Dell scam on S400

This is what I got:

We have reviewed your order. Although we had anticipated being able to ship your order sooner, we are experiencing an unexpected delay. We will not be able to ship your order until, on or before 4/4/2003. We apologize for this inconvenience and are doing everything we can to get your order out to you as quickly as possible.

Anyway, for $354, I will wait.

sean

andrew_ said:

well, it looks like it's not gonna ship today.

Just a bit OT, when Apple announced new 17-inch Powerbook in January,
they knew it would ship in April. But they still said "ship in 3-4
weeks".
I think Dell just doesn't know when they will get those new cams.
They should get them the same time everybody else (StateStreet
estimates
3/20), so it's still a good deal. And I still think it's not a scam.
When we see those cams ship from other places, then anybody can cancel
dell order and get it somewhere else.

Click to expand...

I ordered S45, mine is on or before April 21.. oh my! Hey Sean, how did u get that $354?

sean_nj said:

We have reviewed your order. Although we had anticipated being
able to ship your order sooner, we are experiencing an unexpected
delay. We will not be able to ship your order until, on or before
4/4/2003. We apologize for this inconvenience and are doing
everything we can to get your order out to you as quickly as
possible.

Anyway, for $354, I will wait.

sean

andrew_ said:

well, it looks like it's not gonna ship today.

Just a bit OT, when Apple announced new 17-inch Powerbook in January,
they knew it would ship in April. But they still said "ship in 3-4
weeks".
I think Dell just doesn't know when they will get those new cams.
They should get them the same time everybody else (StateStreet
estimates
3/20), so it's still a good deal. And I still think it's not a scam.
When we see those cams ship from other places, then anybody can cancel
dell order and get it somewhere else.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I received the same email saying 4/4 is the new date. Yet their site still says "Usually ships: 1-2 Weeks".

Canon told them both s400 and s50 should come next week.
I think this info is more important than some kind of random digits
dell system is generating. Canon has to ship the cams and I guess all
the major retailers will get them the same week.

See http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=4581015

sean

chaboom said:

I ordered S45, mine is on or before April 21.. oh my! Hey Sean,
how did u get that $354?

Click to expand...

Their current ratings are not very good, as could be expected.

I am not going to criticize Dell for late delivery itself
but it's that "unexpected" part that upsets me.

It's always unexpected yet I believe they expected this to happen
LoL
As a matter of fact, I also expected*this to happen.

I am grateful that I got such a great deal
but.....I would be even more grateful if they had provided
accurate ETA in the first place. That's all I want.

Indra, prepare for hell.

Even if you cancel the order, THEY WILL ship the camera to you AND charge you, to which you will have to return it. All my friends warned me about this when the S200 came out.. I canceled the order, even called to confirm, yet I received the camera.

After a big argument on the phone, they arranged to pick it up and pay for the shipping back.. then gave me a credit back after a month.

You have been warned!

• Raist

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...

What Dell has to do with America and freedom of choice I wonder.

But anyhow, I consider Dell shady on their peripherals because even after calling them and calling them again to confirm order cancellations they WILL ship you the product anyway!

All my friends wanred me about it, and when I ordered my S200 this is EXACTLY what happened.

I certainly do find this scamish.

Oh, this is my opinion too

• Raist

canyon said:

Great thing about America is freedom of choice. If you don't like
the way Dell does business, you are free to go somewhere else. Some
of us appreciate a good deal and will stick with Dell because of
that. Give them props for what they are offering. It's because of
offers like this that they have a lot of orders to fill thus yours
might be delayed. So you are not the first kid on the block with
one, if this hurts your feelings go down to Best Buy and pay
through the nose for immediate gratification. To call it a scam is
ridiculous. Another great thing about America is freedom of speech
and this is just my opinion.

Cheers

Click to expand...

Well..i just hope it nothing like that happen

My experience was somewhat different
I ordered 5050 Nov last year, cancelled, and did not receive anything.
(and i wasn't charged)

The thing is......

Dell lists things as in stock and when you order it, your item
will be back ordered.

Because of their low price, people place order anyway
and cancel it when they find good price somewhere else.
(or when they find place that actually have items in stock)

This hurts others in line because of double orders and cancellatoins.

If Dell was accurate on their ETA in the first place,
people wouldn't experience frustration
and other orders will not be delayed as much?

Raist3d said:

Even if you cancel the order, THEY WILL ship the camera to you AND
charge you, to which you will have to return it. All my friends
warned me about this when the S200 came out.. I canceled the order,
even called to confirm, yet I received the camera.

After a big argument on the phone, they arranged to pick it up and
pay for the shipping back.. then gave me a credit back after a
month.

You have been warned!

• Raist

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...

--
....

Come on now--a delay is NOT a scam. If they send you a brick in a Canon box, that's a scam. If they send you a used camera, that's a scam.

I ordered an S230 from them 2 weeks ago--the ETA was early April--a ways off, but ok because the price was good.

I recieved the camera 2 days ago--MUCH shorter than the ETA! Thus far, I'm quite happy with their service.

Why recklessly slam a company for a simple delay?

If you have read the entire post, I acknowledged that
calling Dell "scam" was a bit harsh on my side.

You were pretty lucky.
I would've been happy if I were in your shoes!
You got honest ETA(April) and received your
cam even earlier than the promised date.

Think about this way:

They gave you ETA of 1~3 days. postpone it 3~4 times
(1 week delay each time) without any notification.
YOu call them three times and talk to people who have no idea
about the shipments.

what if I considered $50 discount NOT WORTH such hassle?
I did not know about this.

If I was given accurate ETA in the first place, then I have
a choice(whether to go for low price or instant gratification) dont I?

It was the frustration I did not like--not the late delivery itself--.

Why coudn't they give me Dec ETA in the first place?
what if someone ended up with no camera for his/her up-coming
vacatoin? does $50 discount even matter in that case??? I think not.

I think you're among the
AND earlier delivery than promised--or estimated..LoL-- date.

With my S400 order that was placed last week,
I don't feel the same frustratoin as I did with 5050 order
because I now KNOW about their shaky ETA.

and this time, I AM willing to wait because of I got a great deal.
(plus I have 5050 so I am not in a desperate situatoin)

knowing and not-knowing makes whole lot of difference.
and I found out about it at the cost of "no cam for winter break"
experience.

But not in the typical sense. It's SOP for Dell to promise very quick delivery times, and with the discounts it creates an inticement to order. In fact, Dell will not likely be shipping these till April, possibly May. You will get the usual email within the week telling you the order is delayed, and another in a couple more weeks. The 3rd note you get will require you to respond to them to keep your order - the default is to cancel after 30 days unless you tell them to keep it. This can go on a long time, especially with a very poplular item in limited supply.

So if you want the good deal and are willing to wait (long past when you'll be able to pick it up elsewhere), sit tight. If you really are looking to get it in the next couple of weeks I wouldn't hold my breath on Dell.

Oh, and it doesn't make any difference if you call and ask someone personally. The company policy it to stand behind whatever the inventory system says, even though they all know it's wrong.
Steve

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...