I need some advice, recieved a badly damaged M17X from Dell Outlet.

I bought an M17X R2 from a re-seller in the US, i live in the UK.

Before i bought the laptop i spoke to them via email, they said that they buy direct from the Dell Outlet and they don't open the boxes so that the customer knows that they havn't been tampered with, i thought fair enough as they had great feedback on ebay plus they have their own small website, i bought it via the website and not ebay.

Anyway, i recieved the M17X today after a 26 day wait for it travelling from the Us to the UK.

The box arrived perfect from the courier, no damge at all. I opened the box and was greeted by a black M17X that was perfectly packed in its plastic protection sleeve and its polystyrene shipping cradle with the box underneath with discs and power brick etc.

When i took the M17X R2 out the first thing i noticed straight away is a large chunk/dent on the left hand side of the back cover of the screen, you couldn't help but notice it as the grey aluminium was showing through the black paint.

The second thing i noticed is the black bezel around the screen is badly scratched and its very rough to the touch as its quite deep and not a faint scratch, i then looked closer and the screen itself has a scuff on it.

Looking closer the laptop itself has quite a few other small scratches on the chassis and palmrest, some of the fine ones don't bother me but with so many things on this laptop i'm just wondering what its past history has been. That chunk/dent to the back cover of the screen looks like someone has dropped it at some point and it caught the edge of the aluminium back cover.

I just need some advice here, its tricky with me being in the UK and buying from a re-sller in the US.

The re-seller has agreed to a refund but they are unwilling to pay the taxes that i incurred in the UK which is a reasonable amount, i believe like any normal person would that i shouldn't be left out of pocket in anyway because of this as i shouldn't be recieving a laptop in such poor condition.

I'm not even going to power it up as it too looks unsightly with the damage and its not something i would want to keep after spending around $2550.

Whats the Dell Outlet like in the US, has it got a history of people recieving similiar to what ive recieved in a poor state ?

It was classed as a refurb and not scratch and dent.

Pics below .....

 

Here are the pics of the ugly duckling i recieved, its unbelievable to be honest that anyone could recieve a laptop in this condition.





This was hard to get a pic of due to the light, you can just make out the scratch running away from the alienware head.

 

Damn man, that sucks! I received a R3 model from the dell outlet and to be honest I cannot even tell that it was pre-owned. Now the battery won't charge, but they are sending someone out tomorrow to fix that issue (either a battery or motherboard replacement) for free. I haven't found a single scratch, dent, blemish inside or out.

Theres no way that I would accept that laptop if I were you. That is just bogus.

 

Hiya,

No problem. Return the item and claim back the tax.

HMRC website:-

I have rejected the goods that I imported from outside the EU as they are faulty, can I claim repayment of duty?

Yes. You can claim repayment or remission of Import Duty, Excise Duty and VAT for goods imported into the UK that you reject because they are defective, do not comply with the terms of the contract or were damaged before being cleared by customs.


Regards,

Paul.

 

Hi,

I've gotten 4 M15x's from the dell outlet, and all 4 look perfect to me, they look new. I don't believe dell would actually send something like that out, it's just too damaged. Good luck.

Tom

 

Tom i agree with you, i also can't believe that Dell Outlet would send something out in this state which is why i'm suspicious. Ivew asked the re-seller to send me a copy of the Dell Outlet invoice, i said they can blank out the price they paid for it as i'm not interested in that part.

I just want to make sure that its actually come from Dell and not been bodged together by someone, the service tag seems normal and states the spec and the warranty period remaining.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your purchase....I'm sure with some patience you'll prevail over this...is there anyway you can utilize your warranty to get replacement parts? If you could get the parts through their parts only service, you'd be good to go. I'd also look into checking out whats going on under the hood if you are going to keep it....especially with the cosmetic damage.

 

Wow... that's just beyond nuts. Even from an outside vendor, there is no excuse for that. That doesn't even qualify for "minor wear", that's falt-out damaged. Fight it and don't give up.

 

Its a refurb.. just have them send out the parts to fix it. Chances are the parts would be better.. Many people think things are fixed with refurb parts.. thats not the case.. Refurbished is a legal term they must classify when its not manufacturered. The parts they send out when they fix things even mobos or vid cards are new they just arnt selling them etc etc.. Its a very confusing thing but I used to sell laptops and desktops for a consulting firm so I am very familar with this.

 

Wow that's a massive gash in the lid. I see this kind of thing all the time in the shop on crummy old laptops (quarreling couples, kids mad at parental controls) but not on a beautiful r2! Its looks like it was out in a knifestorm.

 

No kidding, I would be quite pissed if I paid over $2000 and received that POS

 

More than likely it was a scratch and dent they just don't want to tell you. Why not get a forum member buy you one and mail it to you? Id do it for you. R2s are around $1000 with the current coupon for 250 off or so.

Id return that. Get your refund and claim your taxes back.

 

Dude I feel for ya, I have my own issue in another thread, but needless to say I was completely bent over by Dell outlet, and they refuse to help me, despite me calling 10 minutes after unpacking a defective computer.


I hope things work out for you., but Dell has the worst customer service I have ever encountered.

 

This will make you laugh, the cheek of this Dell re-seller is incredible.

At the end of the day i should have recieved a refurbished M17X R2 which had come direct from the Dell outlet in a sealed box, what i actually recieved is a damaged M17X R2 with significant damage which you can see in the pics.

This re-seller is expecting me to pay for the $120 shipping back to the USA from the UK, with what i recieved i feel as though i shouldn't be left out of pocket in any way as its not what was described, like i said above i should have recieved a refurbished M17X R2, what i actually recieved is one with significant damage.

What can i do in this position, is their anything that protects international buyers from one country to another like trading standards which we have in the UK ?

