Ideastorm - Premier

As noted ad nauseum - Extremely slow

LOG OUT NOTIFICATION - Logs you out without informing you, then forces you to log in before submitting the order, and after logging back in the information is gone requiring the whole thing to be redone.

SHIPPING ADDRESSES - Need to be able to manage my own shipping addresses.

INCOMPLETE OPTIONS - Not all options are available.  Very frustrating and embarrassing when a user goes to dell.com and specs out a PC then I tell him the option he wants is unavailable, but it really is, just not to the persons responsible for actually dealing with Dell.  Just today, my premier page for an E4200 only gave me otions for RAM up to 3GB, but I know I can get up to 5.

PO NUMBER ENTRY - Quote-to-order does not allow a PO number to be entered when paying by credit card.

TIME WASTERS - Clicks lead to redundant pages.  I’ve already decided to buy an Optiplex, I don’t need a page telling me why I should.

LOSS OF DATA Can’t go back during ordering process to change an option or you risk losing everything that was chosen on a page after it.

LIMITED ORDERING OPTIONS - Need option to order more monitors than the video card will handle.  Perhaps I am going to install a 3^rd party card.

INCONGNITO PRODUCTS - When selecting the base model to customize, the models sometimes have identical descriptions with different prices.

ORDER HISTORY and /or STATUS– why do I have to enter my customer number?  I already logged in  - you know who I am.

INSUFFICIENT INFO The links to “More Information” for the various options are so generalized they are completely useless.  I know why I want an LCD instead of a CRT.  What I want to know is which models offers  DVI inputs and which don’t.

BAD SEARCHES - Search results are just plain wrong.  Today I searched for a laptop with a 12.1” screen and the only return was tablet.  I should have been able to find the E4200.  Also, why do I need 5 results for one item just because there are five different warranties?  Show me the item, then let me choose the warranty level I want.

It used to be so easy to contact our account team. If I need help in placing an order I can't reach any of the account team members listed. I understand turnover is inevitable but this should be a simple process.


ADMIN NOTE:  I certainly understand your frustration.  Yes, turnover is a reality, but you should always be able to reach a Dell sales team member.  While it appears that the Account Team page is currently up to date, we are working towards some automation in terms of account team members assignment to Premier Pages.  In the meantime, it is the responsibility of the Sales Team to keep those contacts up to date.  Should you find yourself unable to reach any of the listed Account Team members, please have your customer number available, and call 800-456-3355 to reach Sales.

Thank you for your comments.

PLEASE do not use India for your cooperate accounts.  Move then half of the time you cannot understand them.  Plus, is seems to delay our orders do to the language issues.

So many requests, so little time. I use Premier extensively all day long, every day. It is essential to my business as a Dell VAR. The following improvements would be great: 

1.       Accurate Premier catalog management. I have lost many customers due to order errors where an item shows up in my Premier catalog, an order is placed, and then it mysteriously disappears or is lost in processing due to changes in the item availability that were not accurately reflected in the Premier catalog. This is a serious issue and I would appreciate it being a high priority.

2.       Ability to set up Order Status as my log-in landing page. That is always my first stop.

3.       Links to Order Status from the top or second level top nav that is persistent on every page.

4.       Accurate and real-time status reporting for Order Processing, In Production and ESPECIALLY Shipping.

5.       No more lag in reporting shipping information. FedEx data often lags by 24 hours or more and that’s a colossal NUISANCE.

6.       Improved integrated with the Partner Portal and the ability to move between the Partner Portal Online Store and Premier with single click simplicity. Eliminate redundant logins and the need to scroll multiple pages between the two stores.

7.       Fix the asset management system!!! Enable us to get complete downloads of all Dell products that have service tags including systems AND peripherals. Make it easy to download asset reports and upload asset transfers. The current system requires special requests, incompatible Excel formats that must be extensively edited prior to uploading and incomplete asset reports. It’s a colossal NUISANCE. Please help.

8.       Enable real-time messaging to the sales team for on-the-spot communication, Q&A, price quotes, customer care and more. WebEx would be fantastic. Get with the 21^st Century ladies & gentlemen.

9.       Integrate priority direct connection to Customer Service and Tech Support for Premier users. Simplify the CS management system. Take a look at how Amazon does it for their Gold & Platinum merchants. Amazon is the VERY BEST I have ever seen anywhere.  The Premier site has been buggy over the last few months and a direct link to Tech Support would be a real benefit. Amazon uses eStara to have their support people call you right back which is something Dell should definitely implement for Premier support across the board.

