Fri Sep 30, 4:40 PM ET DALLAS (AP) - Customers who want free shipping on selected PCs and notebooks from Dell Inc. will soon have to drive to the post office to get their computers. ADVERTISEMENT The change will save Dell money - the company won't say how much - because most customers probably will still want home delivery and presumably will be willing to pay for it, Dell spokeswoman Jennifer Davis said Friday. The new shipping policy will begin Oct. 10 with entry-level Dimension and Inspiron computers. It will eventually be expanded to all Dimension and Inspiron products and the expanded line of high-end XPS machines announced this week, Davis said. Dell already charges for shipping - the charges can range from $50 to $100 US - but it frequently advertises deals that include free shipping. The company is aware that free shipping is a coveted perquisite, so it was cautious in discussing the new policy, which Davis called an "experiment." The news comes as Dell's customer relations have taken a bit of a beating lately, with a lament about the company's service by a prominent blogger, Jeff Jarvis, circulating extensively on the Internet. Dell's plan involves the Postal Service's new hold-for-pickup program. Customers have 10 days to get their items, or they are returned to the shipper. Shipments for home delivery will continue to be handled by UPS Inc. Davis said Dell hadn't decided whether charges for home delivery would be increased. Dell has been part of a price-cutting frenzy among computer makers, and low-priced laptops and other products have cut into the company's revenue growth. For the July quarter, Dell sales rose by a seemingly robust 15 per cent. However, that was $300 million less than analysts had expected and the company's prediction for third-quarter revenue was at the low end of analysts' forecasts. Dell's stock fell 7.4 per cent the day it reported those results. In trading Friday, Dell shares fell 26 cents to close at $34.19 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have traded in a range of $33.24 to $42.57 over the past 52 weeks.
