I was on Dell’s website today (and yesterday in fact) looking at an Inspiron 560s. Dell’s website has 4 different “systems” with various options, bells, whistles, etc.
Here’s the current link: –> Inspiron 560s
After going online to try and “Personalize” a system I noticed the website intentionally steering me to a model with a higher base price just to get the video card I wanted (it was $100 dollars more). According to the “Tech Specs” all those systems are basically the SAME! The case and the motherboard in all Inspiron 560s systems are the exact same, they then layer various types of processors, memory and hard drives on top of the foundation. Nothing new right?
Here’s the old bait and switch:
What I’ve discovered is Dell tricking the unknowing consumer to pay more than they need to by NOT offering the same options for a “lesser” model thus, to get the add on video card (NVIDIA GeForce® G310 512MB DDR3) you are forced to buy the more expensive model. You DON’T need to buy the more expensive model because the NVIDIA card will in fact go into the less expensive model but who’d know that if you’re just some non-nerd shopping for a computer?
As a side note, Dell has begun saying “This quote is only good for today” and they’re no longer honoring the typical 30 day quote time. This too is a typical high pressure sales tactic used to pressure consumers into pulling the trigger early. It’s subtle but effective!
Dell – your bait and switch practices are shameful! So are your subtle high pressure sales tactics! Are you owned by ABC Warehouse another infamous bait and switching company with high pressure sales tactics (Read more here –> Link)?
I have suffered simiar experiences with Dell especially when trying to buy off of their website. My main example has been clicking to personalize a system with a “base” price that is attractive. when the new page opens, the base price is more than the price on the referring page. When I have discussed this with Dell, I have been told that errors on their webpage happen and they don’t have to honor the lower price and also that their prices change “all the time” on their web site and they can charge what they want. Whatever happened to “the customer is right”?
If I wasn’t buying this for my daughter who is headed for college that does on site warranty repairs for Dells’ I would buy a Toshiba or HP
Great information, thanks Evan for letting the world know about it. I would encourage you to call that college or university and inquire about their technical services offerings. You might find that the campus has a school funded computer shop that does repairs on all kinds of laptops and PC’s regardless of the warranty status. They usually do it for pennies on the dollar + parts. Let us know.