Another horrible experience with Texas Depot.

Hey guys, I thought I would never come back here after fixing all the bugs with my 5870m Crossfire but here I am.
Just wanted to share some experiences with Texas Depot for my AW M17xR2.
The problem occurred on 3rd of April. Initial problem was Num is constantly lit, Scroll & Cap are flashing.
I looked it up and video card problem. I called up AW support and the representative agreed that the video card should be replaced. He told me to sending my laptop to Depot would be the best idea due to if other components were the problem, they can fix it right away. I don't have much time to spend waiting for technicians since I'm a full time student, I just decided to roll with it. A day later, I'm getting no lights anywhere, (keyboard, sound, touchpad, nothing). When I press the power button, it sounded like it would boot up but slowly fade out. Box arrives with a paper to put descriptions of what was happening. I carefully wrote out the problem as much as I can within the space then sent it out. They received the laptop on Monday. Tuesday comes along, part is on hold. Funny thing is, they told me they don't know which part I need to replace yet telling me that a "part" is on hold with no ETA. A week passes by, computer is fixed. The only part they replaced was the motherboard (14M8C - Board). I was a bit skeptical since the first issue was the video card but decided to cross my finger. I just received the laptop and just wow... First thing I see is a statement saying the laptop has been diagnosed and extensively tested by certified technicians. Booted up the laptop, endless BSOD. I can't even enter safe mode. I thought something was loose so I took it apart. Missing 2 screws that holds the hinge above the keyboard. Keyboard connection towards its light has been ripped. Graphic cards were still there so at least they didn't do anything funny to it. I called up AW support once again explained my situation. First rep told me a replacement might be an option and it will be discussed further with another guy. Second guy gets on the phone and told me I'm not qualified for a replacement because I bought the system back in June of 2010. What? Anyways, they told me best option is to have someone come out and replace parts. Oh and during that short period of time, my laptop died again. No power this time what so ever. Anyways, I just got off the phone now. Oh BTW, the reason why I didn't push for the technician instead of the Depot is because the experience I had with M15x before my M17x. 3 technicians came out and literally broke 3 different pieces each time they were suppose to fix something. It was fully refunded after.
Sorry for the long rant but that is my experience with the Depot. DO NOT SEND IT THERE PLEASE!

 

That's horrible, keep us updated on what happens when the technician is finished with it. I would try and watch him as he attempts to fix it so you dont get blamed for any damage. I had one technician for my old m18x crack my LCD from the pressure he put on the screen, he even asked me if it was always cracked ......lol

 

Update.
Technician came by today at 4:45 PM took about 1:30 replacing motherboard, battery, and etc. Computer is booting up but still ended up getting BSOD. He played around with some more and concluded that my 2nd GPU was dead. At this point it was 6:30PM, way over his hours so I guess he wanted to be done with. He calls Dell and asks them for a replacement of GPU. Before he left, I turned on the computer and got BSOD again with my 2nd GPU disconnected. He told me it's because the GPU itself was still connected and if I were to disconnect it, it should be working again. WRONG. I disconnected Crossfire cable and the 2nd GPU. Turned it back on. BSOD. LOVELY. I called AW Rep to send two GPUs to my house since I cannot take any more days off and wait for technicians anymore. They told me that is not an available option and the only option I have is to send the laptop back to the Depot. Are you kidding me? Obviously I declined and asked for a supervisor. The rep comes back without a supervisor and keep telling me the same thing. So in a firm tone, I asked for a supervisor 2nd time. He seemed pretty mad at this point and puts his supervisor on the phone. Back and forth we argued because I work / study from 7 AM to 7 PM. Technicians work from 9:30 AM to 5 PM. Nothing was working out so I told him to send the tech out to my school. He changed the address to my school and got off the phone. So much headache at this point.. SIGH.

BTW before the technician were appointed, the supervisor told me system exchange will be in order if the technician fails to repair my laptop. This was a blunt lie. The supervisor I talked today told me the same thing, assuring that system replacement will be placed if the 2nd technician fails to repair it. Apparently he gave his words on this so I asked for his information to my email. No email yet.

Small Update.
So I felt a bit skeptical about the supervisor I was talking to last night who changed my address to my school from my home, so I decided to call AW to verify all the information. Guess what? No record of changing the address. They told me it's still my Home address. This supervisor lied to me about having the address changed as well as emailing me his information. Now I had to cancel last night's dispatch and renew another one with the different address. Fun stuff.

 

*sigh* keep trying, it's all you can do, hopefully this gets resolved, I just remember having to deal with Acer technical support on a DOA machine, one of the worst experiences in my life :/

 

Yep keep trying , every time I have to deal with dell it's a nightmare. I actually miss the days of when alienware was its own company, much smaller workforce so you pretty much know everyone who works there.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience man. PM one of the Alienware reps like Alienware-Luis_Pardo here for help. I haven't dealt with him personally but from what I gather he's genuine and one of the good guys.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm giving them one more chance to repair the system, if not they offered for a system exchange as an option. I'm not sure if they will hold up to their words since I've been already lied once by the rude supervisor. If not, I will contact Alienware-Luis_Pardo for further assistance.

 

Sorry to read about this issue. If he is not available you can also PM me and I'll take a look into the issue.

 

So the 2nd technician came by today when I was at school. He swapped the GPU and my laptop lights up but no display. He talked to Dell representative about it and the rep told the technician it must be the motherboard. The technician told him that this laptop had already replaced TWO motherboards so he doesn't think that's the problem. Long story short, they decided to give me a system replacement after 3rd failed attempt. Technician told me within 24-48 hours, I should receive a call from AW about the replacement. At least I'm going somewhere now.. Took about 3 weeks.

 

Nice , ask for a loaded m17x r4 lol

 

Resolved.
I got a call from AW rep offering a M18x-R2 as the replacement.
Specs are
i7 3630QM CPU
6GB Memory
500GB HDD
Crossfire ATI 7970m

Let the waiting game begin!

 

whoa u went from an m17x r2 to a m18x r2 for free? Wow, all that trouble will be well worth it

 

Congrats man! Glad you were sorted out... with 7970M's in crossfire too! Its a fair upgrade imho, like for like.

 

The question is, are you ready for 4-6 times the graphics performance?

You might also want to consider getting a 3720qm or above and adding the +400mhz to help balance those two powerful cards.

 

I thought it was an amazing upgrade! As far as the CPU goes, I know it's a bit lacking compare to the GPUs but if my 820QM can handle most of the application I threw at before, I think 3630QM will be more than enough. Although I was without a laptop for 3 weeks, I think AW has done me right. Kudos to AW reps over the phone and on this forum!

 

the 3630qm is more than enough, unless you only like to benchmark. No need to update that cpu at all