DEHRADUN, INDIA: Partners in Dehradun are not very impressed with Dell's channel policy as far as carrying out the DGS&D rate contracts are concerned.

There have been increasing instances wherein Dell has failed to give its empaneled partners (system integrators) their due share of commission despite committing the same to them.

The DQ Week has mails from one of the affected partners that shows the communication between a Dell representative and the affected partner. The mails clearly establish the fact that the said partner was committed a certain percentage of ORC (commission) by Dell which was later denied to him.

Dealers who deal in DGS&D rate contracts, in the region claimed that the company has been engaging in unethical business practices and taking undue advantage of the tie up that they (Dell) had established with them.
Pointing towards the same, Arvind Mittal, CEO of Rans Electronics mentioned, "There have been five to six cases wherein representatives of Dell requested us to refer our clients to them on the condition that they would pay us the commission for the same. However, once Dell closed the contract and collected payments from the parties they never bothered to pay us our share of commission."

Mittal further pointed out, "I had referred two cases to Dell and my total outstanding ORC with the company is Rs 7,45,175. One of the clients was ITDA and the other was IHM."

Referring to the ITDA case, in which Dell received payment in less than a week's time Mittal elaborated that Dell failed to pay them the ORC even six months after the closure of the contract. Further the vendor had verbally approved an ORC of eight percent in Feb 2008 but reduced it to seven percent.

"In July last year Dell received 95 percent payment in the ITDA case, but the local representative changed his statement later and said that the case was not referred to them by us. I have mails that were exchanged with Dell which clearly proves that I am involved in the case and that the order was being carried out by Rans Electronics. In addition, Dell did not pay my ORC for PHQ, UJVNL and ONGC cases either, instead they tried their level best to fool me. Under such conditions who would like to work for Dell?" Mittal questioned.

Another partner facing the same problem is Himanshu Agarwal of Devansh IT Solutions. "Dell promised to pay us a commission within the range of one to six percent on the condition that we convert clients for them as far as the DGS&D rate contracts are concerned.

However, the moment they implement the contract on our behalf and collected the payment from the client, they completely ignored us. They never bothered to give us our due commission.

We escalated the matter to the top level of authorities within Dell but we never received any response from them," said Agarwal.

To add insult to injury, these clients turn to partners for any post-sales issues. "If these very clients face any post-sales issue they come to us since we are a face to the company and they place their trust in us. Under such situations we are unable to assist them," he added.

In one incident, Agarwal relayed that about a year back he had introduced a contract of Excise Department of Uttrakhand to Dell. The vendor closed the deal without Agarwal's knowledge and till date he is yet to receive his share of commission for the same.

"We have raised the issue with the Uttrakhand IT association. Dell's representatives committed that they would pay us the amount, but till now nothing has really happened to that effect. It's over five to six months now and there is no one to pay heed to the situation. When a new brand enters into the market we as partners make every effort to uplift it and promote it, but this lackluster attitude from Dell has forced us to withdraw our support to the brand. This has also resulted in a drop in the sale of Dell products, as far as government contracts are concerned," elucidated Agarwal.

Yet another partner Harish Narang of Narang Computers and Electronic Services pointed out, "We have been experiencing indifferent attitude from Dell over the past one and a half year. I have personally witnessed three to four instances wherein the company went direct and delivered products to client who had been introduced to them by us. When we questioned them they denied it completely. I raised one such case during a meeting organized by the Uttrakhand IT association, in which Dell representatives (area sales manager and business development manager) had participated. At that point in time they committed before the body that they would pay me my commission but it has been over nine months now and I am still waiting for it."

Puneet Kaura, CEO of Interface Corporations and an ex-office bearer of the local association opined that Dell's actions were not being appreciated by the channel in the region.

"I have no claims or commission that are pending with Dell but there have been growing concerns in the region as far as Dell's policy is concerned. Dealers are not very impressed with the way Dell has been operating, especially when it comes to DGS&D rate contracts. I was one of the office bearers of the local association until a few months back when this issue was escalated, so I am aware of the problems that Dell's empaneled partners have been facing. But the company is yet to resolve the matter and revisit their business strategy in this space."

Clarifying their stance, Alekhya Talapatra, Director, Dell India stated, "Dell is committed to a robust partner program and follows strict rules in ensuring partners do not suffer in any way, including timely payments of commissions based on mutually agreed parameters. Dell does not do any direct DGS&D business for laptops, desktops and servers but only through its empaneled SIs. All payments of commissions are the responsibility of our DGS&D SI—Dell works from the start to closure with one partner who in turn owns the responsibility of closing, executing and payment realization. Dell has only one DGS&D RC directly in Uttaranchal with due commissions paid as a part of our transparent partner program."