So sometime this last week (Tuesday, I believe), I tried to order a shiny new dell xps m1530 laptop for work/home use. Because my employer has a laptop purchase plan that pays off a good amount over a period of 2 years, I decided to use the dell preferred account's 12 months no interest financing with the laptop, and pay it off over the one year instead of paying it all up front (which is not even an option for me right now).
The initial order went through fine and all was set to go, but there was a mistake with my name and email address. I called in to get it corrected, and apparently, they had to cancel the original order and place a new order with the correct information. Everything seemed to be going fine until the sales person on the phone told me I would need to call dell financial services account verification, and verify my account.
When I called them, the person on the line told me that their systems were down
, and that they'd have to mail me a letter for verification. This would obviously not work, because dell's sales department would cancel my order in 2 days if not verified. When I asked to speak with her supervisor, I was put in some sort of phone loop, and sent back to the main dell call thing, without ever being transferred to a supervisor. It was already kinda late, and I had a certification exam to study for, so I decided to call them the next day.
I called sales again to see if they could do anything, but they said I'd have to speak with verification again, so I called them again. The person I talked to said that they could not proceed with verification by phone (their systems were in fact, not down), and that my only option was to wait for the letter. I had an exam to take that day (Thursday), so I decided not to bother myself with dell any more that day. I passed my exam, and then went to a friends house later in the evening to watch Lost (what a mind ****!).
So now it's Friday, and I call dell financial services account verification, and this time I am told that my account can not be verified! I ask, "So what about the verification letter that was supposed to be sent to me?" Apparently, they have given up completely with trying to verify my account, and have 'permanently declined me from using dell financing' When asked if that means I will never ever be able to use dell financing again for as long as I live, their response was "quite possibly." As usual, there are no supervisors to speak with.
So what triggered all of this? Apparently, it was changing the initial order so it had the correct name and email address.
My credit is pretty damn good, and I wasn't 'declined' because if it. They just cancelled the request for financing because they couldn't verify my identity. I even offered to drive up the road to their offices (dell financial services are somewhere up on I-35) and show them three forms of ID (I knew this wasn't going to work, but I made sure they knew I was pissed that they could not verify my account, and that I could do nothing more about it.)
So now I have no way to pay for this laptop (Credit cards are out of the question, as the interest rates would eat me alive), so I had my order cancelled and sent a lengthy email to their sales department and financing department.
This wouldn't be such a problem, except our laptop purchase plan changed recently, and I'd lose out on about $700 from my employer if I have to go somewhere else to configure a laptop and get it approved.
I certainly hope this experience is not normal, and I also hope that it does not affect my credit rating at all (all I've seen on my report so far is an inquiry by dell's financial services.)
With all that being said, is there anywhere I can find a PC laptop (I'd get a MacBook Pro, but my employer won't pay for Apple hardware...) that's pretty powerful, good for development, with a nice screen (15", minimun 1440 x 900 resolution), and quite possibly a blu-ray drive? (It's for home use too...) Most importantly, I'll need at least 12 months no interest financing. New Egg seems to be my best bet so far, as the laptops in most retail outlets aren't that great...
Also, what do you recommend that I do with dell financing? They probably think they stopped identity theft/fraud, but all they were successful in stopping was the sale of a $2500 laptop. I don't feel comfortable leaving it 'open ended' like this, but all of my calls to them get me nowhere.
Any suggestions for my next step with them are greatly appreciated. I'm still talking with someone from sales who is trying to figure out what happened, but I have about as much confidence in this guy as I do in expecting okies not to cheat.
ou sucks.
The initial order went through fine and all was set to go, but there was a mistake with my name and email address. I called in to get it corrected, and apparently, they had to cancel the original order and place a new order with the correct information. Everything seemed to be going fine until the sales person on the phone told me I would need to call dell financial services account verification, and verify my account.
When I called them, the person on the line told me that their systems were down
I called sales again to see if they could do anything, but they said I'd have to speak with verification again, so I called them again. The person I talked to said that they could not proceed with verification by phone (their systems were in fact, not down), and that my only option was to wait for the letter. I had an exam to take that day (Thursday), so I decided not to bother myself with dell any more that day. I passed my exam, and then went to a friends house later in the evening to watch Lost (what a mind ****!).
So now it's Friday, and I call dell financial services account verification, and this time I am told that my account can not be verified! I ask, "So what about the verification letter that was supposed to be sent to me?" Apparently, they have given up completely with trying to verify my account, and have 'permanently declined me from using dell financing' When asked if that means I will never ever be able to use dell financing again for as long as I live, their response was "quite possibly." As usual, there are no supervisors to speak with.
So what triggered all of this? Apparently, it was changing the initial order so it had the correct name and email address.
My credit is pretty damn good, and I wasn't 'declined' because if it. They just cancelled the request for financing because they couldn't verify my identity. I even offered to drive up the road to their offices (dell financial services are somewhere up on I-35) and show them three forms of ID (I knew this wasn't going to work, but I made sure they knew I was pissed that they could not verify my account, and that I could do nothing more about it.)
So now I have no way to pay for this laptop (Credit cards are out of the question, as the interest rates would eat me alive), so I had my order cancelled and sent a lengthy email to their sales department and financing department.
This wouldn't be such a problem, except our laptop purchase plan changed recently, and I'd lose out on about $700 from my employer if I have to go somewhere else to configure a laptop and get it approved.
I certainly hope this experience is not normal, and I also hope that it does not affect my credit rating at all (all I've seen on my report so far is an inquiry by dell's financial services.)
With all that being said, is there anywhere I can find a PC laptop (I'd get a MacBook Pro, but my employer won't pay for Apple hardware...) that's pretty powerful, good for development, with a nice screen (15", minimun 1440 x 900 resolution), and quite possibly a blu-ray drive? (It's for home use too...) Most importantly, I'll need at least 12 months no interest financing. New Egg seems to be my best bet so far, as the laptops in most retail outlets aren't that great...
Also, what do you recommend that I do with dell financing? They probably think they stopped identity theft/fraud, but all they were successful in stopping was the sale of a $2500 laptop. I don't feel comfortable leaving it 'open ended' like this, but all of my calls to them get me nowhere.
Any suggestions for my next step with them are greatly appreciated. I'm still talking with someone from sales who is trying to figure out what happened, but I have about as much confidence in this guy as I do in expecting okies not to cheat.
ou sucks.
