Dude, You’re Getting Sued

AG Cuomo Takes on Dell

Fresh off a rather succesful campaign against unfair practices in the college loan industry NYS AG Andrew Cuomo has a new target: Dell.

The AG has filed a lawsuit and created a webpage for New Yorkers to file complaints about their experiences with Dell or Dell Financial Services.

According to Cuomo:

“At Dell, customer service means no services at all.  Dell’s consumers were intentionally misled, and they had to pay for that privilege.  I hope this lawsuit sends a message to companies large and small that delivering a product is simply not enough; the promises they make must be delivered as well.”

The lawsuit accuses Dell of luring consumers to purchase its products with advertisements that offered attractive “no interest” and/or “no payment” financing promotions.  In practice, however, the vast majority of consumers, even those with very good credit scores, were denied these deals.  In a classic “bait and switch” scheme, DFS instead offered consumers financing at high interest rates, which often exceed 20%.  Dell and DFS frequently failed to clearly inform these consumers that they had not qualified for the promotional terms, leaving many to unwittingly finance their purchase at high interest rates.

The lawsuit also alleges that DFS incorrectly billed consumers on cancelled orders, returned merchandise, or accounts they did not authorize Dell to open, and then continually harassed these consumers with illegal billing and collection activity.  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.

Cuomo seeks to require Dell and DFS to pay restitution to aggrieved consumers, pay civil penalties, and adopt measures to ensure that they do not engage in deceptive, illegal, and fraudulent practices in the future.

 Consumers wishing to file complaints against Dell or Dell Financial Services should contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Help Line at (800) 771-7755.  Consumers may also visit the Attorney General’s website at www.oag.state.ny.us or a www.NYAGDell.org.