Dell Financial Services outrageous interest instead of interest-free Ripoff Carol Stream Illinois

I have to agree with the predatory, lying practice that DELL engages in on many levels. A year ago I filed my own complaint against them here on RoR.

I find that they offer a great warranty on the surface but once it's actually needed they gleefully point out all the lil catches that they know d**n well most consumers wont see til it's too late. Im one to read every single word involved with any contracts / warranties and yet......they managed to put the screws to me.

I paid extra for an extended IN HOME next day service including weekends. After numerous attempts......and about 2 weeks of time they sent me out a new hard drive and a guy to install it. I waited almost a week (IF I remember correctly) for this hard drive.......the tech walked in...put the HD in and walked out. When I called DELL on this......the woman from Corporate told me flat out that DELL fully expects its customers to do most of their own trouble shooting and repairs. WHAT!!! Then why did I buy an extended IN HOME warranty?

The customer service sucks.......their techs byte and they have no sense of savvy when it comes to faithful loyal customers. Ms Carol from Corporate thinks nothing of calling your work place and badgering you into believing that everything You KNOW is a lie or just not true and they,corporate are right you're wrong case closed. She'll called my work place multiple times in a row. I finally had to call the switchboard and have them block calls from that number. Funny isnt it....they never tried to call me at home.

Anyway.........DELL bytes......the customer service sucks....the warranties suck...the computers are nothing compared to what they used to be.

NEVER AGAIN

I am astounded by the "Employees" defending Dell. Don't they know about the cases against DFS for these predatory practices. These are not isolated incidents. They are examples of a company defrauding consumers with impunity.

See Better Business Bereau:
http://austin.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=40&bbb=0825&firm=41453

Government Actions

On May 28, 2008, a New York state trial court entered an order in an action brought by the New York Attorney General against Dell, Inc. and Dell Financial Services, L.P. The court found that Dell offered attractive financing terms without meaningful information as to the likelihood of consumers obtaining the advertised financing, did not make it clear to consumers as to what financing was applied for and approved, engaged in false advertising with respect to the availability of technical support, and engaged in unlawful activity in collecting debts.

The court ordered Dell, in the future advertising of financing promotions, to disclose the approximate number of persons likely to qualify, prominently disclose the terms of any credit offer, and tell consumers when promotional financing is denied before other credit is offered. The court further ordered that Dell's more fully and accurately describe its technical support, and that Dell not report BBB Definition:

report - A summary of activity reflected in a company's BBB file. Includes basic business background, BBB Accreditation information, and BBB complaint activity over the previous three years. Also reports may include any known government actions, advertising issues BBB Definition:

advertising issues - Claims alleging print or electronic media advertised claims or practices misrepresent the service or product offer.
or other information that results from activity conducted by the BBB.
customers as late in payment when the customer has alleged and offered documentation of the invalidity of the debt.

The next step in this litigation is to determine what restitution is due to Dell's customers. Dell has informed the BBB that it has appealed the trial court's order.

------------------------------------------
Details of the case:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/05/ny_dell.html

New York Sues Dell on Consumer Fraud Charges
Dell Accused of False Advertising, Failure to Provide Services

May 17, 2007
Dell Computers

New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo has filed suit against Dell, one of the world's leading computer companies, and Dell Financial Services, LP (DFS).

At Dell, customer service means no service at all. Dell's consumers were intentionally misled, and they had to pay for that privilege. I hope this lawsuit sends a message to companies large and small that delivering a product is simply not enough the promises they make must be delivered as well, Cuomo said.

The lawsuit accuses Dell and DFS of engaging in bait and switch financing tactics and failing to provide their customers with adequate customer service.

It also charges Dell and DFS with perpetuating numerous other deceptive business practices relating to their technical support services, promotional financing, rebate offers, and billing and collection activity.

DFS is a joint venture between Dell and CIT Bank, which offers financing to consumers for their Dell purchases.

Poor Tech Support
According to court papers, Dell deprived consumers of the technical support to which they were entitled under their warranty or service contract by:

Repeatedly failing to provide timely onsite repair to consumers who purchased service contracts promising onsite and expedited service;

Pressuring consumers, including those who purchased service contracts promising onsite repair, to remove the external cover of their computer and remove, reinstall, and manipulate hardware components;

Discouraging consumers from seeking technical support; those who called Dell's toll free number were subjected to long wait times, repeated transfers, and frequent disconnections;

Using defective refurbished parts or computers to repair or replace consumers' equipment.



"No Interest" Promises
The lawsuit accuses Dell of luring consumers to purchase its products with advertisements that offered attractive no interest and/or no payment financing promotions. In practice, however, the vast majority of consumers, even those with very good credit scores, were denied these deals.

In a classic bait and switch scheme, DFS instead offered consumers financing at high interest rates, which often exceed 20%. Dell and DFS frequently failed to clearly inform these consumers that they had not qualified for the promotional terms, leaving many to unwittingly finance their purchase at high interest rates.

The lawsuit also alleges that DFS incorrectly billed consumers on cancelled orders, returned merchandise, or accounts they did not authorize Dell to open, and then continually harassed these consumers with illegal billing and collection activity.

