Dell suit: What's a PC buyer to do?

When New York’s attorney general announced last week that he was filing suit against Dell for its tech-support practices, we shared details on Dell’s phone support from our annual tech-support survey. After hearing from several readers who reported many problems with Dell’s support (and several who said they were very satisfied), we thought it was important to provide even more information to help consumers make an informed buying decision. 

First, it’s worth re-emphasizing the point we make in our buying advice for PCs, and made in the blog entry, that Dell is not the only company with tech-support services that leave a lot to be desired. Check out our results on HP, Compaq, Gateway, Sony, eMachines, and Toshiba, all of which were equally or more unsatisfactory than Dell (available to subscribers). In addition, while Dell was worse than average for waiting on the phone, it was average when it came to actually solving the problem. Meanwhile, most other PC manufacturers were lower than average for solving problems. 

You should also keep in mind that reliability and performance are just as important as tech support when you’re making a purchase. We often recommend Dell computers because they exhibit very good performance pretty consistently. As for reliability, Dell is no better or worse than most of the other manufacturers. 

In the end, buying a PC is a balancing act. Consider performance, tech-support, reliability, design, and price, to come to the best decision possible. (For more detailed advice, see our Computers Decision Guide.) 

Finally, we note that New York is also taking aim at Dell’s promotional financing, citing deals such as “no interest until 2008” or “six-month interest-free financing.” The suit alleges that Dell “uses ultra-restrictive underwriting guidelines, under which the vast majority of consumers — even those with excellent credit histories — do not qualify for promotional financing.” The suit goes on to allege that once consumers are rejected, Dell fails to clearly let them know they’ve been rejected, and “mislead[s] them by calling these consumers’ accounts ‘Dell Preferred’ accounts.” 

We haven’t addressed eligibility problems with such promotions (though we’ll now look into them the next time we update our advice), nor have we specifically looked at Dell’s offers. But we have urged that if you accept a no-payment, no-interest offer, you should pay for the item before the term expires. Otherwise you could be charged very high interest rates starting from the date of purchase. 

— Donna Tapellini

Comments

[Pete W]

Ashamed that I didn't read all the fine print, I bought a Dell through the promotional 18-month interest free program. I paid more than the monthly minimum, and after 18months, not only did my interest rate start at 30.99%APR, but they tacked on over $400 in back interest. I will never buy from Dell again. "Dell Preferred" indeed!

[Debbie]

Hi Everybody

I must be one of the unlucky Dell consumers. I own a Inspiron 2200 that is less than 2 years old and the LCD screen is defective. It not only has the colored vertical lines the Inspiron 2200 is famous for bottom half of the screen is now blank but hey Dell says not our fault we contracted out the LCD screen and since your 1 year warranty has expired we cant(wont) help you. In fact the executive from Dell Canada even went so far as to say he cant understand why I didnt purchase the extended 4 year warranty. I said to him why would I if Dell lived up to customer excellence we wouldnt need extended warranties. So here I am stuck with a useless notebook that Dell Canada wont fix unless I pay to get it fixed. I feel that when you pay almost $800 for a supposedly quality notebook you should get more than 729 days out of it as the executive pointed out to me I was 359 days over my warranty expiry. I did read above that other companies may have problems as well with their notebook but I doubt other companies would treat their customers like Dell Canada does with them it is the bottom line. Least that is what one other executive told me Dell cant afford to fix the LCD screens it is not cost effective but hey they wont have to worry about cost effectiveness with me as I wont be buying anymore Dell products. I originally only purchased Compaq products but was talked into a Dell by a friend guess I was stupid. Customer awareness is the best protection. One footnote to this I inadvertantly contacted Dell USA unknowingly and I almost immediately received a reply from a US executive saying although my warranty has expired in the betterment of customer service would I accept an exchange for my lemon would I you couldnt keep me down. She said would arrange it until she found out I was in Canada then the offer was rescinded. I guess this is wher "Only in Canada" comes in.

[Chip C.]

I must be one of the lucky ones. I have, and have had nothing but Dell. And as it stands, will own nothing but a Dell. My systems have been stable, and I have not even had to contact support. I am on my third now.

[Max]

I bought a Dell computer one year ago and the power supply went out in the first month. I was able to quickly contact support, and even though the support was outsourced to possibly India or some such country, the first person I talked with was understandable and I was able to follow his instructions to a point when he concluded I needed a tech person on site. That was when the real nightmare occurred. The tech person, who was located within 20 miles of my home, made promises he didn't keep. Part of the problem was that he took his scheduling from an outsourced company and they sent him out of town. It took 2 weeks and I was fortunately able to find a Dell employee, who was in this country, and with his assistance we were able to get me back up and running. The time it took to make the repair was about 5 minutes. I still have a couple of names I can go to in the future but I am pleased to say that the one problem was the only problem in this past year.

[Kathryn Musial]

Read all the comments from dissatisfied customers (former customers) and then you will know for sure to never ever buy a Dell again. The sales rep was dishonest and the tech support was worthless and in fact they helped mess the new computer up even worse. Today we've decided it's going back before the 21 days is up.

[Dave]

I've had two Dell's replaced while covered by extended warranties over the past few years. Bottom line: it wasn't worth the hassle. I wish I had never bought the warranties, and just paid to have them fixed locally.

[Jan]

Due to my previous experience with Dell, I won't ever be buying a Dell again, whatever their ratings may be. I do not do business with companies where they lie, overcharge, and then completely fail to respond to the overcharge queries(phone, snail mail, email). The $ amount wasn't enough to involve a lawyer, but I will never buy Dell again.

[Mark J]

Thank-you.

I respect and appreciate straight talk.