AW/DELL Ordering Advice - How to save $$$

I can never look at an online purchase the same, very good read!

 

I with you agree 51 50, online laptop shopping is out the door for me now. Very well done DR650SE (what a robotic sounding name...lol). Next time I'm definitely going directly to my phone to haggle the crap outta them . I might even pull out some tears and sobbing during the conversation to play on the emotional side a little more...

 

Haha, if it helps the that would be awesome. DR650SE is a dual sport motorcycle (Suzuki) I have wanted since like 14 years old. Just never got it. It stated as my AOL screen name, and stuck. So I use it on all forums.

Wow, that was almost 15 years ago

 

You're old.

 

I paid 2981.33 for the configuration in my signature.

i got the 920 by way of upgrade from the 820. I complained about having R-1 issues and now R-2 issues, asked for a refund, and they upgraded me and will be shipping an identical system with a 920 as soon as its built.

I got the 256gb SSD because my original m17x r-1 was supposed to come with 1 but they send me 2 by mistake... and like hell im going to send back a 600 dollar hard drive! I ended up returning the r-1, so i got a 256gb SSD for free

the rest was 10% off for EPP and an additional 100 off from the representative I bought from. When you consider my spec. when configured on dell's regular site is 4512.19 after tax, 2981.33 isn't too shabby!

 

DAMN

That's how much I'm paying for my configuration :/

Makes me wish I could cancel my order and reorder on the phone...

* If your order is listed as status "In production" or "Shipped" , we are unable to cancel it. However, after you receive delivery of your order, you still have the option to return it. Please read the Return section for more information.

Yep, definitely in production

 

How does Dell check what company you work for? I work at NASA and have a NASA email. Do I enter it somewhere?

 

You actually can cancel a "in production" order.

 

Usually they don't check for validation. They simply ask you what company are your working for, and you answer them, that's all. But I'm not too sure what will happen if you actually fake it out.

I'm lucky, I'm studying @ Purdue University, and we have partnership with Dell. Students here can benefit up to 45% discount for a system purchasing.

 

What warranty/support plan did you opt for Zenithnoesis?

 

Awesome thread. I cancelled my in production order today and reordered through EPP as I'm a AAA member. Thanks a ton man saved me a few hundred. Ended up spending more actually after a bit faster RAM, Blu-Ray burner, and n6300!

 

1 yr advanced. you can extend your warranty for the same cost as a 2 year or 3 year would have been any time during your warranty... so i saw no reason to give them more money now. I'll probably extend after my tax refund comes in

 

Really? Wonderful, I will call first thing tomorrow.

 

How did you find out you have a partnership? I'm at Western Michigan University

 

@deltawing,

I would just call them (EPP). You also qualify for EPP because your in the military, or were. Thats how I qualified. But you can go eitherway, student or military, each way should be 10%. Just tell them when you call. They won't need any other info. They ask who your with, enter that into the system, and then you move on to configuring the laptop. Just follow the steps in the original post, I've recieved a lot of positive feedback from members who found the info useful

 

Roger that, thanks.

Tomorrow first thing I plan on calling the Sales department and canceling my in production order that was sent to them 4 days ago, should be feasible, then working on phone ordering a new one through Dell

 

Are student discounts available in Australia?

 

DR650SE are you still gonna wait for the 5870's to come out before you place an order? Oh btw I tried over the phone I was one of the last calls my rep ended up taking and I got about 500 off first try sooo.. I think i'll try again tomorrow lol.. he is supposed to call me back.. maybe i can work him some more!

 

I'd be very content with 500 off plus the 10 percent I already had for Military

How is it talking to these reps? I've not much experience with haggling over the phone to get a cheaper price? Are they pretty receptive? I plan on overusing Sir and Ma'am, whatever is appropriate, to ensure good mannerisms for higher potential of being taken care of

 

yea dude, i usually say "dawg" in the beginning and end of all my sentences, i should stop = /

 

@jesmith8

yea, still waiting. You can try again, but also $500 off is really good. so congrats for that. But you made me think of something too. See edit.

EDIT: If you get a good quote, but you need a few days to think about it, ask the rep to email you the quote. It should be good for 5 days or so. Then when you call back you will have the quote so you can work with the rep who sent it to you, or another rep. Make sure you and the rep have the same understanding of how long the quote is good for.

*This has been added to the original post as well.

 

Man, I just called the Sales Department to cancel my order, looks like they don't work on weekends :/

I hope on Monday it's not too late for my in production order to be canceled otherwise I am gonna be pretty upset.

Anyone have an idea of how long I should be good for? I just wanna cancel it online and order via phone and use EPP, etc

 

Just wondering, are the "sales reps" that you can get into contact with via online chat also capable of reducing your price? Or those aren't sales agents. I am not 100% clear on the terminology.

(When you click "Chat" on the Dell Web there is a "Laptop and sales" option, that's what I mean.)

 

I would like to know this as well, so I could just cancel my order online via chat, cuz I'm sure they have 24/7 chat representatives, right?

