Craig.Carlen[Online].com

So it was just over a week ago that I had a few words about Dell. Looks like the New York Attorney General felt much the same as I do. Well yesterday a New York state judge agreed. Finding Dell…

…has engaged in repeated misleading, deceptive and unlawful business conduct,including false and deceptive advertising of financing promotions and the terms of warranties, fraudulent, misleading and deceptive practices in credit financing and failure to provide warranty service and rebates.

You can read the full text of the decision here.

I could only wish we lived in New York state. Dell did much the same to us that the NY AG is complaining about. Bait and switch on the Dell Preferred Account - when we purchased my wife’s computer the interest rate was listed as 0% as a 18 month promotional rate - the first bill showed with the interest rate at a whopping 29% but Dell Financial was unwaivering on changing it. And of course since Dell’s return policy is 14 days we couldn’t return the computer because the bill was deferred for 60 days. We never received promised rebates after mailing the proper documentation to Dell’s rebate center numerous times. Even when we had to have my wife’s laptop serviced the problem wasn’t completely fixed. And by the time I contacted them about fixing the problem again we were two days past the service contract’s expiration. And I can only say if you want an enjoyable experience rivaling that of having your teeth pulled, try calling Dell on a service issue after your service contract has expired. Better yet, try the on-line chat.  And yet if you’re a small business or enterprise client of Dell they bend over backwards to satisfy your needs.  Too bad they have forgotten it was selling to the average Joe that put Dell on the map.

There are few things I can guarantee in life - but of the few I can, I’ve just added never owning another Dell to the list.

Let’s face it: your identity on the World Wide Web may not be your own.  And conversely, you may not be who you say you are.  The World Wide Web is after all as anonymous as we want it -or allow it - to be.

When MySpace became popular I made a conscious decision to not sign up.  I did my research and discovered plenty of security holes that existed.  There were dozens of ways for people to access personal data on MySpace - for example, someone anonymously sends you a video with a embedded link that would reveal your password when you enter it thinking your need to be logged in to view that video.  Most if not all of the security holes in MySpace are created using third part applications that simply exist for phishing purposes.

So reading this blog one could come to the conclusion that I am out to get Apple and Comcast. That couldn’t be further from the truth…when the need arises I consider myself equal opportunity to pointing out poor or abusive examples of how technology impacts our lives.

I had visions of my many attempts to get $300 in rebates from Dell for my wife’s laptop when I read this article on The Consumerist website. I really enjoyed the parting shot from this rather angry consumer:

But somehow, thanks to the power of corporate magic Dell is not really responsible for this. They owe me nothing for my time and my grief and while they are very sorry for the fact I am effectively up the creek without a paddle, AND while they pretty much admit that they pointed me to this particular creek and then stole my paddle, I’m really on my own here.

Sheesh…it’s been a while.  I really can’t put a finger one what kept me from posting - but whatever it was, hopefully I’ll be back to posting fairly regularly.

Tonight while I was having a Insomniac moment (thankfully I have them far less than I have in the past) I found this article about Apple.  I don’t know why, but the article just strikes me as kinda funny - maybe it’s that I’m just not a PC kinda guy.  Maybe it’s I’m amazed that we’re at a point in society that any of this even matters.

Anyway, I’m off to sell my iPod mini - and buy some Dunkin Donuts coffee.