Compudirect Buy Started negatively, but owner was very helpful
Written: Mar 11 '06 (Updated Mar 11 '06)
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I bought a Dell 2405fpw 24" LCD monitor from Compudirect.com. It was advertised as having a 4-year warranty in the photo caption, but as having a 3-year warranty in the specifications. After delivery during a telephone conversation with Igor, a principal in this online store, he informed me that some batches of these monitors have 4-year warranties. He provided me with a URL to check that out, and indeed, Dell does provide longer warranties for more money. I bought it because they had a favorable rating from Cnet.com. They have a colorful easy to use web site. It was a piece of cake spending all that money.
Problem was that when the monitor came it was packed much differently from the one I bought directly from Dell in the fall of 2005. This one came assembled, and, more importantly, the written documentation was missing. When I fired 'er up the settings were all screwed up. The screen was so bright white that I couldn't see buttons and borders on windows. It went back to normal when I used "factory defaults" in the On Screen Display (OSD). By then I was suspicious that I had been had. I suspected a refurb, grey market, repackaged return.
I sent an e-mail to Dell asking them to identify this unit by the serial number and date of manufacture. Dell has outsourced their customer service so it took about 8 e-mails to finally be told that unless the unit was purchased directly from Dell with a 9-digit order number from them there would be no warranty service other than over-the-phone generic troubleshooting. Dell would not repair or replace the unit under warranty. Considering that just having the monitor looked at if it quit working would cost about $100, you can see what the Dell warranty is worth. I figure about $300 of the purchase price or more is for the warranty.
With this information in hand I sent compudirect.com a couple of e-mails informing them that their advertising was false because there appeared to be no Dell warranty of any kind. Their answer was one sentence: "The monitor you purchase from us not from Dell and you do have 4 year warranty. If you have any problems with Dell monitor please call us first and we will call Dell for you." There is no documentation to support this store provided warranty. There is nothing in writing stating how long the warranty is, what exactly is covered, what Compudirect will do, what costs are associated with it, if any, what a consumer would have to do to get coverage, and, finally, what happens if Dell refuses to cover anything because the end user is a second owner. What happens if compudirect goes out of business? With nothing in writing Compudirect has no legal obligation to provide any warranty service. They did not say on the site that they will be the
intermediary with Dell for warranty service. This is way too big a ticket item for that kind of "wing and a prayer" service.
In my humble opinion you may not have any legal warranty at all, and even if Compudirect helps you out, they have to count on Dell to honor it. Dell is aware that online stores like Compudirect as well as dozens of sellers on ebay.com are selling this item with the buyer expecting the Dell 3-year warranty because the sellers advertise it that way. A store that is an authorized Direct Solution Provider (apparently Dell language for a licensed reseller) can sell these with the Dell warranty. Igor at Compudirect called to tell me that Compudirect is a Solution Provider. He did provide me with a 9-digit Dell order number for the batch of units mine came in that Compudirect ordered. He also gave me the phone number at Dell that Compudirect would use to get warranty service.
Compudirect has been around for about 8 years, and seems to be trying very hard. Igor assuaged my worries by calling me and providing me with order number and direct phone line to Dell. I won't actually know how good the warranty is until I need to use it. I was very negative about this transaction until Igor called me and spent about 30 minutes with me on long distance. If it turns out that I was hosed I'll let you know. I am hoping that I will never need to use the warranty. I have bought other smaller items from Compudirect, and with respect to those they are quite reasonable, ship fast, and I've had no problem with anything I bought.
If you wait for Dell's coupons on this monitor (do a google search for Dell Coupons), you can get it as cheap or cheaper directly from Dell if you live in a state where Dell doesn't charge sales tax. Otherwise, last time I checked Compudirect was the cheapest on this monitor. I still have some concern about getting Dell to honor the warranty, but I'll update this when and if I have to use it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Member: Joel
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