Am I being unreasonable?

[666moe666]

Well basically you may have read the thread that stated i purchased a laptop from dell through the phone and although tried to cut a deal with the dell saleswoman, but she wasn't having any of it. So basically i payed full price for a Studio 15 highspec laptop.

After she told me to wait a day to order as they were 'resetting the deals' i ended up ordering through her (bet she loves the commission ). I ordered and confirmed order on the 24th September. The reference and log in details page she sent back stated that my order would be here before the 7th October. I thought this was reasonable. I knew they were going to send an e-mail the day before it got sent out to make sure i was in, so i waited but it never came. The 6th October came and went but still no e-mail so i logged back in to check the status of the order and the date had been changed to before the 13th October.

At this point i was rather unhappy as i need the laptop for Uni work when i'm not at my desktop (90% of the time). As they didn't send me an e-mailing stating why it was delayed, I e-mailed the lady dealing with my order to ask why it had been delayed. She said it was due to a parts shortage but reassured me that they now had the correct part and the order would be here before the 13th October. It took her a couple of days to e-mail me back. Surprise surprise, i logged in on the 10th to make sure it hadn't changed dates again, and it had. It now says before the 19th. Thats 12 days late. The thing is, they don't even tell you why its delayed unless you send them an e-mail first.

I am going to ring them up tomorrow but i'm not sure what I'll say. I'm thinking of either asking for a small deduction on price for the delay or asking them to throw something else into the bundle. Am i being unreasonable? I mean, thats 12 days i haven't been able to do work away from home for. Or any other stuff i may use it for. If they say it should be here by a certain date then surely it should be. If it then isnt here by that date, and they assure me it will be here on the next date stated, it should be right?!

[Yosh]

I don't think your being unreasonable, if it had been me in that situation i would have cancelled the order by now and purchased the laptop from another source.

[mcmiller]

my boss at work ordered a laptop from Dell and they did exactly the same thing, kept on putting the delivery dates back, i think it somewhere in the region of a month.

[Blastuk]

I don't think your being unreasonable, if it had been me in that situation i would have cancelled the order by now and purchased the laptop from another source.

I would do the same thing.

[Behemoth]

I'd have canceled it by now and gotten one from another source. I keep hearing stories like this about Dell, doesn't fill me with confidence in buying from them direct anymore

[Saracen]

.....

I am going to ring them up tomorrow but i'm not sure what I'll say. I'm thinking of either asking for a small deduction on price for the delay or asking them to throw something else into the bundle. Am i being unreasonable? I mean, thats 12 days i haven't been able to do work away from home for. Or any other stuff i may use it for. If they say it should be here by a certain date then surely it should be. If it then isnt here by that date, and they assure me it will be here on the next date stated, it should be right?!

I'd say it depends on whether you're talking about it being reasonable in terms of customer service, or reasonable in terms of being entitled to compensation for delay.

It is certainly poor customer service to be repeatedly told a date that then fails. But, I'd bet that if you check the terms and conditions, there'll be something that covers the situation where they are delayed, and that estimated delivery dates are just that - estimates.

As far as I'm aware, you're entitled to goods you ordered online within a maximum period, which IIRC (without looking it up) is 30 days. For anything more accurate that that, you'd need to make the delivery date "of the essence", and they'd have to accept the order on that basis which, I'd guess, they may well not be prepared to do. But unless you make the delivery date "of the essence" then it's not a fundamental contract condition which would leave them in breach of contract if they broke it.



Were it me, I'd certainly be negotiating for some sort of recompense, but I have no idea if Dell will be receptive to that. I have my doubts.

But if the date you get your machine is REALLY important, what I'd do is simply cancel with Dell, and buy a suitable machine locally. It might cost you more and might not be quite what you want, but you'd have a machine. Only you can say if you're prepared to put up with the delays for the sake of getting either that specific machine configuration, or that deal.

