Note: We received a note today by Dell's legal department demanding Mobileread remove all references related to their sales techniques. The note suggested that this post contained proprietary Dell business information and violated the company's trade secret rights and copyrights. Although we strongely believe that we didn't reveal any secret knowledge and only made information available found elsewhere on the Web, we decided to remove this content until further investigation.

This is not the first time Mobileread receiving a "chilling effect" letter. Last time Microsoft contacted us (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3009) demanding the removal of some brief information about Windows Mobile 5.0, along with a link to an item at Neowin.net.

We're a small site that heavily depends on user support, and we realize that this was a popular post. Thanks for your understanding while we address this issue.

If you think you always get the best deals online you are very mistaken. I stumbled over a Slickdeals post today where a user describes (http://forums.slickdeals.net/t122543.html) how you can convince any Dell representative to give you 20-30% discounts off from the best prices you find on the Web. Some folks who already had the knowledge are not be too amused about this news spreading the Net because it could quickly force to Dell to change its sales tactics.

question...each time i call they first ask for phone number and name. if i don't get the deal i'm looking for, won't they keep a log of my calls and any deals/discounts that were already offered?

Probably they do. But that's not a big deal as why should the sales person care how many times you received a discount in the past. I also ordered with Dell Small Business once and it worked very well. Guy was from India, very friendly, trying to sell me more than I needed, we talked about my job for a bit, and that was it. Next day another guy from Dell called, he was from the US, to verify my order. Three days later I had my order in the mail. They never called me again or bothered me with marketing questions. So it's seems rather save to share your phone and name with them.

2005FPW and 2405FPW will apply to any desktop or laptop?

It depends on if they build a "quote" for you. They can price items out without storing it in the system, but if they save the quote (and I regularly did so that I could keep track of everything the customer was looking at) there's going to be a record of you calling in often. (Until the quotes expire...usually around a month.) If the rep you're talking to sees a lot of recent quotes under your customer number, they're not going to take you very seriously, and aren't likely to waste their time with you. If there is any place where the adage "Time is money" is true, it's at Dell.

I was on the systems side, and it works a little different than it does for the S&P people. During the time I was at Dell, S&P was a huge push, so the higher-ups gave us more margin dollars on S&P. One important thing to understand when you're pushing for a deal is that Dell pays commission based on MARGIN dollars, not on the total sale. If you're calling in for that $399 computer, the sales rep is making NO money. It's even possible they're LOSING money, besides the fact that they're wasting time on a call with little to no upside.

Push for a deal on higher-end systems, but forget about it on the cheap systems. For goodness sake, a $399 computer is cheap, no matter how you look at it.

And by the way, Dell is a sweatshop. If you're not an exec, you're a peon. I was regularly at the top of the "stacks," but they'd just keep raising the bar to keep top performers from getting paid like it. Finally, when they overlooked me for another job because I was "overqualified"--even though they told me I was the best candidate they talked to--I said "Hasta."

I just gave it the old college try, as I have been wanting a 2001/2405fpw for awhile now. I spoke with a very nice gentleman who could do no more for me on the discount than a $50 rebate for using my DPA. This makes sense, in a way, as I hear shipping times on the 2001 and 2405 are extended, due to heavy discounts recently and a spate of returns on them.

JMTC

mc p pants just tried this and it worked! omg bbq time!

i want a new battery for my dell laptop, any advice in doing some engineering to get a good deal on a battery.

Well, I am sure alot of what you are saying is true. I mean there has to be some margin in everything they sell or they would not sell it. Why would the sales reps just call repeat customers and just offer them a discount if they buy a new monitor or just send an email with a discount offer?? It seems to me if I was having problems meeting my quota I would call a recent customer and offer them a big discount for a new printer or monitor, etc.

Why would the sales reps just call repeat customers and just offer them a discount if they buy a new monitor or just send an email with a discount offer??
I think that would be illegal under the term "unsolicited advertisement."

Thank you for making this info public, it did work for me (I ordered two Dell screens yesterday for myself and for my son).

