Laptop ordering nightmare.

I've just had a pretty bad story.

Ordered a 1530 on Apr 30th. One week later my credit card gets pinged with a 5-Star cruise in Singapore for over 6,000 dollars. First time anything like this has ever happened, and I buy things online all the time.

As a matter of fact, when the laptop was ordered through Dell it was the first time that card had been used in 6 months. Suddenly a week later someone is taking a pleasure cruise on it. I can't really believe that's a coincidence. I also can't really overlook the fact that the cruise company that charged me was based in Singapore, and that my laptop was most likely being manufactured in Malaysia.

When I found out about all of this yesterday I immediately called the bank. Dell had not charged the card yet because the laptop hasn't shipped. I couldn't leave the card open to more charges after the bank had been notified because I would have been responsible for any further charges. I had to cancel the card. How the bank could let a 6,000 dollar cruise in an East Asian country go through without batting an eyelash is beyond my comprehension.

Afterwards I called Dell. They won't allow me to change the payment method. I couldn't get any real reason from the guy other than 'it's too late'. I went over the situation three times to the tech on the phone and was still having problems explaining everything, language barriers and all that. Ended up digging around and finding an English support number, and was told the same thing. It's too late. I would have to cancel, reorder, and wait another month. Ugh.

I really hate that I'm convinced someone associated with Dell in Malaysia charged the account. I've had nothing but good experiences in the past ordering things for home use and with our Dell sales rep at work. It's a pretty serious accusation to make. All things considered however, the simplest answer is the most likely to me.

A) The card had been inactive for a long period of time. It's used with Dell and a week later this charge shows up.

B) I bought items online earlier in the week, on that same day, and later on in the month with different cards. None of these have been hit. I've checked many times.

So not only did this guy take a cruise on my behalf, he screwed me out of a laptop. I think at this point I'm just going to cancel my order. I was going to use the laptop when I went back to night classes, but they already started last week anyway.

I was wondering if anyone here had heard of any similar situations? Six grand is such a blatant charge I don't believe I can be the only one.

 

Thats a crappy situation.

I doubt Dell had much to do with it. Can you prove anything?

 

A few months ago I got an email from a small bookshop that I'd ordered a single book from years ago. They said their database had been hacked and recommended I change my credit card number. I wasn't even aware that they'd held onto my credit card number. Something like this could have happened at any one of those places you'd ordered from in the past. There's just no way to know for sure.

 

I doubt the Dell order and the bogus charge are related, but I guess you never know.

What I'd find irritating is that Dell has no mechanism to alter the payment information and forces you to start over again. That's crazy.

An odd aside...There was a TWIT (This Week In Tech) podcast a little while back where they were conversing about the controls credit card companies have in place for spotting potential fraud and the types of things that would trigger a call. Dvorak claimed (and suggested that you could test this yourself) that one sure way to trigger a calll from your CC company was to go out and buy two full tanks of gas back to back, and then a pair of Nike's. I'm tempted to try this, but I don't need the shoes.

At least we know that $6000 cruises are safe though.

 

How did you order your laptop?

If you ordered online, was it on your computer or a public computer? Wireless or wired? Which browser? What firewall(s) and antivirus are you running?

If via telephone, landline or cell phone? If landline, wired or cordless? If cell phone, what phone, what carrier, and what band? Also, if via cell phone, were you at home, are you walls thin, or were you in a public place where your credit card information may have been overheard?

Point is, there are so many ways your information could've been stolen. Pointing fingers at one source without considering the rest is foolish, and won't reduce your risk of this happening again in the future. I'd consider it all, and try to modify how you communicate your financial information to prevent this from happening again. Good luck, and hope everything gets resolved satisfactorily.

 

lol dude...you gonna put on the Nike and run? with the credit card?

It's just crazy how sometimes the credit card company overlooks huge transactions while going all out on things like 2 tanks of gas...

To OP: sorry to hear that mate, but really, this credit card breach could be from ANY online stores you have shopped 6 months ago before the Dell purchase. I don't think that someone is able to breach into the Dell DB, and I'm pretty sure the productions ppl at Malasia does not have access to your info. After all, you order in the US, your stuff is processed in the US and then Dell sends an order to its base in Malasia and tells them what to make...

 

That is one thing that I hate about dell, everything is fine if you order exactly what you want, give them the correct home and billing address.. But once you want to make any changes, to anything related to your order, they will have to cancel your order, re enter all the new information, and move your ESD later..

