Very bad experience from Dell Support (after years of VG service)

So recently i bought (Scratch & Dent) m17xr4 from outlet for my friend.

I convinced him he will be happy with Alienware.

I am continously convincing all my friends Dell Laptops are great, and dell support is second to none, and my friends are getting Dell Laptops, just because of my positive feedback.

Laptop came in Today, i was worried about ''scratch and dent'' tag, but when i opened the box, i saw, in my opinion, a Brand new Machine, with slight 2-3 marks approx 0.1mmx0,1mm around media buttons - i cound barely see them - Great !

Here are the photos
Overall great + brand new screen

Here you can see where are the slight marks, the rest are DUST particles

LId as well New, you can only see dust particles on it


Now THE BAD THING

I booted the laptop, in the config should be 2x500GB HDD + 32GB Msata
Upon boot, i only saw 1x500GB and 32GB Msata SO 1x 500GB HDD WAS MISSING

I booted to windows, entered My Computer, and also i cold only see 1 HDD x 500GB and 1 Msata 32GB
Same in device manager
So i switched the laptop off and took the bottom cover off, and BUM, 1 HDD caddy was empty !

So somebody at DELL forgot to put another 500GB HDD.

I called dell straight away, where i got disconnected From Customer Care Line during ''let me connect you to Tech Support, we are just Customer Care- they will check your machine''

I called again, and got connected with a Dell support from Slovakia ( i asked where they are as sometimes i hear - India, Philipines ETC- i like to chat about various things to improve already boring day of Dell Rep )

When i once called Dell Tech Support ( India ) i was talking with the Rep for like 40 minutes (when he was investigating a Laptop VIA Remote session) about India's Culture, People, Holidays in India ETC - Very Nice Experience Back Then



I told the DELL Rep the problem i have - Missing HDD

Dell Rep started to ''let me pull your details onto the screen''

So the laptop was still under Previous Owner Name, he asked me if i am MR .........(i forgot the surname) and i told him '' no Sir, i am not MR Previous Owner, i am new Owner,..... i bought the Laptop From Outlet ( Which i already told him on the beginning of conversation), also, i told this very politely, i do respect people and their jobs.

He was like....''OKayyyyyyy, could i have your Name, Surname, email.....''ETC
Then he asked for, Dell Order Confirmation Email - WHICH I NEVER RECIEVED, i only recieved ''Dell Order Acknowledgement - Internet Receipt Number: GB0134....'''

I called Dell ealier to ask about CONFIRMATION EMAIL, but they have replied that they DO NOT KNOW AND THEY DO NOT SEE WHAT HAPPENED WITH IT( even though Money was taken from my bank like 2-3 days before), But the Ststem has shipped - LOL

in my mind I was like WT%!@# -LOL - why the laptop is not assigned to my name already ?

So then he ASKED ME: '' So the problem that you have is missing HDD ?''

I SAID YES to confirm

AND THEN HE SAID:

''Sir, We it is important to report those issues ASAP, because in other case, we will assume YOU TOOK THE HDD OUT''

I WAS LIKE - WHAT THE &^!#@$ ( in my mind )

I asked - Wait wait, are you telling me i could take the HDD out ?

He Told me ''NO i am not calling you a Thief but it is important to tell it TO US ASAP so we ''won't suspect you'' ''

I was LIKE WT^!%@#$&^ (in my mind)

I told him ''the last thing i want to hear from him is that i could take the HDD out by my self '',

................ (thinking) - steal it, and now i am Wasting my time, calling, and begging Dell for another $40 HDD - WHAT THE ^%!@$#

He told me then '' i am just a Tech Support, you must contact Customer Care Line on 0844......''

I was like....wait wait....so i reached Customer Care Line, they have told me You gonna solve my problem, and now you are redirecting the case back to them ?

He replied that Customer Care deal with this but the line is already closed (5:15PM) so i have to call them tomorrow.


So this is what i got after being Loyal Dell Customer, saying SIR or MADAM to every DELL Employee every 2 words for the past 5 years, always polite, always calm.



I have had My whole $1500 PC stolen once, then stolen MXM GTX780M, then somebody have stolen from me an enevelope with $5 worth Vacum Bags- GG , i hate thiefs, never took anything from anyone.

ANd the last thing i want to hear is that ''I may be suspected of taking the HDD OUT''- stealing



I have to contact the DELL support tomorrow, and connect to Customer Care Line, i hope they did not put me in their system as '' MR THIEF $40 cheap B!$^%''

Is it Just Slovakia that is infected ?

To clarify everything, for the past 5 Years i have had ZERO problems with DELL support, always 100% satisfaction, so this is probably just '' one bad call '', maybe Rep had a bad Day, or was not properly trained.
I will continue to Buy and reccomend Dell, as 1 case alone cannot reflect overall experience.

