Introduction

It has been a few months since my last posting about the Dell Venue Pro Compass and some things have happened. In the time that I wrote my last blog post I had contacted the BBB in Texas where Dell is headquartered and have learned a few things in the process.

My 4th Device

First off, I realized the other day as when I had to do an RMA on my DVP that it was my 4th DVP I have had. The first I got was a "Dev" unit from the Microsoft store with the battery and Wi-Fi issues. The second was a replacement for that unit that didn’t read the SIM card so I swapped it back for my old unit. The third was the unit that lasted the longest until the memory card went corrupt and now my 4th is the one that just replaced that one.

Sigh.

Dell’s Final Statement

So back to the part about the BBB and Dell...This is what I got back from dell:

Thank you for providing a copy of the customer's follow-up submission. Customer expressed dissatisfaction with Dell's response. As previously stated, a Dell representative contacted Mr. Skurnik and explained that the Windows Phone OS 7 will not support the compass feature. Our representative also informed him that the later versions do support this feature however the OEM will release the BSP (Board support packages) as they become available. There are currently no BSP releases available. As the information provided in this matter remains unchanged, no further attempt has been made to reach the customer regarding this case. Our agent remains available, should customer wish to discuss this matter further however there will be no change to the response at this time.

Dell Confused, Lying, or both

So on the phone Dell tells me "we are not going to update the compass" yet to the BBB they say "the OEM will release the BSP (Board support packages) as they become available" which makes it sound like they will support it at some point. My first question is if Dell is not the OEM then who the heck is?

Dell’s Business Reasons

So what on earth could Dell’s reasoning be behind all of this? I have a few ideas:

Licensing with compass

It is possible that Dell only licensed the compass for a specific version of the Windows Phone operating system or never actually had a license at all for the drivers. In this case it would seem simple to just get the necessary license from whatever parts manufacturer that makes the compass. Problem solved.

Costs too much

It is possible that they have calculated the cost it would take a developer to repackage the driver (oh noes an hour of work) and then having to test it (ok that might take some time) and determined that it costs too much for a device that was a failure. At this point just give me a package with the compass DLL and I will be happy.

Dell does not give a #$%^

This is probably the most likely. I really don’t think that Dell actually cares about its mobile customers. Lionel Menchaca from Dell has repeatedly said on Twitter that he will write a blog post explaining why there is no compass support. That was over 3 months ago but he has never followed through. I guess Dell is so big that they can brush off hundreds of customers.

What is next?

Class action lawsuit

Well I did contact a law firm to see if we could file a suit but we really can’t at this point as there needs to be clear "damages" (financially) that can be counted.

Complain

Really the only way to try and get what we want is to complain and try and shame Dell into submission at this point in the game. I am also asking anyone and everyone that owns or owned a Dell Venue Pro to file a BBB complaint If you do not get an answer within a week or two to your liking please file a complaint with the Texas Attorney General the Federal Trade Commission, and to your local/state/province government attorney general’s office.

Bad PR for Dell

So I have been thinking of the best way to make dell aware that they have pissed off the wrong people and have come up with a way to just shame them. I am going to probably create a website where users can post a little story about why their next electronics purchase will not be with dell and to include the cost of the device that they purchased instead. I will then display in 72 point font on the top of the page the sum of all these complaints so Dell can see just how much money they are losing.