Sad :(

Got my m17xr2 december 9th. Less then a month i had to contact alienware for technical support. My secondary videocard either "malfunctioned" or the crossfire cable shifted or something like that.

Make long story short, dell is now replacing both videocards.
It's less then a month i have this portable desktop and already problems. Has this ever happened to anyone? Ever get something from the trouble?

I want them to give me my extended warranty for free :/

 

I don't see an extended warranty happening for free. I think that is a bit much to ask as well.

 

Not going to happen, after all they are replacing your cards under the present warranty. Why would you expect something for free? Hate to see what you might want if they really screwed up.

 

so, what warranty do you have?

you'll have to pay to get an extended warranty but you might be able to talk them into a discount on it. I would think getting it for the same price that could have gotten it for at the same time as the system purchase would be fair.

 

I had CF issues after.. i believe 3 days from arrival, both cards replaced 2 days after my call to dell and the laptop now run fine.

You are not alone

don't get mad about it, use the lap with cf disabled untill both cards are replaced. Dell will cover your warranty

 

Yeah not going to happen, thats why the laptop comes with a warranty

now if you had several problems, and many reapirs attemps and they decided to give you a replacement, thats the time to ask for Extra's.

But never seen Dell give free extended warranties - have to buy those

 

Dell gave me a free $60 dollars gift card because of many issues with techs and they replaced my lap. I bought god of war 3 with the gift card . as far as an extended warranty. NO WAY that's worth like $300.

 

I got my motherboard replaced after 2 weeks (there where issues out of the box), but because I was travelling, once I reached a different country, called the call centre and made the complain. They came within 2 days with a motherboard and removed the old one. Though the technician had no idea about alienware, was very carefully and I guided him throughout the process (I've seen the guide several time on youtube).

Now my system works very nice without any problems. You should be happy to have a company like DELL to replace the parts so easy and so fast without no questions asked (they are quite efficient).

I have ASUS and had several times some problems with it, they did not even bother to respond to my emails and had to fix the issues alone.

I am sure you will have your system fixed very soon and hope you will think twice (though you will not get it free) about your warranty and extended as much as you can.

Good luck!

 

Well thanks for all the replies. They should be calling me today, i just hope tech doesn't ruin anything else... Had a dell, and it didnt go to well with techs =(

 

just watch the 2 teardown videos on youtube and assist the tech.

 

Well, some of you might have read my "sad" thread... Now it just became HELL. thread.

So, technician finally came, and well lets just say things didnt go to well.
I asked him if he knew what he was doing he said sure. Well, he startd dismantling my alienware m17xr2 and was doing fine... he was a nice person.

The palm rest (where the touch mouse thing is) part when he was trying to remove it he actually chipped / scratched a part of it, and while taking it off he yanked it instead of looking and seeing what to do. What did the yanking do? well it removed the wire that connects the touch mouse to the computer. problem 1...

Problem 2, while taking out the wireless card, he actually had problems clipping off the wires, and somehow punctured 2 of the 3 wires (2 white 1 black) he puncturd 2 white wires with a nice hole. Next part, Video card part he removed abit to many screws and actually removed screws that connected the lcd screen to the laptop... thats when i remmebered the video and that had nothing to do with it... So i told him, i know a video on youtube that gives a nice detail view of working with an alienware. he said thats great lets look at it.! (thats when he said, in the past 9 months i worked with 4 alienwares for dell)

Anyhow, he watched the video and went on with the show... EVEN though he didnt folllow the vieo entirely... Well, he got the video cards (both of them had to be replaced) back into the slot.

PROBLEM: So many peices he took out for nothing, he forgot where everything went.

Now screwing the lcd panel back he askd me to hold it... he screwed it back on, videocard shield so on... Problem arised! he had no idea how to plug the touch mouse part (the wire he yanked off) to connect to the laptop itself... so we went onto video 2 to see detailed view of under neath the metal safety case whatever you want to call it.
Well, lets just say that was a mess, he had no idea what screws to come off even with the video! Well, he slowly figured it out and somehow forced it out or some . He put the wire back and started screwing everything back in. Now back to the panels, he slowly puts everything back everythings finished. (MASSACER)

Well, he says start it up. I start it up, my laptop froze on the log in screen... camera, touch mouse, USB mouse nothing worked lmao. So he told me to restart it, thats what i did (restart well turn it off using power button) Now my laptop doesnt get passed a black screen.

He said, reinstall the OS... But in my head im like, reinstalling calling alienware and ending this.

He leaves...I look at my table, i find a peice of plastic just resting on my table... seems like something chipped... and i also found something white with a sticky tape or something attached to it. i call alienware... I tell them my problem and what the hell i just went threw and what my laptop just went threw.

In the end:

My keyboard has shifted, my palm rest is scratched and isnt put in properly. My alienware word logo under my screen has a black tint to it now. Im amazed the back (where the alienware head logo is) isnt scratched or the cover in fact. Because he slammed my laptop against the battery a couple of times, to the point my sister heard in the other room... he didnt purposely slam it, but a little hit you know. If you were to opemn up my laptop you will see MANY scratches, the keyboard wire thats 2 inches wide or whatver has a nice tear, the wireless lan card wires are punctured.

I have never seen or heard of something similar to this.

What do they want to do for all this? Replace my laptop (system exchange) and i get an entire new one in 3 weeks. No ing an entire new one, it isnt even a laptop anymore!

A simple replace both videocards took an amazing 2 1/2 - 3 hours!
And now im left with a broken laptop.
Tomorow i need to call them again and see what to do, luckily i got ahold of the supervisor and thats who i talk to.