 

No, there's no definitive way I can say that's what actually happened. Like I mentioned earlier, mostly circumstantial but I don't think it's a coincidence. I won't rule out that I'm wrong, however.

The computer isn't a public computer. Essentially it's only turned on to order online from one of four retailers, or an occasional game. I don't do much surfing on it. I work in IT for a small company. I'm at my workstation all day and when I get home I don't feel much like getting in front of another PC all night. I do connect to the internet wirelessly, but the AP is locked down. It wouldn't matter much anyway. I live in a rural area and there are no neighbors for at least a quarter mile on each side. The PC is formatted and set up again at least twice a year (I'm OCD about that), and it's set up to keep virus/sypware/firewall updated.

Because of the nature of my job I can't rule out user screwup. I see it all the time. It's just strange to me that none of the other cards I use very regularly have been touched. I mean at all. I order online on almost a weekly basis. This card was inactive for 6 months. 6 months. I only gave it to one retailer, and a week later it was hit. In a country that's so close I can't ignore. I immediately, for better or worse, came to this conclusion when I saw my statment. I've seen that 'Made in Malaysia' tag on many laptops I've serviced at work.

Could be I'm just so pissed about the whole thing I need some kind of scapegoat. Add the fact that I won't get the laptop I've waited three weeks for and that just compounds everything.

Tha bank has most of my ire, really. My charge account at work will call if I eat lunch somewhere out of the ordinay. Apparently this bank is full of high rolling globetrotters and a charge like this was nothing out of the ordinary.

 

I'd say based on your logic, someone at Dell very well could have been involved in it. There are just too many "coincidences" for it to be a chance happening.

I've found that often the simplest solution is the one that presents itself most plainly. And in this case, the logic adds up properly, and pawning it off on blind chance seems a bit of a stretch.

 

I would agree that someone at Dell could have taken your information down. Did you do any investigating yourself such as call the cruise line and ask them what's up? Also, who is your card issuer? Some are pretty neurotic when it comes to abnormal activity.

I remember one time I had used a gift card at the gas station then used my credit card to top it off and it ended up only being like 3 or 4 dollars worth. Later that night I went to purchase a Mac Mini from Apple online and got shut down by Chase. What people tend to do after they steal credit cards is run to a gas station and grab a few dollars worth of gas to check if the card is still active then go on a spending spree.

Also, I definitely agree Dell has a bad ordering system if that if you make any changes it gets changed to a new order altogether.

 

A Mac Mini? I doubt it had anything to do with suspected fraud. Chase was probably just trying to do you a favor and save you from making an expensive mistake. If only they'd been that thorough a few years ago when I bought a Packard Bell.

 

Haha too true. That was the loudest little machine ever, the fan ran at full speed the entire time.

 

I've found the company that charged the credit card online. It appears to be a legitimate cruise company. I have emailed them, as it looks like they do some business in English. I will wait a few days on a reply, and if I haven't seen anything I'll bite the bullet on international charges and stay up late to call.

Just to be clear, I'm not implying some massive Dell fraud conspiracy here. It could be one employee or a small group with one who has access to financial records. Add in an itch to take a nice vacation. It looks as simple as that. I wouldn't think most fraud cases would involve high dollar cruises paid for in advance. Seems the type of crime where you just grab as much as you can locally and get out of dodge before anyone notices.

I have never been on a cruise before, but from talking with others who have there is a chance the ship hasn't even left for the cruise that was charged yet. Depending on open spots you might pay for a cruise upwards of 90 days in advance. If this is the case I would get some small satisfaction out of cancelling the cruise before it started. I don't believe this will happen, however.

 

Sounds like you're making up this story.

If you don't use the card and all of a sudden you place $6000 on it, then most cards will freeze the card. Second of all, if the charge hasn't been placed (and it hasn't) for the laptop, you can just hold payment and cancel the order. Third of all, if the guy "from Dell" actually did this, then it should be relatively easy to arrest him, since he's having the tickets billed and sent to him. Fourth of all, your stories are pretty boring.

 

I think it would be more satisfying if the police waited for him in his cabin and arrested him as he thinks he got away with it.

Yeah it's probably just one rogue employee. You see this happen when some asshat gets hired at a place and has access to information that they can't handle responsibly.

