"Free monitor upgrade" dirty trick

"Cliff Chinaski" wrote in message news:Rm3Le.18$Pm3.0@trndny08...
Sorry about that mess, you can find the speadsheet nicely aligned in newsgroup alt.test since I
can't figure out how to do it here. Same subject line over there.

One more wrinkle - if you Google for the subject line and click on the entry in alt.test Google
shows, the spreadsheet is still messed up. If you use IE and look at alt.test directly, it formats
fine.

"Cliff Chinaski" wrote in message
news:_93Le.9$Hf6.8@trndny07...
| Thanks for all the good advice. I'll probably be calling Dell to ask
for the original $1676 pricing
| from 8/5. Luckily I did do a 'Print Cart' that day. I didn't know
about the many entrance points
| into the buying system you guys pointed out, so I made a comparison
spreadsheet. This is not exactly
| an apples-to-apples comparison due to some mouse and service plan
selection differences, but you can
| see the pricing of each item for each plan. Item prices vary and of
course free monitors aren't
| really free. As Ben commented above, this marketing approach does not
provide a 'warm feeling'.
|
|
| Columns 1 & 2 are Home and Home Office, prices from a straight visit
to dell.com. Column 3 is from
| the Outrageous Deals link given by Stew. Column 4 is from Small
Business, from a straight visit to
| dell.com, with only a 1-year warranty selected.
|

Beating a dead horse, a more permanent simple JPG of the spreadsheet can
now be viewed at
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?pi...XMb911ZEDTntJe
- or -
http://tinyurl.com/djmza

"Cliff Chinaski" wrote in message
news:X4RKe.5426$rY.646@trndny03...
Two days ago I configured two Dimension 9100 systems and put them in my
online shopping cart. The system with the features I really wanted came to
$1677. I already have a nice monitor, but part of the base package was a
17' CRT which I decided to accept because there was only a $20 reduction
for not taking it. I figured I would give it away to a relative or sell
it at a garage sale.

Today while Googling for something completely unrelated, I stumbled on a
Dell page offering Dimension 9100 systems with free monitor upgrades that
now included a "19 inch E193FP Analog Flat Panel" and a "17 inch
UltrasharpT 1704FPT Digital Flat Panel". Wow, that's much more interesting
than a free $20 CRT, so I go back to the Dell site, log on, and open my
shopping cart. Immediately two messages flash by saying "system is
invalid" or such, and my shopping cart magically is empty. No big deal, I
think, it's just a web page screwup and it will only take five minutes to
configure another system. Going through the process, I see that the price
of every single enhancement I wanted has gone up, a lot. Even the $8
operating system backup CD is now $10.

Bottom line, my $1677 system is now $1857. If I go for it I'll be stuck
with a $200 flat panel screen I don't need instead of a $20 CRT.

I think for Dell to do this is sleazy marketing, and bad customer
relations. This would be my 4th Dell system, but now I'm not sure I want
it.


The key statement here is "Two days ago I configured two Dimension 9100
systems and put them in my
online shopping cart."

Face it, the sale was over and a new one had started. This is not uncommon
(especially in product markets as volatile as PC and parts).
Anyone that has been dealing with PC's for very long knows the rule that 'if
you are wait for the best deal, you will never get it!'

"PC Medic" wrote in message
news:KeHLe.1046$Ix4.935@okepread03...

The key statement here is "Two days ago I configured two Dimension
9100 systems and put them in my
online shopping cart."

Face it, the sale was over and a new one had started. This is not
uncommon (especially in product markets as volatile as PC and parts).
Anyone that has been dealing with PC's for very long knows the rule
that 'if you are wait for the best deal, you will never get it!'



I haven't called Dell yet so this point may turn out to be moot, but
when my local supermarket has a sale on pork and beans, their flier is
careful to state "Sale ends Sunday August 7th" to avoid disappointing
their customers on Monday. Shouldn't Dell have similar standards? I'm
not looking for the "best" deal, just the one they offered me and that I
put in my shopping cart on 8/5.

"Cliff Chinaski" wrote in message
news:8TJLe.553$xl.107@trndny02...

"PC Medic" wrote in message
news:KeHLe.1046$Ix4.935@okepread03...

