Was I just scammed? Seems too good to be true...

Zulu · 04-03-2011 3:57pm #1

Ok I spec'ed out an alienware machine on the dell site. It came in at €1825.89 ex vat & delivery, which was too expensive for me (my upper limit was €1500).

I went onto their online chat and requested a 15% discount (chancing my arm). The agent said they'd arrange a call back, which I promptly got.

The telesales agent couldn't access my basket, but we talked through the order. He said that 15% may be a stretch, but he'd see what he could do. He cam back with an offer of €1535.

Thats pretty much €300 off the bat straight away. So I happily gave him my details, and proceeded.

Now I'm begining to think it was all too good to be true (cynic that I am). Was it? Did I get scammed? (I'm not sure how though)

johndoe99 · 04-03-2011 4:00pm

can you post the specs of the laptop you're getting?

Plazaman · 04-03-2011 4:01pm

Sounds like a good deal to me. The fact you contacted them through their official website/phone line would indicate that the person who called you back was a genuine rep. If he/she is authorised to give that discount then happy days. Devils advocat, did they email you anything or is it just a verbal agreement?

P.S. They look like a nice machine.

Zulu · 04-03-2011 4:10pm

Alienware M11x with:
Intel i7 640UM (4M Cache, 1.20 GHz)
8192MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM (probably over did the memory but...)
1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 335M
256GB Solid State Hard Drive.

Overheal · 04-03-2011 7:58pm

you can get discounts when you ask for them?

erm, yeah. Good stuff. its not DX11 or anything but that doesnt sound like a terrible waste of money. You still paid 50% more than you would have for desktop counterparts but thats about expected. though your ram feels slow to me - is that 800mhz in the cart or on the desktop? On the desktop doesnt account for DDR, meaning you'd basically have 1600mhz ram (which is great) but you'd wanna be sure of that.

Zulu · 04-03-2011 8:09pm

Not sure - how would I find out about the ram?

FrozenUp · 04-03-2011 8:17pm

I'm surprised they offered you a discount simply by asking them, did you literally just ask for 15% off? If so then fair play, I'll be doing the same next time.

mordeith · 04-03-2011 8:26pm

Wouldn't say you were scammed as I got the following for 1,100. Not alienware but an XPS Studio 17. EDIT You're paying a big premium for the SS HD and the extra 4gb of RAM

Base
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 720QM (1.60Ghz, 6MB cache)
Memory
4096MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048]
Video Card
1GB ATI® Radeon™ HD 565v graphics
Hard Drive
500GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
Microsoft Operating System
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit- English

Zulu · 04-03-2011 9:40pm

FrozenUp wrote: »

I'm surprised they offered you a discount simply by asking them, did you literally just ask for 15% off? If so then fair play, I'll be doing the same next time.

Yea, I had a top end of 1500 in my mind, and it was grand without the SSD, but I figured: nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I rang and said what I wanted, and said what my max budget was, and asked for 15%. The salesman said that would be a big ask, but let him see what he could do. Next thing, he said ok if you go today.
Sound. Should be out to me in 10 working days

Was I just scammed? Seems too good to be true...

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