I've Been Robbed....

Hey,

I am a new alienware user, just got my new m14x r2 today. I got it this morning and a few things were wrong...at first. The first thing that I noticed was that a couple of the keys on the keyboard were loose, that's okay though it was a simple fix. The next thing that was no big deal was the color was wrong when I first started it up, no biggie. However, after shutting it off I drove to work and that's when the biggest problem occurred. When I turned it on at work, it got stuck at the alienware logo during the boot up. So I rebooted, same problem and did a few other trouble shooting things that me and my coworkers came up with. Eventually I had to unfortunately call alienware technical support aka dell. After running through a few simple questions with the technical support guy they came to the conclusion the master boot record was corrupt. He then went on to explain how I was not covered by a warrant because this was a software issue, and preceded to try to sell me a $300 warrant. I declined but argued that it should be free because at this point the laptop is barely 2 hours old. After an hour of argueing with the guy I finally paid 79.99 for three months of technical support. This was highway robbery at its finest, I could of just send the computer back but I really wanted it and needed it for class. So after paying 80 bucks I spent another 5 to 6 hours on the phone with numerous technical support agents trying to get the problem fixed. I finally convinced them to transfer me to someone who would send me a restore jump drive, because the computer did not come with one. So only time will tell if this will fix it or not.

The general point of this is just because a computer cost a lot does not mean its of top notch quality.

I personally will not be buying another alienware and they couldn't even give me a free shirt or hat after this whole fiasco.

 

Personally, I don't think you should have ever agreed to paying in the first place. If the situation is as you described it sounds like they shipped you a computer system with a software problem. It may have to do with the way you stated your problem to them, you have to be really careful to never say anything that infers it could possibly have been your fault. Were it I, I would have called them up and told them that I had taken the laptop out of the box and tried to start it and it wouldn't start. Actually, if it was me I would have just fixed it myself, but if I didn't know how to fix pretty much any software problem with a computer I would have told them that.

 

Should've told them you wanted to return it then. What could they say, you broke it? It was a "software issue".

 

did you call dell or alienware tech support? I have never had good luck with Dell tech support, but alienware support has always been very very good at getting my system back up to speed ASAP.

 

Did you try doing a Respawn/re-image from the hidden partition on the HDD?

How to recover your original factory software using AlienRespawn - Lesson 1 of 4 - YouTube

I do believe you get full support hardware + software during the first 21days. The last thing they want you to do is return it at a $ loss. The tech you spoke with messed up IMO. One of the Alienware reps here should be able to get you straightened out as well as your warranty fee returned.

 

I dont know why you couldn't just download a Windows 7 ISO legitimately and re-installed yourself. The COA is under the battery.....

 

no one should have to do that stuff with a new notebook.

 

Would of gladly fixed it myself but could not get into system recovery and they did not send a recovery disk with the laptop. I basically paid 80 dollars for a recovery disk in the long run...

 

What country are you from? I have seen a few times now in the past week of systems not having install discs... is this a new thing alienware is doing?

All of my computers came with a win7 disc and a restore disc.

 

I am in the United States

 

You should return it.

 

is alienware going down in flames? i have never seen so much sloppiness across the board for a boutique brand.

 

UPDATE:

After spending a couple more hours on technical support trying to figure out what is what..I finally had an epiphany while in BIOS and noticed that dell, being the geniuses they are, set up my hard drive as a raid. So after 80 dollars the only thing I had to do to fix my alienware was to change it from a raid to an AHCI. I am right now about to call billing and I am going to and some more. My laptop is up and running better then I even expected and I am glad I was able to fix it with no help from dell.

 

Good to hear, but that really is stupid of them.

 

If that is really what happened then I am sorry to hear it. Dell is better than that. Mistakes happen...yes.

But if you can't get your money back on the software support upgrade under those circumstances under another review, then I'll be shocked.

 

All alienware laptops fresh from the factory are defaulted to raid. Not sure how that was causing the problem?

 

Using the default Alienware settings (RAID) with a SSD installed is causing the system not to startup and end up freezing or even BSOD. This problem is known since M14x R2 release. If you had asked in forum before contacting the not so good educated Dell guys would have helped you much faster without any costs.

If you ever need or want help from Dell directly i recommend you to ONLY use the Alienware Premium Support Hotline which is included in the standard 1 year warranty and not the Dell Hotline.

 

This is true. Anyway, I'm really sorry about this whole ordeal but at least you got it sorted out. Now about the refund, please send us an e-mail to [email protected] and I'll make sure you get it. Do not forget your service tag, order number, phone number and a crief description of the issue and to mention my name.