ALBANY, NY — In a year-long case pursued by the New York Attorney General’s office, a New York State Supreme Court Justice ruled computer manufacturer Dell Inc. engaged in fraud, false advertising, abusive debt-collection practices and deceptive business practices.Among the factors that contributed to his ruling, Justice Joseph C. Teresi mentioned deceptive no-interest and no-payment promotions, long waits before rebates were processed and failure to provide promised on-site tech support.
Teresi found Dell intentionally disconnected tech-support calls or transferred them repeatedly after requiring callers to wait for extended periods and often blamed software for malfunctions that were hardware-related, thereby absolving Dell of responsibility to fix the problem. The company also refused to honor some support requests because the contract term expired while the customer was waiting for resolution and delayed some paid-for next-day support requests for as long as a year, Teresi found.
In addition, Teresi found, Dell advertised interest rates and payment plans and then denied the terms to almost all buyers without informing them that they didn’t qualify for the promotions. Those same buyers often were charged interest rates as high as 30-percent, Teresi said in his ruling.
The court has not yet determined what penalty Dell will pay, but it indicated the company will be required to reimburse customers and pay the New York Attorney General’s office any profits obtained using illegal or deceptive practices.
“For too long at Dell the promise of customer service was a bait-and-switch that left thousands of people paying for essentially no service at all,” Cuomo said in a statement after the ruling. “We have won an important victory that will force Dell to live up to its responsibilities.”
A Dell representative said the company may appeal the ruling.
“We’re confident that when the proceedings are completed, the court will determine that only a relatively small number of customers have been affected,” the company said in a post-ruling statement. “We believe that our customer service levels are at or above industry standards.”
