I was in the market for a new Windows computer. I've had good luck with Dells, so that's where I turned for my purchase. My budget was around $1,200, which seemed like the sweet spot for the kind of PC I wanted. Since I do a lot of photo and video editing, I needed a powerful PC with lots of memory. I chose a top-of-the-line XPS 8930 with a 1 terabyte solid state drive and a 1 terabyte traditional drive. I also asked for 16 gigs of RAM and a separate video card with at least 4 gigs of memory.
Dell has a 24/7 chat line, and so, in the wee hours of the night, I started chatting. It was then that I discovered that no two quotes were alike for the PC I wanted. My first chat resulted in a quote of $1,648. I quickly ended that chat and started over with another chat-mate. "With all discounts available, the final price is $1,499." That still seemed too much for my budget, but I wondered about the $150 difference. Emboldened and curious, I initiated yet another chat: $1,529. Still curious, I started another chat: $1,440. It was late, and I was weary from all the chatting, so it was off to bed, where I dreamed I was being stuffed into a DVD drive cassette.
Refreshed, though somewhat shaken from my dream, I tried again. This time I was quoted $1,322, a whopping $326 less than my first quote. I ran with it. And then I discovered something interesting. I asked my chat-mate for her name, to give her credit for the sale. She demurred, saying that she doesn't get paid for the actual sale. It was only then that the upselling began.
Since the PC comes with only one year of hardware warranty, how could I possibly pass up an $89 warranty upgrade that would cover software, too? If I were really concerned about protecting my investment, two years of warranty could be bought for $169. Passing on the warranty extension, I watched as the rep outlined the features of a no-interest financing deal Dell was promoting. I declined that, too. Finally came the software pitches: Microsoft Word and an anti-virus program.
So, if sales reps don't make any money selling the actual PC, they surely must get commissions on what are known in retail commerce as spiffs. I felt badly for a minute or two about not giving the rep who gave me the best deal some kind of commissionable spiff, and I sensed that she was ruing the day I pressed the chat button. I was wrong about that _ she proved to be more than helpful in actually placing the order. But I have Microsoft Word, my Visa card adds up to one year of warranty after the Dell warranty expires and I already have an anti-virus program.
What do we learn from this exercise? Not all quotes are the same. Keep asking for better deals, even if it means a few days of shopping. If you're insecure about Dell reliability _ you shouldn't be _ spring for the extended warranty. If at all possible, pay with a credit card that doubles the first-year warranty. And if you already have word-processing and anti-virus software, pass on the spiffs.
I'm waiting for my spiffy new PC, confident that I got the best price possible. Or did I?
