Dell rejects spyware charge

Just my 2 cents. I think Dell is an outstanding company that provides excellent PCs at very competitive prices. The pre-installed 'stuff' generates revenue that is used to control costs and be competitive. All in All ... I don't care what they install on my machine (so long as it reduces my cost), as it won't be there as soon as I get my hands on it and format the drive The machine I'm on right now is a Dell, and I'm very pleased with it, it's old now - I guess it's a little over two-years old. But still runs like a charm ... and I of course have upgraded most of the components. But as the time grows nearer to upgrade completely and turn this into another testing PC ... I will build the next one from scratch unless a super deal come along from dell. I comfortable either way.

 

Steve, I couldn't agree more. Well said

 

Hello,
Well, I live in a crappy country called Israel, but if there's one good thing is that when you pay money for something, you (usually) get what you want.
The customer service in USA is probably better than here, but the service is limited to what they will offer you. In Israel, it is typical middle-eastern haggle, but the choices are limited by your money and speech abilities.
Do you know what would happen if it turned out someone sold me something I did not ask for! I would be sledgehammering his shop to pieces.
If I get a car part changed and the price turns out higher than what they told me, I start raping the chief mechanic until they give me a very fair discount just to leave them in peace. And when I found out in one of my computers only a single ide belt and that I could not install a second cd/rw, they not only gave me a missing component, they also installed the cd/rw without charge. You may say it's trinkets I talk about, but just the visit to a computer shop for a check costs about 35-40USD and installation of components as much.
Anyhow, I don't know the policy in usa, but can you not buy just an empty machine and install windows yourself? Even if you buy something preinstalled, there is the installation disk, so slam it into the drive and start fresh.
Violence is the key.
If you're a customer and you pay money, you have EVERY right to get everything the way you want it. If you buy a computer that has crap you did not ask for, pitch a tent in front of their offices and start having apoplectic seizures until they succumb.
And one more thing . . . you don't have to buy spyware-infested computers.
There's always an alternative.
Mrk

 

Well Mrkvonic, I'm truly sorry to hear that you feel that way. I, personally, have never viewed Israel in any negative light from afar, but then again I am not in your shoes. I don't believe that the majority of Americans that I know believe or think negatively about the country of Israel either.

As for this practice of being given what you didn't order...I'm sorry that I can't answer that. Since it is computer software that can be removed...I believe (not purporting to know, just my assumption) is that the PC vendors think of it as a bonus to many customers. They provide the software at NO additional charge, and since the customer didn't "pay" for it, I'm sure they feel somewhat vindicated or justified. I'm not excusing it...because it infuriated me to have to uninstall much of the junk that came with the machine that I ordered....but I do think that they simply look at it as a "bonus". Besides, ErikAlbert or someone pointed out earlier that much of the "bundled" software probably comes as a pre-arranged agreement with the software manufacturers. I'm not suggesting that makes it right....and in my earlier posts I heavily criticized DELL for taking the "CHOICE" away from the consumer....but I believe this is the case as to WHY it is included.

As for "spyware free" machines....I believe that DELL also falls into that category. As I've stated before, I haven't seen one legitimate anti-spyware vendor or council that recognizes or classifies the MyWay Search Assistant as "spyware". A nuisance to many? Yeah, probably so. Classified officially as "spyware"? Nope, haven't seen it.