On August 4 I called Dell to research their laptop computers. I planned to purchase a laptop in November or December and was collecting information to aide me in my decision. After receiving detailed, helpful information regarding my options I was encouraged to make the purchase over the phone. I declined stating my expected purchase date of Nov or Dec.
The salesman (Matthew ext. 63485) suggested I apply for a Dell account that would give me 90 days till my first payment would be due. My payments would not start until late November, which is right when I wanted to purchase. I was approved for the special account with 90 days no payment. Matthew emphasized how this would get me a laptop now yet keep my purchase on schedule at the end of the year. My payment would be around $40.00.
2 days later on August 6 I called Matthew back and agreed to this arrangement. I ordered the Inspiron 5100 configured to my specifications at a total price of $1,489.00. Dell set up a credit account with $1,500.00 limit and 90 days till my first payment. The ship date was August 15. I received the computer approximately August 25.
2 days later I received my first phone call telling me I was late on my payments and was going to be sent to collections. I laughed, and said there was obviously a mistake in their records since I had only received it 2 days ago and had till November to make my first payment. The phone person said they would look into the matter.
After receiving my first bill, I called customer service (1 1/2 hour wait time). Not only was my account not deferred, but DELL started charging me interest before they even built my computer! They started charging interest not when I received the computer; not when they shipped the computer; not when they started to build the computer; but on the day I ordered the computer!
By the first of November I was receiving up to 5 phone calls per day. My account was in collections. DELL had charged me with late fees ($29.00) which in turn put me over the account limit. Now I was incurring over limit fees ($25.00). My balance was up to $1,671.79. This was almost $200 tacked on to my bill before my first payment was supposed to be due!
I made my first payment as scheduled, before the November 29th due date. My second payment will be made on time. As of December, Dell has charged me 1/3 the total price of my computer in fees alone - approximately $600. No amount of calling, talking, explaining, or holding for customer service has made a difference.
The problem stems from the way my account was setup. It was set up as a regular account, not as a 90 days deferred account. I have tried repeatedly to contact Matthew, my original sales person. I have left many messages with all my contact information on his voice mail. He has never returned a call.in fact, it seems he is often on vacation and refers his calls to his colleague/assistant. But his colleague (Ross ext. 60495) is always gone at the same time.
I have a suspicion that DELL does not offer a 90 days to pay plan and that Matthew just told me that I was approved for the plan to make the sale. I will not pay these fees or charges. I continue to pay my regular amount due by the due date.
I continue to get up to 5 calls per day from collections. It is very bothersome. I just talk over the person and tell them to fix my account because I am not late. Then I hang up. Some times they call me right back and I say the same thing again.
Isn't is interesting that they have the time and resources to call me this much but I can't get a single call from any of my messages to fix the problem?
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