about buying from Dell

[pulpp]

i bought an Inspiron 8100 from Dell today, but its not supposed to ship until the first week of september, am i gona be charged based on prices now or the day of shipping? i will be calling tomorrow to clarify all the details but just thought i would ask here as well. the sales guy was all in a hurry and barely answered any questions i had, which really kinda of made it unpleasant since i dont wanna be rushed buying a $2500 notebook.

also, can i ask to talk to another sales person? or are they gonna keep reffering me to the guy i placed the order with?

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

whatever was on your invoice today is what you will be billed im sure. not too many companies are that nice

 

[Rendus]

From my experience, you can talk to whatever salesperson you want. As far as the price difference, policy is, or was anyway, they charge you what their pricing is the day the system is shipped (and if any price drops occur within 30 days of purchase of the system, they'll refund that money as well).

The reasoning for it is the 30 day satisfaction guarantee (you can send back the system for any reason, or no reason, for a full refund within 30 days of purchase. If the price dropped $100 in the first week, you could cancel and reorder. They don't want that, so they give you the money instead).

 

[ElFenix]

yeah, theres a 30 price protection. as a shareholder i advise you against it.

 

[Rendus]

<< yeah, theres a 30 price protection. as a shareholder i advise you against it. >>



[NelsonLaugh]Ha-Ha![/NelsonLaugh]

I remember the Dell Tech Support recognition events (where Dell comes and talks to the techs, trying to make them think everything is just fine after a round of layoffs and such). &quot;Our stock is down, but we're still going strong!&quot; and such. It amused me to no end, anyway, watching them toot their own horn as they're facing losing their jobs themselves...

 

[pulpp]

thanks for all the responces guys.

 

[Amused]

<< From my experience, you can talk to whatever salesperson you want. As far as the price difference, policy is, or was anyway, they charge you what their pricing is the day the system is shipped (and if any price drops occur within 30 days of purchase of the system, they'll refund that money as well).

The reasoning for it is the 30 day satisfaction guarantee (you can send back the system for any reason, or no reason, for a full refund within 30 days of purchase. If the price dropped $100 in the first week, you could cancel and reorder. They don't want that, so they give you the money instead). >>



Yes, but YOU must stay on top of it, and DEMAND it. It is not automatic, and they don't make it a high priority.

The 30 days starts from the date the system SHIPS, not the date you receive it. My suggestion is to start the process on the 25th day after shipping, and record the employee name and number of everyone you talk to.

Getting my Dell price guarantee refund ($120) was painless, but my mother got the runaround. She called on the 28th day, and was told the computers were down (!?). She called three days later, and they tried to tell her she was too late. She finally got it, though ($150). But it was a pain.

 

[lilstevo]

i thought that price protection only applies if the system you bought is the exact same configuration. in most case if you customize it then it would be hard to find a similarly configured system. or do they allow you go run a customization on the website and get a quote and use that to pricematch?

 

[Bulldog7000]

HEY! I just ordered one today too! My saleguy said that the estimated shipdate was 14Sep but not to believe it. He said it was only because they just started production of the 8100s and that when it gets to full speed here in the next week, the wait should be substantially shorter.

BDOG

 

[Amused]

<< i thought that price protection only applies if the system you bought is the exact same configuration. in most case if you customize it then it would be hard to find a similarly configured system. or do they allow you go run a customization on the website and get a quote and use that to pricematch? >>



No, no, no. If THEIR price goes down on the exact machine config, they refund the dif. So you go to Dell for the 30 days after your system ships, and check THEIR prices against the price you paid.

I figure on average you'll save $100 doing that.

 

[Rendus]

<< Yes, but YOU must stay on top of it, and DEMAND it. It is not automatic, and they don't make it a high priority.

The 30 days starts from the date the system SHIPS, not the date you receive it. My suggestion is to start the process on the 25th day after shipping, and record the employee name and number of everyone you talk to.