I DO understand, but THERE ARE LIMITS - PLEASE

 

That's why I record unboxings of the laptop and check everything for the video. This is unfortunate, but I'm sure it will be resolved soon... Just call tomorrow and maintain a level of professionalism.

 

It's most likely the original owner removed it...

 

Sorry to hear about those issues with support. It happens, even on new orders components may be missing but that's why we are there. In my opinion I believe it was just a bad call, it's not a common answer. How much did you wait to report it? As long as you are within 21 days (in the US/CA) you are able to report any missing components. He may have been confused with the old warranty information saying a different start and end date.

 

Hello Sir, i was expecting your response to be honest

How much did i waited to report ? As soon as i picked up the laptop from the Carrier, opened the box and noticed the Hdd missing i grabbed the phone and called straight away

What i also do not understand, is, when a outlet laptop is sold, why all the data from the previous owner is NOTR wiped out ?, Why customer care still thinks i am the oryginal owner ? Why this is not being taking care of straight away ? Why i have to explain every single time that i bought the laptop from outlet, Why i have to confirm every time that ''Yes I did purchase this laptop from Dell Website directly'', i have Dell order number - LOL

Please explain me that Sir, as it makes our life so much more complicated

Anyways, i love Dell, it would have to be more than 1 rep to ruin my overall experience. But, this not change the fact that i will remember it till the end of my life :/

 

Call alienware and not dell. big difference in service between the different call centers.

 

Perhaps the person that you were dealing with is not familiar with the Outlet process.

The guys from customer service may believe that the machine is still under the original user's name because that is what they see on their system.

The process should be automated and should not have any issues transferring the tag to the new details but it takes time sometimes. Most of the time it's a painless, smooth process but sometimes, this kind of things may happen.

You are asked if you bought it from DELL because you aren't able to verify the information on the account (original owner), and since that is what appears there, they need to check it... and they can't overrule that unless they are clear that you got the PC from the outlet.

The previous owner info should have been wiped out, the usually re-image the PC's from the outlet. What type of files are there?

This is all based on the knowledge that I have from the US and CA, we don't have many info about the processes in UK

 

Hi,

i did not mean the data at all, the PC is clean, it is just Dell Customer System still tells them that the owner of the laptop did not change.

It is all fixed all now so nevermind

 

Got confused. lol
It usually takes a couple of days for it to transfer, I'm glad everything is the way it's supposed to be now. Enjoy your new Alienware!

 

For the drive issue make sure its just not in Raid 1. When I got my refurb I was pissed there was only one drive till I realized they just had it as Raid 1.

 

Yea if you take the back panel off you can easily check how many HDDs are installed, just 2 screws and your there

 

holy Jesus, comon bros, i am not a noob, i am repairing laptops daily, this is one of my jobs, and hobbys.

I disassembled hundreads of laptops before

I removed the back cover just after i noticed the second HDD in not present in bios/post

Second drive caddy is empty, like the drive was never there.

I did mention that to Dell Tech today and he said ''mmmm Sir, you shouldn't do that without a direct request from a dell tech support'' - HAHAH - yolo

So i said, ''OK so lets do a remoste session and see if you can find the drive'' - unless he is a Jesus himself, the drive will not appear out of nothing

I also told him my previous experience with other Dell Tech and we were laughing a bit together - a bit of sunshine finally

anyways, the Dell Tech did not found the drive and he connected me back to the Customer Care where i got my case escalated, I hope they will finally do something.

Ajajaj

 

OK so dell sent me replacement HDD, and it arrived and it is working.

Because i was almost not using R4 for the time i was waiting for the HDD, today, i also noticed the bloody screen is 1600x900 when it supposed to be Full HD 1080p.....

So i have to call Again......tomorrow, what a TOTAL FAIL !

But that can only happened to me, Flingin Luckiness.

 

Further update.
Dell will not change the LCD to full HD, they offered a replacement machine wchich i accepted - LOL LOOK AT THAT

Alienware M18X - R2
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-3840QM (8MB Cache, up to 3.8GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate Operating System
16 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz Memory (2x8GB)
1 TB SATA II Hard Drive (5400RPM)
512 GB 2.5inch SATA Solid State Hard Drive
Optical Drive : BluRay Combo (Blu-ray read only, DVD, CD read & write)
Display: 18.4 Inch Widescreen Full High Definition (1920X1080) WLED LCD
Graphics: 2 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GTX 680
Back Up Media Not Included
English Genuine Windows 7 SP1 Ultimate (64Bit OS)
Wireless : Killer Wireless-N 1103
Wireless : Killer Wireless-N 1103 Card
AlienFX Colour : Terra Green
LCD Back Cover : Cosmic Black
Battery : Primary 12-cell 97W/HR LI-ION
Internal Qwerty Keyboard
Camera : 2.1 Megapix

 

So much bad luck lately.....