Dell bars Win 7 refunds from Linux lovers

I've done it

Ordered a number of Dell machines without any OS on it at all (thus saving the need to even send it back) even when Win7 was the only option. You just need to speak to someone in the order process.

They are nice enough to throw in a disc with FreeDOS on it and drivers for said OS. So good luck getting the network card to work if it's your only PC.

Forget Dell then, look at HP

I haven't looked at HP's line lately, but I've heard that they have honored the Windows Tax refund. If Dell can't step up to the plate and simply offer computer with NO OPERATING SYSTEM, or sell systems for less that have Linux bundled with them (since Linux is FREE), then it's time to look at a vendor that WILL do this. It's too bad that Dell is stooping this low, they were a good company at one time and over the past year everything has been going downhill for Dell. They obviously have some sort of deal with Microsoft where they have to sell Windows. There's a reason that they bundle Windows with PCs and make them cheaper than ones with Linux. My broad assumption with the Windows Tax refund is that your mileage may vary. I've found with Dell support that you get different answers with different reps.

Umm, it's one thing or the other: call the OFT

If Dell doesn't refund the cost of Windows then you could in principle involve teh Office of Fair Trading as the EULA is then misleading to the point of hitting the Trade Descriptions Act (any tame lawyers here)?.

Put another way, it's either the OEM who ends up in trouble - or Microsoft. It would actually be good to get a decent statement out of the OFT for this (it would also be unique, but I digress) because it would act as a benchmark. Given the actual content of the EULA I cannot see this going Dell's/Microsoft's way, so if Dell is smart it caves as soon as it gets hinted at OFT involvement. The last thing they need is a precedent there.

Keep pushing guys - if they want to use make-believe it's time to call them on it. If my next system wasn't going to be a Mac (fed up with the hourly patching of Windows just to keep it semi-safe) I'd buy one just so I could be a royal pain too.

Isn't it lovely when you can hang a company by its own BS? :-)

N series, remember them?

I bought some Dell XPS M1330N for my business - remember them? they were the Linux laptops? brilliant, even a a few years on, it works brilliantly with the latest Fedora 12.

ahhh, now I understand.

1. sell Dell systems with windows

2. let clueless users clog them up with rubbish

3. clueless (l)users equate computers with Austin Allegro's - "it's old, it is getting slower"

4. Dell sells cluless lusers new systems

5. profit!

Just ask for a laptop with no OS !?

I'm on my fourth Dell laptop each time I dealt with business sales and asked for no OS. I guess if you're after a 'home' machine then it may be more difficult but I've always found them happy to supply Latitudes with no OS.

See I have an MSDN and MS Action Pack subscription so have no need to buy another copy of the OS.

Monopolistic?

I thought that computer manufacturers were legally forbidden from bundling Windows on a PC without the option of a refund because Windows was a monopoly OS and the bundling allowed shady back-room deals from Microsoft and prevented healthy competition.

I though that was why the line about returning the OS for a refund was in the EULA.

Anyone know for sure?

why?

Why are you buying a Dell?

cough up dell...

just sent the free-tard his £0.00 cheque!

No more recommending Dell until this is reversed

I was planning on assisting a friend in purchasing a Dell laptop online tomorrow. Not any more. Maybe they just saved themselves from having to give a refund for a bloated, overpriced malware magnet. But they've lost a sale of a laptop tomorrow, and many recommendations (and personal purchases) I might have made in the future.

Dell FAIL.

I'm waiting for my FREE™ Windows copy

Nope. Still nothing.

Don't really want one, tbh.

No Dell for me or any brand

I just selected what Motherboard , PSU, CPU etc I want in the white box and my trusty computer man popped them in for me.

I don't anticipate ever buying anything from Dell.

Bundling & Vendor Selection

As 100+ comments on this article have stated over and over again, the PC vendor is different than the OS vendor.

A decent analogy is an automobile. Hundreds of separate vendors are involved in building and supplying all the components of a car but at the end of the day you are paying for the complete car, not its individual components. You are paying for all the engineering, process analysis, etc... that goes into the complete package (bundle) you purchased. For example I absolutely despise the side mirrors on my car but I don't expect to be able to remove them and request a refund from Audi. I bought a pre-configured car, if a part of that car fails then I expect the vendor to make it right, but I don't expect them to refund my money because a specific part of the bundle wasn't what I wanted.

If you don't like the bundle a vendor is offering then choose another vendor. That's what purchasing and customer education is all about. Pick the vendor that offers the product you want but don't expect someone to change their entire business because you are unhappy with a single component of your bundled purchase.