Replies

Just spoke with my Dell sales rep. (I bought around $200,000.00 worth of Dell branded stuff last year) She says she personally has several firearms industry clients, and that Dell has NO SUCH POLICY in regards to gun owners/manufacturers/sellers. In fact, Dell is probably the most conservative friendly company in the entire industry. I fully believe Mr. Weigand's story as I have had several "misunderstandings" or "miscommunications" with Dell in the past. I have had similar communications problems while dealing with numerous large corporate entities. One simply has to work their way up the food chain until they find someone that can resolve the problem. My experience is that for every corporate idiot i have to deal with, there is someone, somewhere in charge of that idiot that can help you solve your problem.

Here is what I found on their forum page.

"Hold your horses, mister. Dell does not take an official position on firearms ownership, nor does Dell deny sales to firearms related businesses. The recent issue with the order from Mr. Weigand, of Weigand Combat Handguns, was an isolated incident. What happened, in my understanding, is this, a waiver should have been sent to Mr Weigand, so that the sale could proceed, but it was not sent. Consequently, the order was cancelled, because this form was not signed and received. It was a screwup at Dell, but that's all it was. With a cursory search, I was able to find that Wilson Combat has purchased several systems and peripherals from Dell."

"Simply put, this situation was a mistake, and DELL IS NOT ANTI-GUN. Dell is not neccessarily pro-gun either. Dell has no official stance."

Matt
Dell Technical Support

We shall see if this is true or not.

...And This...

"Dell does in fact screen customers, and yes, 'Weigand Combat Handguns' was flagged. What should have happened, was a waiver should have automatically been sent to Mr. Weigand, and upon it's return, the sale would have proceeded normally. The waiver was not sent, and the person who told Mr Weigand that the sale was denied, obviously did not know about the process of what happened. Mr Weigand then assumed and proceeded to tell everyone possible that Dell denies sales to firearms related businesses.

I am a Dell employee, and I am a gun owner, an NRA member, and an active defender of our 2nd Amendment rights. My posts here are in an unofficial capacity, but I can say again DELL DOES NOT HAVE A POLICY OF DENYING SALES TO FIREARMS RELATED BUSINESSES. Dell does not have an official position on firearms ownership, and does not, to my knowledge, support ANY organization on either side of the debate.

Everyone jumping the gun here, so to speak, is going to make us gun owners look bad. Get the facts, then make your decision. Don't jump to conclusions, that's what the anti's do. Let's not lower ourselves to their level"

This is the story from a low level tech and should be verified by upper management for Dell. Id say the Tech sounds for real but is naive about political warfare and thinks "not lowering ourselves to thier level" is the way to win wars.

Email address for the Executive committe at Dell:

Michael S. Dell - Chariman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Kevin B. Rollins - President and Chief Operating Officer
Elizabeth Heller Allen - Vice President Corporate Communications
William J. Amelio - Senior Vice President and President Asia-Pacific/Japan
Paul D. Bell - Senior Vice President and President Europe, Middle East and Africa
Jeff Clarke - Vice President Relationship Product Group
Martin J. Garvin - Vice President Worldwide Procurement
Michael A. George - Vice President Chief Marketing Officer and Corporate Strategy
Thomas B. Green - Senior Vice President and Secretary Law and Administration
Randall D. Groves - Vice President Enterprise Systems Group
John Hamlin - Vice President U.S. Consumer Business
Russell L. Holt - Vice President Enterprise Systems Group
Joseph A. Marengi - Senior Vice President Americas
Paul D. McKinnon - Senior Vice President Human Resources
John Medica - Vice President Client Product Group
Randall D. Mott - Senior Vice President Chief Information Officer
Glenn E. Neland - Vice President Worldwide Procurement
Louise M. O'Brien - Vice President Corporate Business Development
Rosendo G. Parra - Senior Vice President Americas
Charles H. Saunders - Senior Vice President and President Asia-Pacific/Japan
James M. Schneider - Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Lynn A. Tyson - Vice President Investor Relations
James T. Vanderslice - Vice Chairman
Thurmond B. Woodard - Vice President Global Diversity

Update:
http://www.SierraTimes.com
Now Updated 24 Hours a Day
Dell responds to Criticisms from Second Amendment Activists
A Sierra Times Special Report

After speaking with Dell spokesperson Cathie Hargett, Sierra Times was sent the following official statement which concurs with her words regarding the Jack Weigand matter and other related issues. In our opinion, the fact that Dell choose to address the matter quickly and public on the record is commendable, and should change the tone of correspondece to their company from Second Amendment activists, or cease them altogether. - Sierra Times.

From Dell, Inc Founder and CEO - Michael Dell:

U.S. export laws restrict the sale of technology to terrorists and to people in countries that support terrorism. These laws also prohibit computer sales to people who will use the technology in developing biological or nuclear weapons. Dell strictly complies with our country's export laws in order to ensure the safety of our customers and citizens around the world. When there is reasonable cause for concern, we carefully review customer orders for prohibited destinations and activities.

Full Statement Here

This has been a Sierra Times Special Report

SierraTimes.com
An Internet Publication for Real Americans.
©2001 Sierra Times.com - All Rights Reserved
=====

Doesn't explain a thing to me. Doesn't explain why it was canceled outright instead of the customer being called and his order "reviewed".