 

Does Dell offer warranty on items resold like this? I imagine you didn't purchase a computer without first confirming this. Could be your ticket to a fix.

 

Even though its highly likely that this was sent from the Dell outlet in this condition i doubt they would do anything about the damaged panels and screen under warranty, the only other person that could have damaged it is the re-seller but he said that he doesn't open the boxes and leaves them sealed.

I know he opened this box as we agreed that he would buy me a new hard drive and place it in the box as it only came with a 250GB from the outlet, he agreed to up the storage to 500GB with a new hard drive which he bought from Newegg, he didn't fit it he just placed it in the box.

Its got a full 12 month at home warranty that covers hardware failures, this arrived with actual physical damage so i doubt they would do a thing even though its more than likley their fault, i know how hard Dell can be to deal with especially with Indian call centres.

I'm stuck in the middle here, i'm in the UK and bought it from a Dell re-seller in the USA, the warranty is in his name, their is no way i'm accepting this laptop and putting the warranty into my name. For $2500 i should have got a virtually mint R2, what i recieved is comical to be honest.

 

Sorry to hear about your problems Stig. I can relate. I had pretty much same experience back in the days, although not with Dell. In my case the producer refused to replace the machine with a new one or give me money back and wanted to RMA it (it was delivered so badly damaged it did not work) and the whole thing ended up in court. I won but the whole thing lasted 8 months.

Send the thing back and ask for your money back including the expenses you have to incur sending the thing back to the States. Tell them you feel tricked and manipulated and are considering suing.

That's some tricky part there. Nevertheless I'd try to send it back and ask for my money.

 

There you go. Why Dell outlet? clearly says:

This completely changes the whole picture. They promised one thing, delivered another. Ask for full refund. Do you have a lawyer? If they refuse the first step for you would be to ask your lawyer to send a letter to Dell Outlet describing your case and consequently asking for full refund, and noting that in case of unsuccessful resolution to the problem clearly caused by them, you will be forced to sue.

 

Hey The Stig, I feel for you man. I know how you've pained over your choices on which system to buy and where to buy it.

I have been following your dilemma for a few months and it really stinks that this is the outcome.

Just a thought for you. Right now, you are understandably completely unsatisfied with your purchase, essentially out 2500 USD. If the retailer is willing to give you a full refund with you only paying 120 USD for insured shipping back to them, you may be better off cutting your losses, biting the bullet on the 120 bucks and find another more reputable supplier.

I know it stinks but at some level, the folks you are dealing with are being less than honest and I personally hate to deal with dishonest retailers trying to rip me off.

One other thought, you mention that you purchased the machine from the retailers web site, I assumed you used a credit card to make the purchase? You have rights and protections with regards to receiving the product as advertised with most credit card companies.

I wish you the best man, I know you have really wanted your R2 for a long time. Keep us up to date.

 

All of this horror stories makes me seriously afried i will get my ref m17x r3 damaged

 

Just make sure you open and text it immediately, they have some ridiculous 21 day window for non-defective exchanges for outlet products.

If anything is wrong, pm me on here and I'll send you the reps name in tech support I am working with, he is awesome and based in costa rica - so you aren't getting some guy named Aptar Sunil Patel telling you his name is "Chad Peters".

 

I gave up on the Dell Outlet after 3 separate purchases and being unsatisfied with what I received. I only buy new now.

 

well thats the problem since i order it to israel it already in NJ , means the 21 days countdown started yesterday and i will recive my pc in like 5 days..
so its like 15 days for me to give it back , i really really hope it will be fine since i spent all of my spare cash on it.

 

Usually I would say get a cool skin from skinit, but this is over the top. I just bought a m17x r2 from dell outlet and if it arrives in that condition I will be very upset. Not to mention that Dell will get a very angry caller first thing in the mourning.

 

Mine has dents and scratches but tolerable for me, although they're not as bad as yours I wouldn't keep the laptop.

 

In my opinion, his biggest issue is that he bought through a third party seller. Dell may not deal with him directly. This is a dangerous away to spend 2500 bucks.

Cut your losses, pay for the return shipping, get your refund and don't look back. There are plenty of other reputable methods for you to purchase a refurbished Dell, even in the UK.

 

A couple of problems with buying from the UK, you can't get anywhere near the same spec in the UK as you can in the US for a lot less money, the second and main issue for me is you can't get an R2 with a 1920 x 1200 RGB LED screen from Dell in the UK, all they have left is the WXGA 1440 x 900 screen.

The hassle doesn't bother me so much in what ive had to put up so far with this laptop as you can get probs importing as thats part of the risks of importing, i'm just more amazed that Dell can send something out in this condition and class it as satisfactory.

 

Dell will probably tell you to resolve it with reseller.

Sorry to say but that's the downside of buying from resellers.

Other downside are no refunds from dell if bought from reseller as well.

 

You do get refunds from Dell if you have bought from a re-seller, the only problem is that Dell only refund you what the re-seller paid to them and not the amount you paid to the re-seller.

In my opinion Dell shouldn't offer their own warranty on computers bought from re-sellers, that way it forces people to buy direct from Dell and it saves you a lot of grief in the long run.

They should just use their own outlet to sell off refurb and scratch and dent systems on a first come first serve basis, it would create a competetive market as well for bargains. Also its all kept in house that way and its easier to solve a problem if you get one at a later date, re-sellers just create an obstacle and some of them are not easy to deal with when you get a problem.

 

Understood. Your options are certainly more limited as compared to someone in the States. I hope you are able to resolve it and recover your investment.

 

True about the refund part but I must say that resellers play a good part for 2 reasons:

1) overpriced systems in some countries.
2) Dell outlet is only available In very few countries.