Hitting .300 or shooting 30 percent might be a standard of excellence in professional baseball and basketball, but in computer repair? Not exactly MVP material.
The Consumerist links to CBC Marketwatch's undercover investigation of PC repair services, which shows that employees often have a startling lack of basic knowledge about the machines they are paid to fix. Plus, while they're misdiagnosing your technical problems, they'll likely overcharge you, and maybe even access your personal files for good measure.
Scary stuff for the technophobe or anyone who doesn't have the time or resources to fix a computer. The reporter checks out a variety of national and local electronics repair companies, including Best Buy's Geek Squad and Staples. Only 3 out of the 10 tech repairmen accurately assess the problem, and even then, one of them charges double the going rate for the part that needs to be replaced.
It gets worse when they interview three former professional geeks employed by large repair companies who admit they were instructed to upsell and even take advantage of unsuspecting customers.
Perhaps this isn't a surprise for some, but it's depressing just the same.
Dell actually beat analysts' expectations Thursday when it released the preliminary results of its earnings for the second quarter of fiscal year 2008, but again opted against the traditional follow-up conference call with company executives, investors and the media.
Dell has failed to file its last six quarterly earnings reports and its last annual report with the SEC due to the company's internal investigation into its accounting practices. The probe, which was wrapped up earlier this month, found that Dell accountants were regularly fudging quarterly earnings numbers as far back as 2003 to meet or surpass Wall Street expectations. Meanwhile, the SEC's own investigation continues.
Dell says it's going to get current with its SEC filings in the first week of November, which is good timing. The NASDAQ informed Dell last week it had until November 12 to get its act together or it will be delisted.
Dell says its next earnings report is due November 29, at which time it will return to regularly scheduled programming of taking calls from investors and reporters.
But this quarter was decent. The company reported preliminary results of $14.8 billion in revenue and earnings of 32 cents per share. Servers were the company's strength again, responsible for $1.6 billion in revenue.
According to Gartner, Dell continues to lose worldwide market share in the PC space to Hewlett-Packard. Though still No. 1 in PCs shipped in the U.S., its shipment growth has declined 11 percent from a year ago.
Dell representatives declined to provide details about when the paint problems delaying backlogged orders of its anticipated Inspiron and XPS 1330 notebooks would be resolved.
This article was updated at 2:45 p.m. PDT.
Dell concluded an internal investigation into its accounting procedures Thursday and found that three years' worth of quarterly earnings statements were improperly adjusted, and senior executives knew about it.
Which executives knew isn't clear yet. A Dell representative said the company is "taking responsibility as a team" and isn't naming names.
According to a statement released by the company, the investigation yielded evidence that "certain adjustments appear to have been motivated by the objective of attaining financial targets," and usually took place at the end of a fiscal quarter. Adjusted account balances were "reviewed, sometime at the request or with the knowledge of senior executives," according to a company statement.
Dell says it will restate earnings filed between 2003 and 2006, and plans to refile with the SEC the first week of November. The cumulative change to Dell's bottom line for the entire period will be between $50 million and $150 million, and earnings per share will be reduced by 2 to 7 cents per share.
The earnings statement from the first fiscal quarter of 2003 and the second fiscal quarter of 2004 will require the most restatement, requiring reductions of between 10 and 13 percent in net income. Earnings from the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2005 will be reduced by 7 percent. But net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2005, and the third and fourth quarters of 2006 will actually be bumped up by 5 to 7 percent.
The company's internal audit committee first announced its preliminary findings in March and said it found "evidence of misconduct." Dell first revealed that it had come under the scrutiny of the SEC last August.
An accounting scandal is another blow to Dell, which has been steadily losing market share to Hewlett-Packard and has seen an exodus of its top executives in the last year, which may or may not be directly related to the outcome of Dell's or the SEC's probe of its accounting practices. CEO Kevin Rollins left in January and was replaced by former CEO and founder Michael Dell. Rollins' departure was preceded by the exit of Jim Schneider, Dell's chief financial officer, who also left in January.
Dell is holding a call with investors regarding the news, so stay tuned for more this afternoon.
Dell's failure to file a timely earnings report has again earned it notification of possible delisting from the Nasdaq.
It's the fourth such deadline Dell has missed while in the midst of SEC and internal investigations into its accounting practices, including three quarterly reports and its 2006 annual report. The latest deadline passed on May 4, at which time Dell says it notified the Nasdaq Listing and Hearing Review Council of the finding of its own audit committee. In March, Dell announced that its internal investigation yielded what it termed "evidence of misconduct," which could result in the company having to restate past earnings.
Dell said the notice was "expected" and the company has already asked the Nasdaq to extend its conditional listing until it is able to file. The council's decision is still pending.
In the midst of a federal investigation into its accounting practices, Dell has appointed a new chief accounting officer, Thomas Sweet.
Sweet, formerly Dell's vice president of finance for the public sector, succeeds Joan Hooper in the role. Hooper's new title is vice president of finance for the Americas region.
A Dell representative called Hooper's new assignment part of the company's rotation of executives and a "restructuring of its global finance leadership team," and would not comment on whether the move is related to the current Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the company's accounting practices.
Dell's internal investigation into the matter turned up "evidence of misconduct," the company reported in late March.
The PC maker has undergone several leadership changes in the past months, beginning with the departure of CFO Jim Schneider in December. Then in late January, Kevin Rollins left and was replaced as CEO by company founder Michael Dell. Shortly after, John Hamlin, head of global online and brand marketing, also left the company.
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