beegee
Jul 2nd, 2010, 10:57 AM
My husband and I recently purchased a Dell Studio 17 from Dell.ca (following a link for deals posted here on RFD).
Part of the deal was a free extra battery. Initially it was supposed to be a 6-cell, but since they were "out" of those 6-cell batteries they were giving a free 9-cell battery.
I did an online chat to confirm that we would get the extra battery for free. But silly me, I didn't keep a record of that conversation, just of the name and id number of the helpful guy who said yes, you will get a free battery.
When the purchase was completed we noticed the following two line items on our email confirmation:
CUS,BTRY,85WHR,9C,SDI $176.00 1 $176.00
Includes additional 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery - $129.00
We noticed that the line item amounts for the battery and the reduction of the battery were not equal, but we figured that they would fix it down the line. Sure enough, a quick login to our online credit card statement showed that the price was reduced by approximately $53.
But then we got our credit card statement a couple weeks later and looking through line by line I noticed they charged us a SECOND charge a few days later (presumably when the extra battery shipped) for $53.11.
I called customer care to enquire and all they will tell me is the battery is not FREE. It is "discounted" (or sometimes, they will say it is "included in the system price". Oddly the explanation changed a few times over the course of my conversation with them.)
Despite the fact that the website said it was free (at the time of that promotion), the service rep had confirmed it for me, and the wording "Includes addition 9-cell battery". The final person I spoke with (call escalation) tried to tell me that the extra $47 for the battery was part of the system.
I disagree. It was an add-on that I had no control over. It was added after all customizations/selections for the laptop and not completely discounted. That's not part of the "system charge" for this laptop, it is an additional charge for a FREE battery.
This promotion is no longer going on at Dell. Here are the two options offered to me by the escalation manager I spoke with:
- return the battery and be refunded the $53.11 (I'm not going to do this since the free battery was one of the reasons we decided to purchase this laptop)
- or to return my system and do a new deal (apparently this could be done without phsycially returning the system - however since the promotion we used when purchasing is no longer on, I cannot get the same base price for the system if I build the system again)
I spent about a half hour on the phone with three different service reps including the original sales person who told me the free battery was included. They were unwilling or unable to resolve this issue. Although the last person did imply that there were other people calling with the same problem.
So the moral of the story is: Take screen captures of promotions, and if there are line items that don't match up - call right away to find out why. Don't wait.
Oh, and beware of "Free" Battery promotions at Dell.ca
Part of the deal was a free extra battery. Initially it was supposed to be a 6-cell, but since they were "out" of those 6-cell batteries they were giving a free 9-cell battery.
I did an online chat to confirm that we would get the extra battery for free. But silly me, I didn't keep a record of that conversation, just of the name and id number of the helpful guy who said yes, you will get a free battery.
When the purchase was completed we noticed the following two line items on our email confirmation:
CUS,BTRY,85WHR,9C,SDI $176.00 1 $176.00
Includes additional 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery - $129.00
We noticed that the line item amounts for the battery and the reduction of the battery were not equal, but we figured that they would fix it down the line. Sure enough, a quick login to our online credit card statement showed that the price was reduced by approximately $53.
But then we got our credit card statement a couple weeks later and looking through line by line I noticed they charged us a SECOND charge a few days later (presumably when the extra battery shipped) for $53.11.
I called customer care to enquire and all they will tell me is the battery is not FREE. It is "discounted" (or sometimes, they will say it is "included in the system price". Oddly the explanation changed a few times over the course of my conversation with them.)
Despite the fact that the website said it was free (at the time of that promotion), the service rep had confirmed it for me, and the wording "Includes addition 9-cell battery". The final person I spoke with (call escalation) tried to tell me that the extra $47 for the battery was part of the system.
I disagree. It was an add-on that I had no control over. It was added after all customizations/selections for the laptop and not completely discounted. That's not part of the "system charge" for this laptop, it is an additional charge for a FREE battery.
This promotion is no longer going on at Dell. Here are the two options offered to me by the escalation manager I spoke with:
- return the battery and be refunded the $53.11 (I'm not going to do this since the free battery was one of the reasons we decided to purchase this laptop)
- or to return my system and do a new deal (apparently this could be done without phsycially returning the system - however since the promotion we used when purchasing is no longer on, I cannot get the same base price for the system if I build the system again)
I spent about a half hour on the phone with three different service reps including the original sales person who told me the free battery was included. They were unwilling or unable to resolve this issue. Although the last person did imply that there were other people calling with the same problem.
So the moral of the story is: Take screen captures of promotions, and if there are line items that don't match up - call right away to find out why. Don't wait.
Oh, and beware of "Free" Battery promotions at Dell.ca