I have a suggestion for a story for your institution that will throw some light onto the "shady" business of computer rebates and what businesses will do to short change buyers and rip them off. I am writing to you today to tell you of the injustice that Dell Computers has done to a huge number of College Students, Teachers, Faculty & Staff as well as members of other various educational institutions.
In short, they promised a lot of customers 5 rebates totaling up to $710 for a system that came to $780 + Shipping but are now performing a witchhunt on its customers.
They are basically renegging on many of the rebates without reason or legal justification per the wording on the rebate forms.
I have heard that upwards of 50,000 college students placed orders during the week of these rebates, and now they are attempting to withhold HUNDREDS of dollars from each person. Even though it was promised by Dell during that week that all students are qualified for the 5 rebates. In my opinion is almost appears as a "Bait & Switch" type of scam, they baited us, the college students, with promises of a large of amount of rebates, only to 'switch' them out with lesser rebates later once we have already paid and received the products.
Right now, Dell is denying me, and other buyers, legitimate rebates and trying to weasel out of money that they owe me for purchasing this computer through their website at the advice/direction of their own phone sales department. Below is my story.
On November 25, 2002 I called Dell to ask about any promotions and such, as I was searching for a good deal on a computer systems and was shopping around with various companies. The CSR at Dell asked me a lot of questions to help determine what rebates & promotions I could be eligible for. Since I was a college student at a local college he suggested I call Dell's Educational Division, as I would be able to get much better deals if I dealt with that department. I thanked him and apologized that I wasn't able to help him reach his sales & commissions goals personally.
I went ahead and called Dell's Educational Division to inquire about any particular specials that were running. THe CSR on the phone was very helpful and told me that there were 3 rebates that I was eligble for, totaling up to $510.00. That was an AWESOME deal and I told her that I would definately think about it and call them back. He said I had until tomorrow (11/26/2002) before the rebates expired. I thanked him and spent the night thinking it over and checking my budget to see if I would be able to 'float' the $510 until the rebates were received.
On 11/26/2002 I called back and attempted to get the same CSR but was unable to locate him. The individual I spoke with sounded as though he was attempting to 'mask' frustration under a false sense of cheer. I told him about the phone call a day earlier and how I was told I was eligible for 3 rebates totaling up to $510.00. He stated that if I was a full time college student I was actually eligible for 5 rebates, totaling up to $710, 6 if I chose to purchase the 3 year warranty as there was a $50 rebate on that!
This blew my mind and I immediately told him I wanted to order the computer system. He told me the rebates were only eligible if I went through the website. I thanked him and hung up the phone. I couldn't believe that there were 5 rebates I was eligible for. In order to double check the truth of the matter I called back SEVERAL times to verify the information. ALL the CSRs I spoke with confirmed the 5 rebates, looked up my college, and verified my eligibility for the rebates.
THey told me the rebates were guaranteed to arrive within 8 weeks of the Rebate Company receiving them. I made sure to ask each CSR I spoke with if they were 100% sure I was qualified and would receive the rebates and they stated "Definately, I am 110% sure." or something to that effect.
After taking names and extensions for future reference, I went online, setup an account under Dell's College Student Education Division and placed my order without the 3 year warranty, making me eligible for only 5 out of the possible 6 rebates. I even called my sister the same night, as she is also a full time college student living away from him on a college campus. She was ecstatic about the deal and purchased a system for herself. Both me and her needed computers badly, and this was an answer to our prayers.
The computer arrived soon thereafter, and I immediately filled out the rebate forms, made copies of the packing slip, and sent the rebates with DeliverY Confirmation to ensure proof of me sending the items in. Delivery Confirmation for her rebates and mine did validate their delivery to the rebate company within several days of me mailing them. In all, they received all 10 of our rebates before December 20th, 2002.
I didn't give it a second thought, as I figured Dell is a huge company and they would easily honor the 5 rebates for us, especially since their OWN customer service representatives were the ones who eagerly told us about the deal. I was even told several times by the CSRs that they were gonna call some of their friends to tell them about the deal.
I mean it seemed like a no brainer to me! Weeks passed and I was enjoying my New Dell Computer, which I had transferred all my personal files for school and such over onto. I had long since donated my old system to another struggling student, as I wanted to do as much as I could to help those less fortunate then I. Sadly, the joy I had for the new computer and the newfound respect I had for Dell and it helping college students afford a computer was soon to come to an abrupt end.
