electric vehicles, inherently safe battery chemistry is essential but cannot be met with conventional Li-Ion cells. The Li-Fiber battery does not overheat and makes a very good safe high performance yet cheaper laptop battery. Contact me Edward Anderson at TRU Group Inc if you have $1 million to invest.
Posted by: Edward R Anderson | 09.30.06
I just want to tell everyone who is looking to get original batteries at a good price can get them at http://www.brandbatteries.com I placed the order with these guys and was a bit sceptical thinking that they will send me low quality aftermarket battery, because the cost was so low and once I got it from www.brandbatteries.com it was OEM battery at a great price.
Posted by: Jeff | 11.24.06
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batteryfast.co.uk/
Posted by: ibm battery | 03.23.08
Verizon is about the only place you can get the authentic RIM product and matching door. Most other sites are out of stock and even when they are in stock they have the black battery door which looks like crap. http://www.batteryfast.com.au/
:)
Posted by: dell battery | 03.25.08
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batteryfast.co.uk
Posted by: fujitsu battery | 04.28.08
They say it's how a company manages in a time of crisis, or in a 'customer recovery' situation that demonstrates how truly committed and prepared they are to keep the promised they make to their customers.
Posted by: Paul (from Idea Sandbox) | 04.29.08
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batteryfast.co.uk
Posted by: panasonic battery | 05.04.08
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batterylaptoppower.com
Posted by: sony battery | 05.11.08
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batterylaptoppower.com
Posted by: dell battery | 05.12.08
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batterylaptoppower.com
Posted by: fujitsu battery | 05.13.08
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batterylaptoppower.com
Posted by: ibm battery | 05.15.08
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batteryfast.com
Posted by: fujitsu battery | 05.29.08
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batteryfast.com
Posted by: fujitsu battery | 05.29.08
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The
LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this?
http://www.batteryfast.com
Posted by: panasonic battery | 05.31.08
There are several steps you can take to help you get maximum performance from your laptop battery: Prevent Memory Effect - Keep the laptop battery healthy by fully charging and then fully discharging it at least once every two to three weeks.
Posted by: laptop battery | 06.01.08
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batteryfast.com
Posted by: sony battery | 06.01.08
If you need a new laptop battery, I suggest you could purchase one from http://www.toolbattery8.com/ , which would shipping to yu fast and the quality is satisfy satisfied.:)
Posted by: ACER battery | 07.29.08
Lory! thanks.see you comment,I bought a laptop battery from http://www.toolbattery8.com next week. I found the quality is best!
Posted by: BLACKDECKER toolbattery | 07.30.08
Thanks for the nice read, keep up the interesting posts…..
Posted by: HP Laptop batteries | 07.30.08
It seems like there is a new product recall every few days. I am especially concerned about all the recalls on batteries and office products. I now have a personal file that alerts me to office product recalls. I also receive timely notices when one of my batteries has been recalled. You can receive the recalls and update notices at the product blog page.
Posted by: Product Blog | 10.27.08
you are crazy!
Posted by: tina | 10.31.08