10.   Extend the login time out to hours, not minutes. Another colossal NUISANCE when it times out in the middle of an active session.

11.   Integrate tax exemptions for multiple jurisdictions so that the correct tax or exemption shows during the checkout process. Too many errors are occurring with the back-end system now in place.

12.   Enable sales tax form and exemption management online via Premier. IBM and Lenovo both have much better systems for this. Dell’s is positively archaic and very error prone. It delays order processing to the extent that it has lost me business or jeopardized my customer relations with my clients. Took me over a year to get it well-oiled and we still have issues due to the most recent system changes that actually made things much worse, not better.

Today when I went to my premier page it wasn't working. There was a notice posted saying there was trouble with my page on that site. This wasn't the first time. Also, very pokey performacen building the page. I don't know why this is - it seems like the coding is way over-engineered and so bogs down performance.

I as well as many others I'm sure use some sort of methodology when it comes to asset management.  It could be a database, maybe with a web front-end, a folder structure with random purchase documents, an excel document or any of a number of other methods to tracking your hardware.

What I would like to see is an all encompassing interface on the premier site.  Database with all purchases filtered a number of different ways, maybe on order number, on service tag, on the product itself.  I'd like to see online printable order documentation from beginning to end, the quote, the invoice and the packing slip.  I'd like for my lists to retain addable fields like you would see in an excel document so I could add the machine name if I changed it, maybe our company's asset tag, and who that computer was assigned to.

I do know that some of this exists, but it seems you need special Premier training to accomplish even getting a list of your purchases from X date to X date.
 
To finish this off, software purchases along with their product keys, order dates, and product names would be fantastic.

All of this along with the ability to export these lists/reports to excel/csv and maybe even pdf.

Any additions to this are quite welcome and encouraged.



ADMIN NOTE:  Thank you for your detailed comments.  Dell will continue to develop and enhance Premier with reporting features and capabilities, but please keep in mind that Premier is designed as a tool for procurement, and not as a scaleable, comprehensive, enterprise level-Asset Management solution.  Currently, there are several different report templates, each of which is downloadable in Microsoft Excel format.  Hopefully these different templates will provide you with the raw data you need to accomplish your asset management objectives.  In the meantime, your suggestions have been entered into our Enhancement Pipeline for consideration and possible future development.

Thanks again for using PremierStorm.

The first topic that leads me here today is that I created a quote 2 days ago and today it is no longer available, even though I told my client that it says it is good for 30 days!  Not good.  Now I try to recreate the quote and find that some items are now no longer available to our selections, OK, but if I choose the system without that product and have to choose something less, why does the price go $70.00 more?  If Dell tells me the quote expires in 30 days, it better honor the quote.

I cannot tell you how frustrated I am to not be able to quote product that SHOULD be available, but isn't.

How long did it take you guys to make the 1909W display available after removing the 1908FPW.  Holy cow!  Now that it available it will delay our orders!  So I started selling the 2208FPW and it is no longer there.

Let me say though, at first this tool was a godsend for me and my account rep.  I loved it!!!! It still needed some work, but I was able to do everything I needed.  As products have changed, I assume, the order site has just been frustrating.  I like all of the available tool for retrieving invoices and orders.

I also found out that being a good reseller, i know I dont do the business that many other do, but I have been selling a good portion of dell machines for quite some time and found out the other day that someone new applied for Dell premier status and got the same pricing as someone who has been with you for quite some time and sells a lot of machines.  hmmmm.  I really think you should have some kind of tier level, or maybe I am just too small of a fish, don't really know.


ADMIN NOTE:  We appreciate any and all feedback, and the opportunity to address issues that arise with your experience on Premier and other Dell websites.  However, we would ask that submissions for this particular forum be focused on ideas for feature and functionality requests within Premier.

It is important to remember that any quote from Dell is a guarantee of price on the selected items through the expiration, but not necessarily availability.  For Dell's Client and Enterprise products, such as OptiPlex, Latitude, and PowerEdge, lifecycles are managed carefully, including End-Of-Life for options.  Lightswitch transitions are more common on consumer brands, such as Inspiron, XPS, and Studio.  As always, consult with your Dell Sales Representative for product questions, including lifecycle and availability.