Dell defends its corner in New York

Vendor accused in court case of false advertising and deceptive business practices by New York State Supreme Court Judge

Dell is defending its corner despite a New York State Supreme Court Judge ruling that the company had engaged in false advertising, deceptive business practices and abusive debt collection in the state.

According to a report on CRN US’ web site, Judge Joseph Teresi said Dell had lured consumers to purchase its products with advertisements that offered no interest and/or no payment financing promotions. But many consumers had been denied those deals.

The site added that the Judge had called it a ‘bait and switch’ scheme in which consumers instead often received interest rates that exceeded 20 per cent.

According to CRN US the Judge wrote: “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."

In response Dell drafted a statement which said: “We do not agree with the decision and will be defending our position vigorously. Our goal has been, and continues to be, to provide the best customer experience possible. We are confident that when the proceedings are completed, the court will determine that only a relatively small number of customers have been affected.”