Complaint Review: Dell Computer Corporation

To Whom It May Concern;

I am writing this letter in regards to the Dell Computer Corporation and my experience that I feel involved some unethical and possibly illegal business practices by some Dell employees during the process of purchasing a new computer.

Initially I planned to buy the Dimension E520 model because of its affordable price and the deal they currently offered which stated no interest for twelve months. I called the sales department and they said with my credit score I did not qualify for the twelve month, no interest deal; however I did qualify for a higher priced XPS model that had no interest for eighteen months. I decided to ask my mother if she would set up an account through Dell since she has near perfect credit. That way she could get the twelve month no interest deal and I would just pay her for the computer. My mom agreed and called Dell to set up the account. They told her that she did not qualify for the twelve month no interest deal either. She did not understand why she didn't qualify, due to her great credit history. We called the preferred accounts service through Dell and asked them why neither of us qualified for the deal. The woman that we talked to, Allison Barnes @ 1-800-624-9897 ext. #68785, explained to us that basically no one qualifies for the twelve month no interest deal with the less expensive models, but almost everyone qualifies for the higher priced models that have no interest for eighteen months. This is a classic bait and switch technique, and I was surprised
that a company as large as Dell had to resort to methods such as that to get the sale that they want. The situation worked out for them and I ended up using my own credit to purchase the higher priced XPS 410 system. Now this is where the story gets very weird. I customized my order for the XPS 410 system with sales associate John Edmondson, on December 6, 2006. The order number was 421276216. An email was sent to me right after the transaction was made that had in detail everything I ordered, along with the price I was charged and date the transaction occurred. I have enclosed a copy of that summary with this letter. The packages arrived at my house on December 12, 2006 through UPS ground services. I was surprised when the packages arrived because there were a total of six boxes all together. The packages contained the computer and monitor I had ordered, along with a separate XPS 210 computer and monitor. I called Dell to ask them what all had been charged to my account and they assured me that the only thing on record that I was required to pay for was the XPS 410 model that I had ordered. For a minute I thought that I had somehow received a free computer with my order, but I figured that was too good to be true. So I called the Dell preferred accounts division and they told me that I was also charged for the XPS 210 that I had never ordered. I told them that I had no reason to keep both of the computers, and I needed to return the XPS 210. After repeatedly transferring me from department to department, I was finally put in touch with a woman who was supposed to give me instructions on how to return the extra computer and monitor. Instead she tried several times to talk me into keeping the XPS 210 model since I got "such a great deal on it". I couldn't believe that she was actually trying to get more money out of a customer that was already having a bad experience with her company. After she was convinced that I was not going to purchase a computer that I had no interest in buying, she proceeded to tell me that I could return the product as long as I paid for the shipping cost myself. I told her that there was no way I would be paying the shipping cost for a mistake made through Dell. She then said that Dell would pay for the shipping and arrange a time for UPS to come and get the package. I was then transferred to a different department that was supposed to arrange a time for the package to be picked up by UPS. I was put on hold for at least fifteen minutes, and then disconnected from the line. I was not able to call them back right away because I was at work and could not spend the time to continue making these time consuming phone calls. When I was able to call them back, the Dell preferred accounts division was closed and did not reopen until the following Monday. The following Monday I called John Edmondson, the associate who sold me the computer in the first place. I told him my story and he was very surprised to hear about all that had happened. His manager told him that I needed to call the employee purchase division of Dell because I had received an employee discount on the computer. I called them the following day and they told me I had the wrong division and they could not help me. They transferred me to an automated recording that told me the status of my shipment. I called the employee purchase division again and asked them again how in the world I could just return the computer. I also asked the woman I was speaking with if she could pull up my account information and find out how I was charged for the XPS 210 computer in the first place. She did so and found out that a Mark Perez had put that order on my account. I had never once even talked to a Mark Perez during my purchase though Dell. I asked her if he had an employee number and she provided me with #4296687. I was glad she gave me this information because when I had initially spoke with John Edmondson, he told me that he was not able to find out how the XPS had been charged to my account. After obtaining that information I decided to just call John Edmondson back. I told him that I was still not able to resolve the problem and he told me that he would personally take the matters into his own hands and set up a return for me. He said that he would call me once everything was taken care of and he had a date for UPS to come pick up the computer. I have not heard back from him yet. I want someone with some actual authority to read this letter. I will provide the attorney general every bit of information I have in regards to this matter. I thoroughly believe that there are sales associates at Dell who put extra orders on customer's shipments in hopes that they will just go ahead and pay for them when they arrive at their home. This could also just be a case of someone making a mistake while entering a customers order, but I do not understand why a separate employee at Dell placed that order when I never even spoke to him. I am willing to forgive a mistake, but the fact that the company of Dell has made it nearly impossible to return a product I never ordered leaves me wondering a lot of things. I have spent at least eight to ten hours on the phone trying to resolve this matter. This should not happen with what is supposed to be a reputable company. Any help regarding my situation with this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely,
Seth *****

Seth
cincinnati, Ohio
U.S.A.

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