Complaint Review: Dell Inc.

Dell does not want to honor the warranty for a used laptop that had a hard drive failure recently.
Service Tag: 5S3LZK1

I bought a used Dell Latitude E6400 business laptop on ebay about a month ago. I usually like to buy laptops that were originally purchased with a 3 year warranty so that I can transfer it to my name and have a piece of mind even from a used laptop.

A month ago the laptop had a hard drive failure, so I had to talk to Dell tech support for a replacement. They requested I transfer ownership of the warranty to my name. It usually takes two weeks; I've done this several times in the past and I've never had a problem until now. After a week I received an email explaining that my request had been denied. I replied to the email to inquire as to why it had been denied and they went on to explain that their "warranty
transfer" requests policy had changed. They said they were unable to get in contact with the previous owner and said if they can't get in contact with that entity and that the warranty transfer was never going to be carried out, even if that entity no longer existed or the contact information was wrong.

This made me very upset because it is obviously a bait and switch tactic that makes it very easy for Dell to cheat out their customers of transferring a rightful warranty that was paid for by the previous owner. So I told them I would file several reports, and they did not seem to care.

These following emails are for reference to this case:

Email 1

From: Alfredo Nava

Sent: Sunday, October
09, 2011 1:11 PM

To: Ownership_Transfer_Validation@Dell.com
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Why exactly was it denied?? It's been over 3 weeks and the transfer is still not able to be made? This is taking way longer than it usually does with my other laptops. I purchase numerous dell laptops for business and academic purposes, but you guys seem to give me a harder time every time I want to do a warranty transfer. I would like it if someone willing to help me could assist me with this instead of giving me the runaround of being unable to do anything.

Reply to email 1:

If we cannot reach the currently registered owner of the service tag to validate that they have in fact disposed of the equipment and the unit has not been otherwise compromised, then we will not transfer the ownership. The process has recently changed that we will not transfer the ownership of a system unless we can validate with the currently registered owner that they are aware of this and that they have legitimately disposed of or otherwise sold the system. Without this validation, the transfer cannot process.

 Email 2: From: Alfredo
Nava

Sent: Sunday, October
09, 2011 1:11 PM

So if that company was dissolved, or the contact information of the previous owner is incorrect and the phone number was changed or something, then Dell gets to dissolve a warranty that was paid for by the original purchaser, and in turn resold at a higher value to another customer? Basically you are saying dell is now implementing an intricate new warranty transfer policy that would allow them to disown rightful owners of used dell systems from their warranty?

If the previous owner cannot be contacted, then it is pretty safe to say that company was dissolved or no
longer exists. Making it a requirement to contact the previous owner even when you are fully aware that the contact information might be incorrect is just playing bait and switch tactic on the part of Dell. I would like to know if my
warranty will be extended or not, or if I have to contact the appropriate authorities to achieve dell's cooperation on this matter. I've done over 30 Dell ownership transfers, and this is the first I've heard of this. I know how business is supposed to work, and if Dell wants to participate in fraudulent practice, then I will take all means necessary to enforce my rights.

 Reply to Email 2:

Date: Mon, 09 Oct. 2011

We perform this check for the protection of our customers so that if they have a system that has been compromised in any fashion, then we are not transferring the ownership to or providing warranty against a system that should not have it done for. While you may have been able to previously have warranties transferred for systems you have purchased, the process has since changed so that we do add these protections for our customers. We believe that if you had
purchased a system that was otherwise compromised or stolen, you would not want us to transfer the ownership without first validating it with you first prior to our granting the ownership transfer request. 

We suggest that you get back in contact with the individual that you purchased the system from for further assistance with obtaining the ownership information that we can use to attempt to validate the ownership of the system and you can resubmit your request at anytime so that we can attempt to validate the ownership request. 

While we cannot speak to the concerns you have regarding contacting the appropriate authorities, you can contact our legal department at the following address with any legal concerns that you may have.

Dell Legal
1 Dell Way
Round Rock TX 78682