Buying an M17X from the Dell Outlet, what are your rights ?

In the past ive recieved a right load of hassle from Dell, to cut a long story short i bought an XPS M1730 extreme laptop that was fully maxed out from Ebay, the Dell re-seller was superb and the laptop came with a 3 or 4 year Dell Warranty, can`t remember exactly how long but its the warranty where they come to your house to fix something etc.

After approx 4 months a problem arose, Dell couldn`t sort it. They had no more M1730`s left as it had been discontinued, certainly none with an X9000 extreme processor. They offered me a refund, the problem was the refund they offered me is what the reseller had paid Dell for the laptop and not what i had actually paid the reseller for it. Their was approx £500 ($900) difference between what the reseller gave to Dell and what i paid them for it.

Anyway the reseller was superb, after a long drawn out battle between him, me and Dell he decided to refund me in full of which he didn`t have to do because of the timescale involved, they wouldn`t offer me an M17X R1 either which had not long been out as a replacement as their stance was that any laptop bought from the outlet is classed as refurbished and if they can`t repair it and they have no replacement systems in stock due to a machine being discontinued then the only option is a refund.

Thats where it gets tricky like i pointed out above, if you buy from an ebay reseller then Dell will only refund you what the reseller paid them for it and not what you actually paid for it which means the warranty is almost worthless a year or 2 years down the line as you will lose out on a lot of money through no fault of your own.

This is why i want some advice here and some expert Dell knowledge, if i buy an M17X from an ebay reseller with a full Dell warranty and the machine packs up where they can`t fix it, am i likely to go through the same experience again or have they improved their service since the days of the M1730 ?

Are buyers who buy a refurb with a Dell warranty entitled to the same treatment as someone who buys a new machine ? I thought like most people would that if you pay for a warranty then your entitled to the same level of service as anyone else.

Sorry it was a bit long as i didn`t intend it that way, it was a tricky circumstance that came up last time and needed explaining as i wouldn`t want to get stung a 2nd time or anyone else to get stung.

 

Yes you are likely to go through it again. The warranty will always only cover what the original purchaser paid. Computers go down in price overtime so its very strange you paid 900 extra dollars for the computer then what the original buyer paid for it brand new

 

He was a Dell re-seller, he bought the system from Dell like any re-seller does at business rates which is a lot lower than what we can buy them for, he paid Dell £1300 for the system as i know this as thats what dell offered me as a refund, i paid him £1800 for it via ebay and he`s a reputable re-seller. It was a fully specced up M1730 with extreme processor, dual 9800 GTX graphics cards and bluray burner etc etc, it was top of the range at the time and they were going for over £2k UK.

The re-seller was fine all the way, its just Dell were a joke to be honest. They even tried to palm me off with a system that was a lot less in spec than the one that i already had.

So basically the warranty doesn`t mean a great deal if your system packs up and its a discontinued model that you own, as an example if its got an extreme processor in it like mine had then Dell must know that their is no way that they can honour that warranty further down the line, same with the graphics cards as they will run out at some point.

So how are they allowed to take your money for a warranty that they must know they can`t honour in the future due to lack of parts with discontinued models, all models get discontinued at some point and its usually well before the 3 or 4 year warranty ends.

 

after 2nd reading, it appears that dell did exactly what they were suppose to do. reimburse what was originally paid for bcuz other options were exhausted.

unfortunately, that is problem of buying thru resellers and luckily yours was really understanding.

i suggest next time, buy thru personal sales w/ warranty or thru dell outlet, so at least you would get what you paid for a refurbished or 2nd hand.

sorry about your troubles, but at least it was a lesson learned.

there is great thread here in nbr for asking community what is good approximate value of laptop.

also, i believe dell warranty does not differentiate between bought as new, refurbished, or 2nd hand owner. it is only at point of sale that this is determined.

good luck!

 

I would think that after your previous experience you would avoid any future purchases of a similar nature. I would also expect to have the exact same sort of issues in the event that you ever needed warranty service.

 

I think Dell did what they were supposed to do. They refunded the original purchase price of the system. The price you paid the re-seller has nothing to do with them.

 

Dell is hilariously inconsistent. The whole EOL thing isn't true at all. Plenty of people get a replacement for a broken machine that's newer than the one they bought. I had an XPS M1530, and they gave me a SXPS 1640 as a replacement. You should've been given an M17x.

Was the option of waiting for a system to be available presented?

I feel as though I may have read something wrong. That shouldn't be surprising as I haven't slept in over twenty four hours.

 

They have to repair or replace, the only time they can refund you is if you APPROVE a refund. Else, they are required by LAW to repair/replace the product.

 

Wanna buy an R1 Stiggy?

If the guy was a reseller, then he added a profit slice on top of the machine, so obviously Dell won't cover that. Now them saying they will only give you a refund is another thing.
I thought unless you awnt a refund they can't force one on you.
But as the 1730 was discontinued, then jaybe they have a caviat in their warranty about that

 

I think Dell might not have had to offer a replacement system using the legal terms in their warranty. For example in Oz Dell do not offer extended/upgraded warranty on systems purchased from retailers and if you get a refurbished product from a reseller the warranty cost is much higher.

 

If you read the Dell Warranty they have the option of offering a new replacement a refurb replacement or replace parts new or refurb as new condition or offer a refund for the original purchase price. It's pretty clear it's not how you or we would always like it but what it is. Anytime you try to save thru a third party you take your chances, glade your seller stood by his sale. Also of note your post title is a little misleading since the unit was not a m17x from the Dell Outlet.

 

Thanks for the info. It would help people in the future who want buy it from another party.

I agree with this.

 

I wouldn`t say its misleading in any way as i was asking what would be my rights if i bought an M17X from the Dell outlet regarding the warranty, if you read on you will see that i asked if things had changed since approx 2-3 years ago with warranties on outlet machines regarding an M17X.

I wouldn`t want to go through the same again and i hope its given potential outlet customers some useful info regarding what could happen if they get into a similar situation.

I was told by Dell europes legal team that if you buy a refurbished outlet machine and it becomes unrepairable then your only entitled to a like for like replacement which is a refurbished machine (not new) of the same model and same spec, if they don`t have any stock then a refund is the only alternative.

Dell have a lot of re-sellers that sell their machines because they simply don`t have the manpower or resources to deal with such large numbers of refurbished machines (customer returns etc), in theory you should get the same rights as if you bought direct from the Dell outlet but the only problem you have is that re-sellers are running a business to make a profit so they put their markup on top of what they paid Dell and Dell will only refund you what the reseller paid to them.

In my opinion Dell should replace your broken system with an equivelant spec machine whether thats a later model or not if yours has been discontinued, thats not the customers fault that Dell decide to discontinue models so frequently and after a fairly short period. Why should a customer be left in that position where he/she has to take a potential loss due to Dell`s laptops breaking down.

They shouldn`t give you a 4 year warranty on something they plan to discontinue after 1-2 years, they certainly don`t refund you the warranty period that you have remaining at the point at which the laptop breaks down and in my case that was 3 half years..