Two San Francisco residents have filed a class-action lawsuit against computer manufacturer Dell, alleging the company regularly uses bait-and-switch techniques, and promises favorable financing terms that it doesn't deliver.

The suit was filed Feb. 14 in San Francisco County Superior Court by Rosemary M. Weber and Jonathan V. Holtzman, both San Francisco residents.

In the lawsuit, Weber said she called Dell in July 2003 to order a laptop computer she had seen advertised for $599. She also decided to buy a printer for $89 and opted to finance the purchase with Dell, though she did not learn exact terms of the financing. When her bill came, the complaint said, Weber was surprised that it was for more than $1,300.

Plaintiff Holtzman alleged that when he purchased two new computers from Dell in November 2003, the company shipped him ``lesser-quality computer systems at the price at which Dell agreed to sell the higher-quality systems.'' His repeated efforts to resolve the problem failed, the complaint said.

Also named as defendants in the lawsuit were Dell Financial Services and CIT Bank.

Dell spokesman Lionel Mechaca on Tuesday said the company would not comment on pending litigation. CIT Bank representatives could not be reached late Tuesday.

Reed Kathrein, an attorney with law firm Lerach Coughlin Stoia in San Francisco, who is representing the plaintiffs, said that since August the firm has investigated more than 100 consumer complaints against Dell.

``Generally when you get one or two complaints, you look at it and say maybe the consumers are just confused,'' said Kathrein. But the complaints, he said, ``seemed to be too common to ignore.''

The Dell suit will include only plaintiffs in California, Kathrein said.

The lawsuit asks the court to order Dell to stop its alleged practices of baiting and switching and attracting customers with false promises of ``preferred'' financing terms -- such as no-interest charges for 90 days.

Plaintiffs also are seeking unspecified damages, and a right to either return merchandise or receive payment for the difference in value between the computer equipment they ordered and what they received.

Kathrein said the lawsuit against Dell and CIT Bank, which was filed more than a week ago, was not affected by the law signed Friday by President Bush, which makes it harder for class-action suits to be filed in state courts.

Under the new law, class-action suits seeking more than $5 million will be handled in federal court, not state courts, unless the primary defendant and more than one-third of the plaintiffs are from the same state.

Lerach Coughlin, Kathrein's firm, is well-known for filing shareholder lawsuits.

Dell is a major computer seller to businesses and consumers, selling mostly over the phone and online.