The Attorney General of New York State, Andrew Cuomo, is suing Dell for (according to News.com) "fraud, false advertising, and failing to honour warranties and service contract". The claim relates to Dell's alleged behaviour towards consumers in the State, although available details are somewhat sketchy at the moment. Mr Cuomo has requested an injunction to prevent such behaviour and damages for the customers that have apparently lost out. Dell, of course, deny wrongdoing.
I must admit to being slightly surprised to find Dell in this position: my view has always been that they have a good reputation in the UK at least, and everyone I know that have bought a Dell computer has been more than impressed with its customer service (although this may be a reflection on my limited range of acquaintances - the briefest Google search shows others feel very differently, see for example, here).
As an IT lawyer, I frequently deal with the big hardware manufacturers on behalf of their commercial customers. In this context, particularly where very large sums of money are involved, we tend to negotiate the contract terms in detail, in particular the warranties and the ongoing support offered by the supplier so that each contract will be different to the next. In this way, large customers are often able to avoid the imposition of a supplier's standard terms in a way that individual consumers simply cannot. While litigation is certainly not unusual in big IT projects, it means that it is very unlikely that unrelated commercial customers would bring some kind of joint action against a supplier (not least because in the UK "class" actions i.e. cases brought by one party on behalf of a certain category of unknown claimant - are not permitted).
However, regardless of the outcome of the New York case, it is a reminder to all customers, commercial and consumer alike, to check your contracts and ensure you are getting what you pay for.
Comments