For those wanting to refund Vista

The absolute only way you could get a refund through this is 1. if you didnt accept the agreement and configure your computer on receipt and 2. if you bought your computer at list with no deals.

Anyone else who says they got it simply got a 'comp' to have them remain happy customers...53 bucks is pennies for Dell.

 

I will do this since I plan to use XP Pro when my machine arrives.
How does this work if you buy a machine from a store like Best Buy?
I ordered a machine from BB and plan to do same.

 

Just for the sake of curiosity: how much did you manage to get?

 

im def going to do this when mine arrives..

 

My D630 came on 9/7, and I called a few minutes after opening it up seeing as I ordered it with Vista Basic but I own Vista Business. After first going through a CSR, I was transferred to a returns specialist. He told me that Vista Basic is "free" for the consumer, but that he could offer me some coupons instead of a return. I told him about the $50 price difference between a 1420 and a 1420n then kindly suggested that a $50 credit to my credit card seemed fair. He agreed and credited me $50. All in all a very smooth procedure. I had the EULA in front of me so that I could read the exact lines to the Dell folks, was very courteous, complimentary, a little joking, and all went well.

 

i got 100 dollars back, wasn't as easy, just kept emailing them....they finally gave in lol use the first post, but not word for word, just use ur imagination a little bit.

p.s. i also came to a conclusion that dell reps don't read jack shiat. i think it is all computerized somehow....

 

I will have to do this. I have an extra copy vista premium.

 

It was just under £50.

 

Seriously, if more people start doing this, they might just get sick of this individual refunds and start unbundling Vista or even offer OS-less machines?

 

Annoy them into submission.......enchanting!

 

Dell already offers "OS-less" machines

 

Not all models though. Certainly Vista is the only option for me when I ordered my M1330.

 

Then that is the option you have to choose. If you don't want Vista, order a machine that doesn't come with it. If you don't like the choices that Dell offers for OS-less machines, look elsewhere......don't whine later that you want a refund for Vista.

Am I using Vista Home that came with my m1330? No.....but that doesn't mean I'm going to go whining for a refund either.

 

dude, i like the way u put it...if i don't then u shouldn't. well, good....u're not an indicator of anythings, sorry. i got a refund, and i was not "whining" or anything like. i', not planning on using vista any time soon....and if i will, it certainly won't be vista basic. don't ever insult other people's points of view. thank you.

 

People know in advance that Vista comes with the system they're ordering. Trying to get a refund for it later, is like going to Dell and saying "I'm always going to have an external keyboard plugged into my laptop and therefore I have no need for the internal one. I'd like to send it back for a refund."

Or perhaps asking for a refund on laptop speakers because they suck and you won't use them either. Same idea here.

 

Can we just take it as a given that some people consider requesting Vista refund to be whining, *****ing, complaining or otherwise taking advantage so that they can stop posting the same thing over and over again?

I'd like to hear what success people have had bringing this to Dell, and don't really need to read seventeen different posts on what bad customers they are for doing it.

Do some people get a kick of chastising others or something? I don't get it. If they are not comitting fraud, what's the huge hairy deal? (That was rhetorical, please don't answer.)

 

u don't get it, do u? i did not want vista at ALL! i had a limited budget when i was looking for a laptop. i had all the necessary specs that i wanted, and dell just happened to satisfy all of them, except for the os. so, i should've not bought it, just because it had vista?! hell no... we, as customers, have every right to demand refund, because we didn't have another option. if dell wants our business, it has to meet our requirements as well. i know, it might be not exactly ethical to request a refund, but what other option we have? ur comparison of speakers and keyboard(both of which are hardware) to having a different os (software) is not correct. those come standard on any laptop, unlike the operating system that the customer has to have a choice on....imo

 

You just don't get it either. Dell is selling each one of it's laptops as a PACKAGE that INCLUDES THE OS! If you don't like the PACKAGE, then don't buy it.

Just because Dell doesn't offer the exact package you want, does not give you the right to demand a refund for something that comes with the package.

