Is there a case against dell???

i just read the newspaper, there seem to be a case sueing dell canada

i am windering if this is true if you have the laptop 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150, and 5160. you can claim some money back???

 

Something involving Pentium 4, notebooks and overheating?

 

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2009/02/04/8262801.html

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/090204/to431.html?.v=47

Something about soldering problems... glad I sold my 1150 a couple years ago. Thing was an absolute piece of junk. Northwood based Celeron was fail. To OP: if you own a 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150, or 5160 and live in Canada (and have had some sort of problem with your 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150, or 5160), you probably CAN get some money back, but it probably won't be that much.

 

i have a 5150, how do i get my money back?

 

After the lawyers take their share, you'll probably get a 20 cent check.

 

lol haha that would be pretty funny

 

You just have to join the class action suit. You would need to get in touch with the law office prosecuting, or sometimes they have a website.

As for those of you who do not think '20 cents is worth it' - the real value of a class action suit is that it helps to remind vendors to run an honest business and avoid pushing products that are crap or known to be defective. It is about consumer rights. That certainly has value all of its own.
If people were allowed to sell you a 1500 dollar PC that they knew would die / need servicing in 2 months, at another 500 bucks, and there was no alternative or recourse for you, you better well be grateful that SOME people are sticking up for your apathetic tooshy. We try to run an economy that isn't built on screwing you (within reasonable limits of course : ). Sheesh.

 

It isn't worth it, it just turns into a lawyer circle jerk and has no benefit toward consumers. The U.S is one of the only places around that acts like this.

 

And Canada too, I guess?? And probably every other industrialized country.

 

Probably suggests that you don't know, and you don't. Try a lawsuit in Japan where the average case length is 10 years and the defendant wins 99% of the time. This idea of punitive damages is mostly an American thing.

 

haha o dear dell lol good thing i didnt buy one guess the canadians are in for a right ear full from the CEO of dell today :/

 

And a European one also. Hell, just about anywhere where people have to deal with businesses. Lawsuits in many ways are the last ditch attempt to resolve an issue (or complaint) which 'business' evidently has decided it doesn't give a hoot about. Last time I checked the EU didn't appreciate anti-competitive business practices either. Or processes that lead to the ill health or premature lightening of people's wallets. When they win, their mistakes come out of your wallet, when you win, their mistakes come out of theirs.

You might take the position that consumers challenging businesses is an American invention, and a pointless one at that, however there are others who realize that there are only so many ways in which ordinary citizens can wage battle against something they see as wrong. Especially when the business has several thousand times the resources of the average individual. We sometimes want fairness without violence or a legislative act. Sure, the pecuniary damages may not always amount to much, but knowing that you have helped set a precedent is hardly worthless.

And please spare me on the "you don't like it, don't buy it" crap. We buy computers everyday that eventually get trashed and shipped to China for disassembly. One of the most toxic disgusting and awful jobs in the world. How much do you think the health of a whole generation of workers is worth? If it were American workers, would you think their lawsuit was so pointless (assuming they could actually get a trial)? If you don't like the laws, then please do figure out for us how we can effect positive changes in society and settle the grievances for victims of injustice.

 

In the end, it's the Attorney's that will win....unfortunately.

Hopefully, some consumers will get something out of it, as they are the ones that deserve the most gained.


Cin

 

What are you talking about? There is a difference between compensatory and punitive damages. Also, what does China disassembling computers have to do with anything I said?

 

That was just an example (albeit a real one). The point is that I wouldn't assume that any lawsuit is frivolous-even if it involves ordinary consumers, like you and me!

How about another example?

The RIAA has recently announced that it is done suing consumers. 10,000 cases later, and thousands pending (against college students and many other random folk) they've finally decided to give it a rest. Now they will focus legal pressure on ISPs that service individuals suspected of stealing music. But hey, what's the point, even after all the lawsuits, everyone still steals right? We've been stealing since we could record off the radio or onto tape. But when digital eliminated generation loss, well, suddenly we have a problem.

Dell sells a half a million motherboards and they all tend to fail after 13 months, 90% of customers that purchased the boards had a one year warranty (those stubborn, poor individuals that expect things to last more than a year). Dell refuses to replace the boards, even after a consumer group demonstrates that they knew the boards were defective / prone to overheating. Dell offers a repair for 300 dollars, and the consumer will pay the shipping both ways. Or they can extend the warranty for 2 years for 350 dollars, and they will replace the board for 'free'. The consumer group decides to sue. But hey, what's the point? Buy a more expensive warranty next time.

In the first case, a large corporate funded entity chases after everyone they can to try to recover damages that are neither fully known or fully capable of being proved. We don't even know exactly what the extent of piracy is in the first place, since there is a lot of perfectly legal P2P traffic. Meanwhile, they try to convince ISPs to block users suspected of pirating music or threaten to sue. Consumers assume that their ISP is now the bully (who has essentially release personal information and pulled the plug on them), while the music industry continues to recover from the fact that they missed the digital music boat years ago to Apple. Fair? Hmm. . . is this lawsuit about money, control, or both? Is it even really about music? Or college kids screwing off on their P2P networks? Private property rights? Is the music industries basic business model (mashing out CDs and charging 18 bucks a whack) still relevant this long after the advent of digital music? More importantly, could that money get spent in a way that doesn't make the industry seem so cold, heartless, and cruel?

In the second example, according to what you seem to assume, a bunch of idiots actually try to pick on a company for an idiotic reason. Let's assume that they win anyway. I get my 20 cents, you get nothing, because you didn't join the suit (thanks . . . otherwise I'd have gotten 19 cents) and the law firm gets 10 bajillion dollars, purchases a planet, and leaves the unjust world behind. But Dell, having learned a lesson, hammers its contracted manufacturer to either retool for better components, or risk being replaced. It then realizes that it was more expensive to screw the consumers over than to just replace the boards in the first place. It rewrites the corporate policy to include that, under special circumstances (like defective parts) they will consider just bearing the cost of repairs, and then passing them on to their suppliers instead of the consumer (ala nvidia getting the bill for warranty repairs). They allow their Indian workers to 'override' certain warranty limitations when it seems that customer loyalty is in the balance. By jove, they give a license for employees to stand behind their products (remember that world?) Suddenly, the computing world seems somehow better for the consumer. A waste of time?

Not if you have any working concept of fairness or business ethics in your mind. All is not a matter of dollars and cents in this world, I don't care what business week and the Journal say. Whew, I hope that helps. Because I am going to get carpal tunnel trying to persuade you