Dell returns policy

qwertz

Hi all,

Just got off the phone with Dell. The sales guy told me that Dell has a 7 day returns policy (at least on monitors) if you don't like the product you ordered. Is this true or was he talking rubbish to make a sale? I didn't find any information on the Dell.ie site but they aren't the best when it comes to publishing information. Sales guy also told me that they replace it immediately if you get a dead/stuck pixel when you get a new TFT.

Can anybody confirm that?

Thanks!

pickarooney

This is dependent on where you buy them, but most electronics products have a 7-day return if you don't like policy. It's 14 in some places like, I think, Belgium.
As for TFTs and dead pixels, there are three (I think) cateogries of monitor. The class 1 monitors (most expensive) have a one-pixel return policy, for the other classes it's only replaceable if there are more and they're grouped, e.g. 4 contiguous pixels = replacement . The company is of course allowed to take back a cheap monitor for only one missing pixel if they so wish.
The immediacy of the replacement is questionable. They may mean they come to your house and give you a new one on the spot, but more usually they deliver a temporary replacement while yours is being fixed. In some other cases you have to rturn the monitor yourself and wait for a replacement to be delivered (postal costs are refunded, natch), but I think Dell monitors are made in Ireland so this will probably not be the case.

HTH

Capt'n Midnight

once upon a time Dell customers who rang in late or if the queue overflowed got passed on to the US call centre. Over there it was a 30 day no quibble return.

Caused lots of issues the next day when they called in again...

TFT rules seem to change all the time - if a sales person tells you that get his name and a written agreement that they (not the company) will personally reimburse you if their information turns out to be inaccurate. As if..

qwertz

Good replies, thanks!

I know there are all kinda customer-friendly policies in the US. But that's thy they only have two weeks of paid holidays a year
I mailed Dell, lets wait and see if they bother to reply with a clarification of their present policies.

Any tips on 17/19" TFT's? What's good for photoshop AND shooting games?

Lydesia

If its games just make sure you get one with a low ms response time.
10 Is excellent, but up to 16 will do fine

P

Dr Bolouswki

If purchased through the consumer (rather than business) sector in Dell, you have 7 days under european distance selling laws to INFORM dell of the desire to return the item (even if you don't like the colour) - actual return can be organised at a later date. Ask for an email from the person you wish to return it to acknoledging your request.

Best monitor from dell is the 20" Ultrasharp FP - native res 1600x1200 and 16ms response time - get it online for about 569 ex vat I think... possibly available cheaper through Dell outlet?

The ultrasharp range are all DVI or VGA - value range are VGA

My mate has the Dell 19" Value - no ghosting probs and response time on that is 25ms

I've never seen a Dell with a dead pixel.

Anyway - why buy the monitor from dell? komplett have kick ass tft's with low response times for next to nothing.... and by the way, I work for dell

sceptre

Dr Bolouswki has it to a t. Maybe Dell would have offered it themselves, I don't know but either way they have to because the EU says they do. As LIGHTNING said, responsibility and cost for getting it back to them will lie with the customer unless the company (any company that you've bought from on the net or by mail order) says you don't have to.

Obviously the goods have to be in the same nick they were when you bought them.

Pickarooney correctly mentioned the different classes for TFT monitors. I assume the ones sold by Dell are class 2. Komplett have a writeup on their site about this somewhere that might be worth reading for reference. If they take a monitor back when it has one dead pixel they're being nice (it would drive me nuts so I hope they're nice).

pickarooney

Slightly OT - how do I check my monitor's response time? I have a new 19" Dell TFT (not mine, unfortunately, but on my desk at work) and find it a bit slow to update when scrolling through HTML pages and my file explorer. Hard to explain it exactly, it's as though the lines weren't exactly following the speed of the mouse-wheel.

[edit]I found it in a roundabout way. I couldn't find the model number on the monitor anywhere, and in Device Manager it was just listed as Plug and Play Monitor (twice, for some reason, maybe because both VGA and DVI ports are activated, though only one screen is connected). I right clicked and it autopdated the driver to a Dell one and thus gave me the model number. It turns out it's 20ms.

qwertz

Thanks for all the replies.

If I understand this correctly then I can order the TFT from Dell, take it out of the box, try it in Photoshop and Enemy Territory. If I am happy with regards to the colours and ghosting I keep it, if not I just call Dell and request a RMA and my money back onto my credit card?

pickarooney

LIGHTNING wrote:

An inside tip for you chief, If you want to return it which I bet you want cos DELL monitors rock (unlike some of their notebooks) dont tell the person your returning it cos you dont like, tell them it doesnt work and make up a reason. If you say you just dont like it they will tell you to fark off trust me. However if you say it keeps turning itself off or parts of the screen stop working they will take it back

But won't they just replace it with an identical model then? He's asking about exercising his statutory rights in returning an unwanted product within the specified time limit, not trying to fake an RMA on a working product.

