Dell scam on S400

I tried to order 5050 from Dell November 02
and I experienced constant delay
(ETA changed from Nov 9---> Nov 15---> Nov 30---> Dec. 10)

At that point, I finally cancelled my order.

And a few days ago, when I heard about
S400 deal(10% plus coupon that took another $45 off)
and ordered one for $404 total.

now, ETA shows 3/12 or before
but I honestly find this hard to believe.
(Ritz doesn't have it in stock and says "7-14 days" wait time)

places like B&H doesn't even list it yet.

I called B&H on Friday :
"Do you have S400?"
"no"
"when will you have it in stock"
"We don't know"

So......I really doubt if Dell would keep their promise.

Alas..the Price was too good to miss.
and I pushed "order" button knowing that
I may receive the cam in May or something lol

I figured, if I find a better(or even for $450ish) deal in the meantime,
I can just cancel my order and get it from somewhere else.

anybody else who ordered S400 from Dell?
any thoughts/comments?

It's not a scam. I define scam like the many NY photo stores (not B&H) where they will advertise a low price and not send you the camera if you dont buy extras claiming its not in stock. When Dell does have the camera in stock, they will send you it at the price you buy it at no questions asked. I think you will find if there are delays, its usually do to the manufacturer. Dont believe the dell estimates on delivery and stick with em if you want it at the low prices.

indra747 said:

I tried to order 5050 from Dell November 02
and I experienced constant delay
(ETA changed from Nov 9---> Nov 15---> Nov 30---> Dec. 10)

At that point, I finally cancelled my order.

And a few days ago, when I heard about
S400 deal(10% plus coupon that took another $45 off)
and ordered one for $404 total.

now, ETA shows 3/12 or before
but I honestly find this hard to believe.
(Ritz doesn't have it in stock and says "7-14 days" wait time)

places like B&H doesn't even list it yet.

I called B&H on Friday :
"Do you have S400?"
"no"
"when will you have it in stock"
"We don't know"

So......I really doubt if Dell would keep their promise.

Alas..the Price was too good to miss.
and I pushed "order" button knowing that
I may receive the cam in May or something lol

I figured, if I find a better(or even for $450ish) deal in the
meantime,
I can just cancel my order and get it from somewhere else.

anybody else who ordered S400 from Dell?
any thoughts/comments?

Click to expand...

I learned from S45 postings that you could get a lot of delay credit. Call Dell again and again, you may receive a lot of delay credit. One of the guy bought his S45 with a $100 credit refund after Dell delayed his order for a week. He called Dell persistently and asked for remedition. A word of advice, always get a case number. Good luck...

If you are going to complain about Dell Scam, then wait 7-10 days..after that if you don't receive your camera then u can complain. Don't make premature comments like that.

Dhiren Shah said:

indra747 said:

I tried to order 5050 from Dell November 02
and I experienced constant delay
(ETA changed from Nov 9---> Nov 15---> Nov 30---> Dec. 10)

At that point, I finally cancelled my order.

And a few days ago, when I heard about
S400 deal(10% plus coupon that took another $45 off)
and ordered one for $404 total.

now, ETA shows 3/12 or before
but I honestly find this hard to believe.
(Ritz doesn't have it in stock and says "7-14 days" wait time)

places like B&H doesn't even list it yet.

I called B&H on Friday :
"Do you have S400?"
"no"
"when will you have it in stock"
"We don't know"

So......I really doubt if Dell would keep their promise.

Alas..the Price was too good to miss.
and I pushed "order" button knowing that
I may receive the cam in May or something lol

I figured, if I find a better(or even for $450ish) deal in the
meantime,
I can just cancel my order and get it from somewhere else.

anybody else who ordered S400 from Dell?
any thoughts/comments?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

It's not a scam although there may be delays. You have to realize that when Dell offers these terrific deals, they are not only announced in this forum, but also in forums of other sites. The demand increases and at the end, if Dell does not have enough equipment in stock to satisfy all the customers, delays do happen.

You can go back a year or two and see all the complaints about Dell's delivery system. In one word: It stinks. But that's the price that you pay for the great deal you get.

Be patient.

