Dude, you're getting a debt: Dell accused of deceptive practices

NEW YORK — Paul Reisner says he had an excellent credit rating — until he got what he thought was a good deal on a Dell computer.

Reisner, a computer programmer, said he was offered zero percent financing for six months, during which he paid off his $1,500 computer. He said he was then informed he had never qualified for the rate and was obligated to pay a 29 percent interest rate.

"Why did I not qualify for promotional financing?" asked the Rye, N.Y., man, who said his credit rating was permanently scarred. "I own my own home, always pay my bills on time."

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has similar questions. He accused Dell and its financial-services affiliate Wednesday of "bait-and-switch" advertising practices and failing to deliver on promised customer service.

The lawsuit, filed a day earlier in New York Supreme Court, claims that Dell and Dell Financial Services LP engaged in fraud, false advertising and deceptive business practices.

Dell spokesman Bob Pearson denied the charges in a written statement.

The lawsuit accuses Dell of luring customers with ads for zero-percent financing and then, at the time of purchase, tricking buyers into higher interest rates, often without their knowledge.

Cuomo accused the company of selling "on-site" computer-repair plans but failing to deliver, at times requiring customers to disassemble their own computers.

He said his office had "received an unprecedented number of complaints against Dell, approximately 700, and they keep coming."

The lawsuit seeks an order requiring Dell to pay unspecified damages to affected customers, a $500 payment to the state for each instance of some violations, and another $2,000 for additional costs.

"We are confident that our practices will be found to be fair and appropriate," Pearson said. "While even one dissatisfied customer is too many, the allegations in the AG's filing are based upon a small fraction of Dell's consumer transactions in New York."