People that got a refund for their Dell laptop, could you please check this thread?

The customer service adventure has begun, damn never before in my life have I had such an enigmatic answer. If you check on Dell's website, they say they *could* charge you 15% fees for a refund. And by could, I mean really could.

The young lady I just spoke too was so enigmatic about my question. I asked her what those fees were all about. I'll be short. I get an m1530 and I'm really hesitating between the 1440x900 and 1680x1050 resolutions like I stated in other threads. All my local stores, including the dell counter have no 15.4 inches laptop with a 1680x1050 resolution and no 1440x900 either so I get no chance to compare them. I already went the safe route which is the 1440x900 resolution which I bought 2 days ago, no problem, already confirmed over the phone the order was valid, all in all is good.

Since then, I've been thinking a lot about my choice and I'm scared I could regret. So I had an idea today, why not buy the 1680x1050 also, get both at my place, compare them and return the one I don't want. So I called customer service and have been very straight with no lie about my plan, which would be to return one of the laptop and asked them if there would be any problem for me to return one of the laptop (I'm nervous about my choice, but not enough to get stuck with a 2nd laptop). They said there would be no problem.

So here comes the 15% fees question. I don't want either to pay 15% on 1800$ just to compare 2 screen resolutions.

Here was the lady answer: "It depends if you are an individual or a company. Based on your purchase, let's say it's 5k$, we could ask for those fees."

So I then insisted on the fact the total price determines the fees and that my purchase would be around 1.8k$.

Her: "Not really, to be honnest, it depends on which agent you speak to and which department you end up with for the return labels".

So I'm like, are you telling me if I end up on an agent that insists on having those 15% fees on my return I should just hang up and speak with another?

Her: *Nervous laugh* "Well yeah, that's pretty much about it, but there should be no problem, you should not pay those fees".

Can I just yell a big wtf? How professional that you just end up in the 15% fees lottery today?

Really, anybody had any problem with that?

 

Are you talking about a re-stocking fee?

 

Yes exactly

 

Yeah, that is some weird wording. The way I took it is if there is anything wrong with the notebook, then you will not be charged the fee, but if you just changed your mind, then they will charge you from 0 - 15% based on the condition of the notebook and inclusion of all the original parts when they receive it. I returned a 1520 a couple of weeks ago. Told them the screen was not good and the battery was loose in the bay, and one more thing, I forget. And they refunded all my money without questioning me. (After receiving it back.) I didn't have to pay any shipping, either.

Surely you can find some notebook (not necessarily a Dell) that has WSXGA resolution you can checkout.

 

This has been addressed a hundred times over. CSRs cannot tell you anything about the restocking fee as they are not trained on Total Satisfaction Program.

Seek and the answer is there again and again...

You wont pay the fee. I never and, in fact, I only know of one who ever did and thats because he refused his system on delivery.

EDIT...wait you cannot do that and you will probably have to pay the fee...and why would you expect different? The system is bult for you. Once you refuse one, it cannot be sold as new again so Dell loses money. The parts are then refurb.

Why would you expect different or, why would you believe you can cheat them like so?

 

Hence the reason I asked if it was possible for me to do so, which seemed no problem to 2 different agents over the phone.

 

The agents are nt trained on this program..only the warranty people.

 

Hmm I'll double check before doing any move then, thanks for the info.

 

You're costing Dell money just to compare two screen resolutions. Just set your 1440x900 monitor to 1680x1050 and if you like the extra screen real estate, yet smaller text, you could ask Dell to replace your monitor. The natve 1680x1050 monitor would look a bit sharper and give you more screen real estate, but text and web pages will look smaller and might be hard to read.

w00t! I'm tEh PwNZerZ 0f TeH 400 pOstZ.

 

Can you push a 1440x900 resolution screen to 1680x1050? Are you sure about that?

 

Yeah. Right-click on the homescreen and click Personalize, then display settings, then change the resolution. You're just displaying more pixels on the 1440x900, the native 1680X1050 will only look a little different in terms of how sharp it is, changing the resolution to 1680x1050 will give you more screen real estate, but everything will look smaller. It isn't worth the hassle of buying another Dell notebook, comparing them, and sending one back just for the resolution difference.

 

Uhhh...that's not true...1440x900 will be the MAX resolution setting on that computer...

 

No you can't do that, unless you're using an external monitor. You can go down from 1680x1050, though.

