Buy Now Pay March 2007
Discussion
Been looking for a good deal on a new PC for my Dad over the last few days, as he really doesn't know what the hell he's doing when it comes to buying computers.
I found a good deal from Dell in a newspaper and so I scanned and emailed the advert to my Dad. I also noticed that Dell were offering 'Buy Now Pay March 2007' on the computer. I'm a firm believer in using this kind of deal, as the money is better in your own bank account accumilating interest than it is in Dell's bank account. Knowing my Dad to be of a similar mindset I advised him of this offer.
Dad rings up Dell and confirms the spec of his computer. Gets to the payment section and he tells them that he'd like to take up the 'pay later' offer. They process all the information (and email him forms to sign) and then, right at the end of the conversation, they outline the specifics of the offer:
Apparently you place a 10% deposit down (fine) and then that is all you pay for 12 months. Then after 12 months you start to make monthly payments over a certain number of months (i.e. 36) with interest added from the initial date of the agreement. If you want to pay the balance off after the first 12 months you HAVE to pay a £49 'administration fee'. I think this is disgusting, particularly as it is not mentioned in the initial advert and only touched on once the deal is almost completed.
The advert was also less than crystal about the delivery option. The advert offered 'free shipping' and gave no conditions for this to happen. Yet on practically ordering the machine my Dad discovers that delivery can only happen between 9-12am monday to friday, and that a specific time or date cannot be given. In order to choose a time or date he would have to pay an extra £18.
Needless to say my Dad did not buy the PC. If Dell had been clearer in their advert then my Dad would not have even considered the 'Buy Now Pay March 2007' offer and would just have paid up front straight away. I can only conclude that Dell assume people will simply go along with the extra terms once they have made the effort to call them up, just to make life easier.
I found a good deal from Dell in a newspaper and so I scanned and emailed the advert to my Dad. I also noticed that Dell were offering 'Buy Now Pay March 2007' on the computer. I'm a firm believer in using this kind of deal, as the money is better in your own bank account accumilating interest than it is in Dell's bank account. Knowing my Dad to be of a similar mindset I advised him of this offer.
Dad rings up Dell and confirms the spec of his computer. Gets to the payment section and he tells them that he'd like to take up the 'pay later' offer. They process all the information (and email him forms to sign) and then, right at the end of the conversation, they outline the specifics of the offer:
Apparently you place a 10% deposit down (fine) and then that is all you pay for 12 months. Then after 12 months you start to make monthly payments over a certain number of months (i.e. 36) with interest added from the initial date of the agreement. If you want to pay the balance off after the first 12 months you HAVE to pay a £49 'administration fee'. I think this is disgusting, particularly as it is not mentioned in the initial advert and only touched on once the deal is almost completed.
The advert was also less than crystal about the delivery option. The advert offered 'free shipping' and gave no conditions for this to happen. Yet on practically ordering the machine my Dad discovers that delivery can only happen between 9-12am monday to friday, and that a specific time or date cannot be given. In order to choose a time or date he would have to pay an extra £18.
Needless to say my Dad did not buy the PC. If Dell had been clearer in their advert then my Dad would not have even considered the 'Buy Now Pay March 2007' offer and would just have paid up front straight away. I can only conclude that Dell assume people will simply go along with the extra terms once they have made the effort to call them up, just to make life easier.
wanty1974 said:
Pop along to PC World, buy now, pay later until March 2007, no deposit and no 'settlement fee'. Got my new Mac there. They don't advertise it widely, but it is available.
Cheers for that. It'll really depend on whether they can offer a similar spec to the Dell one. I guess they probably do nowadays.
It's not that my Dad was looking for a 'Buy Now Pay Later' offer, it's just that we got annoyed when one was offered which turned out to be something else in disguise. He went to the effort of spending half an hour on the phone specing up a computer, to then realise that they had mis-led him about certain things. His pride then meant he couldn't simply continue with the deal as he would have felt he'd been 'had'. He could have simply paid the full amount straight out without any further thought, but again he felt Dell has not been honest with him.
That half-an-hour (maybe an hour with consideration time, etc) was wasted, and had he been charging for this time at his usual working rate then it would have been a lot of lost money. If Dell had stated these terms on their advert (they stated lots of other terms, so why not these?) then there would have been no problem.
He was bloody annoyed (rang me up and had a rant) and I can understand why.
wanty1974 said:
Pop along to PC World, buy now, pay later until March 2007, no deposit and no 'settlement fee'. Got my new Mac there. They don't advertise it widely, but it is available.
You can also vary the monthly payments so it will automatically clear the finance on time (should you want to; they will write to you to remind you that the interest free period is about to run out as well.) As far as the spec vs Dell goes, PC World will have machines that they do not advertise widely to beat other people's specs. Just ask the least unintelligent-looking member of staff.
wanty1974 said:
Pop along to PC World, buy now, pay later until March 2007, no deposit and no 'settlement fee'. Got my new Mac there. They don't advertise it widely, but it is available.
Never, EVER buy a full PC from PC World. Ever.
