[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":335},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog:2006:dellgetpushywithinsuranceextendedwarranties":3,"blogMore-Technology":321,"comments-dellgetpushywithinsuranceextendedwarranties":334},{"_path":4,"_dir":5,"_draft":6,"_partial":6,"_locale":7,"title":8,"description":9,"date":10,"category":11,"tags":12,"excerpt":15,"body":30,"_type":311,"_id":312,"_source":313,"_file":314,"_stem":315,"_extension":316,"url":317,"wordCount":318,"minutes":319,"commentCount":320},"/blog/2006/dellgetpushywithinsuranceextendedwarranties","2006",false,"en","Dell get pushy with insurance/extended warranties","We’ve all experienced the pushy salesman trying to get us to buy insurance/extended warranties when buying goods in stores but now it seems Dell are taking this to the extreme.","2006-05-15T13:51:00+00:00","Technology",[13,14],"hardware","Dell",{"type":16,"children":17},"root",[18,25],{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":21,"children":22},"element","p",{},[23],{"type":24,"value":9},"text",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":26,"children":27},{},[28],{"type":24,"value":29},"Last month we decided to buy my little brother a PC of his own and headed over to Dell and so my story starts.",{"type":16,"children":31,"toc":301},[32,36,40,56,63,83,109,114,119,125,130,135,140,145,150,156,161,166,206,211,216,222,227,233,238,243,248,253,258,263,269,274,279,293],{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":33,"children":34},{},[35],{"type":24,"value":9},{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":37,"children":38},{},[39],{"type":24,"value":29},{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":41,"children":42},{},[43,45,54],{"type":24,"value":44},"We found a Dimension 1100 with 512MB RAM, 80GB HD, CDRW/DVD combo drive, Celeron D 2.5GHz with on-board sound & video, XP Home and the usual keyboard/mouse combo for £144 (ex VAT). You can see the ex-VAT prices by choosing ",{"type":19,"tag":46,"props":47,"children":51},"a",{"href":48,"rel":49},"https://www1.euro.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukbsdt1&l=en&s=bsd",[50],"nofollow",[52],{"type":24,"value":53},"Small Business",{"type":24,"value":55}," instead of Home.",{"type":19,"tag":57,"props":58,"children":60},"h2",{"id":59},"pushy-web-site",[61],{"type":24,"value":62},"Pushy web site",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":64,"children":65},{},[66,68,74,76,81],{"type":24,"value":67},"Dell show lots of attractive prices but the moment you hit ",{"type":19,"tag":69,"props":70,"children":71},"em",{},[72],{"type":24,"value":73},"Customize & Buy",{"type":24,"value":75}," the tricks start as the price shoots up when they tack a ",{"type":19,"tag":69,"props":77,"children":78},{},[79],{"type":24,"value":80},"3 Year on-site service",{"type":24,"value":82}," on.",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":84,"children":85},{},[86,88,93,95,100,102,107],{"type":24,"value":87},"To remove this massive increase some ",{"type":19,"tag":69,"props":89,"children":90},{},[91],{"type":24,"value":92},"£80",{"type":24,"value":94}," on this system (40% of the purchase price!) you must expand the ",{"type":19,"tag":69,"props":96,"children":97},{},[98],{"type":24,"value":99},"Cover It with Dell Support Services",{"type":24,"value":101}," section and switch to ",{"type":19,"tag":69,"props":103,"children":104},{},[105],{"type":24,"value":106},"No service upgrade selected, 90 Day Collect and Return service only",{"type":24,"value":108},".",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":110,"children":111},{},[112],{"type":24,"value":113},"It’s interesting to note that they refer to the standard warranty as “90 Day” when in fact it is a full year warranty. I guess they are hoping to scare people into shelling out for insurance.",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":115,"children":116},{},[117],{"type":24,"value":118},"Anyway, I had the spec I wanted and because the site doesn’t understand the VAT-free nature of the Channel Islands it was time to call them to try and order the system…",{"type":19,"tag":57,"props":120,"children":122},{"id":121},"pushy-salesman-1",[123],{"type":24,"value":124},"Pushy salesman 1",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":126,"children":127},{},[128],{"type":24,"value":129},"The moment I got through to sales I made it clear I was ordering from Guernsey and so would need the order VAT-free. I didn’t want to go through the whole process twice once with the wrong department.",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":131,"children":132},{},[133],{"type":24,"value":134},"My Indian sales representative took the details of the system I wanted to order, and it took over 15 minutes to get the right system for the right price.",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":136,"children":137},{},[138],{"type":24,"value":139},"At least half that time was him trying to get me to not remove the 3 year warranty. Eventually he took my address details and said he couldn’t help me because they didn’t deal with the Channel Islands and that I’d need another department.",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":141,"children":142},{},[143],{"type":24,"value":144},"Exactly the problem I’d hoped to avoid with my first statement.",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":146,"children":147},{},[148],{"type":24,"value":149},"I asked which department and number I needed but he didn’t know. He did however get somebody to call me back. That leads to my next salesman…",{"type":19,"tag":57,"props":151,"children":153},{"id":152},"pushy-salesman-2",[154],{"type":24,"value":155},"Pushy salesman 2",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":157,"children":158},{},[159],{"type":24,"value":160},"My second Indian salesman couldn’t pick up the order from the first salesman so we had to start