17r1 screen replacement - NEW POLCY - Send to Repair Depot; no more on-site service!

AW Tech Support is telling me NEW POLICY for LCD screen replacements: send 17r1 to repair depot!
No more on-site repairs. Only other option is to return for refund, if within first 21 days.

Can anyone confirm this is NEW POLICY?

Dell's warranty wording seems to support this NEW POLICY

Scroll down to "What will Dell do?" in the limited warranty wording....

" What will Dell do?

Prior to contacting Dell, please consult your Owner's Manual or http://support.dell.com for troubleshooting advice and directions on running hardware diagnostics.

Upon contacting Dell Technical Support, you will be required to engage in a remote diagnosis session with the technical support agent to help determine the cause of your issue. Remote diagnosis may involve customer access to the inside of the product and multiple or extended sessions. If the Dell Technical Support agent determines that your issue is the result of a defect in materials or workmanship but the issue is not able to be resolved remotely, Dell, at its sole discretion, may dispatch a replacement part to you, arrange for you to send your product or defective part back to Dell's repair depot or replace the part or product with a comparable part or product that may be new or refurbished. If the Dell Limited Hardware Warranty for your product includes in-home warranty service, then Dell may also elect to dispatch a service technician to your location to perform the repair or replacement (see Important Information about In-Home Warranty Service After Remote Diagnosis below)."

Dell Limited Hardware Warranty | Dell

 

The policy did not change. The link you posted says:

You ordered a new product that doesn't work? Send it back for a refund and re-order, or ask for a system replacement. The repair depot is a death sentence 90% of the time.

 

Thx for prompt reply, J.Dre.
Agreed. The repair depot has been a death sentence, most of the time.

Just spoke to Joe, AW Tech Support, Costa Rica. Joe took a lot of time to explain the rationale behind the NEW POLICY. He stated that sending the 17r1 into the Depot is no longer the "death sentence" it was up until 6 months ago. The quality of service at the Depot has greatly improved since. The business reason for pushing the Depot, rather than on-site LCD replacement, was that there were times on-site replacement did not have the correct parts, and thus, required more than one on-site visit to solve the issues. Joe indicated, for ex, that the ribbon cable, or even the motherboard, were sometimes also defective, and these parts were not sent (along with the LCD panel) to the on-site repair tech. Thus, multiple on-site visits were sometimes needed.

Joe assures me the Depot is now (meaning: in the last 6 months) the preferred route for AW 17r1 LCD screen replacements, and we as owners should be willing to give it a second chance. Joe did say "exceptions can be made every now and then" and an on-site tech can be authorized for LCD screen replacement. Such as the AW system is needed for business purposes and the owner cannot be without it for a week or more.

In my situation, Joe advises the replacement of LCD screen onsite is not an option, nor is an exchange - since it is an outlet system. Joe hopes I will send the 17r1 to the Depot for LCD screen replacement. I told Joe I would ask other owners of AW laptops what their recent experiences with Depot repairs has been before asking for a refund.

Is Joe correct? Is sending your expensive AW laptop to the Depot no longer a "death sentence?"

 

In all honesty if you paid for 'on site' repair policy why would you even consider sending the system somewhere? Especially replacing LCD, which is one of the easiest jobs in most laptops. The reasoning behind it is correct - there might be LCD cable/mainboard problem or the screen is DOA, which would require on site tech to come back for a second time with a different part/new screen. If you pay more for a better service, you should not be expected to downgrade to worse service option only because there is a chance the part will not work/different part will be required. Mainboard, graphics card and pretty much any other part can be DOA, which would require on site tech to come back, which would render on site repair option useless.

 

Outlet systems follow a different policy. That may have very well changed. The policy did not change for new systems. Also, keep in mind that representatives will tell you what you want to hear. You can't exactly rely on them.

The depot is the worst option. The best option is to have the part sent directly to you, and you install it yourself. I've even had Technical Support representatives recommend against sending my laptop to the depot because of the amount of dissatisfied customer reports compared to on-site repair.

 

]I had three techs say this to me in 2 weeks time. (kept having problems with motherboard swaps) Dell insisted after every failure to send it to the depot each onsite tech said I should go for a replacement.

 

Hackintoshihope, are you saying the NEW POLICY (ie, return it to Depot for repairs) isn't limited to LCD Panel replacements? It also includes motherboard swaps?

Was your AW laptop purchased NEW or from Outlet?

 

No I was referring to on site technicians saying it was a bad idea to ever send if to the depot. For any scenario.

 

Below is a recent experience of a M17x r4 owner with repairs at the Depot.

Another horror story within the past 6 months that Dell is telling us the Depot service has vastly improved.

Alienware Club

Posted by kameix1 on 23 Apr 2014 10:32 AM

"A little over a month ago my m17xr4 had a motherboard failure. Dell sent out a tech the next day to replace it. The new motherboard had some burn marks on it so they sent out another board. This board worked for a few days till the soundcard died. I shipped the computer to the depot to get fixed. They replaced the motherboard, speakers, lcd, palm rest. I got the computer back and the gpu was not working, the mouse didnt work, and the lcd was yellow. Tech came out with all the same parts as were replaced at the depot (lcd, motherboard, palm rest) Got it all installed and the system would no longer boot.

Dell wanted me to send it back to the depot again.... but I am at 5 motherboards already and dont think it will help."

36 days and still no fix for my computer - Alienware Forum - Alienware Club - Dell Community

I encourage others to tell us their recent experiences with the Depot. Good and Bad.