 

It's worth a shot, I've never used an online sales rep though. If you do let us know how it works out

 

Here's hoping "Maribel" will allow me to cancel via chat.

I will report back

EDIT: For cancellation I need to refer you to Customer care department. Dell offers support via phone and email. You can reach Customer Care at 1-800-624-9897. You may also email Customer Care. Http://support.dell.com/support/top..._care/emailcustomercare?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

 

They're more casual and I'm not sure if they get a commission or not (if they don't there's no way they're going to lower the price). Every time I've chatted with them, they have never budged on a price. Its hard to haggle with someone when there's no emotions or voice inflections involved. You might have to pull the 'grandma died' card to get a discount with them, and dammit, my grandma has died way too many times.

 

Just wanted to say my thanks to ya DR650SE.
was able to get a 160 dollar discount on top of 10% EPP and 3% DPA

 

YAY for saving money!!!!

 

Nice! Always like to hear about people benefiting from my lessons learned. I wonder what the total savings has been due to people following this thread. That would definately be something interesting to know. Unfortunatly since there are a lot of people lurking and not posting (you know who you are ) thats not entirely possible. I wonder how much money I essentially have taken from Dell and put back into the pockets of customers. Considering free shipping, upgrades and discounts that others wouldn't know that they qualify for withouth this thread. Hmmm...

 

@DR650SE i think you should put a donate button in your sig

 

@mfractal

Hahaha, 3% goes to my beer fund

 

mmm beer

 

Do you have to sign up for the DPA at the time of the transaction or does your first purchase with the DPA take 3% off?

 

can you email me or post your rep please?

 

some reps do not appreciate having their details online, it's better to ask the rep before posting his details. Usually they agree since they work for commisions

 

He's supposed to call me back later on today, i'll ask then and if yes i'll post.

 

So what was your final price sig?

 

Yeah I'd definitely use that rep, too, let them know there are others who'd use that rep!

 

My Final price came out to be 1,752.87 w/tax
and my sales rep is
Randolf King
1-800-695-8133
Ext: 723-4757
Great guy

 

whew i was scared you beat my record but you didnt get the rgb led

 

or duel ati's but thats still a banging deal GJ

 

lol i got the M15x, the M17x was awittle to heavy for me seeing how i plan taking it to places.

 

Thinking about ordering, I will also be studying @ Purdue University soon.
Did you get you M17x through the student discount program? If so, how?
What kind of discount where you able to obtain?

 

Awesome, I am going to use this guy, then, thanks!

 

Here was my latest deal I just picked up!

Item Number Quantity Item Description
224-8106 1 Nebula Red - Special Edition - Anodized Aluminum
317-3657 1 Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
317-3660 1 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
330-7841 1 Alienware M17x 240W A/C Adapter
320-8856 1 17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p)
320-8858 1 Dual 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4870 in CrossfireX
342-0670 1 128GB Solid State Drive
313-8791 1 AlienFX Color, Mars Red
421-2261 1 Alienware Command Center, M17x
421-1400 1 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
420-9691 1 DataSafe Local BackUp 2.0 Basic
420-6436 1 PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
421-1586 1 Alienhead Chrome Red
421-1596 1 Alienhead Chrome Red
410-1883 1 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
313-8977 1 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive,QuickSilver
313-8944 1 5.1 Channel Audio
430-3739 1 Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology
330-6348 1 Automatic Updates: On
950-3337 1 1 Year Limited Warranty
908-2207 1 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Initial Year
922-3410 1 Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year
950-9797 1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
421-1721 1 Soft Contracts,Banktec Care,Alienware
994-3730 1 Warranty Support,Initial Year
430-0628 1 Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
421-1360 1 Steam and Portal Factory Installed
330-6175 1 Standard Nameplate
463-0742 1 Special Pricing Applied
Subtotal: $2,299.30
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Sales Tax: $198.32
Total: $2,497.62

Dell regular price on website was $2887.00 SAVED $587.00 Does this make me the current winner?? LOL

Also, they said they have been so busy on the phones today and he would make it quick....I guess they told them to just make deals and take money! If you are thinking of doing it today is a good day!

I am pretty stoked with the deal! And, it only took 15 minutes to get the deal. I asked him if I could give out his info and he declined....sorry guys. But, it really didn't take any effort to get this. It did help that I had purchased other computers from them and 2 other m17x's this year. Plus my wife works for a company that is eligible for dell epp. They didn't actually verify anything though...fyi

 

Nice work!

 

Thanks, I would love to say I tried hard....but, it was easy! lol I really wanted free overnight shipping but got him to throw in the Nebula Red instead....I will wait a few extra days. Maybe I will call them in a few weeks and act impatient, this got me free overnight before.

 

I am actually with a different rep than I planned on getting, but he threw NBD at me, 108 dollars it would be normally, yes please!

Still on the phone

 

So far he haggled me down to +200 for the RBG LED screen rather than +250, which I gladly took.

I've been waiting like 30 minutes for something and he promised me further compensation.

All of this on top of free 108 dollar NBD