Dell Returns - How do YOU do it?

I keep reading about people returning their Dells if they find a better deal or find out they don't like them, or suggesting that this can be done, and I think this would be a good place for all of you to explain how you got out of paying the restocking fee (or at least shipping), for the benefit of the education of the masses .

I've had to make two returns to Dell myself, and both times I had legitimate reasons to believe they were defective - and one of the two was a pretty hard battle to get them to waive the restocking fee and pay for shipping, so I have some confidence in my ability to navigate their support system. And to be perfectly honest, I'm sure if I just don't like my next one, I'll be able to come up with some defect and get my way, but that takes too much effort!

So what's the secret to returning a fully-functioning, non-defective Dell laptop that you just don't like, or don't think is worth the money you paid? (Obviously if you let them drag out your case out past 21 days you're screwed anyway, no matter how legitimate your concern is). Is it different between the different departments (Home, Small Business, XPS)? What is YOUR method? Just ask nicely?

 

You want to know about the best buy-then-return deal? Buy a laptop at Costco wholesale, use it and abuse it for 6 months and then return it back for a full refund! I heard about some guys keep doing it over and over

 

You can ALWAYS find a flaw to return it to justify your dissatisfaction. Just mention light leakage that interferes with your applications or limited viewing angle.

 

That's not nice (although you're in correct about the "abuse" part - they won't take back damaged laptops!)

I definitely would have gone with Costco... back before the coupon deluge, when Dell's prices were much higher thatn Costco's. I don't think abusing ANY place's return policy is a particularly good idea (although Costco really is asking for it...) - but most of the time you can't see Dell laptops in person, and their return window is only 21 days, so there's obviously a less fine line here between "abuse" and "getting rid of that crap that turned out to be as crappy as Dell is reputed for being, before I'm stuck with it and have no recourse if Dell's dubious tech support fails to perform up to my expectations"!

 

Ah - yeah, limited viewing angle would work for even the best screen, wouldn't it? Very good suggestion!

And since I bet they would be reluctant to say that some screens really ARE better than others, they wouldn't suggest sending you another one, and the return would go through nicely! Or so I assume... have you tried this out yourself? Because if you have then I can say "Oh yeah I know someone who had this problem and they didn't make him pay a restocking fee", and it's kind of a bolstering point that you can just stick to. Or I guess I can say that even if you haven't tried it, now can't I?

 

About "crappy" Dell. Maybe many other guys really getting some crappy machines from Dell, but I bought 4 PCs from them already (1 desktop and 3 9300/E1705 laptops) and they all seem to be fine. They are sure not so fancy as some other PCs around and screens can be a bit better but otherwise they are fine, especially for the price My old 8200 desktop I bought 4 years ago still runs just fine. One of 2 9300 laptops I bought for my relatives is being used mainly by 6 year old hellish kid. This kid have done all kinds of abuse to that notebook, dropped it from about 6 feet hieght few times, and the notebook still works fine to my surprise, I didn't expect it to last more than 2 weeks knowing that kid .