Complaint Review: DEll COMPUTER CORP - Round Rock Texas

On 1/30/03 I received a telephone call from a Margaret Coca, Executive Support Services, who stated that she was calling on behalf of Michael Dell. She opened the conversation by stating "i understand that you are upset with the shipping of our unit".. (the real reason why she called was that earlier that day i stated to one of the Dell customer service people that I was going to put the credit card charge into contest). I told Ms. Coca that at the time of sale, It was agreed upon by the salesrep that that my order would be shipped to me via FedEx Night Delivery for $45. Ms. Coca replied that due to the "ever changing conditions", Dell doesn't know until the very last second, which carrier they will be using". I said to her " don't you think you should notify the customer that a change is being made, so that the customer can decide if it is acceptable"? She replied "we can't do that in every instance".....She then asked me how i would like this situation resolved. I said to her to reship the order via Fedex or another carrier who has night delivery. She replies " I cannot promise you which carrier nor can i promise you the method of delivery". some reply from a rep of Michael Dell! I said to her, in that case to cancel the order. She says, "well, if you are at work during the day, why don't I have the order shipped to your job"? I told her that was unacceptable. I repeated to her to cancel the order, and that i was going to make a complaint with the FTC about Dell. She asked me if the basis of the complaint was about the shipping. I replied 'yes, plus mail fraud, creditcard fraud, deceptive business practices, non-disclosure of return policy, hiring and training of practices of Dell employees". She says to me "we did not engage in credit card fraud...you used your card willingly". I said, how about the charge for the optional at home on site warranty that was put on my card without my knowledge or consent"? Ms. Coca replies "the units cannot be sold without it". I said Ms. Coca, "how can you be calling on behalf of Mr. Dell and not know about your warranties? Your units come with a one year limited warranty. The on-site repairman at home is optional. That means, Ms. Coca that anything above the 1 year Limited warranty costs extra.".....Ms. Coca continued to insist that the units "had to be sold that way". I told Ms. Coca that I was Putting the entire credit card charge of $548.41 into contest with my AMEX, and that Dell will not see "one dime" of this money.; I then terminated the call. I made test calls to various sales reps for the next day, asking them what the return policy was. Everyone of these people stated that the 30 day return policy began when the order was received by the customer. One salesrep began to say that the return policy began when the order left the factory, paused, stated 'that doesn't sound right" and then said it began when the customer received the order; "that's right, it begins when the customer receives the order". I had asked Ms. Coca during my conversation with her when the 30 day return policy began. She stated that it began "after the unit leaves the factory".. She said that this information is on their website. I said to her, "what if the buyer doesn't have access to the website'? She replied that "this information comes with the unit"...... My suggestion to anyone dealing with DELL is the following: 1. DONT DEAL WITH THEM! 2. The yearly rating of being #1 is HOGWASH! Dell spends millions of dollars a year in advertising. No magazine publisher, who is reliant upon this money is going to turn around and publish the truth about these weasels. 3. Be aware that you as a buyer have the recourse of placing the creditcard charge into contest. This means that the creditcard issuer will withold payment to the merchant until the allegations of the cardholder are investigated. You only have a limited amount of time to do this....so I would suggest that BEFORE charging a high ticket item to your card, you call your card issuer and find out the time frame you have in which to place a particular charge into contest. 4. I did an online complaint to the Federal Trade Commission; an online complaint to the Texas Attorney General; and an online conplaint to the Texas Better Business Bureau.