Repair Depot

My beloved M17X R2 went to Alien Heaven, hoping something could be done I sent it to
the Repair Depot last week. They the Depot sent me an Email Dell was trying to contact
me as they can not repair my unit " no parts". I called Alienware and they said a replacement
will be made after they get approval. Anyone know how long this can take and or will I get
to approve what they pick? Lucky I purchased a complete care warranty with it. The spec's
are in the sig..


Thanks for any help or advice you give as I have never had to deal with the Depot
before.

 

It should go smoothly. In the past this has taken about 2 weeks from start to finish for me.

With the Independence Day holiday upon us, it may be next week before progress is made. Typically, someone will contact you and go over the proposed replacement specs and confirm your acceptance of the exchange. They will likely offer you an opportunity to extend the warranty at a reasonable price, so you may want to take them up on that. If they do not offer, I would recommend asking.

Almost any current specs in the 17 or 18 will be a performance upgrade. Hopefully, they will offer you at least an 18 with GTX 765M SLI with a 4700MQ or 4800MQ CPU. Will likely have 8GB of RAM and 750GB HDD.

I trust that everything will turn out well. Good luck, and keep up posted.

 

Thanks for the reply..You are right almost anything will be an upgrade. The duel gpu's are what I would like to stay with. But the 17 would be fine.
The most important thing to me was the screen will miss it.

 

Oh yea, you bet ya
Jesus will put M18X mobo inside your R2 body

Andrew adds 16GB of ram

James adds another 16 Gigs

Philip realizes Andrew and James put komputerbay Ram and changes it to HyperX from Kingston

John will put 500GB SSD

Thomas will add one more and make Raid 0

Nathanael installs Killer WiFi card, 1103

Matthew always liked to play gamez so he will provide Dual 780M

James the Less makes sure you can play Blu-Ray

Simon the Zealot extends warranty further to 3 years

Thaddeus or Jude makes sure RGB screen is working properly and calibrates it for you

Judas Iscariot comes and steals it...........GG

You are getting basic refurb R3 instead..........

 

Wow that was real helpful.. you must be real bored.

 

Just to add to Mr Fox's excellent information. Like-for-like is not restricted to just performance. Yes, a new 17 will outperform an R2 with stock SLi cards but I have seen an R2 owner successfully argue that he purchased the machine specifically for SLi ability - got an M18x!

Good luck!

 

Bro, don't get me wrong, forgive me my strange sense of humor, it was just a joke
I do not have experience with Dell depots, i just wanted to cheer you up !

 

Hope you get it sorted, Bro - keep us informed!

 

I hope it works out that way. Have seen a couple of XM users get downgraded to QM CPUs because they refused to acknowledge the difference between QM and XM. They looked at stock GHz only instead of potential performance. I hope those were just anomalies caused by hard-headed imbeciles making grievous mistakes in handling the exchange rather than a paradigm shift in process.

 

I have to say that I completely agree. With the new models and all the changes in the target market I hope this is just the usual poor communication. If this is the way it is heading then I feel dell have started to abandon all the good things they have done in the past with the AW range (in pursuit of the mighty dollar?)

 

Well, yep, every $ counts now days.

For both sides.

 

It usually takes 2-3 weeks for the entire process to be done. How is it doing so far?

 

hmm im on week two of waiting and still no news..

 

Up date ..and yes it was funny and I still think your bored..lol
Latest is was told they are going to replace the unit. they said someone would call me Fri..no call then it was Monday..they will call no call.
Then they said someone will call Tuesday nope no call now it's today or tomorrow. Whewww.
I am not mad just stressed at not knowing what is next. They said they will make 4 trys at matching the unit with a refurb and if none can
be found they will build one. Thats the latest and I emailed Alienware-L_Porras to see if he can get me the low down.
Thats for the surport guys and you Stevie

 

Hey wolf, doesn't it suck when someone doesn't call you back when they said they would? - man, that is terrible service right there. I know exactly where you are coming from buddy....stress like no-ones business waiting for someone to sort out your case and they never update you. It's just not courteous. As for the '4 attempts' - did they mention to you how long they 'think' they have to make those attempts? - I'd be saying a maximum of a few days....if they can't find something by then, they should build you a new machine, not keep you dangling.

