Unfortunately, this is pretty common with them.
I spent two years of my life working with Best Buy, and was the Services Manager for a good chunk of that time. EVERY time I had to call Dell on a customer's behalf, I knew I was going to be on the phone for at least an hour. I dont think I ever had a conversation with one of their reps that didnt end with them telling me "We at Dell appreciate the customer's concerns, but we cannot solve *fill in problem* at this time".
Plus, this is the same company that called my Geek Squad once and told them to "delay" a customer until they could find their computer.
FIND their computer. Awseome.
I've actually had decent luck with Hewlett Packard and Sony over the years. If they screw up, they'll at least attempt to rectify the situation to some degree. They have to protect their margin, of course, but they wont give you the runaround like Dell will.
And as for the lawsuit against Dell, this has got to be their third or fourth lawsuit over customer issues over the last two years. They've lost every one so far, so if you qualify...attach your wagon to that train and get some money back.