An unethical way to save money on Dell products
I've been wanting to upgrade my televisions to 1080p for a while now. I know, hard to believe, Mr. Noobie™ doesn't have 1080p. That's the price of being an early adopter.
My plan was to replace my family room television first and, much to my surprise, I found that Dell had the best price on the television I was scouting. Yes, the Dell that makes computers.
So I went ahead and placed the order online with Dell late at night right before going to bed.
Buyer's remorse
Well, I probably should have waited until morning to order because buyer's remorse kicked in during the night and by morning I was wishing I hadn't ordered the television. I could go into a long list of reasons why but suffice it to say I decided that replacing the television in my basement should have been my higher priority.
Luckily, Dell hadn't shipped my order yet so I quickly called them to cancel the order. After about 20 minutes on hold, a representative finally answered my call.
Dell bribery
But then something strange happened. After I explained to the Dell representative why I wanted to cancel my order, he offered me a $75 discount if I didn't cancel the order.
What?!?
I'm sure Dell has the best intentions in mind with this policy but it totally backfired with me. Rather than think how nice it would be to save an extra $75, I felt wronged knowing that to truly get the best price with Dell, you should order a product and then call a day later to cancel the order.
The title of this blog post says an unethical way to save money. But I ask you, who is unethical? Someone who calls to cancel and accepts the $75 discount? Or Dell for offering this type of discount only to people who call to cancel their order?
For the record, I didn't accept the bribe and officially canceled my order.
4 comments for this blog post so far...
December 14, 2010 at 7:36 am
Mario Ragone
Great to hear! I’m in the market for a 1080p TV too! An extra 75.00 saved can buy groceries for the family. I find it wise and not unethical at all. It’s not like they are not making $$$.
December 14, 2010 at 9:14 am
Patric Welch
Mario, keep in mind I don’t know whether or not this is any kind of standard policy with Dell. I’ve purchased a lot of things through Dell in the past so that could play into it. Also, I’m sure the amount they offer (if any) is directly proportional to the price of the item you are purchasing.
December 14, 2010 at 11:02 am
Scott Blackwell
Have you ever worked retail? Anyone who is selling something wants to hold some type of profit, whether its a bookstore, car dealership, real estate agency, electronics retailer, or some family selling stuff at a garage sale. No one is going to give away all the profit right up front, they want to make money, and that’s fair.
Dell just offered you a little more of whatever profit they had left in order to try to “Save the sale”. That’s business.
December 14, 2010 at 11:19 am
Patric Welch
Scott, I agree with what you say. I just don’t like when you have to “play the game” to get the best pricing. I for one, absolutely loathe shopping at a car dealership. In fact, I don’t do it for the very reason that I always feel like I’m getting screwed no matter how good of a deal they pretend to be giving me.
Apologies in advance to several of my friends who work at car dealerships. I still love you guys!
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