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Dell settles over lying to buyers

by on13 January 2009

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Pays out $3.85 million


Tinman Michael Dell
has agreed to write a check for £3.85 million to make lawyers from 46 US States go away over claims he lied in his financing and service offers to PC buyers.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said that an "epidemic-like wave of complaints" about Dell's practices prompted him to contact his counterparts across the country.

Basically Dell punters were offered zero-percent financing but were later told they would have to pay high interest rates and fees. Others "faced unacceptable obstacles obtaining warranty service on their Dell computers and others didn’t get promised rebates.

Only one State, that of New York, ever actually sued Dell over the issue.  Dell took it to the Supreme Court which ruled against the computer company.

By paying out, Dell avoided a much larger lawsuit.  It has also promised to be a wee bit more honest with its customers over its sales claims. Apparently it can't say that it has award winning customer service when it has not won such an award for longer than 18 months for example. 
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