The key statement here is "Two days ago I configured two Dimension 9100
systems and put them in my
online shopping cart."

Face it, the sale was over and a new one had started. This is not
uncommon (especially in product markets as volatile as PC and parts).
Anyone that has been dealing with PC's for very long knows the rule that
'if you are wait for the best deal, you will never get it!'



I haven't called Dell yet so this point may turn out to be moot, but when
my local supermarket has a sale on pork and beans, their flier is careful
to state "Sale ends Sunday August 7th" to avoid disappointing their
customers on Monday. Shouldn't Dell have similar standards?

Yes, and they do.
Click on the offer details link or check the fine print at the bottom of the
page. This in any case I have ever seen on Dells page always indicates the
FROM/TO dates of the particular price point.

I'm not looking for the "best" deal, just the one they offered me and
that I put in my shopping cart on 8/5.

You got the one they offered and you put in your shopping cart. What you
were looking to do is add the flat panel for free on the already discounted
order. This usually can not be done and your option would be to cancel the
original order and re-submit a new order under the new pricing. Keep in mind
that just like any place else, this may not result in the better deal.

"Cliff Chinaski" wrote in message
news:8TJLe.553$xl.107@trndny02...

"PC Medic" wrote in message
news:KeHLe.1046$Ix4.935@okepread03...

The key statement here is "Two days ago I configured two Dimension 9100
systems and put them in my
online shopping cart."

Face it, the sale was over and a new one had started. This is not
uncommon (especially in product markets as volatile as PC and parts).
Anyone that has been dealing with PC's for very long knows the rule that
'if you are wait for the best deal, you will never get it!'



I haven't called Dell yet so this point may turn out to be moot, but when
my local supermarket has a sale on pork and beans, their flier is careful
to state "Sale ends Sunday August 7th" to avoid disappointing their
customers on Monday. Shouldn't Dell have similar standards? I'm not
looking for the "best" deal, just the one they offered me and that I put
in my shopping cart on 8/5.


OK, continuing with your analogy, you go to the grocery on the 5th, put the
asparagus that is on sale into your cart and then leave for a couple days.
Do you expect that it will be waiting for you if you go back on the 7th?

And all the Dell sales DO state the expiration date. They're very clear
about that. Just go look at any offer on their site.

Tom

And all the Dell sales DO state the expiration date. They're very
clear about that. Just go look at any offer on their site.


True, if I come in by the "Outrageous Deals" link
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/prod...=04&l=en&s=bsd
given by Stew above, each of the 4 deals displayed clearly highlights an
expiration date, for example today each is 08/14/05.
BUT, if I enter as I did last week via:
www.dell.com
Home & Home Office
Desktops
Dimension 9100
and select (for example) the 1st system shown,
then just 'add to cart' to keep the example simple, there is no
indication of any offer expiration date anywhere along the way.

My shopping cart was automatically emptied when I reopened it - I never
had a chance to make any changes, and I don't think Dell could have read
my mind. All I'm saying, as I did in my original post, is that it's a
dirty trick for Dell to remove from a customer shopping cart an order
that never indicated, anywhere along the ordering path, that it had an
expiration date.

I'm spending too much time on this subject, so let's just leave it at
that.

"Cliff Chinaski" wrote in message
news:EhMLe.584$286.168@trndny09...

And all the Dell sales DO state the expiration date. They're very clear
about that. Just go look at any offer on their site.


True, if I come in by the "Outrageous Deals" link
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/prod...=04&l=en&s=bsd
given by Stew above, each of the 4 deals displayed clearly highlights an
expiration date, for example today each is 08/14/05.
BUT, if I enter as I did last week via:
www.dell.com
Home & Home Office
Desktops
Dimension 9100
and select (for example) the 1st system shown,
then just 'add to cart' to keep the example simple, there is no indication
of any offer expiration date anywhere along the way.

My shopping cart was automatically emptied when I reopened it - I never
had a chance to make any changes, and I don't think Dell could have read
my mind. All I'm saying, as I did in my original post, is that it's a
dirty trick for Dell to remove from a customer shopping cart an order that
never indicated, anywhere along the ordering path, that it had an
expiration date.

I'm spending too much time on this subject, so let's just leave it at
that.



Oh please. Did you expect it to last forever?