Olga

It's just a very good deal. State Street lists 3/20, amazon which is usualy late,
4/1. So 3/17 doesn't sound impossible to achieve. If you don't get your camera,
you will earn your right to complain. Now, enjoy the great price you got!

i ordered the s330 from dell and gave up on a $60 savings. it just wasnt worth the hassles of calling and checking online for progress.

I admit that labelling it as "scam" was a bit
too harsh. and I do know low price means that I have to
make a compensation(e.i. late delivery)

I did not make a hasty conclusion though.
I have experienced repeated delay(4 times) with my 5050 order
and read alot about other users' same experience.

I don't think I complained about S400 order.
I just speculated similar delay would happen.
(and I even said, I knowingly ordered it due to great price)

Yes.....they do not try to upsell acc. etc...
but, if a compnay does not keep promise to its customers,
I have right to complain about it.

You know.....why couldn't they at least be "honest" about it.
They gave me 11/9 ETA on 5050 order. Why couldn't they
just say ETA is december or something.
(When I talked to Dell rep about my 5050 orders,
he told me that I was among the first ones who ordered it.)

none of reps I talked to(5~6 people) seemed to know
what's going on with shipments. None of them even said,
"look sorry, we accept orders first and place an order to Canon"

Constant change is what made me frustrated.
This time, I won't get frustrated as much since I KNOW their
delivery system. However, with my 5050 order, I was angry because
they broke promise several times.

Yes, it's great deal. but for those who did not know about the delivery
system, $50 was maybe not worth the frustration.

it is an awesome price even if you have to wait, I don't think you can ever find the s400 for $404.10 anywhere, be grateful that you got such a great price on something I will be very hot once it does hit the shelves.

why do people keep saying "be grateful?"
I AM grateful. What I am saying is that
I would be even more grateful if they are honest about their
delivery.

Certainly, if they said ETA for 5050 was Dec. 11 in the first place,
then I wouldn't have experienced frustration.

I got the GREAT price, but Knowing and not-knowing the
exact shipping date makes a big difference. If they gave me
accurate ETA, then maybe I wouldn't have canceled the order.

It was the frustration--or fear--that made me cancel my order, not
the late shipment itself.

Ok, I agree with you to some extend but not entirely.

I don't think they are being dishonest, I think they are just being ignorant. I bet their employees don't know a jack sh*t about ur order. Happens to a lot of people as well. In my case, I received 2 of my S230 faster than the 2-3 weeks delay they warn me, would I consider them being dishonest? Like I said before, nobody really like Dell service here, They SUCK but they are honest

indra747 said:

why do people keep saying "be grateful?"
I AM grateful. What I am saying is that
I would be even more grateful if they are honest about their
delivery.

Certainly, if they said ETA for 5050 was Dec. 11 in the first place,
then I wouldn't have experienced frustration.

I got the GREAT price, but Knowing and not-knowing the
exact shipping date makes a big difference. If they gave me
accurate ETA, then maybe I wouldn't have canceled the order.

It was the frustration--or fear--that made me cancel my order, not
the late shipment itself.

Click to expand...

Man....can't believe I am saying good thing about Dell.......God, I hate that!

andyisgod said:

indra747 said:

why do people keep saying "be grateful?"
I AM grateful. What I am saying is that
I would be even more grateful if they are honest about their
delivery.

Certainly, if they said ETA for 5050 was Dec. 11 in the first place,
then I wouldn't have experienced frustration.

I got the GREAT price, but Knowing and not-knowing the
exact shipping date makes a big difference. If they gave me
accurate ETA, then maybe I wouldn't have canceled the order.

It was the frustration--or fear--that made me cancel my order, not
the late shipment itself.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Wel.. andyisgod,
They may well be ignorant instead of dishonest.

They always do this with their digicam products.
and I am sure they received tons of complaints thru emails/phone calls
(I, for one, complained many times about constant change in ETA
and somebody in this forum said that he/she even received
monetary compensatoin for delayed shipments. Why do this
instead of providing "accurate" ETA in the first place????

If I know exact date in the first place,
I now have a choice..

a. purchase at great price but wait for 4 weeks
b. more expensive price and get it right away

Many people--including myself--will choose great price
and are willing to wait!

