Get 20% back from MSN at DELL ***** Thread #3 ***** expires Monday 12/11

[Braxus]

From what I've seen from the older 7000 and 7500 which have a 15 inch screen, it does make the laptop look somewhat like a mushroom. also pretty thick! The I8K is supposed to be a tad thinner than the 7000 series.

When I do get my I8, I do plan to open it all up... being very careful that any warrenty tampering stickers are taken care of using a razor blade.

 

[bigmouth]

Well, I am planing to upg my "forgot-to-change" 5.0GB HDD.
Noticed Buy.com has the 10GB travelstar 20GN for 134$,-30$coupon. Suppose I can sell the 5GB at ####.com(forbidden) for 50 bucks, I didn't lose anything compare to dell.

also the 20GB travelstar is about 200$, if I UPG to this one, then I spend 200-50=150 bucks, cheaper than DELL. But seems 20GB is no use in a laptop.

Anybody has better ideas?

 

[madca]

Why is it "bad bad bad" if I ordered through the Small Business section to get Windows 2000 Pro?

I did and 12/4 I have confirmation of the rebate.


????

 

[Braxus]

madca,

it's bad because the rebate only applies to the Home&Home Office section. No where else.

 

[luv2chill]

madca--

it's "bad bad bad" because supposedly you wouldn't qualify for the rebate if you did. Dell's terms since the beginning of this promo have stated that the rebate only applies if the system was ordered through the Home/Home Office sections. The Small Business section is a completely separate area with different configuration options (one of which being Win2k).

I would consider yourself lucky for getting the rebate (or confirmation of one anyway... they might never send it to you... I wouldn't brag until you've got a check in your hand). Personally, risking 20% off just to get Win2k preinstalled wasn't worth it for me. I already have win2k anyway, so when I get my lappy I'm just going to wipe the HDD.

Debateable whether you should try to contact Dell about your situation. On one hand you probably want to ensure that you will receive it, seeing as you violated the terms of the promotion, but it may be an oversight and your drawing attention to it might invalidate your rebate claim.

It's up to you, but I wouldn't recommend anyone else try to do it. You only have 30 days to return the thing. They have 6-8 weeks to send you a check...if they're going to.

l2c

 

[Brainstorm]

Dx-treme:
Did u order the 32mb video card?
Coz when I called Dell, they said that the 32mb video cards are backordered and now my expected ship date is 12/22! :| They messed up my order of 11/28 and created and processed a new order only on 12/4. Grrrr....

 

[apologetic]

sunnava! i just compared the order# on my confirmation email for the Msn %20 to the one that was actually shipped. It turns out they sent me a confirmation for an order that I cancelled. I haven't gotten a confirmation email for the notebook that was actually shipped!

bastards. damnit. no confirmation of the %20 rebate check for me either.

maybe i'll get two checks instead of just one! but then, of course, that would be unethical and I'd have to return one of them...

 

[madca]

The order confirmation screen in the Small Business Center during check out, step 5 of 5, had

Attention
MSN Holiday Shopper!
For shopping MSN eShop
and using your Passport
Wallet in Dell's checkout,
you'll get 20% cash back
from your system order
when completed online.

Now I have the system with Windows 2000 Professional and the confirmtion of the rebate email.

I printed all of the order screens and now the email - looks like I will get the rebate.

 

[MusashiX]

well, after much complaining, they credited my credit card 20% of the purchase price. At least, they said they did. I won't be completely relaxed until I can get Discover to actually confirm this.

 

[Heifetz]

WTF

I just got this email.

We are calling to give you an update on the status of your order, #.
Although we had anticipated being able to ship your order sooner, we are experiencing an unexpected delay and we will not be able to ship your order until Wednesday, December 20, 2000. If you do not want to wait, you may cancel your order receive a prompt refund. Otherwise, we will continue working hard to get your order to you.



12/20!!! I ordered on 12/28! Thats almost a month of wait. And I still haven't received my MSN confirmation email! URRRGGGGGGG

:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|


Heifetz

 

[bigmouth]

masashix-admire you to death if you do get the credit. now you don't need to wait. the money is real.

 

[luv2chill]

madca--

yes it had that text, but it also had what's known as "the fine print" down at the bottom of the page, which clearly and unambiguously states that the purchase must be made from the Home/Home Office section... here it is for your convenience:

"**A 20% cash rebate will be issued to qualified Dell Home Systems purchasers based on total transaction amount, including taxes and shipping...Offer good only for online system purchases made through Dell Home Systems between November 17 and December 11, 2000, for customers who came to Dell.com through a link on the MSN network and used their Microsoft Passport Wallet data in Dell?s checkout process."

And just because you have an e-mail saying you will receive a rebate doesn't mean that you are assured to receive the rebate. Dell could realize its mistake and simply not send a check to you and would be completely within its bounds to do so. I would not be so confident if I were you.

Don't get me wrong... if you receive the rebate--great! But because you don't actually have the money in your hands, it might be prudent to avoid saying that one can get the rebate when ordering from a different section of the Dell store. Others might be tempted to try it and be upset when they don't receive their 20% rebates.

l2c

 

[luv2chill]

Incidentally, when checking on the fine print, noticed that Dell has chosen to end the offer on Monday December 11th, which is a change from the previous date of December 20th.