And since Dell isn't meeting your requirements by offering the laptop you want without an OS, why are you still giving them your money?? Do you even understand how hippocritical your statement is?

Uhm.....shop somewhere else? If you're really not happy that Dell doesn't sell the laptop you want WITHOUT an OS, let your money do the talking and take it elsewhere.

As long as Dell is getting your money, why would they even care to sell an OS-less laptop?

Typically an OS comes standard just as various hardware pieces do......so my analogy is indeed valid.

When you buy a car, do you ask for a refund on the cigarette lighter because you're a non-smoker?

If you go out for supper and order a burger without the tomato that normally comes on it, are you going to ask for a discount?

The customer has a choice for the OS......just about every system offers either XP or Vista with variants of each. If you don't like those choices, then shop where you get the choice you want.

I don't use the Roxio software that was included with my system. By your logic, since I don't use it, I should get a refund.......right?

 

unlike cigarette lighters and tomatoes, the price of vista IS ALREADY INCLUDED IN THE SYSTEM and is not negligible comparing to the total cost of the system. in my case i got 100 dollars back, which is a little less than 10% of what i paid for my laptop

 

Consider yourself lucky, since Dell's current policy no longer allows the refund of Vista.

 

guess too many people tried to exercise their option

 

You've completely missed the point again. The price of that tomato *IS* included in the entire burger......the price of that cigarette lighter *IS* included in the entire vehicle. Therefore, just because you aren't going to use either, does not give you the right to demand a $0.03 tomato refund, or $10 lighter refund.

When things are sold as a package, the price for that package reflects everything in it. Just because you won't use something in that package doesn't mean you're entitled to a refund for it.

 

We've gone over this so many times. Even though I'm on your side, I say we give it a rest and bury the hatchet.

 

There just has to be a way to explain it so that everyone understands the concept.......but I agree, the topic has been flogged to death.

 

Money > Logic.

 

Touche!

 

I am afraid not.
Simply because Dell does not own the OS.
And neither do you.

It's microsoft's property. You are simply licensed to use it.

And that's the reason you are required to accept a different, separate, contract for it if you want it. That contract it's the EULA.

Now it seems that Dell has a clause in its US contracts that states that US customers must either accept the eula and keep the OS with the laptop, or they should return both.
This is done to discourage further requests for refunds of an OS many people simply do not want. But, as was noted in another thread, such a clause is probably a vexatious clause even for US standards. That might explain why the would issue refunds instead of going to court.

As for your opinion that customers are not entitled to receive a refund for the OS, I strongly suggest that you read the EULA. It's written right there. So, who's beating a dead horse?

 

dude, instead of trying to focus on the way i've built that sentence, look at it this way. price of mcd's double cheeseburger:$1... tomato - couple of cents(2%)
price of a used car, say, $5000....cigarette lighter - $10(0.2%)
price of a laptop $1200....vista $100 (8.33%)

just basing my own opinion on those numbers, i clearly see that the os part of the laptop is a very important number, unlike those 2....i still think it is quite ridiculous comparison....
we can argue all day and night, and i do get ur point...i'm not that ignorant yet. but i can not afford to not have that 100 dollars. i'm a college student that is paying an out-of-state tuition and that 100 dollars play a role. i can easily invest that 100 bux into something else, why would i want instead to let it slip? if, on the other hand, i had a decent paying job, my own place, a car to drive, i'd just say fu*k it, u can have it. but as of right now i do not have such an opportunity.

 

Guys, we're done. Sredni, I've already taken you point by point once, no more please.

 

lithus, i have respect for u, but sometimes u have to let it go. u've posted the same sentence over and over again, we get ur point.if people have something to argue about and u're done, then let them be!

 

Lithus, I understand you are not at ease in being contradicted, but that's life.

