A state judge in Albany, NY has found that Dell “has engaged in repeated misleading, deceptive and unlawful business conduct,including false and deceptive advertising of financing promotions and the terms of warranties, fraudulent, misleading and deceptive practices in credit financing and failure to provide warranty service and rebates.”

In addition, the judge also found that Dell Financial Services “has engaged in repeated misleading, deceptive and unlawful business conduct, including false and deceptive advertising of financing promotions, fraudulent, misleading and deceptive practices in credit financing and improper debt collection practices.”

NY’s Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, sued Dell and Dell Financial Services for depriving consumers of the technical support they were entitled to under their warranty or service contract by:

• repeatedly failing to provide consumers who purchased service contracts promising “onsite” and expedited service with timely onsite repair;

• for pressuring consumers, including those who purchased service contracts promising “next day onsite” repair, to remove the external cover of their computer and remove, reinstall, and manipulate hardware components;

• discouraging consumers from seeking technical support; those who called Dell’s toll free number were subjected to long wait times, repeated transfers, and frequent disconnections;

• for using defective “refurbished” parts or computers to repair or replace consumers’ equipment.

The lawsuit also accused Dell’s financing operation of luring customers into high interest rate financing deals by using a “bait-and-switch” tactic. Dell advertised “no interest” or “no payment” financing, but according to the lawsuit, “the vast majority of consumers, even those with very good credit scores, were denied these deals. “

In addition, the lawsuit also alleged that Dell incorrectly billed customers on canceled orders, returned merchandise or on accounts that were fraudulently opened. The AG’s office says that “Although many consumers repeatedly contacted Dell and/or DFS to advise them of the errors, DFS did not suspend its collection activity and Dell failed to expeditiously credit consumers’ accounts, even after assuring consumers it would do so. As a result, many consumers have been subjected to harassing collection calls for months on end and have had their credit ratings harmed.”

For more information about how this lawsuit affects Dell customers in New York state, please click here. According to the Wall Street Journal, Dell has no comment at this time.

Decision and Order in NY vs Dell (PDF)[NY AG]

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