I see many new threads and reply to a lot of them regarding getting discounts and compensation from Dell. I thought that I would write this guide as a way of giving some of the members tips on how to getting the best laptop for the lowest price.

Tip #1. Write down the name and badge number or ID number of EVERYONE you talk to.

This is probably the most imporant tip that I can give anyone. I've spent literally hours on the phone with Dell representatives the last month discussing problems with the 4 laptops that they ended up sending me. It is impossible to keep track of them all unless you write it down and keep track of names and numbers. It also helps prove and assign responsibility. I gained probably an additional $500 in discounts because I had the name and badge number of reps who told me certain things when price and discounts came into dispute. If it helps you to remember better, write a journal in Microsoft Word of who you talked to and when. Even better than recording the names and badges of reps is, have them create a case number when they tell you something. I wish that I would have gotten them to write up case numbers that said "I told Gobadgrs that this coupon would work" It would have made my life a lot easier when disputing prices later.

Tip #2 Be ready to buy the laptop you want at any minute.

You need to be going into the sales calls with reps or online with the intention of buying the exact laptop you are pricing out. If you are unsure of what you want, read some reviews and then make your descision before calling in. I knew what I wanted ahead of time and I only called to check about prices. Taking a day to think about the laptop almost cost me. I was able to get double coupons with my laptop 20% off and 10% off, but only after calling back and arguing with 3 reps about the price, which brings me to my next point.

Tip #3 Get a quote if you are not ready to buy

Have the sales rep send you a formalized quote with the agreed upon price. If my business law is correct, a formal quote is an offer by a merchant and is not revokable for a reasonable amount of time not to exceed 3 months. In any case, it's just another document to have on your side in the case of price disputes.

Tip #4 If you don't get what you want, call back and talk to someone else

It took me 4 phone calls to get someone to honor the 20% off and 10% off that I was promised, and the sale only went through as a fluke, but it worked. You just have to be persistent and keep calling back. Make sure that you are polite with the sales rep. For the record, I never asked the sales rep to throw anything in for free for me, I just asked about applying a coupon.

Tip #5 Know what role to play on the phone

There is a fine line to walk when on the phone with representatives. Occasionally I had to put my foot down and explain that I was not satisfied with the service that I was getting. I made sure the tone of my voice let the rep know that I was not a happy camper, but I never yelled or swore on the phone. I would ask questions like "Doesn't your company stand behind promises it made to your customers?" "Why if it is your company policy not to allow double coupons, was I told otherwise" Try to sound more exhasperated than homocidal.

There are other times when you call it is best to be polite and ask what the rep can do to help you out. When dell delayed my replacement 9100, I called to get the status of the order, I explained to the rep that I needed the laptop and it was holding me up doing my work. At the end of the conversation I asked, "Is there anything that you can do for me for compensation?" Never demand to get things, and never bring up compensation right away. It makes you look like thats all you care about (which it probably is, but at least try to give off other appearances) The rep ended up offering me an Axim X3 as compensation. I called Dell back 2 days later and explained to a different customer care rep that I wasn't thinking when I was offered the X3 as compensation and asked if I could return the X3 and pay the difference to upgrade to the X30 624mhz model. I made sure I was polite and asked him if he could help me out by letting me pay the difference. The rep ended upgrading me to the X30 for free.

Tip #6 Buy your memory through someone else other than Dell.

My laptop has 2 gigs of ram. It cost me $490 shipped from Newegg. After I sell the 384mb that came as the base amount, I should end up paying $450 for 2 gigs of ram. Dell wanted $1400 for the ram upgrade on their website.
I recommend you check out either crucial or newegg for your laptop memory needs.

Tip #7 Don't try to scam Dell.

If there is nothing wrong with your laptop, don't call back Dell and tell them that something is wrong in order to try and get free stuff. You probably aren't thinking about it, but you are committing fraud when you do that. I love my 8600 and I won't be calling Dell about it, even though I'm sure I could squeeze out a couple hundred extra for all of the screwups theyve had with me in the last month. What's worse, you ruin things for other people. Keep in mind that it does cost Dell money to compensate you, and if you keep scamming them, they'll outsource more people to India (and all of us on this board love talking to Indian support reps) or start offering less compensation and coupons. I know, I know who cares as long as you get what you want, but karma can be a bitch and sooner or later it will come back to get you. I got the discounts and deals of mine because I was always honest with Dell regarding their screwups and they actually had a proper basis for compensating me for my time.

Hopefully by following the above tips, you can get the best laptop for the lowest price possible. The price I paid for mine below is what it currently would spec out on at Dells website with Dell ram, dell warranties and the Axim x30 added in.

Inspirion 8600
(755) 2.0 Ghz Dothan
UXGA Screen
60 GB 7200 RPM drive
2 GB of pc2700 ram
128mb Radeon 9600
DVD/CD burner combo drive
Dell 300 Bluetooth
1350 Wireless
Modular Battery
4 years of at home service with 4 years of complete care

X30 624mhz Axim

$2565.43

Price as configured on Dell's website $4466.75 after shipping and tax.

Total Savings: $1901.32

nice guide gobadgrs

a good guide and thread. I think this shoud be made sticky.

lozx

Good guide. (Not that it hasn't been stated already...)

Well to bad Dell didn't have AMD laptops or that would be a good guide for me. I was going to get an XPS or 9100, but I've decided to go with AMD. Now lets get Dell to carry AMD

im not very familiar with AMD... i know they have the 64 bit version as a high end desktop processor, but do they have a mobile processor, to compete with intels pentium M?

That could happen, once you can build a snowman in hell(or on a Prescott), or the Tigers win the World Series. Either way don't hold your breath.

u make us indians sound like some kind of disease or plague to be avoided

guess u havent met 1 in real life

he just means that theyre hard to communicate with. If youve called dell technical support, you would know what hes talking about.

I have. So have 99% of all the people on this forum. We don't like talking to Indian reps because 95% of the time you can't understand what they are saying. I don't have anything against Indians, I just don't like talking to someone on the phone who I can't understand.

Probably because most of you don't really converse with people with weird english accents. Well my dads english accent really sucks and his vocabulary sucks so thats one reason I can stand bad english and actually know what they're talking about. Rofllll

Ahh! This is the guide I have looked for for half yet.
It is finally here! But I have brought my laptop already.......

See this.

well thats not quite the way to put it - sounds derogatory
just coz someone doesnt quite match up to ur "accent" doesnt mean they r wrong and u can put them down

lol - i'm indian - i can understand what they say
though sometimes i need to tell them to drop the "american" accent, at least with me

i always used to believe if ur english was good enough the accent wouldnt matter - seems otherwise

actually british english is prolly the most correct and properly pronounced of all english variations