Another Dell Nightmare

A friend of mine read my previous article about the "Nightmare of Buying a Dell" and had a few things to say. He is so angry he can't see straight and there doesn't seem to be anything he can do to rectify the problem.

"I bought the lousy thing more than two years ago," he muttered, "made my payments on time and even paid double a few times. Now, checking my Dell account, I discover that I owe them MORE than the original balance!"

I did a little asking around and discovered that the Dell payments cover interest only. It doesn't sound that bad, I guess. People think that once the interest is paid, they'll start having their monthly payments go against the principal. That's not how it actually works, as far as I've been able to determine. The interest apparently grows as no payments are made against the principal, in spite of the money paid every month on the interest. So you can conceivably pay on a Dell for several years and have your debt grow instead of decrease. That's apparently what happened to my friend.

Another problem with buying a Dell computer is that they aren't very good at keeping mailing addresses straight. When he moved a couple of months ago, he called Dell and told them about the move. He gave them the new address. The first month's bill came to his new home and he paid it. The second month, however, the bill was "lost" in the mail. Sent to the old address and not forwarded. When he realized the bill hadn't arrived, he asked his wife to contact Dell and find out what had become of their bill. She was informed that since the computer was in her husbands name, she had no right to make any changes and they didn't know anything about the change of address. The operator who handled the call had to bother my friend at work, ask him a lot of questions he had answered when he put his wife on the account two years before. The operator (after noting that the call could be recorded) agreed to drop the late fee, since it was Dell's fault, and would send the new bill to the proper address. When his wife called Dell back a day or two later, they still insisted that the late fees applied and the barely English-speaking man on the Dell end of the conversation was hardly polite about it.

I hope my friend gets the mess straightened out soon. He should have bought a Gateway or an HP, but like so many people, he fell for the false promises that Dell makes. Bet he doesn't ever buy another one!

Suggestions for those buying a new computer.

Suggestion One... Be sure about their financing before you sign anything.

Suggestion Two... Notify them by registered mail anytime you move. That way they can't pretend not to know about it and charge you late fees for their mistakes.

Suggestion Three... Make larger payments that the minimum. This should whittle down the principal a little quicker, depending on how much extra you send.

Suggestion Four... Be sure that the computer you buy has everything you want and nothing you don't. They can charge you extra for unnecessary additions while giving you less than you request of something else. Then they charge you to add what you really wanted. Dell is really bad about this part.

Suggestion Five... Make sure your computer can be repaired close to home. Don't expect them to send a repairman if you buy a Dell. All your warrantees can be cancelled if you have someone fix it who isn't a Dell repairman. Sending the machine away to be repaired may not be such a hot idea, either. If they can't remember your address to send you a bill, what makes you think they'll remember where to return the repaired computer?

In short, choose your new computer very carefully. Investigate everything about the company. Talk to others who own the same brand and ask plenty of questions. It's a pretty big commitment, and takes years to pay off. Make sure you buy wisely