Buying online vs. on the phone

I'm going to buy a E6400 and I'm read about some people getting discounts just by calling in to order instead of doing it online. Is it worth it? Will I be able to get my EPP discount (University of Toronto) on the phone?

 

Absolutely worth it. I called to Dell here in Finland and the rep gave me his e-mail address. I then just mailed him the configuration and he returned with a quote. I think I saved around 400 euros with that..

I don't know if you can get that special discount by calling them, but the overall bottom line is what counts...

 

yea over the phone helps a lot, sumtimes they throw sum free extras in for u or sumtimes they knock the price down, really worth it go for the phone option if u have.

 

Agreed. It never hurts to mention that you have other options, too .... When I ordered a new D830 last year I mentioned that I had a coupon for the Dell Outlet and hinted that I might just wait till I found a system that I liked in the Outlet. It was amazing how quickly the rep found a way to knock an additional 15% (roughly; I don't remember the exact numbers) off the price he had already quoted to me. The price originally quoted was about the same as the price on the Dell website, so it was certainly worthwhile to order via phone in my case.

 

Personally I like online so nothing gets lost in verbal communication.

 

Agreed, but my rep sent me the same summary you can get from the configurator and he asked me to check it and verify that everything is in order. My guess is that the reps actually uses a similar configurator to complete their quotas..

 

Hmm, I called in today and the rep told me that he wouldn't be able to combined UofT's Premier discount with any other offers he was able to give me, so I wasn't able to get any additional discount over the standard 12%. I did get an ETA for my E6400 though: 3-4 weeks. With luck I'll have it sometime in September.

 

I am not looking for an e6400. But I called about a quote and discount options for a e6500 and they wouldn't give any. The quote I got back was the exact same price as the online configuration. Who are people calling to get discounts?

 

After reading about these fantastic phone-order discounts, I called Dell and asked to configure an E6400 over the phone. The rep was very nice, but I got the exact same price as I did online - in fact, I had to pay more because shipping is apparently not free over the phone as it is online.

I called Dell through the EPP number. I too would like to know who people are calling to get these discounts.

 

You in the US?

I compared the prices between US and Europe and I think we here in the old continent are being s***ed. The initial prices are obviously set for the US markets and what they've done is to just change $ -> €/£ (well, not directly, but the currency conversion is not favorable anyway..). Because of the profit margin in here, they are willing to give out the discounts.. And if my ranting indeed is the truth, you are not likely to get any extra discounts.