:mad: The very worst customer service i have ever, EVER had bar NONE :mad:

Its probably easier to just post what i sent to dell, the end result is I am sending the whole lot back for a full refund, I will advertise my experience across all blogs / foirums and social media consistently to save people the hassle of having to endure alienware or dell.

If you have had the poor poor fortune to have bought one of these Laptops and need an issue sorted, dell dont want you to know this but their direct email addresses for the manager and complaints manager as well as escalations managers are:-

[REMOVED BY MOD - See the forum rules]

Maybe you will have better luck as i will NEVER buy dell again.


Hello Dell employees & representatives,

I would like to raise my dis-satisfaction on a number of levels while dealing with dell / Alienware. I bought my Alienware M17x R4 some 8 to 9 months ago, in this time it has had:-

A replacement screen 1 x engineer visit 1 x day off work for this to be fitted
A replacement PSU
A replacement GTX 675M 1 x engineer visit 1 x day off work for this to be fitted
A replacement Motherboard 1 x engineer visit 1 x day off work for this to be fitted

And I am now in Limbo awaiting a replacement machine as after 2 x engineer visits have failed to resolve the issue.

To say im a little annoyed at this; given the reputation Alienaware as a brand has for the most part been positive however this is not how I have found you.

After an order to replace my system was quoted too me & accepted I then received an email saying a part was not available, I responded advising that the alternate part was acceptable within the timescales set out in the email however my order was subsequently canceled. This is 5 weeks into the system malfunction and 5 weeks into not having a useable system.

Following a number of calls into dell tech support and customer service I keep getting fobbed off and told there are no managers available and no one to escalate my case too I finally get through to Christopher Hill, who, if he had have followed up on what we discussed would have saved your reputation however he did not and I am again left chasing any semblance of escalation route through your contact centers to speak to someone in authority as, while all of your front line staff try their best to resolve the issue they have neither the training or the authority to move beyond their work / process flows and get me a resolution to my issues.

So, Christopher and I had a conversation last week on the 25/04/13 where we established the best way forward for me and he put a replacement system on the table for me to review, the email correspondence below shows that he sent the order through and while there was only one item that needed to be amended I was happy with that. Christopher sent the order confirmation through on 25/04/13 @ 16:37. I responded to his email on 25/04/13 @ 18:59. I am sat here on 02/05/13 @ 11:50 and have still not had a response to my email.

I called the dell team yesterday to discuss this and was advised by a front line rep that the order was not confirmed however he said he would pass a message across to Christopher and he would get back too me. He didn’t.

I have called again today and spoken to Michael who, with the best will in the world really wanted to help me however I believe having spent an inordinate amount of time dealing with your front line staff I asked if I can speak to either Christopher Hills or his manager, I was told his manager would never be available to speak to me and Christopher would call me back.

The age old dell / alienware rhetoric of “we will call you back” doesn't wash any more, I have given dell more than enough opportunity to fix this issue and at every level they as an organization have failed me as your customer.

In addition Christopher advised me that I would be able to keep the laptop I have until the new one arrives so I can transfer my files over and then send the broken one back, I have had 2 emails today & yesterday from [REMOVED] asking me to return my old system which contradicts what I was advised by Christopher.

As im sure you can appreciate this is less than the brand image you wish to project to your customers and this is my last ditch attempt to getting a resolution to the issues I have had to endure, the goods sold to me are not fit for the purpose within which they were sold and under the sale of goods act and the trade descriptions act’s in the UK I am entitled under those acts to return them. This is a situation I wish to avoid however if I don’t get a resolution soon you will leave me no choice.

Also I don’t think it’s too much to ask given the arduous journey and uphill struggle I have had to endure for suitable compensation for my time in managing this situation, dell have turned what should have been a seamless customer journey into a part time job for me.

I was asked at the point at which we were discussing my new system if I wanted to change anything, The only change I requested was a GTX680m Graphics card be fitted to the new laptop, I was quoted £200.00 for this, This was declined which at the time I understood dell have operating costs and could not stretch to that, however now, given the additional failings I don’t think this is too much to ask to restore your reputation with me and recompense for my time off work and spent dealing with dell, if you knew my hourly rate 200.00 doesn’t even come close to covering the time I spend dealing with this situation.


Please let me know your plans to resolve this situation at your earliest convenience, please also ensure responses are sent to this and my personal email addresses.

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Sorry to hear man. You do seen to have got some poor service

Just to balance, I'm in the UK and found the support to be excellent - although the quality of my original M17xR3 was very bad. I had the same parts as you replaced except the MB. When they wanted to try that I asked for a replacement (6 months into my purchase). The 1st level guy asked me to hold while he checked with his manager, came back 5 mins later and said it was approved. I would get a call back to arrange it. I got a call the next morning from a guy that had my original config and had already built an R4 based on it. All he wanted was my approval. He had upgraded the CPU, added a killer wireless, and a bigger second HD - 'for all the trouble'. He also offered me a full refund. After that call (next day) I received my order number with £0 cost and followed it being built and shipped.

All I'm saying is that they do come through in my experience, although it can be hard work sometimes.

What about trying this route to escalate within Dell: Unresolved or repeat issues E-mail CustomerSupport | Dell UK

Reps here are US based and will only help with US/CA warranty issues

Hope you're luck turns around.

 

Whenever I've called them, they usually spend most of the time trying to sell me an extended warranty. They couldn't even answer my original question: I wanted to know what the designed operating temperature was for my video cards, and they told me that "it was fine as long as it didn't turn off." Now knowing that my laptop can't have a thermal shutdown as a result of GPU temperatures, I find that a reckless and misguiding response.

Another associate (for a Dell laptop) hung up on me when I argued with them about something I called a defect and they called accidental damage, so, unfortunately, I can't say I was overly surprised by your story.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Good customer service doesn't change the fact that my $2000+ laptop DOES NOT WORK AS INTENDED UPON ARRIVAL. As rare as it is, you should not HAVE to worry about the machine malfunctioning and worry yourself into buying an extended warranty. It should arrive working and without issue. The warranty is there for EMERGENCY purposes ONLY.

Except in the case of Asus... at least you're not dealing with THEM.

 

You would think the premium of an alienware rig over other customizable gaming notebooks would translate into avoiding these types of issues.

 

I Thought i would get the best as it was a premium price as you say but that's so not the case, you are but a number in the dell corporate machine their staff have no accountability which impacts their motivation for giving good service, while i can deal with the hardware failures, that's just part of tech, it happens, its the complete lack of customer service, lack of any follow up, lack of care.

As i have said i will never buy dell again & im in a position to dictate purchasing of I.T equipment for the company i work for too so not only have they lost me as a private customer they have lost any chance of getting custom from me as a business customer.

 

Im glad at least someone has as good experience with them. I'm sure its pot luck who you get through too when you call, I now a lot off their call centers are outsourced to third party companies which adds another layer of complexity and another step away from accountability.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience, we handle only US and CA customers over here at the moment but we do have some contacts or your region that could help us out. Send us an e-mail to [email protected] with your service tag and we'll redirect it to them. Hopefully they'll be able to make this straight.