On ther other hand, their reputation will not get hurt. They don't have
to get complaint calls nor do they have to give money back to
customers.

But instead, they chose to advertise for low price AND promise 3~5 day delivery! That's why I experienced frustratoin.
Clearly they're trying to catch two birds. If I can appy the term
"scam" broadly, then I might as well as call this a "scam."

Like I said, i too think this was a bit harsh, considerting that
what dell is doing is nothing compared to some NY dealers' practice.

(Like I said, I now know. So I placed S400 knowing that it'll take

a month or more. important thing is that I won't go through "what the h#$@!!!" experience)

You're right that individual customer rep is ignorant.
(virtually every rep I talked to didn't have a clue what was
going on)

But when they post ETA on their delivery,
I am sure people at Dell know that they are probably not
going to make that come true.

That's what I mean when I said "disonest"

whether being ignorant or dishonest,
I really don't think they should give customers wrong/inaccurate ETA.
don't you think?

Again, I think I got a great deal. I just don't want
to play "sorry your order was delayed..." game.

If they lying, they shouldn't.
If they are simply ignorant, they should gather info and fix the problem.

andyisgod said:

indra747 said:

why do people keep saying "be grateful?"
I AM grateful. What I am saying is that
I would be even more grateful if they are honest about their
delivery.

Certainly, if they said ETA for 5050 was Dec. 11 in the first place,
then I wouldn't have experienced frustration.

I got the GREAT price, but Knowing and not-knowing the
exact shipping date makes a big difference. If they gave me
accurate ETA, then maybe I wouldn't have canceled the order.

It was the frustration--or fear--that made me cancel my order, not
the late shipment itself.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
....

I discovered it on Dell on Friday, and placed my order. It says expected ship date is March 12. Did Dell make a special marketing deal with Canon where the entire first batch of S400 and S50 goes to Dell? I doubt it.

The deal was good, and I'd like to have the camera for a trip I'm taking on April 1. If Dell can't deliver before then, I cancel and reconsider when I get back in May.

I hope Dell is not "messing around" with us. I've always had good experiences with them before (on PCs) and I'd be very disappointed in them if they're advertising what they know they can't deliver. On that note, I think I'll go and see if they've charged my credit card yet.

Hoping for the best, with delivery as "estimated".

--
Peter

http://www.minkhollow.com

indra747 said:

I tried to order 5050 from Dell November 02
and I experienced constant delay
(ETA changed from Nov 9---> Nov 15---> Nov 30---> Dec. 10)

At that point, I finally cancelled my order.

And a few days ago, when I heard about
S400 deal(10% plus coupon that took another $45 off)
and ordered one for $404 total.

now, ETA shows 3/12 or before
but I honestly find this hard to believe.
(Ritz doesn't have it in stock and says "7-14 days" wait time)

places like B&H doesn't even list it yet.

I called B&H on Friday :
"Do you have S400?"
"no"
"when will you have it in stock"
"We don't know"

So......I really doubt if Dell would keep their promise.

Alas..the Price was too good to miss.
and I pushed "order" button knowing that
I may receive the cam in May or something lol

I figured, if I find a better(or even for $450ish) deal in the
meantime,
I can just cancel my order and get it from somewhere else.

anybody else who ordered S400 from Dell?
any thoughts/comments?

Click to expand...

Think about a world where no B&Hs or Adoramas or your local shops are going to be around because everyone bought their stuff from Dell. I don't know guys ... I prefer to pay $50 more and support some stores that at least in theory care a bit more about their customers ...

Dell and whatever it supports as an ideal SUCKS big time !

Not everything in life is about minimizing monetary cost (for us) or maximizing monetary gain (for them) think about it ...

Peter Stelman said:

The deal was good, and I'd like to have the camera for a trip I'm
taking on April 1. If Dell can't deliver before then, I cancel and
reconsider when I get back in May.

I hope Dell is not "messing around" with us. I've always had good
experiences with them before (on PCs) and I'd be very disappointed
in them if they're advertising what they know they can't deliver.
On that note, I think I'll go and see if they've charged my credit
card yet.

Hoping for the best, with delivery as "estimated".