I bought my first PC from them many years ago, one of the first Compaq Presarios it was, and after a couple of years decided to take it into the local shop to have it upgraded. Cue a day or so down the line, and we get a phone call from the computer shop. "Where did you get this PC from sir?", to which i reply PC World. "Ahhh yes i thought as much" before going on to explain that PC World put a chip or something in all the PCs they sell which basically means nobody but them can upgrade them - effectively rendering our computer obsolete and useless unless we paid PC World's extortionate fees to upgrade it. Since then i have never, and will never buy anything from them ever again.
>> Edited by paulhol on Monday 6th March 12:46
paulhol said:
PC World put a chip or something in all the PCs they sell which basically means nobody but them can upgrade them - effectively rendering our computer obsolete and useless unless we paid PC World's extortionate fees to upgrade it. Since then i have never, and will never buy anything from them ever again.
Sorry - this is complete nonsense. You've been told complete rubbish.
paulhol said:They never used to when I was there.
Pop along to PC World, buy now, pay later until March 2007, no deposit and no 'settlement fee'. Got my new Mac there. They don't advertise it widely, but it is available.
Never, EVER buy a full PC from PC World. Ever.
I bought my first PC from them many years ago, one of the first Compaq Presarios it was, and after a couple of years decided to take it into the local shop to have it upgraded. Cue a day or so down the line, and we get a phone call from the computer shop. "Where did you get this PC from sir?", to which i reply PC World. "Ahhh yes i thought as much" before going on to explain that PC World put a chip or something in all the PCs they sell which basically means nobody but them can upgrade them - effectively rendering our computer obsolete and useless unless we paid PC World's extortionate fees to upgrade it. Since then i have never, and will never buy anything from them ever again.
>> Edited by paulhol on Monday 6th March 12:46
How's the tinfoil hat?
I did buy a Compaq Presario from PC World a fair few years ago, when I was at school still. The case had a strange design - all black and a weird shape. IIRC the processor, soundcard, graphics, etc were all part of the motherboard, and could not be easily upgraded. The only easy parts to upgrade were the hard drive and memory, and of course external stuff. I just sold the machine on when it got too slow for my needs, but I imagine it would have been a bugger to fix had it died on me.
As for my Dads PC I'll have a butchers in PC World and I'll also have a bit of a look in a Computer Shopper magazine. My Dad needs a pretty decent spec and a very good monitor, which is why he favoured the Dell (24" screen), but he simply won't buy anything from somewhere that tries to mislead him. He doesn't need the 'Buy Now Pay Later' scheme, it just seemed nice that it was available (even when it wasn't really).
As for my Dads PC I'll have a butchers in PC World and I'll also have a bit of a look in a Computer Shopper magazine. My Dad needs a pretty decent spec and a very good monitor, which is why he favoured the Dell (24" screen), but he simply won't buy anything from somewhere that tries to mislead him. He doesn't need the 'Buy Now Pay Later' scheme, it just seemed nice that it was available (even when it wasn't really).
Dell are stupidly cheap sometimes, especially when they are doing a free delivery offer, or one of their ram/monitor upgrades deal.
I got my comp for £250 inc vat and del, (17'' TFT, 2.6 GHZ Cel, 500 and something odd ram, 80 GD Hard drive Blah blah), similar spec PC from PC world, or indeed anywhere was about double.
The key to getting a good deal from dell is timing, and to search their outlet site or to have a look though the forums at www.rpoints.com where they flag up the best deal of the day.
I got my comp for £250 inc vat and del, (17'' TFT, 2.6 GHZ Cel, 500 and something odd ram, 80 GD Hard drive Blah blah), similar spec PC from PC world, or indeed anywhere was about double.
The key to getting a good deal from dell is timing, and to search their outlet site or to have a look though the forums at www.rpoints.com where they flag up the best deal of the day.
send/email me a idea of what he's after, i'll price one up to give you a guide price.
I'm probly a bit far away to build it for you and send it on (its a hobby of mine) but its easy enough to do it, and there are plenty of other companies that could do it for you. I do tend to steer clear of big name manus... Dell, PC World, Time/Tiny et al. always seem to run into problems with them.
I'm probly a bit far away to build it for you and send it on (its a hobby of mine) but its easy enough to do it, and there are plenty of other companies that could do it for you. I do tend to steer clear of big name manus... Dell, PC World, Time/Tiny et al. always seem to run into problems with them.
maxrider said:
Been IT Manager at current job for 10ish years, bought all makes of PC over that time and can honestly say that of any make Dell has been the most reliable/cheapest option every time.
My own PC and laptop at home are Dell...
dunno what Bury Council did to theirs then... full kit for hte council was from Dell, for ever having problems.
Sister recently had a batch of computers for her Surgery ordered, and arrived several weeks late.. and wrong computers arrived...
I bought a PC from PC World. One of their 'own brand' (Advent/Avent??) spec is good and everything is upgradeable.
I had a Compaq Pressario, but it was at a time when after a few RAM add ons and graphics card it was done. No way you could upgrade the mother board any further.
PC World are what they are, they sell PC's the way DFS sell sofas. Buy with your eyes open and don't expect Harrods Personal shopper service at Tesco prices
I had a Compaq Pressario, but it was at a time when after a few RAM add ons and graphics card it was done. No way you could upgrade the mother board any further.
PC World are what they are, they sell PC's the way DFS sell sofas. Buy with your eyes open and don't expect Harrods Personal shopper service at Tesco prices
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