 

I just have to ask...Why the hell would someone make this up? I mean are there people out there that get so bored that they make up random stories on computer forums? If so then then I'm kinda scared of what's happening to this world but if not then I hope this guy gets his money back...

Good luck =)

 

It'd be even more satisfying to be waiting in the cabin for the perps, have 5 minutes with them so you could cram a boot the size of a cruise ship up their ....., then have the police show up 10 minutes later without any interest whatsoever about why you were just there.

 

Um, making up stories and getting people to respond to them is common practice on the Internet. It's possible this has occurred, however the holes in the story are too numerous. It sounds like it was written by someone in high school.

 

Weird I didn't know people were that sick.

 

Sorry you hate me for posting a negative experience in a Dell forum. Even though I plainly said I'm more peeved with the credit card company than Dell, regardless of the fact that they don't want to let me change payment method. I've called three times. If you know of some magic Dell 1-800 number where the answer to your request is always yes, then please share. I'd love to get my laptop without waiting another month. I was really looking forward to getting it.

My initial purpose of posting was to find out if anyone who ordered a Dell laptop had heard of a similar experience, or been through one themselves.

I suppose I could post screencaps of financial statements or call up Dell again and post a recording here. That would be extremely stupid however, and you would still probably call Photoshop or Pro Tools on it. I know the cliché.

I'm not here to convince you of anything. My initial purpose for posting here was for information. I've been reading these forums for quite a while, it's just a shame that the events that prompted me to post were negative ones.

 

What information were you sharing with us? Some convoluted story about how someone rolled you AND Dell wouldn't let you change charge methods? Let me guess, next week it'll be "my screen was grainy and I called Dell and they sent over a technician and the technician beat me up and had his way with me."

 

I was looking for information. Others who possibly knew something about similar things happening.

Thanks for derailing.

 

OK, well, here's your information:

1) Credible credit cards flag charges that are unusual in activity (e.g., you don't use the card for months and then suddenly order a $2000 laptop AND a $6000 cruise).

2) Credible credit cards will then freeze the card and not allow the transaction to go through until you contact them.

3) Credible credit cards do not allow someone to place a charge to an address other than the billing address without authorization. So unless the guy picked up his tickets from your mailbox (let me guess, he did), that's hilarious.

4) Assuming everything DID occur, it would be easy to find out who he was by simply tracking the transaction to the address indicated, which is why people who steal credit cards usually just go to local stores and buy things there.

5) As far as your one possible point -- that Dell didn't let you change payment methods -- even that is pretty phony. I just haven't tried it. But I would bet that your card would let you cancel an order before it was shipped because it hasn't been charged yet.

So anyways, write some better stories.

 

It's OBVIOUS somebody at Dell took your info, don't listen to any fanboys trying to defend Dell in here. In my field we do a lot of online business and it's damn scary giving your CC info to anyone located in all but a FEW countries.

We block orders from all over the world because of the high likelihood of fraud.

Sorry you had such a horrible experience with Dell, but I am not surprised.

 

I fairness here, it's unlikely that Dell had charged his card for the laptop, since it hadn't reached the shipping stage. Whether they placed some sort og hold on it that the CC company would detect, I don't know.

 

It has nothing to do with Dell. The credit card company will do all of this. I've used a number of credit cards and had things like this happen when I make occasional big-ticket purchases.

 

I was just getting ready to shut things down and start packing in preparation of my free cruise to Singapore when I stumbled upon your message!

If I were you, I'd look at Dell Outlet. Save yourself some money, get same day shipment, and the same 21-day return priviledges.

 

Wow, you're awesome! You do that, and yet Dell -- a large company with high-volume charges -- can't figure it out?!?! OMG, U R RITE! We're just fanbois!!!!!!!!!!

 

Ugh.

What's the number you call to get 'legit' Dell service then? I called:

1-800-624-9897

Got the 'sorry no' response twice. Then I called up the sales rep assigned to our work account, and she gave me this number:

1-800-456-3355

I called that once and got the same answer.

And yes, I do find it completely ludicrous that no one at Bank of America (information!!) found it odd that a 6,000 dollar international charge on a card with a zero balance was not the least bit suspicious. Especially since I hadn't had any other charges related such as a plane ticket to get to Singapore, so I could take my cruise ( http://www.fivestarsonline.com/ information!!!)