So if you still want to get in on this, Monday's your cutoff.

l2c

 

[MusashiX]

I just received an email confirmation that they have credited my discover card 20% of the purchase order. If your name is not on their rebate list, but you know that you did everything correctly, just persist and eventually they'll have to cave in. Especially if you've got print outs as proof.

 

[Maverick319]

1. Inspiron 3800
2. 12/6/00
3. 12/12/00
4. Not Yet
5. No
6. No
7. No
8. No
9. Waiting for it to ship

 

[RossMAN]

Well according to the UPS Tracking page my new bouncing i4000 baby should arrive on December 6, 2000. Guess what? It still says that and I don't have my i4000 warming my lap!!! I'm guessing that all rebate confirmation e-mails have been cancelled due to incorrect amounts being sent which sucks so I'll give Dell another 2 weeks before raising all hell.

Here's what the UPS Tracking has been saying since last Friday, 12/1/00 almost a week ago!
PACKAGE PROGRESS
Date Time Location Activity
Dec 1, 2000 2:23 P.M. CACH, IL, US LOCATION SCAN
1:50 P.M. CACH, IL, US UNLOAD SCAN
12:28 P.M. CACH, IL, US ARRIVAL SCAN
4:22 A.M. WHITES CREEK HUB, TN, US DEPARTURE SCAN
1:16 A.M. WHITES CREEK HUB, TN, US ARRIVAL SCAN
Nov 30, 2000 10:34 P.M. NASHVILLE HUB, TN, US DEPARTURE SCAN
5:58 P.M. NASHVILLE HUB, TN, US ORIGIN SCAN
3:41 A.M. US PICKUP MANIFEST RECEIVED

LuZer - Do you have that phone number, options, extension and name of who you spoke with yet? I would like to speak with a person or department who is aware of the MSN Promo and has access to the list which contains everyone's name and e-mail address. I DO NOT want to call their general customer and speak with someone who doesn't have access to "the list".

madca - Sorry I should have explained better as to why it's "bad bad bad" if you placed your order through the Small Business section probably in order to get Windows 2000 Pro installed. I believe Braxus and luv2chill explained why I said it was "bad bad bad".

 

[LuZeR]

RossMAN;

here is the story now. the CSR i was speaking to said he will add my name to the 20% off list even though it didnt go through.

also:
1. inspiron 4000
2. 11/28/00
3 it came 12/4/00
4. no
5. home store
6. i cancelled one before 20% started
7. personal CSR
8. dash & stockback
9. 1 dead pixel
10. UPS (i think)

 

[ken2]

1. Dimension 4100
2. 11/29
3. 12/1
4. No
5. No
6. No
7. No
8. No
9. No
10. NO

 

[RTFMMonkeyboy]

For insomniac: Not sure if it has been posted yet

Anyone know where to get a car cigarette lighter adapter for these notebooks?

You can get one from Lind electronics for about 90$

 

[RossMAN]

My i4000 was finally scanned in here, and now says delivery is today December 7, 2000:
Dec 6, 2000 5:46 P.M. PORTLAND, OR, US DESTINATION SCAN

Still no rebate e-mail confirmation received.

 

[CFW]

RTFMMonkeyboy, You should be able to get an inverter for your cigarette lighter that converts the 12v DC to 110 AC for about $50.00 or less. Then you just plug in your standard AC adaptor.

My 5000e should be showing up in a few hours, Oh yeah

 

[Insomniac]

RTFMMonkeyboy: I saw that adapter at Lind for $100 and at Dell for $99. I noticed it just plugged into the 'pack' instead of your laptop. The 'pack ' has a plug that looks like 3 of the 5 olympic rings, I hope you understand that. I don't know if that is standard or not. I saw a page on Dell's website (I'll have to find it) that listed the necessary specs for the adapter. So maybe we can get a less expensive one.

I guess all that adapter does is convert to AC since it plugs into your 'pack' so CFW is right.

 

[Maverick319]

Ordered yesterday afternoon, called 9:00am EST to change my order to the I4K, but the CSR told me my order had SHIPPED. 12-14 hour turnaround time isn't bad. The deal was when I called to cancel the 3800, Dell negotiated with me to Keep the one that shipped. Final Deal:

They knocked $250.00 off the price and threw in an extra 64mb of RAM. Canceled my Crucial order and saved another 50.00

I ended up with a 600mhz Celeron, 10GB HD, 128mb RAM, 8X DVD-ROM, 53Whr Battery for $964.00 Final cost. Would have liked to have the bigger screen and video card, but I couldn't pass this deal up.

 

[Insomniac]

Maverick319: Who did you talk to? What department? Did you just call returns and talk to a CSR? Or a supervisor?

 

[Maverick319]

Yeah, I just called and said I wanted to cancel my order as I had found a better configuration. I don't know what department since they transfered me several times, but the CSR was enabled to make a decision right there, and started by offering $220.00. After SHE upped it to $250.00, I asked for a 128mb stick, she said no, and I then asked for a 64mb stick, she said yes to both. In retrospect, I should have asked for a second battery and kept my Crucial order, but I don't plan on using the battery all that much so saving 50 bucks was good.