I hope Brother Porras can help out with this, it's just not fair to you to keep you dangling like a puppet on a string. You have warranty, so Dell should be honouring it, not trying to wiggle out of it with a lesser resolution.

Keep your chin up, fella. I'm sure you will get there in the end. Sooner rather than later hopefully!!

 

I take no news on your case either? I do not understand why Dell can not step up to the plate and contact someone first.
They do come thru in the end but boy they take so much time. I am 63 years young and hate being treated like a child. It
seems thats how they treat us sometimes. Keep us posted on you latest news also.

 

Well, no news that I can take anything solid from yet. I'm 39 years young, myself....I'll be catching you up soon at Dell's speed of doing stuff. Just gotta roll with it, buddy - like you say, they take a while, but almost always come through. Keep us posted and I'll do likewise

 

From my observations, Alienware tech support comprises little to no working knowledge about the tech they suppose to service. They have a script and documents that tell them what parts they may need to supply and/or how to troubleshoot a problem. It been far too many instances that I had to walk an on-site technician through the proper tear down procedure for my rig, arguing with support that everything is not cured by switching out a motherboard - especially when they problem is local to a specific component. Dell is not in pursuit of the mighty dollar in this instance. Tech support comprises little working knowledge regarding what is and what is not acceptable parts (same or better replacements). How can one argue that a QM is the same or better than an XM processor? Do they not know that XM models have special features to them whereas QM models do not comprise these features? If you were to call Intel on 3-way, they would literally laugh at the tech (you should actually try to do this if you can).

Well that's my two-cents. Oftentimes, you may have to hand-hold or fight your way to achieve acceptable end results.

 

Well Wednesday went by and no call. I work Fri thru Monday so would of been nice to have heard on my days off. They got the unit 19 days ago I, lol when I think how they told me turn around would be 10 days no problem. It is true these units cost a huge amount of money, price of a new car not to long ago. And if they would only keep their promises.

 

The latest I have is I called Dell again, and was told there is 1 guy and only 1 guy that is handling replacements. They said there is no ETA on when he will call or I may just get an email with the spec's they are not 100% sure. They could not give me any kind of time frame when this next step will happen. They said once I hear from him it will be another 3 weeks or so for the replacement to be built. Now I ask 2 weeks at the Repair Depot a week of pestering and 3 more to build. I hardly think the customer is being looked after. After all I paid a heavy price for the extra complete care warranty and think some afford should be made to keep me in the loop.

 

Wolf - you mentioned "replacement being built"....have you had that in writing, so to speak?

 

I was given a conf# number for the new build but have no idea what it is.

 

Well, I guess that is a good thing, regardless of how long it takes. I would hope (four your sanity) that it doesn't take Dell too long to notify you of what they plan on building for you as a replacement. I hope that it is in the true spirit of 'like for like, or better' and not some random configuration plucked out of thin air (I think you know where I am going with that one! ) and once it's confirmed, I hope it is just a matter of waiting for it to be built and shipped. Keep us posted, Bro...

 

I had the same problem, then I contacted the better business bureau. They have to get your order done in a time frame when you file a BBB complaint. I got a call that day and a new alienware in 6 days... Also Dell called me every day...

 

I will say I am impressed with the Alienware Depot. I had my buddies M17x R4 sent in for repair on Friday and got it back last night and it looked brand new.

 

Wish mine was that quick..only thing that bothers me is like stevie what if they change their minds. Until i see the specs and in production who knows what can happen

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

I got the call last thing this evening from Alienware with the spec's for the new system.
There are as follows..now remember I had a m17x r2 i7 840qm second best cpu at the time
best screen..best dual gpu's 5870's. Now I know I could argue for a 18 with duel cards.
Probably would be low end everything, he hinted at that. So here it is..