[finlay666]

Sorry but you were stated a time for delivery, now if that was a firm time for completion it is breach of contract, call them back up, speak to a higher manager and explain it. It normally helps if you have some pull with someone who buys a lot from them as a 'premier customer' as you will tell them and others of the experience.

In the mean time tell them you require £10 off per day (or more tbh if it's your final year) of it being late due to additional costs in sourcing alternative methods of completing your work

[Saracen]

Sorry but you were stated a time for delivery, now if that was a firm time for completion it is breach of contract, call them back up, speak to a higher manager and explain it. It normally helps if you have some pull with someone who buys a lot from them as a 'premier customer' as you will tell them and others of the experience.

Unless it's changed, their current T&C's (as per the Consumer section of the website) states

5.1 The delivery date specified in the Order Confirmation is an estimate.

It will then revert back to the basic Sale of Goods Act provision that delivery must be in a "reasonable" time. So you'll be arguing about the definition of "reasonable".

The Distance Selling Regs do add to that, in that they stipulate that the contract must be performed within 30 days, but it is possible to arrange other dates. Obviously, not all contracts can be performed within 30 days, especially if manufacture is involved and it takes longer than that. So unless it's otherwise agreed, the max is 30 days. If the supplier knows they're not going to meet that 30 days, they must notify the consumer and refund, as soon as possible (and in any event within 30 days), unless the supplier and consumer agree to a revised date.

[666moe666]

The responses have been most helpful, thanks guys.

To confirm, i know that i am not entitled to anything, but would think that as they have delayed again they should offer me a little sweetener.

I'm going to ring up today and post the results.

[666moe666]

Ok i rang. She basically told me to give it another couple of days and that she was talking to the people who build it on the phone this morning and they are trying to process it as fast as possible because they know it's already late. She will ring me again tomorrow morning.

Le sigh.

[Saracen]

... but would think that as they have delayed again they should offer me a little sweetener.

I'm going to ring up today and post the results.

Perhaps.

It is certainly not unreasonable to expect it, but whether you get it may depend on what their profit margins are, and on how often this happens with Dell. A bit of time with Google suggests ..... ahem .... you're not the first.

If they start giving away bonuses or refunds for not hitting estimated delivery dates, will they open the floodgates to expectations? If they were to be aware of this discussion, it might not help you chances, for instance .... and given that you've given model details and dates, I wonder how hard it'd be to identify you if the did see it?

On the other hand, they might see it as a good PR chance to retain a currently narked-off customer .... and spread the word a bit.

It's hard to call it.

[Saracen]

....

Le sigh.

Yup.

But if it's built and going through the process, even cancelling now might result in it taking longer to get a machine than just waiting.

Of course, you could give them a deadline .... supply by <insert date> or cancel the order. But there's no telling whether even the people you're dealing with could get things moving faster if they wanted to. They may be doing all they can.

[666moe666]

Yup.

But if it's built and going through the process, even cancelling now might result in it taking longer to get a machine than just waiting.

Of course, you could give them a deadline .... supply by <insert date> or cancel the order. But there's no telling whether even the people you're dealing with could get things moving faster if they wanted to. They may be doing all they can.

Yeah, if I didn't want the laptop with that exact spec i would cancel it. As it stands it was a good deal.
I'm just really annoyed because when she wrote back she said they have the part in stock that they were lacking and now it's been delayed again. They get away with it as the date is 'estimated'. She said it should only be a couple of days now and that she talked to the guys this morning. Then again, she would say that. She also said she'd ring me back tomorrow. I guess if it's not here for saturday i will almost definitely cancel unless something is offered.

[narz]

Wait it out and Send in a complaint .. might trigger some kind of good will gesture and lets you release some steam! ;o

[666moe666]

Good plan, didn't think of that.

[Dragonclaw]

See what happens in a couple of days. If still fobbed off i would definitely cancel, aswell as writing a letter of complaint to them. Dell make some nice PC's but that wait is unreasonable.