again.",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":162,"children":163},{},[164],{"type":24,"value":165},"If I thought the first salesman was pushy then the second one took the biscuit. Some of his phrases included;",{"type":19,"tag":167,"props":168,"children":169},"ul",{},[170,176,181,186,191,196,201],{"type":19,"tag":171,"props":172,"children":173},"li",{},[174],{"type":24,"value":175},"“What will you do if it goes wrong”",{"type":19,"tag":171,"props":177,"children":178},{},[179],{"type":24,"value":180},"“Listen to me” (x3)",{"type":19,"tag":171,"props":182,"children":183},{},[184],{"type":24,"value":185},"“If it is shipped back you will have to pay 50% of the costs”",{"type":19,"tag":171,"props":187,"children":188},{},[189],{"type":24,"value":190},"“It is just a few pence a day”",{"type":19,"tag":171,"props":192,"children":193},{},[194],{"type":24,"value":195},"“You can not fix it yourself”",{"type":19,"tag":171,"props":197,"children":198},{},[199],{"type":24,"value":200},"“Isn’t that a good deal for peace of mind”",{"type":19,"tag":171,"props":202,"children":203},{},[204],{"type":24,"value":205},"“It even includes accidental damage” (Err, so does my home insurance)",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":207,"children":208},{},[209],{"type":24,"value":210},"Anyway, eventually I had to be very firm with him and we proceeded with the order. He went through a similar thing with needing ink and a cable for the free printer, neither of which are cheap. In the end I told him to keep the printer as we didn’t want it anyway.",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":212,"children":213},{},[214],{"type":24,"value":215},"The order details were taken although I had to chase a couple of days later for email confirmation the system arrived and worked just fine.",{"type":19,"tag":57,"props":217,"children":219},{"id":218},"aftersales-1",[220],{"type":24,"value":221},"Aftersales 1",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":223,"children":224},{},[225],{"type":24,"value":226},"I received an email saying I could rate the buying experience online. Needless to say I made my feelings on pushy salesman trying to offer support contracts known.",{"type":19,"tag":57,"props":228,"children":230},{"id":229},"aftersales-2",[231],{"type":24,"value":232},"Aftersales 2",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":234,"children":235},{},[236],{"type":24,"value":237},"Today was the final pestering that would inspire a blog rant… a call from Dell asking how my Dimension 1100 is going.",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":239,"children":240},{},[241],{"type":24,"value":242},"Me: “Absolutely fine, no problems.”",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":244,"children":245},{},[246],{"type":24,"value":247},"Dell: “Oh, that’s good. You didn’t take the 3 year support, is that really what you wanted?”",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":249,"children":250},{},[251],{"type":24,"value":252},"Me: “Yes, absolutely.”",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":254,"children":255},{},[256],{"type":24,"value":257},"Dell: “Ok, bye.”",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":259,"children":260},{},[261],{"type":24,"value":262},"Well, okay at least he wasn’t pushy but how many times must I tell them no. By my count it’s at least 3 if you exclude the sales and after-sales rating web sites.",{"type":19,"tag":57,"props":264,"children":266},{"id":265},"are-they-worth-it",[267],{"type":24,"value":268},"Are they worth it?",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":270,"children":271},{},[272],{"type":24,"value":273},"If you are really lost with PC’s maybe they are, but if you write software for a living and put your first PC together 10 years ago probably not.",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":275,"children":276},{},[277],{"type":24,"value":278},"My Hitachi TV came with a free 5 year extended warranty. It covered £140 of repairs when it decided it wouldn’t switch on any more, and finding somebody to repair it was a whole other issue. My thanks to Sarnia Radio in Victoria Road for rising to the challenge and doing a sterling repair job.",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":280,"children":281},{},[282,284,291],{"type":24,"value":283},"I did once take out an extended warranty of sorts on a 3 piece sofa suit for £100 (less than 10% of the price) which included coating the whole thing with ",{"type":19,"tag":46,"props":285,"children":288},{"href":286,"rel":287},"https://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/scotchgard/furn_pap.jhtml",[50],[289],{"type":24,"value":290},"ScotchGard protector",{"type":24,"value":292}," which has kept it totally mark-free for the last 10 years :) If you burnt or damaged it then the warranty would kick-in.",{"type":19,"tag":20,"props":294,"children":295},{},[296],{"type":19,"tag":69,"props":297,"children":298},{},[299],{"type":24,"value":300},"[)amien",{"title":302,"searchDepth":303,"depth":303,"links":304},"",2,[305,306,307,308,309,310],{"id":59,"depth":303,"text":62},{"id":121,"depth":303,"text":124},{"id":152,"depth":303,"text":155},{"id":218,"depth":303,"text":221},{"id":229,"depth":303,"text":232},{"id":265,"depth":303,"text":268},"markdown","content:blog:2006:dellgetpushywithinsuranceextendedwarranties.md","content","blog/2006/dellgetpushywithinsuranceextendedwarranties.md","blog/2006/dellgetpushywithinsuranceextendedwarranties","md","/blog/2006/dellgetpushywithinsuranceextendedwarranties/",834,4,0,[322,326,330],{"title":323,"date":324,"url":325},"VTX5000: Part 4 - Communications ","2026-05-06T10:19:24.727Z","/blog/2026/vtx5000-part-4-comms-routines/",{"title":327,"date":328,"url":329},"VTX5000: Part 3 - Software ROM","2026-04-15T23:00:00.000Z","/blog/2026/vtx5000-part-3-software-rom/",{"title":331,"date":332,"url":333},"VTX5000: Part 2 - Hardware","2026-03-30T23:00:00.000Z","/blog/2026/prism-vtx5000-part-2/",[],1779264576411]