Getting my Dell price guarantee refund ($120) was painless, but my mother got the runaround. She called on the 28th day, and was told the computers were down (!?). She called three days later, and they tried to tell her she was too late. She finally got it, though ($150). But it was a pain. >>



Yes, you have to call in to request it. But no, they're not going to give you the runaround about it. Why? &quot;Ok. What's the address to return this thing?&quot; or &quot;Let me speak with your supervisor.&quot;

The reason your mother had problems was because she called on the 31st day. It's a royal bitch to do anything &quot;inside 30&quot; when it's really &quot;outside 30&quot;. And I mean a total, complete, and utter pain in the rear.

As far as the computers being down, that happened a LOT. I only had access to a few of their databases (technical support logs/parts list, backorders, and inhouse repairs for laptops were the ones I used most). Half the call logging system (an inhouse POS) was down for a full MONTH. The backorder report was fairly reliable, but still down more than I would like. The laptop repair was actually another company's database, and it was up almost every time I tried it (which was pretty rare, as I was in Dimension desktop support).

 

[Amused]

<< HEY! I just ordered one today too! My saleguy said that the estimated shipdate was 14Sep but not to believe it. He said it was only because they just started production of the 8100s and that when it gets to full speed here in the next week, the wait should be substantially shorter.

BDOG >>



Everyone I know that's ordered a Dell has gotten them long before the estimated delivery date. They seem to over shoot the date in an effort to keep people from getting pissed over late deliveries.

 

[Rendus]

<< i thought that price protection only applies if the system you bought is the exact same configuration. in most case if you customize it then it would be hard to find a similarly configured system. or do they allow you go run a customization on the website and get a quote and use that to pricematch? >>



Like AmusedOne said, it's not against a competitor. You're pricematching against Dell themselves. &quot;I bought a Dimension 8100 with a 1.7GHz processor, 512MB RDRAM, a 19&quot; Trinitron, 20GB 7200RPM HD and an ATI Rage 128 (don't laugh, I've seen it) 3 weeks ago, and I price the same system on your site now, and it's $300 less.&quot; They'll refund the $300 rather than pay for you to return your system, then have you reorder it to save $300 due to their 30 day guarantee.

 

[Amused]

<<

<< Yes, but YOU must stay on top of it, and DEMAND it. It is not automatic, and they don't make it a high priority.

The 30 days starts from the date the system SHIPS, not the date you receive it. My suggestion is to start the process on the 25th day after shipping, and record the employee name and number of everyone you talk to.

Getting my Dell price guarantee refund ($120) was painless, but my mother got the runaround. She called on the 28th day, and was told the computers were down (!?). She called three days later, and they tried to tell her she was too late. She finally got it, though ($150). But it was a pain. >>



Yes, you have to call in to request it. But no, they're not going to give you the runaround about it. Why? &quot;Ok. What's the address to return this thing?&quot; or &quot;Let me speak with your supervisor.&quot;

The reason your mother had problems was because she called on the 31st day. It's a royal bitch to do anything &quot;inside 30&quot; when it's really &quot;outside 30&quot;. And I mean a total, complete, and utter pain in the rear.

As far as the computers being down, that happened a LOT. I only had access to a few of their databases (technical support logs/parts list, backorders, and inhouse repairs for laptops were the ones I used most). Half the call logging system (an inhouse POS) was down for a full MONTH. The backorder report was fairly reliable, but still down more than I would like. The laptop repair was actually another company's database, and it was up almost every time I tried it (which was pretty rare, as I was in Dimension desktop support). >>



Yeah, I know. My mom is 71 and a litte naive. Anywho, she HAD the name and employee number of the person she talked to on the 28th day, and they initially refused to deal with it until she got a supervisor on the phone. She COULDN'T do anything between the 28th day and the 31st day because it was a weekend and she was out of town.

What pissed me off is that she called on friday, told the computers are down and told them she couldn't call back until Monday, and THEN they gave her the runaround.

 

[lilstevo]

rendus and amused thanks for clarifying.

 

[Amused]

<< rendus and amused thanks for clarifying. >>



No prob

 

[Rendus]

<< rendus and amused thanks for clarifying. >>



No problem. I figure since I'm cursed with intimate knowledge of the inner workings of Dell Computer Corporation, I should share when possible