I think that would be illegal under the term "unsolicited advertisement."

Thank you for making this info public, it did work for me (I ordered two Dell screens yesterday for myself and for my son).

Did you get 30%? Did you say it was for business? More details please!

They didn't even ask me about business or not. But the sales guy on the phone (from India!) I ended up with was of the small business department. I have to admit, beside the two screens he convinced me to also a PDA with some extras. I think the total savings from the usual Web discounts were around 20-25%.

...beside the two screens he convinced me to also a PDA with some extras.Now you're talking! That's pretty neat. Like when McDonalds asks if you want a shake or some fries with that hamburger. But instead its "How about a PDA with that purchase?!" I like it! (And it's much better for you! ;) )

I talked to a guy about replacing several system and CRT’s. He got my information down and was going to get back with me for a quote. I told him that I wanted to do an incremental replacement but intended to buy them within the next 3-4 months. If they do get back to me with a quote I am not obligated do buy them ALL within that time period right? All I want to do is buy 2 2005fpw's. I was telling him that I may want to buy a couple LCD's to try them out.
Thanks

OK this sounds perhaps lame but what would be the first Dell number I'd have to call in order to get to one of the responsible Dell reps?

I'm not here to say I got the lowest deal, but I think I faired pretty well using the tips on this thread.

2405FPW
Online Price in SB: $1,199.00
Online SB Discount: 15%, so new total is $1,019.15
Shipping: $13.00
Tax: $68.79
Total if I bought it online: $1,087.94

Before calling, I had to figure out a realistic price of what I could get this thing down to. The original post said 30% off was possible. I believe that was possible on THIS monitor a few weeks ago before the end of the quarter, but now for THIS monitor I'd assume it would be 20%. Plus, I'm not the best haggler in the world, so being relistic I set my goal around 20% off the above price. So 20% off that is $870.

Now... I read what was said in this thread about social engineering. I created a business name, and some general stuff about the business. Then I wrote out a screenplay of what I'd talk about. I said I wanted a new monitor, but had a few questions about some plasmas because I wanted a few for my stores in the next few months. After discussing stuff for a bit, he wanted to get some info about my business which kind of surprised me. The bad part was when I had to provide my address because I live in an apartment. I should have said that I work out of it, but oh well. I think he didn't put 2+2 together.

So he quoted me a price for the 2405FPW of $1,019.15 and I was like, "Umm, that's a bit expensive" so he was like "well let me see if I can do a little better" and came back with a "$980." Now I thought with a goal of $110 less ($870) that might be pushing it with this rep, but he did seem like he wanted to make a deal. So I asked him if he could do $900 after shipping and tax, and he paused for a moment (where I assume he pondered the thought of me buying a few plasmas in the future for my three imaginary stores), and said "I can do that."

So while I didn't get my goal of $870, I still got awfully close at $900 which turns out to be 18% off the current lowest online price in the SB section. And again, I'm not here to say I got the lowest deal on this monitor, because I know a lot of you freaks (j/kin) who scan the deals section daily got it for about a hundred less I think, but hey... for a guy who missed the boat, I think I did pretty well and proved that some social engineering can work so long as you don't get greedy. (remember, people that are going to buy plasma tvs aren't going to haggle over a few dollars too long).

By the way (I'm the guy who posted the reply directly above). I placed that order on Aug 17, 2005 in case you were wondering.

Also a word of caution. This deal will be hard to do if you live at a university. The guy asked for my business address, name, email, etc all before we got to the "deal" so... it looked kind of funny to say I live in an apartment since it doesn't seem like a guy who owns three stores. So be aware of that fact. Also irregardless of what address you give, if you live at a university, it's going to look like you're lying through your teeth if you give him your university address for the shipping or billing address. And while that only occurs after the "deal" has been made, if the rep is pissed enough he might just cancel the entire thing and not bother processing your order. So just a word to the wise.

