r45 4 Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Dell was found guilty on Tuesday of fraud, false advertising, deceptive business practices and abusive debt collection practices in a case brought by the New York attorney general. The Albany County Supreme Court found that Dell deprived customers of technical support that they bought or were eligible for under warranty in several ways, including by requiring people to wait for very long times on the phone, repeatedly transferring their calls and frequently disconnecting their calls. Dell also often failed to provide onsite repairs for customers who bought contracts for such support and often blamed software when hardware was actually the problem, the court found. The company also sometimes refused to offer support when a support contract ended, even though the user had first complained about a problem before the end of the contract. Subscribers to a "next-day" repair service sometimes waited as long as a year for support, the court found. Dell and affiliate Dell Financial Services also advertised special no-interest financing, but denied almost everyone those terms. It often sold customers products without informing them that they didn't qualify for the special financing terms and then charged them interest rates as high as 30 percent, the court said. Dell and DFS also often incorrectly billed people for cancelled orders and for accounts they didn't authorize. The companies then harassed the people for payment, using illegal billing and collection practices, the court said. The court will determine how much Dell will have to pay in restitution to affected customers and will also require Dell to pay the state of New York the profits it made on these deceptive practices. In addition, the ruling prohibits Dell and DFS from continuing to engage in the fraudulent activities. Dell did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the ruling. Link to post Share on other sites
journey_man 0 Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Why is it that all these companies that were so amazing at the beginning go so rotten? I wonder how long it will be before Google joins the "Corrupt Classes". They certainly seem to be starting to make the right noises. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Gee, Apple service doesn't seem so bad after all!! Link to post Share on other sites
JA2340 16 Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Originally Posted By: Journey Man Why is it that all these companies that were so amazing at the beginning go so rotten? I wonder how long it will be before Google joins the "Corrupt Classes". They certainly seem to be starting to make the right noises. I have no answers to your question, just an addition to tghe list of companies heading down the same track ... eBay, by requiring ONLY PayPal (unless the sale is a pickup delivery) as payment option, are heading into the "greed is good" group. This is initially only in Australia but from noises within the eBay heirarchy, it is intended as a test market to see if there is enough backlash to warrant scrapping the idea, or if the hue and cry will die down andf everything back to "normal" again. Several other changes, like the inability of a seller to leave negative feedback, are designed to "make eBay safer" so they say. Link to post Share on other sites
journey_man 0 Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Originally Posted By: Indo Gee, Apple service doesn't seem so bad after all!! I wish! IMHO Apple joined the Corrupt Classes long ago. I could list a bunch of things, but I'm sure everyone knows a story or two. Link to post Share on other sites
Curt 1 Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Circumstances tend to make it inevitable. It is often not greed, but self-defence/survival that does these things. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Before I had Apple care JM I felt the same.. In fact just the other day my NEW Ac adapter blew up on my bed and was lucky that the house fuse blew otherwise, we'd be ashes! (but that's nothing to do with support, just dodgy manufacturing) Link to post Share on other sites
JA2340 16 Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Apple went rapidly downhill from the moment they decided to "lock up" the original mac. The //e was open, could be added to, expanded with cards etc, but when they introduced the mac it was a locked system, new super screws so only technicians could get in, no expansion slots. AND, the system price included JUST the box, mouse and keyboard were listed as "accessories" at additional cost! Fun to use a GUI without a mouse/keyboard, huh? Link to post Share on other sites
Oyuki kigan 0 Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Originally Posted By: Journey Man Why is it that all these companies that were so amazing at the beginning go so rotten? Got yer answer right Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Interesting flick that was. Link to post Share on other sites
elswit 0 Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Dell are most guilty of just being crap. Link to post Share on other sites
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