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Dell Fined $30,000 for Taiwanese Pricing Errors

Next news
12:21 PM - July 30, 2009 by Marcus Yam

Dell's 'fine' deals turned out to be costly for the PC maker.

In the last month, Dell has faced increasing scrutiny over its apparent price errors on its Taiwanese online retail site.

After being ordered by the Taiwan government to honor purchases for the erroneously priced 19-inch LCD monitor for $15, Dell followed up with a few more pricing errors, leading consumer protection bodies to step in.

Taiwan's Consumer Protection Commission has given a fine to Dell of NT$1,000,000, or just over $30,000 USD.

Now Dell is faced with either paying the fine or going back to honor all the original orders at the erroneously lower prices. While the logical thing for Dell to do is to take the less costly of two avenues, it'll be interested to see if Dell's pride will have anything to do with its next step.

Source : Tom's Hardware US

Talkback
Add your comment
griffed88 07/30/2009 6:37 PM
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-3+

lol man Dell's suck...

kingnoobe 07/30/2009 6:38 PM
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-1+

I don't see how dell's pride would affect that decision.. They can't deny they screwed up.. They'll pay the fine any smart company would. Remember it's all about the cash, if dell thought they could save face I'm sure they'd fight it, but this isn't something they can save face on except by admitting to it.

valcron 07/30/2009 6:56 PM
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-1+

Maybe now Dell will stop miss pricing items for those of us to order them and then have them cancel all of the orders. Still want my 1TB HD for 45/50 dollars.

Seriously though they should have been fined hire. If this was a first time offense no biggie but Dell has continuously made these so called, "errors" of the years, they knew about them, and did nothing to correct them from continuing to happen. They knew it would keep people coming to their site to look for more is my thought. Basically false advertising/bait and switch.

amnotanoobie 07/30/2009 7:01 PM
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$30,000 fine + "shame on them" is better than (approx) $20,000,000 worth of hardware to give away + pride

Jerther 07/30/2009 7:28 PM
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19-inch LCD monitor for $15, Fined $30,000

Looks like their typos cost more than those in many articles here ;)

cheap shot :P

ProDigit80 07/30/2009 7:36 PM
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Anyone wants a job with Dell in Taiwan as an online product and price administrator?
I guess they have one open right now!

scook9 07/30/2009 7:41 PM
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HP does this too sometimes

If I am lucky, I will have an OEM QX9300 for my laptop coming next week that I paid only $500 for (they typically go for around $1200)

pharge 07/30/2009 8:22 PM
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"Taiwan's Consumer Protection Commission has given a fine to Dell of NT$1,000,000, or just over $30,000 USD."

According to news, the Taiwan's Consumer Protection Commission (TCPC) has asked Dell to fix the mistake by providing the monitors with 40% off from the lowest sale price... and then wen t up to 25% off from the lowerest sale price... but Dell refused and only want to give out some discount coupons instead... that is why the TCPC fined Dell. In the news... the head of TCPC in Taipei said.. if Dell still refuse to fix the problem in a reasonable way, this fine can be as much as a daily fine.

grieve 07/30/2009 8:23 PM
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Make Dell honor the orders and pay the wimpy 30k fine.

GEEZ 30k is pennies to Dell... Why even bother.

pharge 07/30/2009 8:26 PM
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oops.... sorry.... misread the news.... "by providing the monitors with 40% off from the lowest sale price... and then wen t up to 25% off from the lowerest sale price..." should be first 25% off and then went down to 15% off....

sorry about the wrong information.....>_

computabug 07/30/2009 8:35 PM
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Too bad I missed those deals... If I got one, I'd make sure Dell fulfilled it... no matter how many phone calls it took.

bk420 07/30/2009 8:56 PM
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LOL, $30K i bet dell uses that much in electricity everyday.

