Fishy (or Phishy?) Call from Verification Department

Hi all,

I ordered an Ultrabook earlier today. A few hours later, I received a call from a (clearly outsourced) call center, claiming to be Dell. When I confirmed my name, he asked if I had made any Dell purchases recently. Yes. Then he asked me to confirm my address, which I did, without giving the city or zip. When I asked him what the call was regarding, he said that each and every order is personally verified before shipment. I've never experienced this.

He then asked if I was a student, and wanted my .edu email. I asked why this was necessary, and if it was for some sort of student discount. He said, "No, the .edu email is needed to verify your charge." Wait a second. How does a student email help to verify a charge, especially since it wasn't the email I used during the order? How is an email even remotely related to the validity of a charge? 

He even said, "If you will just please verify the .edu email, I won't have to ask you any more questions." What? A student email is the end of the line for verification?

I should also explain that the laptop was ordered for my boyfriend. Since he's out of town, he instructed me on what to do over the phone, using his name and credit card, with my email, because i handle all of our finances and receipts. I TOTALLY understand why this looks sketchy and may need verification. So I explained the situation, and offered my boyfriend's phone number, since he would be able to confirm his own information and that I wasn't using it to order something for myself.

The caller said, "No, all that is necessary is your student email." I explained that that email is in no way connected to the card and should not be necessary to verify anything, but I couldn't see the harm (if it would end the call), so I spelled it out for him. He got frustrated because he repeatedly called it back to me incorrectly and said in a huff, "I'll take your boyfriend's number now."

I'm hoping I wasn't rude to a real Dell employee, and I didn't give out any vital information, but seriously, this guy was horrible. He made very poor justifications for why he needed any information, and none of it seemed logical under the circumstances. Either Dell's training is extremely poor, or there is someone using Dell's name for questionable purposes. Given the general displeasure with Dell's verification department found all over the internet and the number of questionable calls and emails Dell customers have received about verification, I'd say it could be either. Either way, it certainly doesn't make me keen to ever order from Dell again.

Can anyone from Dell confirm whether this is standard procedure or not? My impression was that you stopped outsourcing because of the poor quality of customer service.