I tried to locate the post in which I answered your 'point by point' response but it seems to have not made it to the forum. I might have pressed "preview" instead of "submit". Basically - and to make it short- you failed to find a lineup in the the same specs and price range as the Vostro and said it was because Dell and HP can count on bigger numbers. The fact is that you failed to find an os-less alternative. Moreover in that post I pointed out that Dell could provide OS-less laptop with a larger profit (and saving on software support too). But they do not do that. Ever wondered why? BLoatware is one answer. But on the nearly bloatware free Vostro...?

And then I reminded you to read the EULA. It's all written there.
Too bad in the US you have to abide to what - in my opinion - is a vexatious clause. In the EU, refunds are possible, and are issued.
Have a look at this:
http://www.thealternative.ch/tiki-index.php?page=Software-Refund-en

So, please, respect the foreign readers of this forum: for many of them asking - and obtaining - a refund is a right.

US customers might want to go here, and good luck:
http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/62299

 

Ugh, since I can't back down from a direct provocation:

What does it matter that I can't find an OS-less computer at the same price? If Microsoft is a monopoly, the courts will take care of it - and they did a long while back. Truth is, Microsoft isn't a monopoly, they're just really good at making money. Listen: if there was money to be made selling OS-less computers at the same price as Windows computers, there would be companies doing it. Fact is, most consumers aren't like you. Even I prefer to have an OS installed on my computer when I receive it - even though I do a clean install right afterwards. That means companies have to cater to the majority, and the majority wants an OS. Before Dell offers an OS-less laptop, they have to make sure it's a profitable move - given that their other-than-windows laptops are a rarity, I'd assume it isn't profitable.

Back to the whole refund thing. Like I said before, you can't keep pointing to the EULA. If it was explicitly stated what to do in there, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. What I believe, and many others, is that people know what is coming in that brown box, and need to let their money do the talking. If someone's completely anti-Microsoft, then for the love of god, don't buy a Vista/XP machine. If that means you have to pay more, then you have to decide - "do I want to pay more to not get something?". To be honest, I have no clue where to take this debate from here. It's beginning to sound like a debate over religion.

I cannot convince you to change your mind. You cannot convince me to change mine. Until there is an explicit clause in a contract, Dell no longer offers returns of preinstalled OSes, and I will rest with that.

 

so that means, screw the customers, we just need to make some money so our shareholders will be happy at customers' expense?!

 

Such is the way that many (most?) businesses are run. If they can't make money doing it, then they're not going to do it. Maximizing profit is the primary goal.

 

i know, right?! no, maximizing shareholders' value is their main goal!

 

I'd be profit - making your shareholders happy just equals more profit.

 

depends on what the definition of profit is....

 

profit: making money; more so than you spend.

 

I thought there was a change to the EULAs for Vista that bundles licenses are non transferrable: you're only allowed to use them on the machine on which they were already installed.

So, my plan is to get the Vista license relatively cheaply as the bundled-in OS, then downgrade to XP, until my need to run Vista for software compatibility outweighs my distaste for 'change for the sake of change' that Vista means to me.

Then, when I'm ready, I have a hot, fresh Vista license ready to use on this machine, as nature and Colleen Kottar-Kotelly intended.

I've sold notebooks used in the past and wiped the hard drive, sold WITHOUT OS, for the buyer to acquire and install their own license. So, I have acquired about 5 or 6 MS OS licenses at this point never sold. I currently have 2 Win XP (1 home, one pro) and one vista premium (acquired on Vista launch day, that has never been installed), and when I acquire my next notebook, it'll have vista, but I'll downgrade to XP Pro until I'm ready to install Vista. I'll use my standalone Vista license on the next machine I build from parts... I never get rid of old desktops... they're always around for one reason or another, so I need to keep my OS licenses in tact.

The letter-of-the-law may not be on my side, but I feel that I'm 'entitled' (and that is a dirty word, to me!) to use an older version of an MS OS (not a newer) so my two Win2K licenses are idle... but I do run Win98 SE from time to time to play old DOS games.

For the thousands of people who are NOT using MS OS licenses but have paid for them, I say the handful of people who exercise their EULA rights and get Dell or any other vendor to give them a 'consideration' for 'returning' the OS, I say it doesn't begin to balance it out.