Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Persistence Pays Off With Israel's First Windows Refund

Posted by timothy on from the paving-the-way dept.

As Niv Lilian reports at Ynet News, Haifa (and the Haifa Linux Club)'s Zvi Devir just preferred to run Linux rather than the pre-installed Windows on his newly bought Dell computer, and didn't want to pay for the unwanted Windows system. Now Devir has prevailed, after a fight in Israeli small-claims court, to become the first Israeli to obtain a Windows refund (also in Hebrew), winning the $137 that Windows added to the cost of his machine and escaping the nondisclosure agreement that Dell had wanted him to abide by as a condition. Perhaps others will follow his lead. Update: 12/03 23:02 GMT by T : Zvi Devir wrote with an update: "BTW, the settlement was out of court, before any court sessions took place."

8 of 84 comments (clear)

  1. The Gates Are Now Open by toodeepforme · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Oh god, I am seriously fearing the flood that is to come. This will set a precedent(if only a small one), that could change the way computers are sold, as well as if windows will be considered "standard" software for much longer.

  2. Read the article. by CannonballHead · · Score: 4, Informative

    This doesn't have to do with Windows as much as it has to do with Dell.

    Basically, Dell said (in the EULA) that they would refund money if you don't agree to the terms. So that's what the guy did.

    If anything, this just shows how few people read license agreements than anything else. And shows that, once again, 'customer support' still stinks :)

  3. Not even implied by jDeepbeep · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nowhere in this summary does it say he is a Jew. Just pointing out the obvious. There is a difference between the terms 'Israeli' and 'Jew'

    --
    Reply to That ||
    1. Re:Not even implied by idontgno · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well true, but all humans are cheap and like to avoid paying for anything anyway.

      There, corrected that for you.

      --
      Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
    2. Re:Not even implied by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      He might be a Jew by birth, but Israel is a suprisingly secular state, compared to what an uninformed person might think (considering the fact that it was the religion that held the Jewish population together in the past millenia). And a substantial percentage of citizens of Israel do not practice Judaism the way their ancestors did. Perhaps this has something to do with the views of the founders of their state?

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:Not even implied by blind+biker · · Score: 3, Informative

      You are absolutely right. However, may I note that Zvi is a very traditional Jewish male name. It means "deer".

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  4. Isn't that a Macintosh? by argent · · Score: 5, Funny

    The laptop in the stock photo for the article sure looks like didn't come with Windows in the first place.

  5. Good on him, and boo to Dell by blind+biker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...for trying to wiggle out of their contractual agreement. Now, I'm not sure a click-through EULA is in fact a contract, but then that's DELLs to decide. Either it is or it isn't.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.