Alienware M17X R2 Repair Problems

Hi all, I have been having a real nightmare with my Alienware repair since the beginning of June and I thought this forum would be the best place to get some support.

I purchased my R2 from someone back in April 2013 with a warranty until August 2015. It ran perfectly until the beginning of June 2014 when it started to overheat and turn itself off.

I called technical support to see what they could do and they ran some tests and confirmed that the graphics cards needed to be replaced. However, as they do not stock 4870’s anymore they said they will have to fit 5870’s instead.

I had planned for an engineer to visit and on three separate occasions they did not show up until finally, on the fourth time they arrived on time to perform the repair. The engineer changed over the cards and for some reason the laptop would freeze on the windows splash screen when running on two graphics cards but would work perfectly on one. The engineer put it down to a faulty card and planned to return again with a new secondary graphics card.

This same error happened for two more visits and on the last visit the repair not only failed but he broke the connector to the bezel for the power button. He left the laptop working with one graphics card in but told me it will likely have to be sent away to the repair centre to have it working with two (and for the bezel to be replaced).

To cut a long story short, the laptop was at the repair centre from the 27th June to 25th July and they were unable to find a solution to the issue with the dual graphics cards and said the laptop will have to be returned to the reseller to find a solution.

Despite the fact that they said I will receive the laptop in the same state it was in before it went to the repair centre (working with one graphics card) it returned with two large scratches on the screen either side of the hinges, scratches to the case and the keyboard out of place. Not only was there damage to the laptop, the trackpad does not work and screen now intermittently comes on and off with “Alienware” flashing occasionally below the screen.

I have sent pictures of the damages but I was simply told by technical support, “It doesn’t matter about the condition, just go back to the reseller.”

I can’t even access my files on my laptop in its current state.

I have called technical support so many times about this repair and the service has been truly terrible. I just want a working laptop. I’m not even looking for it to be replaced, I just want my laptop back to normal.

I’m sure this just looks like a long rant but I don’t really know what to do with this situation. Has anyone else had to deal with a similar situation?

 

Where are you located at? That's some pretty bad support. I've never experienced anything even close to that.

I suggest you keep calling Alienware Technical Support at 1-800-ALIENWARE. Be persistent and don't give up. If you're still under warranty, they are obligated to provide you with support. The fact that the depot messed up your system more is not surprising to me. The depot is where systems go to die because the technicians/staff are so careless with the products. I've heard so many nightmares about the depot.

If you have before and after images, keep them and use them as a reference. Also, keep all emails/chats for the record.

 

I would assume an Alienware rep would post on this one.
OP can you state where this service was sought so as to inform others not to use this service centre?

IMHO, that is shocking service....

 

Hi again,

Thanks for the responses. It's good to know I'm not overreacting with the whole thing.

I have taken pictures of all the damage they have done. Fortunately I have got some of the laptop before it was taken to the repair centre. Which is the one in Coventry, United Kingdom.

I have asked technical support for all of the telephone notes regarding my repair. This is all of them up to last Thursday (the day before I received my laptop back, I can assure you there have been plenty more since then) :

"09/06/2014 – issue reported, agreed on diagnostics, performed and initiated another contact
11/06/2014 – started 1st repair, because of thermal problems
16/06/2014 – reported that no Engineer appeared, visit rescheduled multiple times, issue escalated internally
18/06/2014 – contact from our service partner about the repair status
20/06/2014 – called in to report dissatisfaction with the repair and parts used
20/06/2014 – contact from our service partner about visit and repair
20/06/2014 – called in to report a contact from service partner to agree on next visit
20/06/2014 – multiple contacts – unsuccessful
20/06/2014 – callback to inform about the repair time
24/06/2014 – contact from service partner to inform about the repair status
24/06/2014 – contact to express dissatisfaction about the repairs
25/06/2014 – multiple outgoing contacts – unsuccessful
25/06/2014 – offered repair in repair center
25/06/2014 – request for repair written
30/06/2014 – contact to check the status, informed about web portal to check
14/07/2014 – contact, because of misleading information on portal, provided explanation all ok
16/07/2014 – contact, long waiting time
17/07/2014 – contact, not satisfied with the long repair time
18/07/2014 – contact, request for confirmation of repair and delivery
21/07/2014 – callback, information about repair status
22/07/2014 – contact, request for callback in regards of the repair
23/07/2014 – contact, request for update on repair
23/07/2014 – last contact with, provided explanation about the issue, given proposal to contact seller of the system
24/07/2014 – callback from TeamLead, explanation of the situation, confirmed agent words"

I have all the emails from the technical support team. The trouble is all they keep saying is that I should go back to the reseller to find a solution as they can't fix or replace the system. However, it worked perfectly on one 5870?

Annoyingly, this started off with my laptop overheating occasionally. It has gone to be "repaired" and now it's completely broken. I wish I never called them in the first place, but when you've got a warranty which you have paid a lot of money for you'd think it will all be okay.