Dell customer gets Windows refund

by Jordan Running Nov 8th 2006

You know there's something wrong with the market when it's news that someone managed to get a refund for a product they didn't want in the first place. Dave Mitchell of Sheffield, UK will go down in history as the first guy to get a refund from Dell--or any major PC vendor, for that matter--for the "Windows tax," i.e. the $100 or so almost every major PC manufacturers will make you pay even if you never intend to use or even activate the copy of Microsoft Windows the machine ships with. Of course, Dell isn't the worst offender when it comes to the Windows tax, and has for several years now allowed you to buy desktop machines without Windows, but laptops have been a different monster entirely--until now. The license agreement for the OEM version of Windows Mitchell received read, "If you do not agree to the terms of this EULA, you may not use or copy the software, and should promptly contact manufacturer for instructions on return of the unused product(s) for a refund in accordance with manufacturer's return policies," and historically most manufacturers have only accepted returns if the customer returned the PC as well. After sending a letter to Dell UK's offices on November 1, Mitchell received his refund today, which seems alamingly prompt to me. Mitchell was diligent in collect proof that he had not used the product, saying, "I booted the laptop, then photographed every step of the boot process up to and including clicking on the XP 'no I don't accept' button. I also scrolled through each page of the EULA, taking a photo of each page."

While Mitchell's success, the story of which is rather anticlimactic, isn't exactly earth-shattering, it may well embolden a whole generation of would-be Windows-returners. Maybe 10 years from now the "Windows tax" will be but a hazy memory.

[Via Slashdot, natch]

Update: Reader thewildman points out that it's been done before. Anybody got any other Dell return stories?

Tags: Dave Mitchell, DaveMitchell, dell, microsoft, refund, return, uk, windows, windows tax, WindowsTax

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Gardiner Westbound said 12:21PM on 11-08-2006

Two years ago Dell refused to ship a desktop computer to me without Windows XP preinstalled. It was my intent to install Linux on it.

I'll save this article for the next time I buy a new computer. If Dell again refuses I'll buy an alternate brand or have a private label unit built.

thewildman said 12:58PM on 11-08-2006

This guy isn't the first one to do it. http://www.nomis52.net/?section=comps&page=dell and there's several others if you Google it.

sdfsdfsdfsdfsdf said 1:05PM on 11-08-2006

People who buy from Dell deserve eternal suffering.

Hopefully Works said 2:23PM on 11-08-2006

#4 why?
I bought my mother a cheap Dell machine for $350 with XP Home. Does everything she needs to do with it.

Mosh said 4:19PM on 11-08-2006

@4, yes why? Dell must be doing something right to be the worlds top PC maker. I have several Dell machines, workstations and servers and some are 7 years old and still going strong.

@2, the D620 is on the PC Pro A List and I too have seen it up close and found no issues with the LCD on this model, so I wonder if you just had a bad unit. (In the end I went for the D420 because it was lighter.)

As for getting a refund from the vendor, maybe a time will come when the OS choices include No Operating System (included in price).

And ten years from now, a version of Windows will still be around.

Will said 10:38PM on 11-09-2006

Makes me wish I thought of that. I had a hard enough time getting a refund from Dell after buying a D620 laptop, that had the absolute worst LCD I have ever seen on a laptop.

Good for him, and don't buy the D620, it's LCD is junk.

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