Dell: Gimme My Laptops! (So I Can Give Them Away)
Phew. What a story. Since Henk IM’d me earlier to tell me about Dell’s generous gesture (read: glitch-of-note) things have exploded. The entire South African blogosphere has been buzzing all afternoon about “Dell Hell Heaven” (nothing like Jeff’s experience).
I bought six. Armand bought five. Rafiq bought three. Henk says he knows of at least fifty people who bought laptops. Collectively, we’ve probably bought anywhere between 100 and 200 laptops. That’s a loss of about R 500 000 – R 1 000 000 for Dell SA in the blink of an eye.
Angus, in his infinite wisdom, pointed out that Dell covers this kind of shit-has-hit-the-fan stuff in their Terms and Conditions:
Dell uses reasonable care to make sure that the information appearing on this Site is accurate and up-to-date. However, errors and omissions do occur and the user should not take the accuracy of the information for granted but should check directly with Dell. None of the material contained in this Site is to be relied upon as a statement or representation of fact.
So if you were Mr. Dell SA, what would you do? First let’s be realistic. Us bloggers think we’re pretty important and influential but to Dell SA, never mind Dell global, we’re pond scum. They really don’t have to care, and probably don’t, whether we like them or not, because they’re making money anyhow. Lots of it. Dell could easily tell us to politely take a hike and refund us our measly payments for delivery.
Having said that, Dell is no stranger to the impact of citizen marketing on their brand. By faining to deliver, they’d elicit some heated responses. The online community in SA is only growing stronger. Geek dinners, 27, Muti and the community on the whole. We’re increasingly becoming a formidable force, probably quicker than even we realise. Warranted, they’ve been burned in the States and not here, but could this be SA’s Dell Hell?
To be honest, if it were my decision, I’d apologise for the mistake (omission) and offer a refund, and maybe a voucher or coupon in compensation. Better that than fart 1 bar to the breeze.
But having said that, here’s my challenge to you, Dell SA, if you read this. I will donate all six of the laptops I purchased to Baragwanath once Andy Hadfield has kitted them out with the right gear, if you deliver on your error.
That way, you win and Bara wins and I fell warm and fuzzy at night.
What say you?
Popularity: 10% [?]
If Dell actually delivers and help you get those computers to Bara, I’ll put a sidebar banner on chilibean for a month to support the company that cares!
by Paul
on 12. Jan, 2007
Shoo wow. Nice gesture. Do they come with steel desk bolts and anti over-paid managers stealing them locks ?!?
But we’ll take 100. If not Bara, some other medical field must be able to use them.
by Andy Hadfield
on 13. Jan, 2007
Bloody doctors unfortunately aren’t saints and would steal. Sigh. Love the banner idea though. Do Dell make desktops that could be bolted in a cage on a desk (with guard dogs)?
by SA Doc
on 13. Jan, 2007
Just a small note, the figure of 5 I added to the count in the comments on Henk’s post was the total orders from within our company. I personally only ordered a single notebool.
As it probably was an honest mistake from Dell and should they choose to to the honourable thing and stick to the quoted prices it’s only fair to return the favour and not exploit the situation too much
That said I like your gesture of not keeping the laptops, should you receive them, and instead donating them to Baragwanath.
by Armand du Plessis
on 13. Jan, 2007
I didn’t even get time to get one
by Tyler
on 13. Jan, 2007
I also picked up the headline on Di.gg.
Unfortunately by that time they had redirected the link to a ‘Page not found’ generic page listing their laptops.
Personal experience with Dell…
Great Laptops, but they managed to ‘lose’ my order twice in their European order system. It eventually arrived +- 2-3 months after me paying for it.
Their quality is great, but until they open a local SA office/distributor (if they have not already done so by now) , I would not purchase from them again.
That said, I think they are a little overpriced compared to similar spec models from other reputable manufacturers that have local offices / support here in SA.
Except for the ‘free’ model of course
by Deon
on 14. Jan, 2007
Reminds me of my little purchase I made, make for great reading..
http://brettgrant.itspace.co.za/blogs/index.php?blog=2&page=1&paged=2
Good Luck, please let us know the result.
by Brett
on 15. Jan, 2007
[...] Im sure Mike Stopforth and the likes are going to have harsher words to say than me about Dell, and their non-delivery, especially after he promised he’d donate all 6 laptops he ordered to Baragwanath. [...]
by No free Dell laptop for me | JasonBagley.com
on 17. Jan, 2007
Shite, got my confirmation and it’s not good
http://chump-style.blogspot.com/2007/01/turns-out-dell-are-are-bunch-of.html
by Wezzo
on 17. Jan, 2007
[...] I never did hear anything more about my numerous Dell investments. [...]
by Dell Follow-Up | Mike Stopforth
on 07. Feb, 2007
[...] starts off with a story about how Dell was “giving” away free laptops with their broken e-Commerce platform. This was a good example of how the news spread through the [...]
by Vinny Lingham’s Blog » Blog Archive » Web 2.0 - Beyond the Hype
on 17. Jul, 2007
Turns out we actually sold 2500 laptops. Hells bells.
by Mike
on 03. Aug, 2007
Hello,
My name is Maylene, and I live in Philippines. Can someone here donate me his laptop? I just need it badly, I just started my work at home. If someone here has a good-heart who can donate his laptop, you can email me: cecille194906@yahoo.com
Thank you and God bless.
Kind regards,
Maylene
by maylene fernando
on 18. Sep, 2007
Im 15 and in need for a laptop at the moment.
I belive this isnt a scam so if possible please email me back with your telephone number so i can contact you for further notice.
Also how do i get a free laptop?
Thanks alot.
by Dilan
on 24. Feb, 2008
Please pretty please can I Have a lop top eneyone please
by Robyn
on 28. Feb, 2008
Just wanted to say helloo
by Robert
on 21. Jul, 2008
pls i need a laptop. and i am erom nigeria .i cant realy afford it.
thanks
by tosin
on 05. Aug, 2008
Very good web site, great work and thank you for your service.
by Melissa
on 30. Oct, 2008
Listen to this : ( I will make this short and sweet.
We run an HIV Research Unit in Cape Town, testing, and treating a huge population infected and affected by HIV and HIV related conditions. Our doctors are constantly involved with new studies on how to treat patients with HIV and TB and how to keep them on treatment. These Laptops that everyone is crying about? Just send them all to our research team. We will put it to good use. We rely on any external funding to further our course. Take a moment and think – HIV research,testing and Anti retroviral treatment in a gang infested community on the Cape Flats? Do you get the picture? Now please do the right thing with these Laptops – We need them.
by Thomas
on 31. Dec, 2008
I am hammering this away once more………
We run an HIV Research Unit in Cape Town, testing, and treating a huge population infected and affected by HIV and HIV related conditions. Our doctors are constantly involved with new studies on how to treat patients with HIV and TB and how to keep them on treatment. These Laptops that everyone is crying about? Just send them all to our research team. We will put it to good use. We rely on any external funding to further our cause. Take a moment and think – HIV research,testing and Anti retroviral treatment in a gang infested community on the Cape Flats? Do you get the picture? Now please do the right thing with these or any other unwanted Laptops – We need them.
by Thomas
on 31. Dec, 2008