 

To the OP: let me get this straight, you're going to buy TWO Dells and force them to put them together, ship them to you, ship back a return, and YOU'RE complaining and whining? Seriously, who are you that you expect people to essentially come to your house to show you their computers and allow you to audition them at your leisure? I can understand you returning a computer if you were dissatisfied, but to knowingly order random computers for home comparison is a farce. People like you are the ones who lead to restocking fees, ever thought of that before?

 

Woah? I've never complained about the fact Dell had fees or not, I was complaining about the poor answer I've received over the phone after telling them what I wanted.

I could also whine at the fact the Dell counter in my city barely has 5 laptops/desktops in display and that you can barely get an idea of what you're gonna get before buying. Yes hp won't come at my place to show me their laptop but if I want to see a specific model, there's a good chance I will be able to see it in a store where they actually sell hp's. Now you will tell me I have the choice of going with another company than Dell which is 100% right, but I'm pretty sure Dell wants the most customers possible and by that, I'm meaning I'm about to throw 1.8k$ on a laptop and yes, I want to make damn sure I made the right choice by not simply clicking an option over the net.

I've spent over 25 hours shopping online, yes online, because the 3 vendors at the Dell counter were not even able to answer questions as simple as the speed of their HDMI port or the availability of their screen resolutions, because also the CSR I spoke to on dell's chat recommended me a 1680x1050 screen because it was great for gaming and that they were using m1530's at the office (what, do you game at the office?) and quickly proceeded to deviate the question away with lack of information on my answer. And now, the CSR person not even being able to answer my question regarding fees or not when I've been straight forward to the point with no lie at all. I can't believe also some people are force to go shop around to compare screen resolutions on competitors brand to make sure they make the right choice. That's like looking for a specific brand of car and having to go check a competitor's car to make sure you like the new type of engine they put in it.

Believe me, I have other things to do then test computers at home. I never laughed at the fact Dell could charge me fees if I did in fact, buy another laptop to compare. I'm whining about the fact I wasn't able to get simple and straight answer to a simply and straight question on an unclear information on Dell's website. I do to work in a company that does offer customer service and let me tell you I know no phone agent that would not look for the right answer before giving the information. So please, before seeing me as the evil customer that will force Dell to build 2 computers, please, reconsider your position.

 

Let me get to your supposed complaint in a second, but I'll address a few things in your post first:

Like I said, there's a difference between buying a laptop with the intention of keeping it and perhaps being dissatisfied -- that's the reason there IS a return policy. I'm not saying you have to keep a thing you hate. But you're saying, "I'm buying a laptop with the intention and premeditation of returning it." That's completely different. Also, your complaint is pretty weak in this day and age. You can go onto cnet.com and see video of the laptops, you can read customer reviews everywhere, you can post questions here and read about concerns. In other words, you could actually do research. Is it EXACTLY the same as holding and touching the model? No, you're right. But is it like you're getting a mystery box and thinking, "gee, wonder what's in here?" Not at all. I got my M1530 and it was 95% what I thought it was going to be.

Now, as to your "actual" complaint, I've worked in customer service before when I was growing up and the reason they won't give you a straight answer is because there isn't one. Most businesses know there's no point to having rules because a lot of people are unethical. If I tell you there's a restocking fee, guess what? You'll just go, "oh, OK, well then I'm going to buy my computer, claim there's a defect, return it, ask you to reconfigure it when you send the replacement, force you to cancel the original order and place a new one, blah blah blah." And you basically make it so ridiculous for the business that they go, "screw it, just give this baby what he wants, it's clear he's going to be an ass about this." I saw a guy at a Home Depot -- and they have a return policy -- and he was returning a carpet cleaner. Clearly he had bought it, washed his carpets, and was now claiming it was "defective" (he didn't want a replacement, either). Har har har, he's such a winner. Good job, pal, you saved $100 on carpet cleaning. And if they give him a hard time, then he'll do what you're doing: run around talking about how draconian the Home Depot return policies are.

 

In all truth, no resolution is "better", some people may prefer one resolution on some size screen, but you aren't going to get a solid answer so Dell's CSR won't know which is best for you. You'd need to compare them to see which one is best for you, but costing Dell 1.8k to compare two resolutions is ridiculous. Personally, I prefer 1440x900 on a 15" screen and on a 17" screen.