--
Peter

http://www.minkhollow.com

indra747 said:

I tried to order 5050 from Dell November 02
and I experienced constant delay
(ETA changed from Nov 9---> Nov 15---> Nov 30---> Dec. 10)

At that point, I finally cancelled my order.

And a few days ago, when I heard about
S400 deal(10% plus coupon that took another $45 off)
and ordered one for $404 total.

now, ETA shows 3/12 or before
but I honestly find this hard to believe.
(Ritz doesn't have it in stock and says "7-14 days" wait time)

places like B&H doesn't even list it yet.

I called B&H on Friday :
"Do you have S400?"
"no"
"when will you have it in stock"
"We don't know"

So......I really doubt if Dell would keep their promise.

Alas..the Price was too good to miss.
and I pushed "order" button knowing that
I may receive the cam in May or something lol

I figured, if I find a better(or even for $450ish) deal in the
meantime,
I can just cancel my order and get it from somewhere else.

anybody else who ordered S400 from Dell?
any thoughts/comments?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I also ordered an S400 on Sat. I called this AM to add something to the order. The phone number in the email has an extension that is for computers only, not the "accessories and software". The correct one is:
800-915-3355, option 1, ext. 66966.

I asked about the accuracy of the 3/12 date, he checked something and said that he thought it was accurate. Of course, we won't know until Wed or Thu.

I think being honest with your customers is a very important thing, regardless of how good the price is. Amazon has dates that are probably conservative, but I think they're honest.

Doesn't bode well. We'll see.

can someone please tell me where i can get the coupon that gives additional 50 dollars off after the 10% discount off canon s400.
please. please. please

indra747 said:

I tried to order 5050 from Dell November 02
and I experienced constant delay
(ETA changed from Nov 9---> Nov 15---> Nov 30---> Dec. 10)

At that point, I finally cancelled my order.

And a few days ago, when I heard about
S400 deal(10% plus coupon that took another $45 off)
and ordered one for $404 total.

now, ETA shows 3/12 or before
but I honestly find this hard to believe.
(Ritz doesn't have it in stock and says "7-14 days" wait time)

places like B&H doesn't even list it yet.

I called B&H on Friday :
"Do you have S400?"
"no"
"when will you have it in stock"
"We don't know"

So......I really doubt if Dell would keep their promise.

Alas..the Price was too good to miss.
and I pushed "order" button knowing that
I may receive the cam in May or something lol

I figured, if I find a better(or even for $450ish) deal in the
meantime,
I can just cancel my order and get it from somewhere else.

anybody else who ordered S400 from Dell?
any thoughts/comments?

Click to expand...

Well, I ordered a sony F707 from Dell last september and exchanged for a F717 a month later, having no delivery problems. I paid $749 for it. This time I ordered a S400 for $354. I do think these are good deals.

I just got a little nervous, becayse my shipping status just changed from "Before or on 3/12/2003" to "Delayed 3/12/2003". Hope they can ship it on time. I called Dell this morning. The lady told me it will be shipped by the manufacturer. I am not sure if she is right or not.

sean

indra747 said:

I tried to order 5050 from Dell November 02
and I experienced constant delay
(ETA changed from Nov 9---> Nov 15---> Nov 30---> Dec. 10)

At that point, I finally cancelled my order.

And a few days ago, when I heard about
S400 deal(10% plus coupon that took another $45 off)
and ordered one for $404 total.

now, ETA shows 3/12 or before
but I honestly find this hard to believe.
(Ritz doesn't have it in stock and says "7-14 days" wait time)

places like B&H doesn't even list it yet.

I called B&H on Friday :
"Do you have S400?"
"no"
"when will you have it in stock"
"We don't know"

So......I really doubt if Dell would keep their promise.

Alas..the Price was too good to miss.
and I pushed "order" button knowing that
I may receive the cam in May or something lol

I figured, if I find a better(or even for $450ish) deal in the
meantime,
I can just cancel my order and get it from somewhere else.

anybody else who ordered S400 from Dell?
any thoughts/comments?

Click to expand...

it was a one day deal thing and I think it was 10% automatic and a $45 off $499 so it came to $404.10 shipped, I am sure this deal will come around again, you just have to be lucky to get in when they have it. I wish I got into the deal myself.