TV Sales/Order Issue, Canada

 I wanted to order a LG 42-inch LED TV - 42LS5700 1080p 120Hz Smart HDTV which was on sale and I was chatting to the chat team on 5/14/2013 to check if I could get financing from dell. But the chat session used to disconnect every time after they collected all my info but no one called me back. The TV was worth $999.99 + tax and there was a $400 discount as it was on sale. It was so tempting. Hence, on 5/15/2013 I decided to pay the entire amount using my credit card instead of waiting for financing from dell. I received an acknowledgement email saying that my order has been received and I will receive an Order Confirmed email shortly with my customer number, order number(s), estimated ship date and final purchase amount. 

Now, more problems begin. I never received any order number from dell so I called customer service and they didn't know what I was talking about and they said I never made this purchase and they can help me to place the order again. But the money was already taken off my credit card. When I explained the whole story they started transferring the calls from customer service to sales and sales to customer service and finally I landed with an agent by name Vinay from the order processing team. He said that the order is received and the item is not in stock and they are talking to 3 different vendors and just need another 24 hrs. to get the confirmation of the order and he will call me back the next morning at 10AM. Again, I didn't receive the call from him next morning so I called him at his extension but nobody answered the call. After trying for 45mins a person by name Ram picked the phone and said Vinay is on break and he can help me. So, I had to explain the whole story to him again and after discussing for 30 mins he tried to sell me LG 42-inch LED TV - LN5700 1080P 60HZ Smart HDTV which was a lower end tv with less features and costing only $799. I didn't agree as it doesn’t make sense to buy a $999.99 tv and get $799 worth tv with less features for the same price. Then when he realised he couldn't sell me that he said since this call is handled by Vinay before I will ask Vinay to call you back at 12:30PM.

Finally Vinay calls me back at 12:50PM and he says they dont have any update from the vendor yet but he said I can choose any tv worth the same price and he will honor the offer I received and give me the tv with the same price. But we couldn't find any tv with same features on the website other than a 47" tv with 3D. So, he connected the call to his supervisor by name Naheed. She said the same that since I bought the tv on sale they will still honor that offer as it's Dell's fault for still allowing online purchases to go through even though the item was out of stock. But since there was no other tv which was equally compatible with features other than a 47" tv with 3D, she said she probably won’t be able to give that for the same price as it costs more and she need to talk to her manager about it and she put me on hold for 10 mins.

Finally she came back on line and transferred the call to a person by name Uma (Product Specialist for software and peripheral) without giving me a reason for the transfer. Now I had to tell him my story again and he said that he will get update from vendors if I wait another 24 hrs. and since it was a weekend ahead he requested I wait till Monday and promised not to disappoint me. I patiently waited and he called me back today and he says they don't have the tv in stock so either I have to take the lower end tv which is LG 42-inch LED TV - LN5700 1080P 60HZ Smart HDTV for the same price or he will cancel my order and I will get my money back. I said this is definitely not how dell deals with their customers, which I know from dealing with Dell for a long time.

In the meantime, I found another tv on the website today, LG 42-inch LED TV - LA6205 1080P 120HZ SMART 3D HDTV which is worth $1,049.99 about the same price as the original price ($999.99) of the tv I purchased. I now requested the offer I was promised on Friday - that I could get the same discount on another TV with the same price - now that I had found a similar TV. I was then told that he cannot honor the offer I was entitled to against this tv. He started threatening me saying either to take the lower end tv or to cancel my order. When I said it is illegal to sell a product and not to deliver it after taking the money, he said he doesn't care and I can talk to a lawyer or go to court and nobody at dell can help me. When I requested to speak to his manager, he said his manager is not at his desk and he will arrange call from him in 10-15 mins and then he calls me back after 25mins saying his manager left for the day (1PM EST). He does not leave me any other option and disconnects the call saying he can't help me.

I am shocked at the don't-care attitude from not one but all representatives I spoke to. It is a terrible mistake on Dell's part first of all, to allow online purchases of items that cannot be delivered. Also, I would have never known this had I not called Dell myself asking for the order number. I received NO email saying the item was out of stock so it appears as though my order is still processing. And I am frustrated at this point that after speaking to so many people for hours and hours, the agent himself offers the same deal on a similar-priced TV but takes back the offer when I find such a TV. Trust me, if this is the service Dell provides, it is definitely going to lose faith from lots of customers like me and I promise with this poor service I will avoid Dell at all costs and never recommend your products to anyone. I hope that someone at Dell still cares for their customers. I hope to receive a reply about my order, the offer I was entitled for when I purchased and the money I paid. I want to make it clear again that I don't want the order to be cancelled as it was the best deal I could get. I am not demanding anything extra than what I paid for, I am only looking for a fair and honest resolution. And after a week of patiently waiting for Dell to get back to me with a definitive solution, I believe I am entitled to at least the deal I originally paid for, if not more. Can anyone please help me get a fair and just deal for the money I paid? I don't think it's fair that all the agents expect me to go for a product with less features than what I paid for and expect me to pay more for a different TV. Since the payment went through with no warning about the item stock, I think I should at least get the same discount on a similar TV.