Although many consumers repeatedly contacted Dell and/or DFS to advise them of the errors, DFS did not suspend its collection activity and Dell failed to expeditiously credit consumers' accounts, even after assuring consumers it would do so.

As a result, many consumers have been subjected to harassing collection calls for months on end and have had their credit ratings harmed.

In filing the lawsuit, Cuomo seeks to require Dell and DFS to pay restitution to aggrieved consumers, pay civil penalties, and adopt measures to ensure that they do not engage in deceptive, illegal, and fraudulent practices in the future.

It feels odd saying that as Dell which is commonly referred to as Hell amongst it's employees.

When you sign up for Dell Preferred Account it gives you the interest rate you are approved for very clearly right after you go through the application. I worked at one of those kiosks in the mall and had to print them out for customers so I did this frequently. It also says what you were approved for as well. Such as the no interest for one year on XPS laptops or Dimension laptops. It also says whether you were declined for the no interest. Its very clear you didn't read what you were signing up for and now are paying the price for your mistake.

I honestly don't know what the cut-off is for the Dell Preferred Account has far their special financing offers are. Though I did sell and get several people approved for the no interest for one year so it is possible.

Yes, I am in the same situation as you are, Dell doesn't seem to want to find a solution to this problem they just want to suck us dry until we are unable to pay, it seems to me that they would offer a program to get us out instead of out. If you find a solution to get them to work with poeple dplease let me know. I will never buy from them again.

They are crappy computers that are over priced and under powered.

There customer service sucks and I have never heard of a single person who ever got the 0% financing deal..

next time give your computer geek a call, he or she will build you a cheaper faster computer..

DFS is very misleading and deceptive in their financial rating BAIT N SWITCH schemes, regardless of what you believe, Jennifer from Texas. At least when a car company advertises a promotion they do not allow you to take your car off the lot thinking your going to take it interest free for a year. The 25 day grace period mentioned in these reports are never even advertised, it's just Dell's way of getting around the 21-day return policy.

I believe Dell's practices (DFS is a partnership between Dell and CIT bank) will stop as consumers in US are not going to tolerate this practice any longer. Look on Office of Consumer Affairs website and just see how many ripped off customers are out there - there are plenty!!

SeegerWeissLLP (www.seegerweiss.com) are filing a class action and are taking information on all consumers in US who feel they have been wronged by Dell. I've submitted my information as I totally refuse to pay any interest charges on my December 2004 purchases.

Dear Consumers:

Your complaints are mirror images to those filed in the class action in California via federal and state against Dell (as well as other complaints logged against Dell in other states)... My best advise to all consumers is to stay clear of Dell! They have no empathy for the consumer or more importantly, respect. They may feel their brilliant based on the funds they have received for their insufficient products and ruthless behavior, but as I have stated in the past we reap what we sew; and, the fact is that Dell's reputation will come back three-folds... Dell's accomplishments of allianating the very source of their being, will most definitely be the same source that brings their demise... That you can quote me on!

Sincerely,

I should have clarified that I view qualifications daily, and many are approved for low interest rates - it's funny you would say I'm "misinformed". It's pretty hard to be misinformed when you check the consumers' credit report yourself and then see the rate they get. I guess that is your way of gratifying some claim you have again Dell Financial or some other company that hasn't approved you for something in the past.

I'm sorry you feel the way you do, but it's not a reason to down a company that has proven itself to lead worldwide in the industry. Not to mention - if you check your Fortune 500 lately you'll see it wasn't for the $$ that Dell was the MOST ADMIRED company by consumers/for consumers. Obviously, the world can recognize Dell, it's time you re-evaluated your opinion and be fair.

I am sorry to inform you but I believe it is all just a gimmick. I dont know what a low qualifying client means in dell's terms. You must have a score of 900 to be able to get such financing. DEll was unable to inform me of why I was denied the low interest or no interest financing and because of Dell's poor qualifying procedures, I had to purchase a credit report as I was afraid something had happened to my score. . I was getting ready to buy a BMW 330 in the coming weeks and I did not want to come across credit rating issues. Of course my credit was still at 793 and I got my new BMW at pretty much 1% interest.(they did not offer 0% but I am sure I Would have qualified had they offered that financing) So your comment about low qualifying clients holds NO water. You are a very misinformed Dell Employee. Dell needs to stop false advertising of financing that is impossible to get.

I somewhat came about the same problem as you. I can tell you off the get go that they must not approve anybody for interest free purchases. Its all a gimmick. The reason is because I tried to get approval for 0% interest from Dell. I was 100% sure I would get it because my credit score hovers around the 790's. So I was really annoyed when they got back with me telling me I was not approved but for their 18% after they dinged my score. That is almost double the interest rate of my highest Credit Card rate.

I of course said no and I am paying for my system with my own credit card at 0.9% with a balance transfer I made after I purchased it with an AMEX card(at 9.9%). I advise you to transfer your full balance to a credit card with lower interest rate or none if you have one of those 0% interest checks that many companies send.

In all fairness to the company, this customer is angry due to no fault of a Dell Financial error. All credit cards and their offers require a good credit standing and these are outlined clearly in the terms and conditions of the account. This customer is making an adjust claim against our company because the promotions are based solely on the consumers credit score. It is not our responsibility to give a lower interest rate to low qualifying clients.