I am interested in picking up a xps gen2 laptop and was wondering if anyone has used this method of social engeneering when purchasing one. With the upgrades I was looking at, the computer will cost about $3000. I am curious to see if anyone has tried with this model before and what price they may have acheived.

Sorry, but just because you can get 20-30% off of crap Dell boxes, dosent mean you're getting a deal.
Here are a few reasons.
Dell uses CRAP hardware, e.g.:

Cases that overheat
Intel Motherboards (cough)
Only Intel Chips (cough even more)
They bundle software, with 85% of it being software you will never use.
They flood your hdd with progs that carry spyware
And I am sure much more.

Sorry but Dell sucks. Their hardware sucks, and if you're a true techy you should always build your box from scratch, and never buy crap from Dell, Gateway or any crap like that.

you may complain about all those things, but at the end of the day, there's no way possible to compete with a $929 P4 3.0 with 512MB, 80GB HDD and 24" LCD. The dude above paid more than that just for his 2405FPW! (if he would have checked the deals, he would have gotten the computer free)

but getting back to the main topic, i've tried this numerous times with the BFG 7800GTX OC and am having absolutely on luck. Dell had a 30% off on this thing, bringing it down to $466.90, so of course I tried for 40% off. I couldn't get the reps to go past 15%, no matter how much other crap i told them i was looking to buy. i'm in sales myself and know how important it is to play nice with whomever you're dealing with, and still these guys won't budge. even when i tell them they offer the same product online for a cheaper price, instead of competing they simple say to buy it online! i'd be hard pressed to believe these guys on the phone can do any better than the discounted pricing offered over the web. i bought my 2405FPW for $730 shipped. there's no way a rep would sell it to me for that low!

I am interested in picking up a xps gen2 laptop and was wondering if anyone has used this method of social engeneering when purchasing one. With the upgrades I was looking at, the computer will cost about $3000. I am curious to see if anyone has tried with this model before and what price they may have acheived.

I would highly suggest keeping an eye out for the 40% discount currently going around. I priced one out myself, fully loaded (they come pretty loaded already) and got the price down to $1800 after discount. they have these sales constantly and you'll have better luck buying online that you will with a rep. i've tried to get a rep to beat the deal on the web and they won't.

The dude above paid more than that just for his 2405FPW! (if he would have checked the deals, he would have gotten the computer free)

1. I didn't buy a computer. The 2405FPW is a monitor.

2. There are no current deals on that monitor, nor will there be for awhile since the previous deals were simply because it was the end of the quarter. I challange you to show me a way for the public (without using a rep) to get the monitor for $900. It can't be done at the present time.

Note: [I]We received a note by today Dell's legal department demanding Mobileread remove all references related to their sales techniques. The note suggested that this post contained proprietary Dell business information and violated the company's trade secret rights and copyrights. Although we strongely believe that we didn't reveal any secret knowledge and only made information available found elsewhere on the Web, we decided to remove this content until further investigation.

Never fear, Google comes to our rescue.
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:C1ZjyhlaAT8J:www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php%3Fthreadid%3D4625++Shopping+for+maj or+discounts+at+Dell&hl=en&

Cases that overheat
Intel Motherboards (cough)
Only Intel Chips (cough even more)
They bundle software, with 85% of it being software you will never use.
They flood your hdd with progs that carry spyware
And I am sure much more.


hah. I got a SC420 for work... I have two 400GB drives set on mirror raid, and the temp never gets higher than 45 celcius. I don't see your problem with intel mobos and chips. I didn't get any software with the 420, short of network drivers, I didn't get an OS either, so the XP install I did is blank.

Try and make a comparitive system to the following for the $330 I paid for the dell:

-2.8ghz P4
-256mb memory
-two 80 gig SATA drives
-case, power supply, cd-rom drive,
-one year warranty

buy nice memory and mod it to take a pci-e graphics card, and you have something that can handle all of today's games.

basically: stop sippin the hateorade

1. I didn't buy a computer. The 2405FPW is a monitor.

2. There are no current deals on that monitor, nor will there be for awhile since the previous deals were simply because it was the end of the quarter. I challange you to show me a way for the public (without using a rep) to get the monitor for $900. It can't be done at the present time.