On January 16th, 2003, well over a month after I received the system, I received a letter from Dell's Faculty Student & Staff Department in regards to my order that I placed on 11/26/2002. The letter basically stated I was REQUIRED to send proof of me being a student in order to qualify for the rebates.
Ironically, on Dell's website it states that they will verify eligibility before releasing the order for fullfillment as per their policy. This was also confirmed by multiple CSRs whom I questioned. They basically stated that IF my system goes into production and ships that I am 110% qualified for the 5 rebates. But now I was being forced to doubt my eligibility. Dell was putting undue stress & anxiety unto me, a college student who already has enough worries on his mind with multiple classes, midterms, tests, etc. I immediately jotted down the address to send the copy of my Student ID to and mailed a copy out promptly the following day. A few weeks later, on February 3, 2003 my Sister received the same email and chose to scan and email her ID to Dell. She was so upset and stressed out after receiving the email, as she was worried what she would do if she didn't get the entire $710 in rebates back as promised by Dell.
Immediately following that email I called up Dell and asked them to once again verify my eligibility for the rebates, I spent quite a bit of time with a very nice CSR and she looked up all my information and did indeed verify my eligibility. She gave me a verbal apology over the phone and told me not to worry about it at all that I am GUARANTEED to get the rebates. Also, since those emails I have checked rebatestatus.com religiously to follow the progress of my rebates, as all of our rebates have shown up on the website.
Unfortunately, on February 7, 2003 I was devastated to learn that Dell was saying I was ineligible for one of my rebates, a $100 rebate that they claim was only for a CERTAIN "audience," and not for ALL college students. Although on the rebate forms themselves there is NOTHING stating such items. I immediately called up a CSR to question them about this and they refused to provide any information on who qualified for that rebate. They also stated that they are continueing their 'efforts' to eliminate rebates and I would probably not be receiving most of them.
Its funny how the CSRs are complete saints when you are on the verge of ordering a system from them, but turn into complete devils once you have paid. I personally can not afford to lose any rebates as even $100 is a LOT of money to me. I am a student, and have been unemployed since Late 2001, shortly after Sept 11. I was laid off and have been doing odd jobs just to make ends meet. I jumped in on this deal because I qualified for it and it was also checked by numerous Dell CSRs to ensure I was eligible for ALL 5 rebates.
I had been searching for a system for months and saw this deal as a literal answer to my prayers. I needed the upgrade badly (was using a Pentium 233 for computer work), and saw this as an investment into my education.
I am currently quite surprised that Dell would invest more time and money into this 'witch hunt' instead of fessing up and paying what they owe. The rebates all worked per their legal wording on the forms and their website, and their own company, the very employees that work for them, verified the deal through numerous supervisors who themselves checked to higher levels to ensure this. I mean I was originally directed to the online links for all those rebates by the Dell National Phone Sales office as a way to save some money for the holidays.
I spoke with several supposed Supervisors who all gave me their word that the rebates were good and that Dell was honoring them with their blessings. In short I was told to "not worry."
This is pure speculation, but it almost seems that they were trying to boost their sales numbers for End of Year 2002, and will take the HUGE write off of returned systems for 2003 and profit from 'disqualfied rebates' and try to make it up before end of year 2003, perhaps with something similar? I guess this would lead to some pretty creative accounting.
Personally I am very disappointed and upset that a huge corporate entity such as Dell would choose to go so far as to double check themselves and inconvenience us, the customers. Most of those who placed orders for this deal are poor college students who can't afford a lawyer, or litigation to make it worthwhile to recover any losses. I personally feel as though Dell is showing very little respect to me as a customer. Not only in them questioning my integrity, but also my motivation.
I have wasted a lot of time, money, and worry over what Dell has done to me and only want to receive what was originally promised, the $710 in rebates.
I hope you see the unconvential and down right 'dirty' game that Dell is playing with a large number of the nation's college students. They are making the hardships of struggling for an education even harder as they literally steal from our pockets by renegging on their promises of rebates. Companies are doing a lot of creative things to try to get by in our tough economy, but I can't believe Dell would stoop to such a level as to steal from poor college students, teachers, faculty, and staff.
Miguel
Pensacola, Florida