@#*&% Dell customer service

[jhale]

this just happened to a friend of mine.

she purchased a Dell a few years ago and they convinced her to sign up for their finance plan. for the past 3 years she has paid on time every month.

now the crappy part, on august 2nd the plan ended and the balance was due in full. my friends normal billing cycle was due on august 8th, she called and asked a customer service person at Dell which date was the proper due date, the customer service person told her she could send the money in on the 8th. which my friend did, paying off the laptop in full.

she recently got a bill from Dell, they are charging her interest on the full
THREE years of payments because she did not sent the money in on the 2nd of the month. She called and spoke to a manager, the best they would do was decrease the amount from $400 something to $170.

She has written a letter of complaint to Dell and called several times, each time being told there is nothing more that can be done. Now if she does not pay there are going to be late fees tacked on and the bill will continue to grow.

what would you do? is there any recourse? this was Dells mistake and they are not taking care of it :irked:

 

[fritz]

It's not really Dell's mistake it's your friend's mistake. She was responsible for knowing when her payment is due and for making sure that it got their on time. The fact that she called Dell Customer Service to ask a question that should have gone to Dell Finance (separate division and likely a separate company) is irrelevant. In fact even if the rep WAS from Dell Finance and gave her incorrect information it still does not change the fact that her payment was late.

She has no recourse and is fortunate that Dell will knock some of the money off. She should pay the $170 for a lesson learned. ALWAYS pay off those balloon payment or no interest loans before the maturation date.

 

[JHOV2324]

Damn that sucks...my T.V. is being financed by them as well....i decided to pay it in full because there was an extra charge I didnt know about and at the end of the finance period it would have cost me about 3 to 400 dollars extra....and i had no interest for 12 months..but i just paid it in full.....

Damn thats $170 worth of reef stuff she could have gotten for you...:sad2:

 

[jhale]

she called because she got two conflicting bills.

the fault lies with Dell in giving her the wrong info

if the company can't provide you with the proper information regarding when your bill is due you should not be held responsible to pay a bogus late fee. it's a scam what Dell is trying to pull.

 

[Deanos]

she called because she got two conflicting bills.

What was the conflict?

 

[xobklynqt143]

make her call back and just keep bitching on and on, she'll get her way. That's what happen with my eye surgery(LASIK) no interest for 2 years and I had an auto pay and they never took the money out for 1 month and they tried adding all these fees and being that I never looked at the statements it was like an extra 800-900 they added. end story I got rid of the fees and they got me so annoyed I just ended up paying the balance in full because I didn't want to deal with them anymore

 

[jhale]

What was the conflict?

one bill said the amount was due on the 2nd, the other regular statement said the amount was due on the regular due date the 8th.

she called and asked which date was the correct due date and was told it was the 8th.

 

[jhale]

make her call back and just keep bitching on and on, she'll get her way. That's what happen with my eye surgery(LASIK) no interest for 2 years and I had an auto pay and they never took the money out for 1 month and they tried adding all these fees and being that I never looked at the statements it was like an extra 800-900 they added. end story I got rid of the fees and they got me so annoyed I just ended up paying the balance in full because I didn't want to deal with them anymore

the annoying part is this was the last payment, the computer is paid off, so this last bill is just charging the bogus interest fee.

Dells customer service is now located in India. apparently getting through to a person in charge is a nightmare. each call takes about a half hour :tired:

 

[Deanos]

one bill said the amount was due on the 2nd, the other regular statement said the amount was due on the regular due date the 8th.

she called and asked which date was the correct due date and was told it was the 8th.

IMO, her case is getting weaker and weaker as more info is being revealed. Being that the latest due date was the 8th, any payment received AFTER the 8th would incur the fees. Her sending a payment ON the 8th would definitely arrive late.

 

[jhale]

IMO, her case is getting weaker and weaker as more info is being revealed. Being that the latest due date was the 8th, any payment received AFTER the 8th would incur the fees. Her sending a payment ON the 8th would definitely arrive late.

how does that work out? Dell told her payment could be made on the 8th which she did. I did not mean she was late with the payment on the 8th.
she paid in full by the 8th. the issue is still Dell not backing up what their customer service person told the customer.

 

[Deanos]

She made an electronic payment on the 8th?!? Now she has a case again...

 

[fritz]

This still makes no sense. She got two identical bills? One saying the 2nd and one saying the 8th? Electronic payments usually take a day to post meaning a payment on the 8th won't post until the 9th or 10th. It's not a bank wire.

Also, forgive me, but your friend loves playing with fire. Only a lunatic would wait until the last moment to pay a bill with which the consequences of being late were three years worth of interest! Even JHov paid his off early to avoid such a scenario. (No offense JHov)

 

[jhale]

she paid over the phone on the 7th.

Dell acknowledges the payment was made in full on the 7th.

sorry there were not 2 different bills.
on the statement was a note saying the promotional offer was ending on the 2nd.
the same statement also said the bill was due on the 8th.
customer service said she could pay by the 8th, that was the confusion.

I just spoke to her again and got the facts straight.

so it's still the same question, what can you do to get Dell to remove the interest rate being billed by mistake.

 

[fritz]

she paid over the phone on the 7th.

no, one notice was the special offer was ending, the other was the regular statement.

Honestly you may be able to get somewhere by complaining to Dell but she is wrong. She received a statement that explained in black and white that her special promotion was ending (I assume the 2nd) and her regular payment was due on the 8th. I take from the above to mean that she had to pay in full by the 2nd, should she not due so as per the terms of her agreement her regular payment was still due by the 8th.

Dell may forgive the lateness to save a potential customer but she is wrong. Good luck with the fight.

 

[Deanos]

Dell may forgive the lateness to save a potential customer but she is wrong. Good luck with the fight.

:agree:

 

[jhale]

sounds like you both work for the MAN :lol2:

her lawyer drafted a letter stating her case to send to Dell, no guarantee they will reverse the decision, but at least it's getting sent to someone in the US and not going overseas.

 

[Deanos]

sounds like you both work for the MAN :lol2:

Close...I work in surgical billing. :worm:

 

[xobklynqt143]

and i do medical collections lol

 

[Davidl919]

Small claims court works wonder... I once took continental airlines and won even though it seemed hopeless over the phone...Once a company sees you are willing to take it that far they sometimes bend backwards to help... The lawyer might help.. But if that fails try a BBB online complaint... And then small claims court.

 

[LeslieS]

Sometimes it's better to pay the fee, put the stress out of your mind, and get on with life. Otherwise, this situation will cost her more in anger and frustration than it does in money.

Also, I know how your friend feels. Paper work is the worst. It's so hateful that I think I have a mental block that prevents me from reading things properly or putting them away.

Good Luck to her!!!!