Perhaps not less than $900 any day of the week, but def can get it under $900. I understand the 2405FPW is a monitor as I have one too, and I do know for a fact that they have gone on sale as I only paid $730 as mentioned above. the point i was making was simply the fact that if you were more aware of dell's discounts and deals, you would have found dell's Dimension 9100 WITH the 2405FPW for the same price you paid for just the 2405FPW, leaving you with a free Dimension 9100 computer.

Perhaps not less than $900 any day of the week, but def can get it under $900. I understand the 2405FPW is a monitor as I have one too, and I do know for a fact that they have gone on sale as I only paid $730 as mentioned above. the point i was making was simply the fact that if you were more aware of dell's discounts and deals, you would have found dell's Dimension 9100 WITH the 2405FPW for the same price you paid for just the 2405FPW, leaving you with a free Dimension 9100 computer.

I was aware of that deal, but the lowest online price for the BASE model is $1,299. That's as cheap as it will get. Then throw on another $100 for tax and you're at $1,399. Now assuming just for the sake of this discussion that you could coerce a rep to give you 20% off that, you're still looking at $1,119.

So again, I was aware of this deal, and I was also aware that I could not get this deal down to anything near $900 shipped and after tax. So I still lay the challange on the table: show us how to get the computer + monitor for $900 because you keep saying you can, but in reality you can.

And here is the link to the deal which you are speaking of:

It no longer comes with a 24", but here is the deal you speak of...

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=3d91w4&s=bsd
Price before shipping & tax = $1,379.00 (if you add on the 24" it brings it to this price)

So explain to me how you can get that to $900.

hah. I got a SC420 for work... I have two 400GB drives set on mirror raid, and the temp never gets higher than 45 celcius. I don't see your problem with intel mobos and chips. I didn't get any software with the 420, short of network drivers, I didn't get an OS either, so the XP install I did is blank.

Try and make a comparitive system to the following for the $330 I paid for the dell:

-2.8ghz P4
-256mb memory
-two 80 gig SATA drives
-case, power supply, cd-rom drive,
-one year warranty

buy nice memory and mod it to take a pci-e graphics card, and you have something that can handle all of today's games.

basically: stop sippin the hateorade

Oh well nothing could be comparable to the ALL MIGHTY DELL!
LOL
Ok look, here is my system:

$506.75

RaidMax Cobra FullATX w/ 3 80mm fans
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium S939
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (Stock = 2.1ghz, Mine=3.3)
1 GB PC3200 DDR400
100gb Hitachi SATA HDD
Antec 500w PSU
16x DVR+RW Combo
Windows XP Pro
Suse Linux Pro
Nvidia TrueHardware Firewall


And of course this did not come with a monitor, but considering the components, this system will blow any POS Dell out there away. Sorry to say.
And for the price of this performance, you would have to be a dip to buy a dell for 300 bux LMAO.

Sorry but if anyone who actually 'USES' their computer, e.g. - Multitasking, multimedia, gaming... and you bought a dell. I feel extremely sorry for you.

And of course this did not come with a monitor, but considering the components, this system will blow any POS Dell out there away. Sorry to say.
And for the price of this performance, you would have to be a dip to buy a dell for 300 bux LMAO.

Sorry but if anyone who actually 'USES' their computer, e.g. - Multitasking, multimedia, gaming... and you bought a dell. I feel extremely sorry for you.

once again, the $100 price difference, and the fact that I will have a reliable working computer, without spending time fixing it, for a guaranteed year, makes the dell the better choice for a work environment.

I have my watercooled 3200+ for games.

Thought I'd mention something regarding getting that Dell 24" monitor by itself, or with a computer. If you buy the monitor separately, you get a 3yr warranty on it. If you buy it in a bundle with a computer, you get a 1yr warranty on both the computer and the monitor.

Will this work for anything more then dell? like can i do this with like apple or something like that?