"I'll never buy a Dell, Dude!"

Just to close the book on this story.

Here is Jack Weigand's answer this afternoon:

Jack Weigand New Member Posts: 23 From:Mountaintop, PA Registered: Dec 2001 posted 02-27- 12:07 PM --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A little update. I was contacted by Dell this morning, a MR. John Hood. He explained the following.

He expressed Dells sincerest apologies for the problem I encountered. He said that Dell would be reviewing and possibly changing the screening policy.

Dell also offered to send me the machine I had ordered at no charge, I politely declined the machine. I would never want this to be turned into me posting this to get a free machine. Secondly for obvious reasons I am not interested in doing business with Dell.

Dell is sending me a statement to post on my web site sometime tomorrow explaining what they are doing and what they intend to do concerning this issue.

I know not all agree with my not accepting the machine from Dell but this is the decision I need to be comfortable with. My main issue was to get the screening policy changed.

Thank you all for the overwhelming support you have given me, over three hundred emails worth and only one negative, LOL!

God Bless

Jack Weigand ------------------ www.jackweigand.com

Write to Michael Dell at michael@dell.com or michael_dell@dell.com

Here's what I wrote -

-----

Mr. Dell:

A number of large American businesses have, over the last few years, found out the hard way that angering American firearms owners is Not A Good Thing. I rather imagine that you're now pretty well convinced of it yourself.

I have used Dell computers for years, both at home and at work, and I've recommended Dell to about a bazillion people, both privately and professionally.

But your "from the desk of" message is far from being sufficient in assuaging the damage caused by the cancellation of Mr. Weigand's order. He has nothing in his business' name that suggests that he exports anything, or that he's a terrorist or supports terrorists. He is a pistolsmith, i.e., he works on guns, specifically combat-oriented handguns. And there is nothing in that which should suggest anything about "terrorism" or "staying within the law for exports" such as you've suggested, any more than if he repaired refrigerators instead of firearms. In my opinion, both Dell's initial act of cancelling his legitimate order and your subsequent lame apology and explanation constitute what a very large number of us consider to be a very serious error in judgement.

I've been to a number of websites today where gun owners and non gun owners alike are saying that they will NOT buy or recommend Dell ever again, unless and until you issue a much more specific notice of policy change. I'm sorry to see that happen, because as I said, I've used Dell for years and would like to continue to.

Mr. Dell, there is NOTHING "terrorist" or even potentially illegal about being a gunsmith, and to think that your policy is to actually cancel an order just because a customer is a gunsmith, while you pursue checking out whether the customer might be a terrorist or be exporting illegal firearms is ludicrous at best. And to require him to sign a special waiver because he works on firearms is preposterous.

Remember K-Mart?

They made some major blunders when it came to firearms owners too, and they're filing bankruptcy. A number of very large financial institutions have been forced, due to the cancellation of so many business deals by so many firearms owners, to change their policies in regards to loans, etc., to gun owners and gun oriented businesses.

Please do the right thing and keep Dell going. Your computers are the best on the market, in my opinion. But neither I nor several million other firearms owners will continue to support Dell unless you change your policies and unless you make it plain that you have done so. I'm sorry, but offering a free laptop to Mr. Weigand just isn't going to cut it.

Sincerely,

Jefferson Adams

FYI, I think this note has been posted elsewhere, but here is the note I received in reply to my note to Michael Dell.

Mr. RJL -- Below please find an open letter from Michael Dell on Dell Computer Corporation's policy regarding U.S. export laws. I'm hopeful you'll be able to pass the message along to visitors of your Web site who may have an interest in this issue.

Thank you so much.
Colleen Ryan
Dell Corporate Communications
xxx.xxx.xxxx

To Our Valued Customers and Friends: U.S. export laws restrict the sale of technology to terrorists and to people in countries that support terrorism. These laws also prohibit computer sales to people who will use the technology in developing biological or nuclear weapons. Dell strictly complies with our country's export laws in order to ensure the safety of our customers and citizens around the world. When there is reasonable cause for concern, we carefully review customer orders for prohibited destinations and activities. When additional follow-up on an order is required, our sales representatives ask our customers four basic questions:

1. Who is the end-user?
2. Where will the product be used?
3. What will the product be used for?
4. What type of business or industry is involved? The answers to these questions, like all customer information we gather, are confidential and are not shared outside of Dell.

We recently received an order from a customer whose company name included the word "combat." We cancelled the order to give us enough time to follow up with the customer and be assured that the sale would be in compliance with U.S. export law. However, we failed to contact the customer, and as a result, we did not deliver the order as promised, and the customer did not know why.

Once we discovered our error, we apologized to the customer for this misunderstanding, as well as the inconvenience caused by the delay. This is not the service standard that we hold ourselves to at Dell, and if I were a customer who'd received similar treatment, I would be very disappointed.

We at Dell feel a strong obligation to uphold our federal law, but we have just as strong an obligation to be responsive to the needs of all our customers. I want to assure you that Dell does not discriminate against any business, regardless of the products or services they sell, nor do we discriminate against individual consumers. We do, however, sometimes make mistakes - as we did in this case. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,
Michael Dell