No Vista upgrade for refurb. systems?

I ordered my notebook on Oct. 27th from outlet store, I ordered it by calling thier 800 number since I had alot of trouble with thier buggy outlet website. Anyhow, I asked the rep. before I ordered my system if the notebook, the one in my sig, qualify for the Vista upgrade, and he clearly said YES. Yesterday I visited the https://www.dellvistaupgrade.com/default.aspx to see if this's true. But, it showed a message " your system doesn't qualify for the upgrade blah blah.." I e-mailed them at [email protected] which's the e-mail address that DELL costumer support chat lady gave me. Today I recieved this e-mail from them:

Has anyone who bought from outlet managed to get thier system qualify for this promo? I'm not gonna take NO for an answer from DELL, I'll fight this BS since the rep. told me my order does qualify.

 

This sounds like the moron that tried to sell me a notebook based on the fact I qualified for an 18month no interest buy out program. He told me a couple times I qualified. Guess he didn't expect me to read the contract! If I didn't, I would have signed up for $700 worth of interest fees.

Moral... don't trust your sales rep unless you get something in writting!

 

Dont go by the website! I had the same problem and i called them they said they wre having problems with the site and were fixing it.
So give them a call before you get to pissed off.Like i almost did. LOL

 

I didn't trust him
But I couldn't find the answer anywhere in thier website before I bought the system, whether refurb. systems qualify or not. I was gonna buy the system anyway, but since that guy told me it qalifies for the promo, I'll fight it.

 

I had that problem too, demand to speak to a customer care manager, and you'll need to exchange the system for one that is eligible for the vista upgrade, the sysytem you bought was originally sold prior to the program, therefor it is ineligible, the exchange was free, and pretty quick, and they gave me a few upgrades, though none that I really wanted, I orderd through small buisiness, if you went through home it might be a little harder

 

Did you buy your system from outlet store? I read old posts about the issues poeple're having with the dellvistaupgrade website, but I think thier systems are not refurb.

 

Call customer service.My laptop is brand new and qulifies but the site said it didnt,I called customer service and they took care of it. Just have your service tag# handy.

 

Yeah, I'll do that for sure. I was wondering what other people's experience who bought from outlet store.

 

it took me about 7 long phone sessions before I finally had enough and said I wanted my money back , they immediately put me through to the manager and the issue was resolved in about 5 minutes, you will have to excahnge the system though, its your copy of windows thats keeping you from getting the upgrade, it was issued before the program started, and they cant change any software on outlet systems for any reason, the exchange will be for an exact or slightly better one that was issued after the program started

 

Did they send you a "brand new" system for your refurb. one? with same or better specs?
I did upgrade the memory and the hard drive, sold the old ones on craiglist, so not sure how should this work, send them the system without the hard drive and memory?

 

put the self upgraded parts in the new system and put the other parts in the one being returned, just tell them you cant be without your pc and they will send you the replacemnt first,then you send the other one back

 

I have read through the FAQ's in the dellvistaupgrade.com
All it says is you should have purchased vista capable pc between so and so date. It never mentions that refurb/outlet ones are not eligible.
Today I had a looooong chat (dell chat) and they didnt know what to say...so they asked me to contact customer care......

I had bought my XPS 1210 from the outlet,but surely during this time period...
The website says I am not eligible...but I wanted to check if anyone who ordered refurb notebooks got a free upgrade? (exchange is an issue since I am not in the "shipped" country now)

 

It is for New systems only, i purchased my refurbished system in the window but the website also lists me as uneligable

 

The vista upgrade is all microsoft, not dell. It is based on the date your win xp COA was issued, and that gets issued when the system is first built, and cannot be changed, refurbs that have a COA dated before the upgrade program are not eligible, if the COA was issued after the program, your all good, if you look at system details in the outlet, it will tell you if its eligible or not.

