Dell has made it easier to purchase several models of its popular laptops and personal computers from a Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Staples or Sam’s Club near you. Unfortunately, there’s an annoying caveat that I feel my readers should be aware of. Most folks are not aware that Dell will refuse to provide support services to you when you need it because, according to Dell, the retailer you purchased your computer from still “owns” it, not you.

Several months ago, one of my clients related the following tale: Her new Dell laptop, purchased from Wal-Mart and pre-loaded with Windows Vista, stopped booting a couple of weeks after she took it out of the box. She spent several hours on the phone with Dell Technical Support before learning that her laptop was still listed in Dell’s database as belonging to Wal-Mart. Before Dell would offer her any further support, she was told she must call Wal-Mart and ask them nicely to transfer the ownership of the laptop to her name.

Here’s the scoop: If you purchased your Dell computer from a retailer, rummage through the included paperwork for the “Retail Purchaser End User Agreement.” Among the legalese in this document is the following statement: “Dell-branded warranties and services will become effective when you have transferred the ownership of the product into your name, although the warranty period commences on the date of the purchase.” You’ll find a toll-free phone number and Web site address listed. The Web site listed may be specific to the retailer you purchased your computer from.

If you visit the Web site, you can fill out your contact information and the “Service Tag” number from your computer to initiate the ownership transfer. The transfer is supposed to go into effect immediately.

Unfortunately for you, if your computer won’t boot or can’t get on the Internet (thus, the reason you needed support in the first place), this won’t work for you. If you don’t have ready access to another Internet-enabled PC, you’re up a creek.

My client was told to call Wal-Mart directly at 1-800-925-6278. She reports that the person she spoke with said that they would put in the transfer of ownership for her. However, they also required the store number of the Wal-Mart that the computer was purchased from. Thankfully, she was able to locate that number on her original Wal-Mart receipt.

The transfer of ownership is reported to take upward of five business days to complete when you do it over the phone — leaving you without support until it has gone through — so I highly recommend you do this now to avoid any lengthy delay if your computer goes on the blink.

If you own a Dell computer that was purchased from a retail outlet, here’s a direct way to get your ownership transferred:

• Visit http://support.dell.com
• Click “Warranty Information” from the menu on the left
• Click “Ownership Transfer” and follow the instructions

I think this annoyance is unforgivable. Since Dell has begun selling its computers in massive retail outlets, and since it already knows exactly which computers are on the shelves in those locations, it should have built a better mechanism for providing support for those systems without putting its users through this unnecessary hassle.

Kevin McDonald: Writer and professional computer/network administrator. He lives in Amarillo with his wife and children, and owns and operates Definition Computers. E-mail Kevin at askthegeek@definitioncomputers.com with questions you’d like to see answered in this column.

(This article was originally published in the Amarillo Independent newspaper.)