Quantity Item Number Description Unit Price
1

210-AAPS

Alienware 17 Base

$1210.00
1

310-0173

Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install

$0.00
1

332-1530

Dell.com Order

$0.00
1

332-1530

Dell.com Order

$0.00
1

338-BCHW

Overclocked 4th Gen Intel(R)Core(TM)i7-4900MQ Processor (8MB Cache, up to 4.0GHz w/ Turbo Boost)

$500.00
1

340-ABEU

Documentation, English

$0.00
1

340-ACQQ

Not Included

$0.00
1

340-ADEL

Alienware 17 Anodized Aluminum

$0.00
1

340-ADEV

Setup Instructions English

$0.00
1

354-BBBB

Anodized Aluminum

$0.00
1

370-AANN

16GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz

$100.00
1

389-BCCZ

Windows 7 Label, OptiPlex, Fixed Precision, Vostro Desktop

$0.00
1

391-BBEM

17.3 inch (439.42 mm) WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare Display

$150.00
1

400-AASY

1.5TB RAID 0 (2x750GB 7200RPM) + 64GB mSATA SSD Caching

$200.00
1

421-1723

Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement for Alienware

$0.00
1

429-AAFS

Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVDRW, CD-RW)

$100.00
1

450-AAJI

240W AC Adapter

$0.00
1

451-BBCB

8-cell Lithium Ion (86 wHr) Battery

$0.00
1

461-AAAJ

McAfee LiveSafe 36 Month Subscription

$79.00
1

470-AAKG

US 125V Power Cord

$0.00
1

490-BBGQ

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M with 4GB GDDR5

$450.00
1

555-BBEQ

Broadcom 4352 802.11 ac 2x2 and Bluetooth 4.0

$50.00
1

580-ABEG

English Keyboard

$0.00
1

619-ACNF

Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, English

$100.00
1

630-AABV

Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013

$139.99
1

640-BBLC

Alienware Command Center 3.0

$0.00
1

658-BBNS

System Software for Alienware M17xR1

$0.00
1

658-BBNX

Additional Software

$0.00
1

658-BBOD

Broadcom 4352 Driver

$0.00
1

730-5526

Thank You for Choosing Dell

 

Granted it's not a dual card system, but that AW 17 is a beast. Congrats on the replacement.

 

Looks good (at last!), and you do get a new warranty so that's good, only accidental not there which I assume you didn't have before?

Congrats!

 

Yes I had accidental before. I will call and have it added to the system I am willing to pay for it if I must.
Best to have it no matter what. The production must be pretty fast, went from post to production in a few hours.
Already got a EDD of 7/19 and next day shipping for free.

 

Great news, they should have no problem adding accidental, I got it but probably not worth going off on...

 

Congrats, Wolf! - they came through for you there, buddy. I guess you 'could' have argued the dual gpu aspect if you wanted to, but if you were only gonna end up with 765m Sli, and a lower grade cpu than the 4900mq, the machine would have less powerful than the 17 they offered you - upgrading the gpu's yourself would end up costing a lot, so I guess it's a great resolution when you compare it to 840qm/5870 crossfire. I suppose that if going of 'like for like', in reality Dell could have opted for a 17 with a 4700mq and 770m (which still would have been performance upgrades - 765m would not have been) which would have been comparable.

I'm certainly glad they didn't do that to you, it's great that you have got a new build with some hefty spec's coming your way. It's a beast of a 17, for sure, and you should see, quite literally, a massive performance increase over you old defunct R2. New warranty is an absolute bonus for you, too.

All in all, something to be VERY happy about, I think. Again, congrats mate. You deserve it!!!

 

Congrats wolf

 

i got my Replacement too added some thigns as an upgradge but its a monster ^^

Komponenten
1 Alienware 17 Base()
1 Intel Core i7-4800MQ (6MB Cache, up to 3.7GHz w/ Turbo Boost)()
1 17.3 inch (439.42 mm) 120Hz WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) TrueLife w/3D Bundle()
1 16GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz()
1 256GB mSATA SSD Boot + 750GB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s()
1 Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVD RW, CD-RW)()
1 240W AC Adapter()
1 8-cell Lithium Ion (86 wHr) Battery()
1 EURO 250V Power Cord()
1 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M with 4GB GDDR5()
1 Broadcom 4352 802.11 ac 2x2 and Bluetooth 4.0()
1 5G WiFi Broadcom 4352 802.11n/ac and Bluetooth 4.0()
1 Internal German (QWERTZ) Keyboard()
1 Anodized Aluminum (3D)()
1 Thank You for Choosing Dell()
Software
1 Power DVD 9.6, 3D,V2()
1 Operating System : German Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64 BIT)()
1 Os Media : Included with your OS()
1 System Software for Alienware M17xR1()
1 Additional Software()
1 Alienware Avatar -Alienhead 3D()
Service
1 Standard Service - 1 year of Next Business Day coverage included with your PC()
1 2 Year Hardware Support - Next Business D