If you're looking for an answer from me on that one, you won't get one. It's beyond my comprehension. I've canceled the card and I'm done with them after this blows over.

You're even calling me phony based on something you haven't even tried before, like changing a payment method on an order? Really? Logic?

 

No, if you actually read my post, you'd see that was the one part of the story that I didn't definitely doubt. I probably only doubt that about 80%.

The rest of your story was 100% pure B.S. But whatever. Like I said, I could write some story about how a technician Dell sent over took me hostage and then smuggled me over the border in a human trafficking incident and now I work to assemble Dells in Malaysia. Does the fact that you cannot disprove that mean that I'm not making it up, even though it sounds completely fake? I guess not, in your world.

 

Not true. That's what should happen, but not necessarily what does happen.

Definitely not true.

 

I had a feeling there might be 'fake' replies, this is the internet after all. I just didn't think anyone would be so fervent about it. I'm waiting for you to somehow work Hitler or Nazis into this.

I read it. Doubt is doubt. I should ask you the same thing considering you think that Dell has already charged me for the laptop:

The laptop hasn't shipped. You are charged when it ships. I wanted to change payment information so that I would still be able to get the laptop.

For the final time. what is the phone number you call to get customer support to give you straight answers with 'yes' to all your requests?

I really do want the laptop.

 

Did you hear the one about how a Dell technician smuggled me across the border and forced me to assemble Dells in Malaysia?

 

Or for that matter, does anyone have a number I can call to get a hold of someone who can tell me what I can do, if anything at all? I would have called our sales rep again but it's a holiday weekend.

 

I wonder if the evil "Dell sales representative" is also going to remodel his house using that credit card. I would!

 

The sales offices are located in India. That would be where you would have placed your order and gave your credit card number. Malaysia is where your notebook is assembled, I would be quite surprised if the factory workers have access to your credit card information.

The most incredible part of your story is the cruise. Only a complete idiot would purchase a cruise ticket fraudulently. Might as well have purchased a weekend getaway to a penitenciary...

 

Whaaaaa? You don't believe his story????????

 

I like the guy's thought process, however:

"I want to do something and Dell won't let me. So I'll go on the Internet and talk about how a Dell sales rep took my credit card and went on a cruise with it and nobody can do anything about it. Then I'll NEVER talk about the cruise again because it's no biggie and keep asking questions on how to get Dell to allow me to change payment methods."

WINNER!

 

You are threading treacherous waters with your comments quoted above. I would strongly recommend you not use such terms lightly.

 

To be fair, I was going to work Hitler and Nazis into my next post.

 

Probably some random people hired by HP to do some Dell bashing by coming up with stories like these.

 

1) The charge for the cruise sucks, but it's a non-issue now. I called and notified the bank, they told me I'm not liable for the charges. That was the first order of business. The second one was to change payment on the laptop. I couldn't. This is a Dell forum. Folks here purchase computers through Dell. I was hoping perhaps someone had a similar experience or knew a number I could call with knowledgable, english speaking support so I could get a straight answer. I don't hate having to call India for support, but sometimes the language barrier makes it frustrating. That's as simply as I can break it down.

2) I never said it was a sales rep.

 

Was it Michael Dell?

 

And I'm glad you didn't...

 

I think I'll go with Stalin instead.

 

Only because I like to say "gulag."

 

Just to get back to topic...

To the OP: If you still want a unit fast, there's still the Dell Outlet Route. These units are refurb / pre-assembled and carry the full factory warranty, and you should get it much sooner than a new model since there's no assembly time. Best of all, you can return it within 21 days if not satisfied for any reason, with zero out-of-pocket costs. These units usually look (near) new out of the box and have very low sticker prices.

 

The Dell Outlet options for 1530's is pretty weak right now. Nothing better than a 2.2 ghz processor, and no 256 MB graphics options. Just lower end 1530's right now.

Fifty bucks and a taco salad says that the backorders on new 1530's has driven guys to clean out the higher end Outlet 1530's. Nothing left but the dregs.

 

Thanks. I'll look at the Dell Outlet as an option. There's also a Dell brick and mortar that's about a two hour drive from here. I was thinking about just going in there and picking one up, but I don't know if I can get the Higher Education discount in there.

 

All of a sudden you don't care that you still have a laptop charged to your credit card that they won't drop? Sheesh, first you ignored the cruise and now this.