Is it safe to provide the service tag to potential buyers?

Hi, trying to sell my R2 unit and a couple of people were asking for the service tag to check on the warranty and history? Is it ok to provide my service tag to them?

Thanks.

 

Try adding a service tag to another account on dell.com (by creating new acc on dell.com and adding the service tag to it) and you'll get your answer

 

Wish I could, currently monitoring the thread from my phone

 

yea, right after they pay you. just tell them you will only provide that on payment due to theft/security issue. a legit buyer will understand.

 

wouldn't give it. You never know what they can do with it. A legit buyer will indeed understand as "cccplus" said

 

When I sold my m17 I took a screen shot of the warranty info on the Dell site, and then blacked out the Service Tag. This proved the warranty but also protected me. As a buyer, I would personnaly want to check it, but I'm kinda anal.

 

Yes provide the service tag. No one but you can change the information on it anyway. Think about it this way, how can anyone verify you even have the machine, or the specs/warranty are what you say they are. Sure you could provide a photo, but just goggle images to see how many there are on the internet for anyone can use.

I just bought my R3 from an ebayer and I insisted on checking the service tag number out, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. Most people provide the service tag when asked or just post it with their listing. It show they are a serious seller.

 

I would never provide to service tag. Find it to easy to transfer warranty.

 

I tend to agree with Techno, but am open to change. There is a constant refrain to never disclose your service tag, but what can you do with a service tag other than see the warranty coverage or original configuration? Without the account data (name/password), what can you change or gain access to that matters?

@Le0-: So, what reason(s) will be revealed?

 

I think you don't know what you're talking about. I literally own a laptop and it's been 6+ months, me and the seller fight with Dell to change the ownership. It's not that easy and you need way more info than just a service tag.

See the form here first:
Ownership-Tag Transfer | Dell

 

Thanks for all the feedback. My warranty expires in 4 days actually and I was wondering whether to extend or give the buyer the choice to buy new warranty, which is what I did when I sold my R1...

 

He can extend it also.

 

But it will expire by the time my eBay auction ends...

 

It can be extended.

 

I was able to transfer the warranty on my m14x to the new owner in 60 seconds online. That to be is defined as being easy.

 

And do you conclude from that that you could use my computer's service tag to transfer my warranty to yourself or a third party separate from the computer itself? How would you capture the benefit?

 

60 seconds to fill the form, but it can take a few weeks to get processed.
And you were able to do it because you knew his details, my point is that It's not that easy and even in the unfortunate case, one can call them to fix the possible issue.

 

I have sold two M17xR3s and when I had valid potential buyers I would intentionally offer them the service tag so that they could look it up and see the warranty, this way they could see I was a legit seller, feel more secure in the product, and then make the purchase (and it worked because I sold both systems and made money on both).

I recently bought an ipad 2 and did the reverse. I asked the seller for the serial # so I could confirm the sale date and how much warranty was left. This lets me know it probably isn't stollen (because they would probably be afraid to share the serial if it was), and it lets me know the exact sale date and much warranty I will get. All of this makes me more comfortable as a buyer.

 

I may not be thinking clearly here, but what would someone have to gain by transferring the warranty on a laptop they don't plan to buy? Has this ever been known to happen?

 

I don't see much of an issue w/giving out your service tag. What could someone do with it (besides verify that you're selling what you say you're selling?)

I've given it out on the last two AW machines I've sold without issue, and I've bought one used only after verifying the svc tag. Wouldn't buy unless I could do that.

 

I think there is not that easy to transfer the warranty, I did it and I remember the current owner has to comfirm the transfer through his email account. That was international transfer anyway, I am not sure what's necessary to tranfer in the US. But it will not be that simple.