Windows 10 activation on Dell laptops

Having a Windows 10 activation issue which I think is specific to Dell laptops. Did a clean windows 10 install on my Dell XPS 15. Under settings-Activation there is an error which says

Activation failed because this device doesn't have a valid digital entitlement or product key. Error code 0x803F7001

Ok so then I retrieved my product key from BIOS and tried the 'Change Product Key' option. After entering the key I get a new error

We couldn't activate Windows Error Code 0xc004f014

So what gives. Why is this so difficult? I used both a 3rd party tool and a command line option to retrieve my product key so fairly sure its accurate.

I had the same problem after clean installing Windows 10 Home Single Language (Version 1511) on my dell inspiron 3542.

When I contacted Microsoft Support, they told me :

Windows 10 is a free upgrade. You have to upgrade to Windows 10. Windows 10 will automatically get activated after few days. You have to upgrade. Cleanly installed Windows 10 can not be activated with Win 7/8/8.1 keys.

This is what they have on their website :

Starting with the November update, Windows 10 (Version 1511) can be activated using some Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 product keys. For more info, see the section Activating Windows 10 (Version 1511 or higher) using a Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1 product key in this topic.

Source

Notice the line :

Starting with the November update, Windows 10 (Version 1511) can be activated using some Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 product keys.

Those some keys do not include oem product keys.

So the only way to get genuine Windows 10 on computers with oem keys (at least on dell) is to upgrade.

I had no other choice so I upgraded to Windows 10 and it got activated within 2 days with a valid digital entitlement.