A friend of mine ordered a Dell computer online from Dell in Malaysia. The price was to be paid by 12 instalments interest free, a good gimmick by Dell Malaysia. But caveat emptor!! (buyers beware!)

There is a catch! Buyers who are not awared will be caught by a nasty surprise as my friend did.

You provide the credit card info to be charged 1/12th of the price. My friend was shocked to be charged the full price on the first month's statement. Upon complaints and enquireies, they said a mistake was made when a salesman who took the ordser was replaced by another salesman, but the new salesman was not briefed by the previous salesman about the agreed charge by 12 instalments.

My friend was in a dilemma as he didn't have so much money to pay in 1 go. Eventually he tried to borrow from his parents to make the payment on his credit card statement, but his parents thought him irresponsible and refused. Eventually I had to lend him part of the purchase price to help a friend out.

He knew he could easily pay that off by 1/12 of the price every month out of his salaries. The full price was 3 times his monthly salary, so he was caught in a jam.

What do you people think? I think it's a sly business trick to say the least, if calling it a scam is too harsh. I did advise legal or other action for ,isleading marketing, but the lawyer we consulted said it's not worth fighting such a large corporation; that they woukld surely be able to dig out some fine print to show that the 12 months interest free option is completely at their discretion.

Should we allow Dell Malaysia to get away with such tactics? I say we boycott Dell Malaysia products. What say you, please?

Adbul Damit
Brunei

could it be an honest mistake by the salesperson? I'm sure dell will not risk its reputation by doing something like that

maybe some technical mistake. your friend still can't get the instalment after complaining to dell? I think it should be quite easy for them to change the credit card charges.

I took up Dell's installment plan twice and found no problems. One was paid up early last year and another one was recent.

Remember 1 thing when ordering online... always call up the customer care upon receiving the confirmation e-mail. This is to verify the order and to amend any changes. By doing so, u get to speak to the salesperson.

go up there, and complaint.....sitting there and whining doesnt help. to me, dell is quite ok....if they made a mistake, then they will 'correct' it and u should ask ur fren to tell them.

currently payin the 2nd installment for this xps... the sales phone me up to comfirm my installment 1 wor...mayb ur fren jz too unlucky...

hmmm..i also kena once when i bought my 22" lcd monitor. I thought i opt for the 12 month installment plan. i order online so there is an option to check whether to pay full amount or later option. So i think i remember i check that installment option. But when the bill came, it was a full amount.
So i called up DELL, apparently they said i did not check that option base on their record. There is nothing DELL can do about it. So i have no proof to back me up n i wasn't 100% sure i check the option. Well like the stories go, i pay the full amount. what to do..

^ as stated above. speak to a REAL person is the best way to confirm your order. I'm not sure if dell record their telephone conversation or not... (can use as proof if got problem)

yeap... dell do record tel conversation for feedback purpose... so i think they have records... btw i think its just a mistake by the salesman (everybody makes mistake right).... i called them before and i find they provide very good services.. they usually follow up after u bought their product or u have used their services...

I've a friend who's purchased from Dell, twice. Both using installment plans.

No problems up till now.

It's a mistake on their side...I don't see why your friend went along with paying it in full amount and asking parents for money. Pretty silly

By the way, what credit card did your friend use? Installment plan are only for Maybank and Citibank card (certain Citibank Card like Cash Ready don't have this priviledge).

I bought 3 times from Dell and so far no problems. The only time is when I use Citibank Cash Ready card which I was inform by my bank that the card don't have the Installment plan.

@abduldamit most of the ppl here said its okay... so i guess its not a scam... its basically a mistake done by dell... you may blame them for that mistake but not for scamming... so i guess ur boycott thing is off... too bad... maybe u should poll and see the result... haha...

Personally, i would enquire with Dell's representative regarding this problem. I personally used the Dell's 0% 12 month Installment plan before when purchasing my LCD monitor and its good. Not like what you said about them charging at one go during the first month.

Try clarify with Dell as there might be some misunderstanding there.

ive bought my laptop from dell as well and have had no such problems....

I have no problem buying 22 LCD using installment, my fren have bought 3 notebook by installment and also no problem...

i dun want to boycott dell... dell have the best services support.

This post has been edited by shoden: Mar 7 2008, 10:08 AM

In return there's no suchs things 0% intrest installment plan, u still need to pay for handling fees 4-5% from total amount of product. Unless the product itself got very high margin profit or the retailers already mark up the price.

I took my previous lappie frm dell too....installment but how many %?
Yeah for installment you cant have 0% interest rate also

This post has been edited by Bigblock: Mar 7 2008, 10:55 AM

i purchase using installement also...no problem with it for 2 lcd and a laptop

it must be the salesperson error..

installment? i got no problem with that. why dont u just ask ur friend to call dell or the salesperson?

Hi all,

Thanks for all the response. Sorry for the delay, but I have been travelling.

Of course my friend called the salesman many times, over and over again, arguing and arguing, until my friend was close to tears. The first salesman is no longer there, and the second salesman said he knew nothing of the 12 instalments request. Shouldn't the employee taking over a job from a previous employee get the full facts right?

He told my friend that the charge has already been made and there is NOTHING that can be done. You people are right, of course that's not true - they can simply reverse the 1 lump sum charge and charge another 1 by 12 instalments. Why wouldn't they go that extra bit to resolve the problem caused by Dell's changing of salesman to handle an order in the middle?

If Dell was genuine in wanting to give the 12 instalments interest free deal, and a mistake has been made to charge 1 go, they should be happy to help out. You people are right again, many people must have taken the offer of 12 instaments. I personally know a couple of others who have taken the same offer.

What I am so shocked about was that after introducing my friend to Dell's offer, they wouldn't do this deal just 1 more time as they do thousands of other times, even after I personally also tried to coax them to be lenient! Their answer has been a consistent "too bad, nothing we can do about it now, company policy".

I hate these employees using "Company Policy" to end all arguments. It cannot be Dell's policy to and cause anguish and antagonise customers. After some of my friends and myself called them and said that if they don't re-instate the 12 instalments charge instead, none of us would ever buy a Dell again, and we would tell everyone we ever come across never to buy Dell either, and you know what the simpleton said? "Up to you. Company Policy"

The Credit Card used was Maybank MasterCard, so that's not an issue. There was nothing to tick on the order form, just had to inform them at a phone call that 12 instalments was required. Trouble in this case was the salesman who took that order then passed it to another new moron, who is a block-head as well, refusing to have anything to do with the good vibe Dell obviously was trying to create about thmeselves.

for TS,
when a payment is appear" Accepted" at credit card's system
everything is done and close
it's impossible to revert anything.
What dell telling is true.
But one thing for sure is, you can complain to their customer service
they SURE hav voice record. Ask them what will they do for the compensation

There is a 14-day satisfaction policy implement by Dell right? If there is and it's within this time period, maybe your friend can return the laptop and ask for refund.

Or maybe your friend can liaise with the bank to convert it to Installment plan although it may incurred some fee. It's still better than trying hard to cough up the full payment.

really odd, cause it was fine for me (the installments on a maybank platinum) but they did call to say the bank hadn't approved the installment etc (which mom had to wind up doing )

i have been working with this installment stuff before and as far as i know u can certainly change the 1 lump sum back to installment but it is quite troublesome... i personally did it a few years back when i was working (now studying)... for me its quite troublesome coz there is a few forms to fill and make a hell of a phone call... but for sure u can change it.... anyway i was shock that the dell staff said "up to you, company policy".... no offense but its really funny... hahaha

anyway im not too sure bout how they do it in dell so maybe not all companies change the payment method....

just lodge dispute with your credit card side