Dell Server Warranty Renewal Issue

[discoveranother]

Hi all,

 

Have a school, they have a poweredge server out of warranty, the renewal cost for the annual warranty is £103. However, the warranty ran out in February of this year 2026.  The school have had a few different finance managers in place because the main manager is away ill.  Anyway, its either been overlooked each time because of manager changes or forgotten about. Now they have a permanent replacement they want to purchase it.  The school and other schools we look after buy kit from Dell quite often.  However they have now added a reinstatement cost of £107 on to the warranty, more than the warranty itself.  In addition, Dell have never had to be called out during warranty periods.  This was the Dell renewal sales individuals response:-

 

Quote

Hi,

I would like to clarify that the renewal was processed more than 180 days after the previous support contract expired. Under Dell's renewal policy, once a contract has been expired for longer than 180 days, the renewal is treated as a reinstatement rather than a continuation of the existing coverage. As a result, a reinstatement fee is automatically applied by Dell and cannot be removed or waived.

When a support renewal is completed within 180 days of the previous contract's expiration, Dell processes it as a continuation of coverage from the prior end date. This maintains continuous support history on the asset and avoids a formal break in coverage. In those cases, no reinstatement fee is charged.

As your renewal was completed after the 180-day period had passed, the system automatically classified it as a reinstatement, which is why the reinstatement fee appears on the order. Unfortunately, this is system-driven and we are unable to remove it.

I understand the additional charge may be disappointing, but it is required whenever coverage is reinstated after an extended lapse in support.

From 12 February 2026 to 6 October 2026 is 236 days.

Since 236 days exceeds Dell's 180-day renewal window by 56 days, the support contract qualified as a reinstatement, and the reinstatement fee was automatically applied.

If you wish to proceed, you can pay online using the “Order Now” option on the quote.

 

Is there anywhere else we can obtain server warranty ? Ive taken it up with the Dell manager but not received a reply.

 

Thanks all

Edited October 9 by discoveranother
spelling mistake

[DrBeaker]

Honestly.....

 

Think you're gonna have to chalk this one up to experience - Crappy school management/staffing etc.

 

Doesn't sound like any fault of IT remotely, so don't worry.

 

If the school does not appreciate the value the warranty brings, you have your answer (and indirectly,... the decision you've been waiitng for)

 

 

 

 

[jmak]

The are plenty of third party providers - I used one about 10 years ago recommended on here, but I never had to claim so can't tell you anything about them. 

However, I agree with DrBeaker - just take the hit. The cost seems very reasonable to me.

[discoveranother]

I agree with you both.  Annoys me so much when schools ignore such emails etc.  I spoke to them about this several times and emailed them why warranty is important, they just ignore it.  For the sake of £103 for one year you wouldnt believe.   Finance ignore such emails and headteachers too, not important to them until something happens. Such ignorance.

[DrBeaker]

4 hours ago, discoveranother said:

I agree with you both.  Annoys me so much when schools ignore such emails etc.  I spoke to them about this several times and emailed them why warranty is important, they just ignore it.  For the sake of £103 for one year you wouldnt believe.   Finance ignore such emails and headteachers too, not important to them until something happens. Such ignorance.

 

The AMOUNT of money I've seen schools waste over the years is phenomenal - and usually never spent where it ACTUALLY needs to be spent.

 

Had things sit in storage for months, as they wouldn't approve the repair costs for it. Only for it to be chucked away in the end.

 

Other times they've purchased kit, not planned it properly and for it again - to sit in a cupboard going unused. 

 

To vast expenses of thousands of pounds on useless schemes and ideas.

 

I could go on 😕 

 

 

Edited October 10 by DrBeaker

[FN-GM]

12 hours ago, discoveranother said:

I agree with you both.  Annoys me so much when schools ignore such emails etc.  I spoke to them about this several times and emailed them why warranty is important, they just ignore it.  For the sake of £103 for one year you wouldnt believe.   Finance ignore such emails and headteachers too, not important to them until something happens. Such ignorance.

 

 

This is a consequence of their own actions....

[discoveranother]

16 hours ago, DrBeaker said:

 

The AMOUNT of money I've seen schools waste over the years is phenomenal - and usually never spent where it ACTUALLY needs to be spent.

 

Had things sit in storage for months, as they wouldn't approve the repair costs for it. Only for it to be chucked away in the end.

 

Other times they've purchased kit, not planned it properly and for it again - to sit in a cupboard going unused. 

 

To vast expenses of thousands of pounds on useless schemes and ideas.

 

I could go on 😕 

 

 

Yes totally agree with you.  Glad to know its just not our schools like this.  How they have total disregard for IT protection and security etc is beyond belief, but if something happens they want you to fix it like yesterday.   If they can get away with paying anything towards IT they will do it.    Without changing the topic, at the same school they had a new Deputy Head about one year ago who thinks he is the IT at the school.  The head teacher just lets him get on with it.  He even mentioned the other day "we need to remove 2FA as it will cause issues with security".   The guy is a complete muppet putting it politely.

Edited Sunday at 09:53 by discoveranother