Dell Finance Problem

jeggburt

Hi there,

I think I may have made a boo-boo but I'm not too sure; part of me thinks I'm in the right but part of me is saying "just pay up."

I bought a laptop in June from Dell and I decided to take them up on their "don't pay anything until December" offer, even though I had funds to pay the laptop off straight away. I thought doing this and paying it off before December will help my credit rating (it's already good anyway).

Anyway, the cost of the laptop was £566.10 and I paid a deposit of £56.61 so my outstanding balance was £509.49 and that was what I was going to pay before December 1st came around otherwise I'd have £230.31 of interest to pay - regardless.

I called the finance people up and they said my outstanding balance was £560.21 because I had accrued interest from June to the present time.

Part C of my agreement says:

No payments need to be made until 6 months have elapsed from the date of this
Agreement ("the Payment Date"). The Total Amount Payable is payable by 36
Repayments of £ 20.55 , the first Repayment being due on the Payment Date with
subsequent Repayments being due on the same date in every month thereafter.

Term of Agreement: 6 months plus 36 months

Part D of my agreement says:

We always charge compound interest. This means that interest is recalculated monthly on
the outstanding balance of Repayments and applied each month to the outstanding
balance. This will continue even if We have demanded payment of the outstanding

balance under clause 4 of the General Terms.

So what I want to know is, should I pay the outstanding balance that I'm aware of (£509.21) or the balance they are demanding because of what they said I signed for?

macman

I think effectively what part C gives you is a repayment holiday for 6 months, rather than 6 months interest free, which is how you are interpreting it. However part D does say that interest accrues on a compound basis monthly on the outstanding balance.
So I would say they are correct, but it's a pretty cynical tactic to not make it clearer.

jeggburt

Thanks for the quick response.

This is clause 4 (for information, I don't it helps any though)

4. Events of Default

4.1 We will not be obliged to advance the Credit Amount, or, if the
Credit Amount has been advanced then – subject to Our having
served any default or other notice required by law - We may by
written notice demand immediate early repayment of all
amounts outstanding under this Agreement, if any of the
following occur:
(a) You fail to pay any of the Repayments or any other sum
due under this Agreement on time,
(b) You have provided any false information to Us in

connection with this Agreement,

(c) You breach any of the terms of this Agreement,
(d) We have reasonable commercial grounds to believe that
You will not make Repayments or observe any of Your
other obligations under this Agreement.
Upon repayment by You of the whole of the balance of
Repayments outstanding, We shall allow any rebate of Interest

required by law

I'm pretty annoyed with myself that I didn't read that part right after rejecting the first agreement. I sent an email back to them orginally stating:

(email 29/06/2009)
Hi there,

Please can you check the documentation you have sent me as there is no information on the agreement that I do not have to pay anything until December 2009.
I will not sign the agreement until I have written confirmation from the finance department that either:
1) Sends me a corrected finance arrangement, or
2) Sends me written confirmation (via email) that the charges in this agreement do not apply until 1st December 2009, if there is still a balance outstanding.

Thanks

jeggburt

Forgot to add, I think I'll probably look like I'll have to bite the bullet now and pay the "interest" they've added. I don't think I've got much recourse now

johnson293

Good job I read this, as I am considering buying either a new Inspiron Desktop or laptop from Dell on their current offer which ends 18/11.

I was also considering taking up the Buy now pay later option, and try and pay the whole balance off next May, I think it would be due.

However looking at your example above, it looks like the deposit doesn't actually take anyhting off the bill, once the compound interest is added on.

I know finance agreements aren't necessarily meant to be paid off too soon, but I think I might just try and stick this on a CC if I can, rather than pay over the odds just to pay later.