Before I placed my order, I called dell and asked if I would get the upgrade with my purchase, and was told yes, by 3 people, so when I was told no, I wouldnt stand for it, and eventually they worked something out

I wish dell was more clear about the upgrade regarding the outlet, the staff was also in the dark, but thats it in a nutshell. The system had to be built within the specified time, not just reordered by someone else, and there is nothing dell can do except an exchange, its all based on your COA number

 

What did they work out for you? (iceman)

 

I had to do an exchange for an outlet system that was built after the program started, truth be told the screen on my original system was much much better, but this one will do

 

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/solutions/en/vista_express_upgrade?c=us&l=en&s=gen

 

as stated, its simply a matter of when the COA was issued, some outlet systems are eligible,some are not, if the system was originally ordered new during the upgrade program, your good, if it was originally ordered before, you are out of luck, I kept a record of my case #'s when I asked about my outlet purchase( I made the calls and placed the order on october 26'th, the day the program started), they looked them up and verified what I had been told, thats why they offerd me the exchange

 

I have just visited Dell's Vista upgrade website and entered my information and was approved for an upgrade to Vista Home Premium for $10 plus tax for shipping. My system is a refurbished M1210 purchased before Christmas. Hope this helps!

 

This is what is on www.dellvistaupgrade.com
"In order to be eligible for this program, you must have ordered an eligible Windows Vista Capable1 computer from Dell between October 26th, 2006 and March 15, 2007 with Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 or Genuine Windows XP Professional pre-installed. See list of eligible systems. This redemption must be completed by no later than March 31, 2007 in order to take advantage of the promotional upgrade offer." So now it doesn't say anything about "new" or not...

But this is just one example of where they have an explaination.... there is probably small print elsewhere, and also like Iceman said... nevertheless.. I guess there is some hope?

 

look up your service tag and you can see when it was originally made, if it was before the program started, its going to be a hard battle, that you may not be able to win.....how long have you had it?, if your within the 21 day window you could send it back for a refund and order another one that included the upgrade

 

This is so cruel...my system was originally made on october 22nd....but ordered on Nov 11th... I feel terrible...

 

sorry vishy, I really think dell dropped the ball big time with the outlet/vista program, one simple paragraph outlining whats what would have saved a ton of folks two tons of grief

 

I bought a refurbished machine last week and it is vista approved for the upgrade. The laptop was made in 05 (I think)

 

You either got really lucky or your somewhat mistaken.

 

I talked to 5 CS & HW department, including 2 supervisors and chatted with at least 6 CS & HWD... they all said the same thing, NO upgrade for you. The funny thing is when I talked to one of the supervisors, he told me my system, the one in my sig., was built in Feb 2nd ( I bought it in 10/27/06 ). Did they even have a core2duo back in February? It's a refurb system, but they might have replaced some parts with newer ones or something?? Or is he so full of it!! I was offered a printer as a compensation, but I refused and asked for a gift card ( at least $100 worth ) but was shut down.

 

I actually purchased a Dell XPS M1210 today from the Dell Outlet, it's a scratch and dent, subsequently to that purchase I have made 3 calls to the CS reps and they stated that I did not qualify for the vista upgrade. What laptops are "eligble" for this upgrade? I figured this item would have qualified but now I'm hearing to the contrary. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get my upgrade? I saw numerous threads stating that it depends on the notebooks coa, but I figured this notebook would have surely been built during this time span.

 

ds_61427, easiest way to find it out is this...

http://support.dell.com/support/top...product_support_central?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

put in your computer's service tag and hit GO

after that look at the section near the bottom named "Service Contracts and Warranties"

I bought my computer in January but it shows a date in September as the first item. Meaning someone originally bought it then.

Doesn't fall into the right dates with the COA

 

After chatting with at least 10 of dell rep's, I got a $75 coupon which's not bad at all since they lied to me when I ordered my system back in Oct. 27th and told me the system qualified for the vista upgrade, but turned out my system was built in Feb. 2006 and it doesn't qualify for the upgrade program.

 

Lie is a bit harsh, misinformation from someone who was misinformed is more likey the case. Dell is huge, really huge and at that scale mistakes will be made, especially over an event like this. Thats why its important to keep record of case#'s and get them to send you emails validating what they told you. When I finally talked to a manager, he initially took the hard stance against me, till I backed up my claim, I rattled off case#'s and sent copies of the emails, and he immediately changed his tune and went to work making things right. Dells service is very good overall, and if you dont get hostile with them they will deliver eventually, the stance I try to take with all dealings is to stay calm, be polite and understanding of their position of what they can and cannot do, but make it known quickly that I will not accept no for an answer. The few times that I have lost it and went on a tirade in dealing with similiar situations.....things never panned out, and the end results were me not getting the situation resolved, buying a new phone, and having to do some dry wall repair the following weekend, (if you think dells support is frustrating, try creative labs).

I really do think they simply should have posted a clear easy to understand statement defining what and what is not eligible in the outlet, that would have made life easier for all involved.