 

Lmao are you sure that was a technician and not a plumber

 

Wow! That sounds really frustrating. Sorry to hear of this insanity. I have told many people in this forum, and I honestly believe this and you have shown it, that the vast majority of "techs" really don't know anything of great detail about these machines. They are just low-paid parts swappers, following their noses through the screws and fasteners as they find them, probably never having had any real training on the internal details of these machines.

I suspect they are paid by jobs done or something like that. Clearly they have some company incentive to go as fast as they can, slam-banging and slopping their way through, making a big mess of everything. This is very disappointing to hear.

Well, as much as it doesn't sound good, thanks for letting us know of your experience. Dell needs to hear of this too, I think. Nothing will get better if people don't complain, maybe with their wallets, too.

 

Someway during this whole ordeal he was then telling me about how he is paid lol.

He said... He is paid per contract, that regardless of the time taken he is paid 32$ to replace the part. So if he has to replace a power output and takes 5 minutes, he gets 32$ for those 5 minutes... if it takes him 3 hours like mine, he gets 32$

 

Yep. That figures. He has every incentive to bust a major move all over your machine so he can run off to the next session of schlock-meistering someone else's. I wonder what he tells his friends about his job? I can just hear it...

 

Smells like a new system this should not be tolerated.There's really no more conscience in fixing stuff..

 

Between, i cant give it back to them. They dont want it... well not that they dont want it, but it passed 21 days. Basically my only option is a system exchange... but we'll see about that.

 

Right, the work ethic and character of repairers of all varieties, not just computers, is totally gone these days. With technology parts as cheap and disposable as they are, no one has any respect anymore. Dell doesn't mind sending out parts, because that's the cheapest thing they can do. But to hire high-quality people who know what they are doing and work diligently... oh, that's expensive, because they have to be paid for their time every day and their education. Those days are gone, sadly.

 

1. your experience hoovers, no doubt.

2. the techs have been flat rate for years. unlike a car mechanic where there's a book time for each individual repair/procedure; none of the pc tech companies have gone this way - they just have an average time for all repairs and pay based on this.

3. make a written list of everything that's broken, damaged, scratched, unsatisfactory. It doesn't matter if you have complete care of not - they damaged it, not you and so, they will replace it. that's your story, so stick to it. if they don't immediately apologize and send out pretty much every part you ask for; ask for a manager and try again. I personally would got for warranty parts than an exchange - the exchange will take a month and you're down for the month. I couldn't be without my laptop for a month (it's my main work laptop)...

 

At first when i started ing to the manager. He said, if you dont want an exchange then will give you new parts.

So i said, really you sure you want to do it that way?
then i said,

Send a new keyboard, an entire new case, a touch mouse thing, a new wireless card with the wires, oh and figure out why the computer freezes and why the monitor is a stone black, and why some LEDs dont work anymore.

then hes like, in other words a new laptop.

 

Oh, so are they basically now going to replace the whole thing due to this tech-misadventure?

 

Yes thats an option. System exchange... basically they put in a new order and i wait 3 week to get the laptop... and i go threw the whole "opening" in awe again... But i want to see if i can ask for a credit instead and get the new R3 when their shippable.

 

Id get in touch with corporate right away and fill 'em in about the lack lustre repair job and damage.....demand a replacement and a new one at that.

Side note: after reading countless horror stories of this kind of repair here on NBR, by tech's, there is no WAY on earth I would let one near mine....Id rather have the parts sent out, LEARN how to do it, and fix it myself....shouldnt have to be like that but hey, if someone damaged my 3k laptop, id be up for murder LOL

EDIT: id push for the refund and go for the R3 if you can....

 

I so much prefer depot repairs from Dell than Technician visits. I always get good repairs when I ship back to their depot. I find it frustrating you can't get a depot repair option on an Alienware when you purchase warranty. I guess they think that technician visits are "special" or something. Well, they are NOT special from my experience. They are a pain, and time consuming and way too much trouble.

 

The depot is definitely an option, but after the tech comes on site. Its much more convenient to have someone out next day. If the contract company sends someone knowledgeable, which isnt always the case. You must be one of the few depot happy stories as the general consensus is to steer clear of the depot! The depot loves to keep computers for weeks on end and send them back still broken or scratched and dented.

 

Well I'm going to call them Tomorow and see what they are going to do. They gave ne this that they won't accept the laptop because it pAssed 21 days, but I believe that doesn't work out for Quebec law (will see) if anything I got no choice and have to do the system exchange. However I'm not sure if I should ask for a credit and see if I could get an R3... What y'all say, r2 or r3

 

^^I'd say it depends on your needs. wait for the R3 to hit Dells site and compare thinking of what you actually want it for!

 

They will replace with same or better so if they're giving you a new build, talk them into throwing in something such as a mouse or other for free but I wouldn't expect them to give you your money back. I had a tech come to my house, I live 1 hr north of New York City. He was excellent and did a wonderful job. In fact when you posted, I knew you were from out of the country. Not saying that all of the techs here are knowledgeable, but there are more good stories than war stories. We just don't hear them.

 

Just get an R2. You need to get on with it, and waiting (which I don't think is feasible anyway, since money is involved and they want to get you serviced asap) isn't going to produce a better machine... no way. It might produce a very edgy, immature machine that you won't like that much, and then you will really be kicking yourself. It's just a phantom in the mist right now, so move forward with an R2 replacement and get enjoying!