Okay, I'm frustrated...  I just purchased a new XPS on 25 Jan, which stipulated on the purchase that it was eligible for the Windows 7 upgrade.  As soon as I received the service tag I tried to register the system but received the message that it can take 10 days for the service tag to flow to the database.  Okay, no problem, I purchased the system within the guidelines as stated on the Windows 7 Eligibility site, "To be eligible for the DellTM Windows® 7 Upgrade Option program, you must purchase a Dell system between June 26, 2009 and January 31, 2010 that meets the following criteria".  Now it gets irritating.  I tried numerous times to register my new system, which is eligible for the free Windows 7 upgrade, including at 8 PM MST on 31 Jan 2010, only to keep receiving the 10 day message.  I tried again last night, 1 Feb, only to discover that the site had been taken down.

So today, 2 Feb, I started off the morning with a call to Dell to hopefully resolve a rather easy issue...wrong.  The Dell automated telephone system transferred me to a department based on my response of "Windows 7 upgrade", to a department who promptly informed me that I hadn't registered by the 31st.  I explained to them that I hadn't registered because I COULDN'T because my information had not been transferred to the upgrade site yet.  I was then transferred to Customer Care who informed me that I was eligible but that I would have to go through Tech Support.  Okay...  Now I'm transferred to Tech Support and explain the issue I'm having once again; after talking to the Tech and being placed on hold, he came back on the line and told me that I had reached Inspiron Tech Support and that they could not help me with my XPS system.  He then apologized and told me that his supervisor wished to speak to me.  I spoke to the Inspiron Tech Support Supervisor  who apologized again for the confusion and offered to personally transfer me to the Dell XPS Premier Support  office.  After being on hold for quite a while, I finally get to Dell XPS Premier Support where I explain my issue yet again.  After being put on hold, the Tech returned to inform me that this issue was out of the hands of Tech Support and that I would have to go through Customer Care...   Umm, wait, I've already been there, they told me I had to go through Tech Support...

Finally, I am back at Customer Care again, and explaining the situation yet again.  After explaining what has happened I am now informed that someone will contact me via email "within 1 to 2 weeks."  Wow, talk about sounding like a brush off!  So basically it sounds like those of us purchased our eligible systems in good faith within the time frame specified on the Dell Windows 7 Eligibility web site, "To be eligible for the DellTM Windows® 7 Upgrade Option program, you must purchase a Dell system between June 26, 2009 and January 31, 2010 that meets the following criteria:" are out of luck because we didn't register in time, because our information was never flowed to the upgrade site server, so we couldn't register in time.  I sure hope that Dell is listening, because right now as a person that bought his first PC from  PCs Limited way back when, and a customer that has continued to buy Dell both personally and professionally, I am seriously upset that as a Dell customer I could get no one to give me an answer.  I believe that if I purchased an eligible system within the time frame listed and COULD not register because of a Dell in-house issue, that Dell should honor their advertised upgrade.  I sincerely hope that someone from Dell that has the authority to make decisions on this issue will read this and reply.

Regards,

Gary Ainsworth