Dell
Dell won't cancel an order to ensure they get some money out of a customer for cancelling

In a nutshell:

I've been a Dell customer for years. I've purchased 2 laptops, a printer, AXIM Pocket PC, etc. I also have a Dell Preferred Account which I've used to make all of the above purchases. Dell has a return policy which is noted on their site. What's not listed is that if you place an order and want to cancel it, you will be given the run around and one way or another, Dell will get at least a 15% restocking fee if you cancel an order. That being said, they flat out refused to cancel my order claiming they would ship the order and then if you contact us after you receive it, you must call to get a return authorization #, pay for shipping (Insured of course) and be subject to a restocking fee.

It's pretty clear that if a customer wants to cancel an order, there's no sense of shipping an order to the customer just for them to turn around and send it back... Unless there's something to gain from doing that. (1) Dell will charge you when the order ships so it's not in their best interest financially to allow you to cancel and not ship (2) Since they've shipped the order, they can initiate the charge and then they have your money so when you return the item, they can now take out 15% for themselves and send you back to rest whenever they feel like refunding... This of course will take longer that it took for them to get paid. (3) Contact customer service does no good... You'll get a call center in India and if you're so lucky to understand everything they're saying they still won't help you especially if you're trying to cancel an order. You'll get pass on to the sales department after they tell you the order can't be cancelled because our systems are automated. And you won't be transferred, they'll give you another number to call... So much for customer service right. I obviously wanted to cancel and they refused to cancel so I cancelled my debit card and ordered a new one, contacted Fedex as soon as the tracking #'s were available and told them I refused delivery and thought that was the end of it.

I then went to my local wal-mart and purchased a Dell XPS 420 for $798... Less than what you'd pay on Dell.com. The plot thickens below... I hate this company now and will never ever purchase directly from them again and I'm paying off my Dell preferred account balance and closing it once my bank resolves my dispute. It's safe to say that the XPS system will be my last Dell brand purchase also.

Oh, I need to mention this. I didn't call to get a return number... I just refused delivery. According to Dell, they will not accept items without this return authorization # and they will not send it back to you if you didn't send it back with one. I never signed for it so technically I didn't send it back to them. They still want your money anyway...

To finish up, see the better business bureau complaint I filed below which includes the case #:

COMPLAINT ACTIVITY REPORT Case # 90147614 The Better Business Bureau

Consumer's Original Complaint:
2/25 - Placed order for a Dell 530 desktop system on my old check card. Estimated ship date when order was 3/19.
2/28 - Email the sales agent (Michael Ruiz) on 2/28 asking to cancel the order because I noticed it had Vista Business bonus installed and I requested Windows XP. No responses from this agent to date.
3/4 - After no responses from the sales agent, I contacted customer service and questioned why the agent took my payment information via a chat session and hasn't responded. I asked this question because I took a survey after the order and answered "No" to a question "Did the sales agent explain the option to pay via online chat?" which made me a little unconfortable. Customer service never answered the question as to why I wasn't told or whether the payment information was secure. I'm not even sure if they understood me over the phone because I could understand half of what they said to me due to their accents (India).
3/6 - After several emails and chats with customer service about cancelling my order, I was flat out told that I could not cancel my order. That I would have to wait until it shipped, contact Dell to get a return authorization # and they pay to have it shipped back... After which they would charge me up to 15% of the purchase price and then take up to 60 days to refund my money.
3/6 - Contacted my bank and had my check card cancelled and ordered a new one.
3/7 - Identified tracking #'s for the order on Dell Website and contacted fedex to refuse delivery of the items. Items have been returned to dell due to refused by customer. Tracking #'s are 134619895404822 and 134619895404839.
3/12 - Per fedex site, items returned to Dell.
3/12 - Noticed a charge for the exact amount of the Dell purchase on my bank account transactions and contacted my bank to file a dispute. According to the bank (partial chat log below):
Gabe: Will you please provide me with the date (s) when the transaction (s) in question posted to your account? Will you please provide me with the dollar amount?
You: today for $714.15
Gabe: I see so it was actually force posted by this merchant. You: I don't know...
Gabe: That would be a force posted debit by the merchant, they contacted us in regards to this. I can file a dispute for you for this. Would you like your claim correspondence sent to the address you've already verified? Also, could you provide me with a valid day and evening phone number where you can be reached for the claim?

Not only did dell flat out tell me I couldn't cancel the order, but they (1) shipped it anyway in order to (2) Get me contact sign for and accept the items, (3) Pay to ship it back to them which (4) gave them the chance to get money from me via a 15% restocking fee which. What type of company refuses to cancel an order, ships items to customers when the customer clearly didn't want the items in order to get some money from the customer as punitive damages for not wanting to cancel an order and (5) last but not least... Forces a debit to a customers account after the customer cancels the original check card and refuses delivery of said items to enact their own cancellation. Answer: DELL.

I have an open claim with my Bank (Bank of America claim # 2152212MAR09) and they are working to recover the funds that Dell forcibly debitted from my account.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS:
Account Number:
Order Number: 658128990

Consumer's Desired Resolution:
Until my bank completes the claim process, I don't have a desired settlement from Dell. I obviously want every penny back and their policy of "No you can't cancel until we ship it to you allowing us to get a restocking fee" is rediculous and right out stupid. I've been a customer with Dell for years (2 Laptops, Printers and 1 Desktop), have a Dell preferred credit account and I'm so disgusted with their customer service and the issue as a whole, I contact Dell Financial Services about this and told them I'd be cancelling my credit account because I would no longer purchase anything directly from Dell.

BBB Processing

03/12 web BBB Case Received by BBB

Art
Concord, North Carolina
U.S.A.

Company: Dell
Country: USA
State: Texas
City: Round Rock
Address: DELL. COM
Phone: 5123384400

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