 

Nice spec's on that do you have a ETA yet? :thumbsup:

 

Edd 22.7.2013 xD

 

Woot not bad congratz

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

Well this is a kick in the pants..just got a notice my m17 r2 has left the Repair Depot in Houston Tx.. It shipped out today for over night to me here. And the exchange is still being built. Now I believe they will just have me send it back when the new one arrives. I asked the rep why it had still showed as being repaired since they were replacing it. He said don't worry they won't send it. Ha ha they did.He did say which was kind of interesting once a replacement has been agreed by both parties they can't stop it. We shall see, just another twist in the saga. :confused2:

 

Well, that is a twist, Bro. I imagine that it's down to lack of inter-departmental communication. Someone at the depot more than likely just carried on with their job in blissful ignorance of the fact you have already been offered, and agreed to a new replacement machine. Like you mentioned, I would also imagine that you would simply be requested to return your R2 when the new machine arrives.

Out of interest, has the new replacement gone into production? - obviously once it has, it cannot be stopped and will turn up on your doorstep at some point.

Keep us posted, fella.

 

Yes it went into production on 7/12 so we will see when it ships. Oh by the way they replaced the mobo keyboard and both 5870's in the old one. Said they did this..:GEEK:


Certified Technicians performed diagnostics on the defective unit and actions can consist of repair to connections, reseating components, or replacement of defective parts which are listed below :

RV546 - Board

14M8C - Board

8WK6F - Peripherals

C8245 - Board

I wonder how it will be when it gets here today should I test it?

 

Well, I guess as the replacement is 'in production', the new one will arrive at some point as I don't think Dell can cancel it once it is getting built, just like the customer cannot cancel the order at that stage either. From that perspective, it's gonna turn up on your doorstep at some point in the not too distant future, and you will have the new machine and the old machine. I know which one I'd be sending back, regardless of wether it is now working or not :thumbsup:

So, I don't see why you shouldn't fire it up, see what gives....it's either that, or maybe it might be worth calling to see if you should even accept delivery of it?? - do you 'need' a machine in the meantime, whilst the new machine is getting built??

 

Too funny, it looks like nobody thought to tell the depot to return it to dell, and it's coming back to you. Try it for sure, I reckon it's going to be in the state for resale in the outlet. You might be able to wrangle a real low deal - if they remember to ask for it back....

 

Called Dell and explained that the Depot sent it back..They gave me the following. Go ahead and use it if it is working until the new one comes. Then call us and we will email you a return waybill. He said you are getting the new one because " you had complete care on the old one and if another problem arises you would no longer be covered for a replacement". It seems once used the complete care is like a free get out of jail card. As long as I can recover the new one with CC thats fine. Very funny how Dell thinks these things up.

 

Well, I have to say that I'd be a little slow in making that call - just to see what happens

 

Ok in case anyone wants to know the m17x r2 arrived. It powered up ok was pretty dirty but it works. The key board is a little bowed and seems to flex alot more than it use to.
Not going to fix it since it's going back. I swapped out the 500g HD with my SSD and everything seems to work ok. Not much left of the shipping box I truly believe they used the one I sent. Any way I will use it until
the new one comes.

 

Found a problem..only one memory Dim is working. It has been loading really slowly even with the SSD bake in so I checked and it was showing only 2g of ram. I replaced the 2x2 with 2x8 and it still only shows 8 one dim.
I tried 1x8 in one dim and one of the dims is bad. Well I can run one 8g of ram for now..

 

Sounds like another motherboard problem, Bro.....it appears that checks aren't comprehensively made prior to re-shipping depot repaired machines

 

Well got the "shipped" on the order site, waiting for Fedex to post tracking number. Might be tomorrow since I got NBD on the order. :rolleyes2:

 

Update be here 2morro eta by 1630. Shipping from Torrance Ca about 50 miles from here..lol Great time for it to come I am off Tue Wed and Thrusday..

 

Bummer FEDex did not pick it up until this morning. Will not be here until tomorrow after noon. Wish i could of just drove over and picked it up. Ih well.