Comments on: Dell accounting probe finds possible 'misconduct'

The company will delay its annual report as the investigation continues into its accounting practices.

[felgercarbnaysay]

Bwaahahahah!!!!!

You knew it was coming.

[Solaris_User]

Maybe the laws are too complex?

Anyone ever think the laws may be to difficult to follow? looks like they have large groups that manage the accounting just to make sure everything in line with the troves upon troves of corporate laws and regulations.

I'm sure Michael Dell is more interested in selling good computers and keeping customers happy than secretly ripping a few people off and hurting there own reputation and overall revenue in the process.

[dotmike]

Copying Apple again ;)

I was looking at a catalog the other day thinking how much the
laptops look like Apple's way back in 2001 (especially the way they
photograph them standing on end).

Now it seems they're going and copying Apple's fishy accounting
practices too.

But that's probably something you should leave to them, Michael!

[lingsun]

It's obviously fraud.

I don't believe that accounting is so difficult that Dell was unable to hire accountants good enough to do the job. If you ask, "What's 2 + 2?, a bookkeeper says, "4." An accountant says "What do you want it to be?"

[Too Old For IT]

Yet another problem with strategic thinking

Yet another problem with strategic thinking goes not further than this coming Friday's "earnings guidance".

[Gerry S]

Dell's Latest Problems

whoopppeeee (much less graphic than I actually feel).....Dell is a messed up company and I am
sure they are well deserving of any asskicking
or jail time they all should get. Unfortunately, like in most situations like this, there will be scapegoats and most of the incompetent lying-thieving people will skate away with the loot.....including that boob Michael Dell. Did he go to A&M?

[coltakashi]

Dell tried to steal from me

My own personal experience with Dell's business side was extremely negative. I used a Dell credit account to purchase a laptop for my wife for Christmas a year ago. I mailed in a check for a $100 payment, but Dell used the information from my check to debit my checking account for $600! They destroyed the check rather than submit it for processing, which would have prevented the overcharge. My complaints to Dell by phone and email were ignored for weeks.

I arranged to have my bank reject the charge from Dell, and offered to send a new $100 payment, but their collection office in India kept pestering me for additional payments. I explained to every caller that Dell had received a timely payment of several times the minimum amount from me, but that Dell had tried to steal $500 from my account, so it could hardly claim that I was at fault. Each new caller had NO information from the prior calls, despite repeated promises in 30 minute calls that they would tell their supervisors. The next printed statement from Dell did not acknowledge the facts, but made it appear that I had made no payment.

My experience reflects not a single weird aberration, but a deep institutional failure of Dell to ensure honest billing and charging practices, utter failure to pay any attention to customer complaints about criminal fraud and false record keeping by its own employees, and a total breakdown of internal communications and record keeping. Clearly, some Dell employees felt pressure to meet Dell's revenue targets "by hook or by crook". Dell's credit operation will need a complete overhaul to remove this corruption and malicious ignorance of quality control.