Dell offer Laptops & Mini Tower PCs, Desktop Computers, Monitors, Printers & Ink, Electronics & Accessories online to consumers and small businesses. Their products can be ordered on their internet store and are delivered direct to your home or business.

Dell’s website, as well as their recent mail catalogues, offer “0% for 24 Months” You would think this means 0% interest or cheap finance right? Rather than pay cash, you may as well conserve your cash flow and take the interest free finance offer right?

On Dell’s website dell.com.au under the heading “Products” you will find a subcategory “Finance” where it explains their offer as follows:-

“Dell Financial Services (DFS) can provide simple and convenient finance solutions for business users. Dell customers can take advantage of easy finance programs with affordable monthly payments.”

Further down the page you will find that this product is then called a lease. When you finally read all of the way down you will find that its not a finance lease as we know them. It is an equipment rental deal.

When I phoned them to ask, they explained that customers pay the full retail price of the goods over 24 months. After 24 months if you still want to keep the goods you need to buy them at their then fair market value, estimated (but not agreed) by Dell at around 20% of the purchase price. (Paying 20% more then to buy the goods would not be a nice surprise or a cheap interest rate).

So please note that their offer is an equipment rental agreement, nothing to do with finance or interest rates?  Misleading to say the least!!