Hellbound 07/30/2009 11:06 PM
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In June of last year my brother and I walked into a Fry's electronics store in Concord, CA to buy a couple of video cards. I noticed they had geforce 9800gtx+ for $99. We each picked one up, went to the check stand thinking nothing was wrong. The lady at the checkout scanned mine, looked at me, then told me she would be right back. When she returned she had a completely different card, same model, just made by someone else and told me it would be $216.48. I quickly knew something was up, and they had pulled a switch.

Long story short, they tried to tell me they didn't have those cards advertised at $99, those were $199 cards. Luckily for me, my brother still had his.. They "found" my card and sold it to me for $99. In the end, they lost a customer.

Companies need to honor price mistakes, even if it costs them allot.

Anonymous 07/31/2009 12:20 PM
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lol Companies don't need to honor anything. They just want your money, and they want a large chunk of it. What to do in a would run by A**Ho*es.

dave_cable 07/31/2009 12:43 PM
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I Got this gem from Dell back in March 09.

"Dear Customer,

I am sorry to inform you that Dell has canceled your recent order for the Vizio 32” LCD HDTV due to a pricing error. The price shown was incorrect, and was far below the correct price for that product. As indicated on our web site, as well as in our catalogs and other advertisements, Dell reserves the right to cancel orders resulting from pricing errors. Because of the large difference in price, we have not reinstated your order, but we invite you to visit dell.com to re-order at the correct price.

We value our relationship with you, and we sincerely regret this error and the resulting inconvenience. Please be assured that we are working hard to prevent errors such as this one, and to improve your overall customer experience with us.

Sincerely,

The Dell Customer Care Team
"

I'd like to know where my justice is? Looks like the Taiwan government knows how to take care of their citizens...

anhxeom 07/31/2009 1:12 AM
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I got this today in the email, it was just a few days ago they were selling the Canon SD1200 for $114.......


Dear ************,

Thank you for your recent order for the Canon PowerShot SD1200 Camera. Unfortunately, there was a pricing error on your order; as a result your order was cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

If you would like to purchase this Canon PowerShot SD1200 Camera at the advertised price of $165, please visit www.dell.com starting July 30th 2009 through August 8th 2009. Add the coupon code below to your order when you check out to receive the camera at the discounted price of $165.00 before tax and shipping.

Your Coupon Code is: *************

We truly value our relationship and reputation with our customers. Please be assured that we are working hard to avoid this type of inconvenience in the future.



doomsdaydave11 07/31/2009 3:04 AM
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griffed88 :
lol man Dell's suck...


With the recent price drops and hardware selection improvements... Dell is slowly getting better imo.

computabug 07/31/2009 5:14 AM
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dave_cable :
Looks like the Taiwan government knows how to take care of their citizens...


It's not taken care of enough. I say force dell to fulfill every single order.

leafblower29 07/31/2009 8:01 AM
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Dell should be fined that much for existing.

liemfukliang 07/31/2009 1:30 PM
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DAMN. I write a long comment, and my internet is slow. I have to restart again >:P. My point is I have been in a such situation. One of Indonesia flagship IT online store was selling ATI Radeon Flagship about 200 YEN! Since the store is flagship, I really thing there is a real promotion. I buy it. Check out. Everything was ok until I got email like above comment. They say I have the wrong price, bla... bla... bla. Event Rp 1 they don't give me coupon / discount / some compensation. This event acually is really great grow a carefull input and responsible attitude.
Here is the detail blog about it --> http://ficforlife.com/2008/10/bhin [...] ab-2.html.
Ok I thing I just copy paste this text in some place before I hit the submit button.

captaincharisma 07/31/2009 1:41 PM
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LOL sure its false advertising but the people flocking to them are totally stupid thinking an LCD monitor could be 50 bucks (or whatever it was) or they knew it was a mistake and tried to milk it the best they can

Anonymous 07/31/2009 3:44 PM
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Seriously, $30,000 is a weekend getaway for Michael Dell. What kinda message is Taiwan trying to send? That's like slapping Bernard Madoff with a $1 million fine for stealing $50 billion. Or fining you a dime for failing to plug $2 into the parking meter.

