Doh! Restocking fee for Vostro?!

I just called to return my Vostro 1700 to Dell Canada. They say that any Small Business purchases all have a 15% restocking fee!!!
Mysystem was about 1600 before taxes, so I'm gonna have to pay $240 to return it!!

Has anyone succeeded in getting XP on your Vostro 1700?? If yes, could you please PM me! I'd keep the system if I could get XP working, but I am really confused about what drivers to use, etc., even when looking on the Dell website. I see BIOS stuff, etc.... I have no idea...

help!

 

What?! I was told only the Inspirons charge 15% restocking fee. It doesn't apply to Vostros.

 

She basically told me just the opposite, that any Small Business laptop purchase, and Vostros are under Small Business, incur a 15% restocking fee...

 

Are you within the 30 days from the original purchase?

 

Yes! I've only had it for 3 days, and she knew that. 15% restocking fee.

 

http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/notebooks?c=ca&l=en&s=bsd&cs=cabsdt1&~ck=bt

The 30-day money back guarantee is mentioned on that page and several others. Just call back and talk to someone else.

 

Yeah, if your within your 30-day then there is no restocking fee. I would call back.

 

Restocking fees apply to all systems now

 

XP should be able to run on 1700 without any problem.

 

Thats what I'm hoping. I'm gonna give it a try. Worst case, if I really screw the thing up, I'll return it and pay the restocking fee...

 

try to download AHCI driver from intel site first.

 

Could you tell me what that is?? I have no idea what AHCI is!
thanks!

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Host_Controller_Interface

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2101

 

Cite your source for this please.

 

Not sure if it differs in Canada but click here:

http://www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/vostronb?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~tab=2

Click "Built for small business" in the drop down choose the 30 Day Garauntee selection. It specifically mentions 30 day return with no restocking fee.

I hate CSRs that give bogus info...

 

Make sure you tell them and make it clear how long you have had the system for. I returned my 29 days after i got it with no fee

 

Well, I have no idea. Two reps over the phone, and one online told me that yes, restocking fee.
OK, that said, they also offered me a $300 credit to my Visa if I would keep the system!
So I'm gonna try to get XP working on it this weekend....

 

I love comments like these with no backbone what so ever. Why would you say something like that without even looking to make sure you don't make a fool out of yourself.


Straight from Dell.ca

Built for small business. Built for how you work.
Vostro notebook solutions provide the combination of hardware, services and software that small business users want.

* Tailored with pre-selected software based on your business needs.
* Peace of mind with services like Dell Network Assistant, Automated PC TuneUp, DellConnectTM , and Advanced Configuration Services
* Backed by a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.

OP, Call back and get a CSR who knows what they are talking about. You need to directly link them to the Money back guarantee.....

It's under Service & Support on the Vostro page. If they keep denying it, you might as well sue them and share some of the money with me.

 

If you look at the link I posted above it even specifically states Vostro has no restock fee. But for $300 off... how much did you originally pay?

 

With tax, about $1830 Canadian for the following:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5470 (1.6GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB), Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Basic Edition,

LCD Panel 17.0 in UltraSharp™ WUXGA LCD Display with TrueLife™
Memory 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 Dimm
Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8600M GT
Hard Drive 160G 5400RPM SATA hard drive
Integrated NIC and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.08
Optical Drive 8X CD/DVD Burner w/ double-layer DVD+R write capability, w/o Roxio Creator
Wireless Cards Dell Wireless g
Batteries 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Support Services 3 Year Return to Depot Service, Complete Care and Technical Support
Online Data Storage 10GB for 1 Year Online Data Backup by Dell DataSafe
dell Support DELL SUPPORT 3.4
Dell Network Assistant DELL NETWORK ASSISTANT 1.7
Dell Support Centre DELL SUPPORT CENTER 1.0
Automated PC Tuneup 1 Year Dell Automated PC Tuneup

So with the refund, I'll have paid $1530. Not bad for a 17" with 8600 GT and 3 year complete care, I guess.
As I've stated in a couple of my other posts, the laptop is beautiful, I just can't have Vista..

 

This depends on which state you bought from - atleast that's what I heard from a rep in the past. I didn't have to worry since by law, a company cannot charge restocking fee in the state of NY-atleast to my knoweldege..

 

I'm in Canada

 

Did you see if the canada site has anything similar to the link I posted earlier where it says no restock fee?

 

For Canada, Dell has a "30 day money-back guarantee" on all small business laptops except XPS according to this page (Select "Compare Notebooks"):
http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/notebooks?c=ca&cs=cabsdt1&l=en&s=bsd

However, at the bottom of the page they have a small-print non-footnoted link to a page that says they withhold 15% plus shipping and handling fees:
http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/topics/reftopic.aspx/gen/en/policy?c=ca&cs=&l=en&s=gen&~section=012

This 15% fee apllies to all notebooks and desktops in all market segments including small business and home.
For example, the "Terms and Conditions of Sale" link on the Home & Office notebook page says the same thing at:
http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/notebooks?c=ca&cs=cadhs1&l=en&s=dhs

Because of the way these fees are hidden while the "30 day money-back" is at the center of the page without a footnote, you may be entitled to file a complaint with your Consumer Affairs branch about misleading advertising, unless they indeed refund you the entire price.

Fuzzy

 

It shouldnt be hard at all to get the vostro 1700/1500/1400 to run XP, since there is an option to config. them with XP.

Download the drivers, make sure you have the XP disc next to you(and service pack 2 if it is an older disc) and RIGHT before you format, check to see if you need to update your bios. This is what threw me off before when i was trying out vista on my M70. There was a separate bios file for XP, and Vista(because Vista integrates power saving into the OS, where as XP used a 3rd party app, i guess)

If/when i buy my vostro/insprion 15" i might try returning it to see if they offer to refund any of my money. I guess they would be willing to cut their profit margin if they knew they might lose a sale AND have to pay to have the machine shipped back to them. Making $200(rather then $500) is a lot better then losing $50 and being stuck with a used, pre-configured machine.

 

Dell has all kinds of conflicting policies that have thrown me for loops before... I still say if you can find somewhere on Dell Canda's site that specifically says vostros have no restock fee, it overrules any other generic policy that applies to "all systems". Even better it might be on whatever paperwork was shipped to you with your system, in which case screw what they have on their website....

 

It can be done.

I believe vostro1400user has a wiki on how to convert Vostros from Vista to XP. You'd do well to ask him.

Also check out...

http://www.ideastorm.com/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=167985

I know it's possible you can get Dell XP Home recovery discs for the Vostro 1500. Whatever driver differences there are between the 1500 and the 1700 is something I'm not sure of.

 

Sorry if its a dumb question, but how exactly do I update the BIOS (for XP?) before formatting with the XP disk??
Thanks! Planning to try the switch to XP on Saturday...