If they give you crap, ask to speak to the person who informed you of your rights to return it within 7 days.

Are you saying that Dell has a policy of welching on an agreement not only propsed by them but guaranteed under law? Or is it simply to avoid the postage on the return, and Dell will refund it fully if he asks without testing the returned monitor?

geecee

I bought a inspiron 510m from Dell on monday of last week...

I bought it through my companies business manager, but it was a personal purchase, sent to my home address using my personal credit card

The laptop arrived on thursday, Not "thin and light" as advertised and with bad LCD display (shadows in corners)

I rang dell to say i wanted to return it but they refused... They said because i bought it through the business sales channel it was considered to be a business purchase and i was not allowed to return it...

This is despite the fact that it was bought by me for me!

All they were willing to do was replace the faulty screen.... and that was after 2 hours of "testing" over the phone with a tech

My company ordered 150K worth of stuff from dell last year.... if i have my way we will not send another cent of business their way .

As for the laptop... highly not recommended... its a brick!

pickarooney

Did you weigh the laptop and compare with the specs you studied carefully before buying it, or have you a gripe with the subjective description of "thin and light". For what reason did you purchase it through the company, if not to save taxes?

geecee wrote:

All they were willing to do was replace the faulty screen.... and that was after 2 hours of "testing" over the phone with a tech

The screen was faulty and they're going to replace it. What else did you want, exactly?

geecee

I objected to the subjective description of "thin and light"

The screen was faulty on arrival and was hence a DOA.
I'm wondering now do they even test the notebooks before they ship them out!

I think the DOA more than justifies me losing faith with dell and wanting to get a refund on my purchase....

I spent a whole day on the phone to Dell being passed from Business manager, to tech, to customer support and back to business manager etc etc

I would be interested in hearing what percentage of people who look for a refund on shoddy equipment actually manage to get it....

I didn't purchase it through any company. I purchased it by my personal credit card and had it shipped to my home address.... I used our dell business manager for the sale just for handiness sake as I deal with him 1-2 times a week for orders

fintan

I have a 500m (the older model of the machine you bought) it is thin and light compared to other dell laptops. Also the dell website gives measurments / weights of all their laptops.

The faulty screen is a different problem, but giving out becasue its not what you would deem thin and light, well thats just silly

geecee

Hi Fintan
I'm giving out because I simply don't like the machine and wanted to send it back.

Not liking something is more then enough reason to return goods under modern consumer law...
The fact that the goods were faulty on arrival is even more of a reason to demand a refund....

Under The EU/Dells 7 day rule they are obliged to take it back... however as others pointed out, dell will do anything not to let you return an item...

One such was is to claim that the purchase is a business purchase (as they have done with me).... I'm just warning others so they don't take Dells 7 day return policy (aka "bullsh*t") as gospel.

I'm pretty sure I could take them to the small claims court and get a refund under the 1980 sale of goods and supply of services act... But to be honest its too much effort!

Dr Bolouswki

nder The EU/Dells 7 day rule they are obliged to take it back... however as others pointed out, dell will do anything not to let you return an item...

Consumer law. You bought it through business sales. Consumer laws are for consumers, they don't cover transactions between business's. Regardless of whether this was purchased under your company billing address and shipped to your home, or purchased under your home address, any sales transactions done through business sales fall under Dell's business terms and conditions. Dell deals with plenty of sole traders whose home address IS their business billing address. Consumer law protects consumers. Businesses are meant to know what they are doing. Do you expect dell to foot the bill for building and shipping your laptop, and the cost of getting it returned, simply because you did no research?

I objected to the subjective description of "thin and light"

The dimensions and weights of all laptops are listed on our website and for some models in our brochures. If this was a concern you could have investigated this or asked your salesperson. Advertising always uses enticing and evocative language for products. Interpretation of language is often subjective. "Thin and light" may describe the product well in comparison to say, a brick, but not to, say, a wafer. Just as for instance your arguments may seem rational to say, an imbecile, but not a normal person.

I'm pretty sure I could take them to the small claims court and get a refund under the 1980 sale of goods and supply of services act... But to be honest its too much effort!

Go right ahead. To be honest, when customers approach Dell in a reasonable manner and with legitimate greviances we do our utmost to accomodate them. It's when the don't have a leg to stand on that we cannot comply. It may be some effort to go down a legal route, probably far more effort than actually researching the product you purchased, but if you weren't prepared to do that, you'll hardly do this.

Caveat emptor.