freak77power 07/31/2009 4:58 PM
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Dell = scam

captaincharisma 07/31/2009 5:34 PM
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all computer brand's are scam artists with there cheap computer parts

cl458 07/31/2009 6:17 PM
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For those who are rooting against the Dell, I hate to rain on your parade but I'd like to inform you that this fine does not stand a chance in the court of law. This $30,000 fine is for a firm which did direct harm to customers' being or wealth. I don't see either is the case here unless not-being-taken-advantage-of counts one.

Dell made a mistake, like Amazon.com did in 2003 when they sold $1,049 worth of tv for $99.99, or Kodak sold 329 pounds camera for 100 pounds in 2001. Though incompetent and stupid, Dell Taiwan did have a clause to inform customers that the contract is not binding until they were contacted by sales rep. I don't think Dell Taiwan would lose in the legal front. However, they did lose their reputation, if there ever was any, among Taiwan residential customers.

And there won't be any job opening for an online product and price administrator. The reason they made such a mess is that they don't have a single one in Taiwan. All the Dell Taiwan website contents are maintained in Maylasia or Singapore, I know it's one of these two countries but forgot which.

chrisv815 07/31/2009 7:20 PM
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--1+

I wouldn't buy from Dell if they were selling 19" LCD's for $15. this company is a joke, so dishonest and should be shut down. I tell everyone I personally know the same thing as should every "guru" out there.

Friends don't let friends buy Dells.

captaincharisma 07/31/2009 7:57 PM
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i rather my friends get A dell than a HP computer anyday


"I'd like to know where my justice is? Looks like the Taiwan government knows how to take care of their citizens... "

waaaah!!! your not getting something for nothing from dell waaah!!!

jerreece 07/31/2009 10:13 PM
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dave_cable :
I Got this gem from Dell back in March 09."Dear Customer, I am sorry to inform you that Dell has canceled your recent order for the Vizio 32” LCD HDTV due to a pricing error. The price shown was incorrect, and was far below the correct price for that product. As indicated on our web site, as well as in our catalogs and other advertisements, Dell reserves the right to cancel orders resulting from pricing errors. Because of the large difference in price, we have not reinstated your order, but we invite you to visit dell.com to re-order at the correct price. We value our relationship with you, and we sincerely regret this error and the resulting inconvenience. Please be assured that we are working hard to prevent errors such as this one, and to improve your overall customer experience with us. Sincerely, The Dell Customer Care Team"I'd like to know where my justice is? Looks like the Taiwan government knows how to take care of their citizens...



In the United States we rely on "Class Action Lawsuit" or "CAL" to support our citizens. Apparently in Taiwan they get to rely on their government to support/protect them. :)

ThePatriot 08/02/2009 10:57 AM
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The hell from Dell.
Who buys their $h!t?

Anonymous 08/03/2009 5:20 AM
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At least Taiwan Government did something. If it happened in Hong Kong, the government would treat it private business matter and do nothing.Laissez-faire policy!

kutark 08/04/2009 5:01 AM
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I'm sorry but IMO this is completely ridiculous. One of those things a lot of american kids are taught is that "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" Of course then you have these countries who are so anti-corporate they will then attempt to force a company to sell a product at a loss because of a typo.

IMO, if i were in control of Dell, i'd eat the fine, then i'd pull all business entities and stop selling my product legally in their country, if i had any physical shops there, i would shut them all down, fire everyone working there, and recoup whatever capital i could from selling equipment. Then i would issue a statement on company letter head to the govt of said country telling them to eat sh*t, in not so many words.

Yes, i know its not the wisest business decision, but eventually principal needs to take precedence.

I just get so sick of what are generally ethically sound companies who do their best to treat their customers properly, get essentially butt-f***** by the local govt based off of leftist laws.

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