Windows Refunds

People who have received a full refund for their unused copy of Windows that was forcefully shipped with their computers:

  1. Swisslinux has a list of refunds given to Swiss people by Swiss companies, so this is quite relevant if you’re here :)

  2. A Windows 98 refund from IBM Switzerland, given to Olivier Glassey. This was in 2000. To me, IBM lied in 2004 and claimed to never have refunded an operating system license before.

  3. Fabian Thommen ordered a laptop from Dell Switzerland (= Dell Germany) in the Business Customers section. After finishing his order, he called Dell and mentioned that he does not need the included Windows XP. The Dell representative said that would be no problem, removed XP from his order and included FreeDOS instead. Whether this made his laptop any cheaper, he does not know, as he never received a quote for his original configuration with XP.

    Dell is forced by a heavy contract with Microsoft to include an OS with their machines, but the contract doesn’t specify which OS, so by shipping FreeDOS Dell can keep their promises to Microsoft and at the same time give the customer a little choice. Moral of the story: Be a business customer, and suddenly your wishes are taken seriously.

  4. A man in Italy received a full refund of EUR 90 for Windows XP and an additional EUR 50 for Works 8.0 after fighting against HP in court for nearly two years. The full story is here. This sends a message: If you are in the EU, the MS EULA is clearly enforceable. Don’t fall for any sleazy tricks the PC dealers might be trying to pull on you. Insist and you will get the refund you are legally entitled to.

  5. Acer was forced to return the entire purchase price of all included, unwanted software (including Windows) that they had preinstalled on a customer’s laptop. This one happened in France. Another court ruling that clearly confirms the enforceability of the “return if unwanted” EULA clause.

  6. “mad” from Switzerland received a refund for Vista and MS works from Dell Germany! And all he did was send an e-mail. Thanks a lot for creating this precedent in my country :)
  7. Steve Oualline
  8. Dave Mitchell
  9. Serge Wroclawski
  10. This is the third time that a French court had to force a PC dealer to return the money for an unwanted copy of Windows. The Slashdot article has some more information in English. The refunds were between 100 and 300 Euros, depending on version of Windows etc.

There are surely more. Write me if you’re one of them :)