Attachment uploads are currently disabled. This is a temporary situation and will resume as normal in the coming days.
UNSOLVED
W
WilmatheYellowL
2 Posts
0
2893
January 29th, 2007 07:00
Vista upgrade
Having been a Dell customer for nearly 20 years, buying them for both home and office, I am quite dismayed at the lack of concern by Dell for purchases made off of the refurbished section of its website. There is absolutely nothing there that lays out a plan to upgrade to Vista. Sure, I can buy a copy of Vista anywhere. But without the CD-ROM Dell is providing to purchasers from anywhere else on its website, the Vista upgrade alone is worthless.
Advertisng began in the trades last fall about Vista. Most if not all said 'don't be afraid to get a new PC now; when the release of Vista is announced, most vendors will make upgrade plans for users who buy during this period' or words to that effect. This was a ploy to help sagging PC sales which some users had been delaying pending the release of Vista. As soon as a time period was announced, I bought a new system from Dell. It was sold as 'new' but it came from the 'outlet' site.There was no warning given that Dell would ignore these PCs when Vista came out. In many discussions with Dell, their reasoning was that I got a discount on the purchase of the PC. Would somebody please explain what that has to do with the Vista upgrade? Given my 'discount', why doesn't Dell at least offer their CD-ROM of drivers and the Vista upgrade in some fashion? It's the same PC offered for sale elsewhere on the website but with a free upgrade!
By the way, Dell still offers on the website an 'Express Upgrade to Vista" elsewhere on the website with no mention of 'outlet sales' not eligible. It implies all sales are eligible.
This has been a totally frustrating experience with Dell that makes absolutely no sense at all
WilmatheYellowL
2 Posts
120
0
Posted January 29th, 2007 09:00
@jmwills wrote:
Let me see if I can address some of these items:- You can obtain a copy of XP just by calling Customer Service and paying the Shipping & Handling
- Surprised that a Resource CD was not included, however those can downloaded easily enough
- True enough for warranty purposes, the Refurbed machines are treated as "new" but for this special program they were not included
- The Vista upgrade was not "free". Those who took advantage, and I was not one of them (although eligible) had to pay approx $25 to get the disc which will nto evn be avialable for another 6-8 weeks.
- I think the original intent of this program was to keep PC sales strong thru the Christmas season not that there was any weakness in the market to begin with.
I have no authorization to call Customer service. I already have the XP CD-ROM; this question concerns the Vista upgrade. I have a screen print of the Dell offer: it says 'FREE'; customer pays S&H The CD-ROM from Dell automatically goes thru the system and downloads the BIOS and all the drivers. While the target may have been getting folks to buy a PC for Christmas, it was always known that folks were waiting for the new version of Vista so that they would know how to configure the PC before they bought it, based on the needs of Vista. Bottom line: Dell confuses the issue by ignoring the fact that their website states that specific models qualify but they never stated that sales from their 'outlet' aren't involved. Consumer groups will have a field day with this situation and I'm about ready to turn it over to them. I've given Dell more than enough time to clear it up but they just don't care like they used to. I have dealt with them for many years and this is not the Dell I'm used to.- I believe if you go back and read the "fine print", it does state the offer is for NEW pc's. Yours is not new, it is a refurbished machine. We can argue that point but it was probably an area you should have cleared up befor you made the purchase.This issue has been discussed here before. The whole Upgrade deal is a catstrophe and people bought into something that no one really understood, not even Dell.
- I haven't been a Dell customer anywhere near as long as WilmatheYellowLab. But I totally agree with what he is saying.
I decided to get myself a Media Centre PC as a Christmas present, as it was to be used in the living room it had to be compact, good looking, quiet and ideally Vista compatible. After speaking to both sales depts. and after being assured that all the Dell Outlet PC's where either "returns" or "changed orders" and that they were included in the "Vista Express Upgrade" offer. I bought one which matched the specs I was looking for.What I ended up with was a Dimension 5150c with a badly scratched front, and no upgrade.
After numerous emails and phone calls to Dell's CS, I ended up having to take a £30 discount off the price. Not once was I ever offered a replacement or a repair, I even asked if I they could just send me a new front panel as I'd happy fit myself. But that was refused, the only options open to me were a camera, a £30 refund, or to cancel the order and send it back. The week before Christmas.As for the upgrade, according to the CS supervisor I must have "misunderstood" what the sales team said. Which basically means I misunderstood four different people, or four different occasions, over a two month period...As WilmatheYellowLab said "a totally frustrating experience"
jmwills
2 Intern
•
11984 Posts
120
0
Posted January 29th, 2007 07:00