Reply #72: Fell into the same trap...

[SomewhereOutThere424]

I bought an 1800 dollar computer and was charged 3000 dollars for it. Never gave me an official invoice. All of the parts were grossly overpriced (about 400$ on some items!!). NEVER make the mistake of ordering from them over the phone (well my computer died so that was really my only option...just avoiding dell entirely is a good idea). They threatened to tarnish our credit too and report us to a bunch of crediters if we were to cancel the payment plans and just return the computer.

The only way I avoided their finance charges (and yes, they never go down. A 3 year plan turned into an 8 year plan) was to simply pay off the rest of the computer in full that was left in my balance. Otherwise I'd have paid something like 6k for a computer I originally wanted for only 1800 and wanted to pay in payment plans for 3 years would have ended up being around ten.

I don't go with gateway either after they refused me service even with a warranty (they said it expired a year earlier than I paid for). Pretty much, if a company is big enough that the loss of your payment isn't going to make them go under, avoid them like the plague. I haven't heard good things of alienware either...