DUDE, Don't Buy a Dell

Sent Tuesday, February 26, 2002 622 PM

Subject Dell Computers becomes anti-gun.

From Jack Weigand, Pistolsmith

http://www.jackweigand.com/

Subject To all of my friends

I am writing this because I feel every Firearms owner should know this story.

I placed an order for a Dell notebook computer on February 13 on line with Dell. I was given a tentative delivery date of February 21st. I was watching the order through the Dell on line tracking system; I also opted for the automatic email notification of when the machine was to be shipped.

Well the 21st came and went, I am a Pistolsmith I know things can happen. I made a phone call on the 25th, did a voice mail message for my salesman to get back to me and I was looking for the delivery date.

The 25th came and went with no callback. On the 26th I placed another call this time to cancel the order. After a few hours I got a call back, with this amazing reason for the delay. It seems someone in Dell had already canceled my order, when I asked why I was told Dell was afraid I was going to use the machine for illegal purposes.

When I asked why someone would think that I was told it was because of the name of my business "Weigand Combat Handguns,Inc.".

Because I am involved in firearms I might be doing something illegal.

Now keep in mind I was never called or informed of this decision the order was just canceled.

Many of you know me personally and know I run my business about as squeaky clean as possible. In addition being the President of the American Pistolsmiths Guild I am under additional scrutiny as to how I run my business, if I am not clean how can I be the President of an organization that promotes just that! I was informed by a Dell supervisor not long after all of this the reason I was refused was because of their post September 11th policy of screening buyers.

I would like to respectfully ask the firearms community to do the following. If you intended to buy a Dell and because of this letter you do not, email Dell and let them know why. Feel free to distribute this account to all you know in the Firearms community, I think they need to know.

I for one am sick and tired of people assuming just because we are involved with firearms that we are doing something illegal. I also do not believe Dell deserves our business if this is how they intend to treat us.

God Bless -

Jack Weigand

President

American Pistolsmiths Guild, Inc.


So, the emails rolled into Dell, and three days after the feces hit the air mover, their corporate mouthpiece relays this lie.

Dell flagged Mr. Weigand's order (initiated under his company

name Weigand's Combat Firearms) for additional follow-up (and then we failed

to do so) because of the word "combat" in his company name. This internal

control is in place to ensure that a domestic purchase is not redirected to

an end user for a prohibited use (such as the creation and development of

weapons of mass destruction) or to a country that has been restricted from

receiving U.S. technology exports (such as Libya, Syria, Iran and Iraq).

This due diligence is required by U.S. law. We also review orders for words

such as "nuclear," "missile," and "plutonium." Dell's process excludes

reviews for "guns" or "firearms."

The mistake was ours because we failed to follow our process. We failed to

call Mr. Weigand for information that would have satisfied legal

requirements and ultimately would have resulted in completion of Mr.

Weigand's transaction. We have apologized for this mistake directly to Mr.

Weigand. We have tried to make it right with our customer by giving him a  <- Pay attention to this......

free computer for his trouble and inconvenience.

Dell has many customers and employees who are handgun owners and

enthusiasts. We know that gun owners and advocates, such as Mr. Weigand, are

law abiding Americans, and as such, can understand and appreciate our

efforts to comply with American export laws, while serving all customers.

We have heard from many of you over the last few days, and we appreciate the

opportunity to speak with you directly about these issues. Your

relationships with us, and your feedback about our products and services are

crucial to our success.

Sincerely,

Tom Green

Senior Vice President,

Law and Administration

Dell Computer Corporation

 

 

Dell wanted to send Weigand a free Inspiron 4100 -- which starts at

\\$1,100 -- as compensation for his troubles. But Weigand won't take it,

saying that people might think he caused a fuss just to save some cash.

"They offered the free machine and I declined," he said.

AND THEN DELL IMMEDIATELY SAID IN A PRESS RELEASE:  "THEY GAVE HIM A FREE COMPUTER", what a bunch of liars.....trying to absolve their corporate asses with the gun owning public.

 

 

and it doesn't seem to be an isolated incident....

From "Denny Vasquez"

Jim,

 

The email you sent me concerning Dell computers could have

not been timelier. On the Feb 18th I ordered a computer from

Dell to replace the one that I have been leasing from them for the

last 3 years. My order was accepted and I was assigned a tracking number. When I

logged on to their web page last Thursday to check the status of my

order I could not locate it in their work stream. Therefore, I

called Dell and was informed that there were problems with my

order and that someone would call me back on Friday.

Having not heard back from them on Friday, I called back

on Monday to inquire as to what the problem might be. I was

informed that my order had been canceled and that I was no long an

approved customer of Dell Computer Corporation. Not understanding

this logic, and knowing that each of my monthly lease

payments had been made as requested, I asked to speak to a

supervisor in order to determine why they had made this decision. After

going up the chain of command several levels I was finally told

that I was on a list of undesirable customers that Dell maintained

and that they would not sell me a computer because they didn't

know if all of my potential uses for the machine would be legal

or not.

When I asked them what they were implying, this supervisor

said that according to their records I belonged to pro-gun and

pro-hunting groups such the NRA, TSRA, SCI, Trophy Game

Records of the world and others. When I inquired as what this had

to do with my purchase of a new computer, I was told that the

Dell Computer Corporation felt that it was their responsibility

as a member of the US corporate society to insure that their

products were not used for purposes that ran contra to Dell's

corporate policies and beliefs.

Bottom line of the conversation was that I had been labeled

as a potential menace to society because I am gun owner and a

hunter, even though I do not have a police record and have never

participated in a law suit, therefore, the Dell Computer

Corporation would no longer sell computers to me or to

those like me.

What a crock! Just thought you might like to know.

Denny Vasquez.

 

I have always wondered what the real agenda of the gun control lobby is.

Now I know. Gun-controllers represent the criminal lobby. The purpose of

gun control is to make criminals safe when they rob, burgle, rape and

murder.