Warranty Problem

Hello all, I seem to be having quite a problem with my warranty on my m17x r2, I was just looking to see what you guys thought about what I was going through. It is fairly lengthy, so I apologize in advance.

I purchased my m17x r2 off of ebay in February 2012. It was used and I "thought" it was a good deal at the time. It was a nightmare, after I paid the seller it took him a long time to ship the laptop, and when he finally did he shipped it to the wrong address. I had to drive like 20 miles to UPS to pick the package up, because he had actually canceled the shipment and was having it returned to himself. UPS did give me the package when I arrived, and I was pretty relieved. I got home, opened it, and there were absolutely no drivers installed at all. At the time I knew fairly little about PC's so I called Alienware to see if they could help. The laptop was out of warranty but they said they would install all of my drivers and have it up and running like new for about $100. At this point, I just wanted a working laptop, so I said sure. While the tech was flashing the bios, he bricked the mobo. After a huge fiasco trying to get the ownership transfer and everything all sorted out, they send a tech out to my house and replaced the motherboard. The laptop still wouldn't boot. They said they would have to depot it, so again I said sure. 3 weeks later I finally get my laptop back, and it works, so I'm pretty stoked, even though it was lightly scratched and had loose screws floating around in the case.

Fast forward to February of 2013, I notice that the Dell website will let me extend the warranty on my laptop, so I figured I might as well do it. I paid for one year of next day service for like $350. It's a heavy investment, but one I felt was worth it. About three months later, whenever I plugged my laptop in it would not start charging. I called Dell, they determined it was the motherboard. They sent a tech out to replace it and it worked well until about 3 weeks ago. I tried to turn my laptop on and it would do nothing, it wouldn't even post. I called Dell, they had my pull the ram sticks and video cards, then sent out a tech to replace the mobo, both 5870's, and both ram sticks. Around this time, I figure it would be a good idea to extend the warranty out as far as I can, and I also added complete care at the time. The tech arrives, replaces all the parts, and the laptop still will not boot. He orders another 720qm and another motherboard, and says he'll come back and try that. About a week later he comes back out and replaces the processor and the mobo. At this point it will boot, but only with the master card in. He orders another slave card and says he'll be back. At this point my laptop was working with one video card, for about two hours that is. That night, while playing WoW, my screen went black. I rebooted,and noticed that every time my gpu was forced into 3d clocks it would instantly give me a black screen. So this video card was also junk. I get a phone call from the tech saying that Dell sent the master card instead of the slave, and that he would have to re-order it. I told him to bring it because my master card was also faulty. He showed up the other day, replaced the master card, and said he would be back again with a slave card because the laptop still would not boot with the slave card in. I played on my laptop for a few days with just one of the 5870's in, and then the other night when I got home from work the laptop would not boot again. It will not post, I get absolutely nothing. At this point, I'm starting to get pretty irritated so I call up Dell yesterday on my day off. I tell them that I cannot afford to keep missing work to have a tech come out 10 times with parts that work 50% of the time. I tell him that we need to find another solution, and that maybe a system replacement is in order. He puts me on hold for awhile, then comes back and tells me that we absolutely have to fix this laptop. This is where the story gets crazy. Apparently the laptop I own was issued as a system replacement to the previous owner years ago for a laptop purchased in 2008. He also tells me that when this laptop was issued, the one it was meant to replace was never send back. I explain to this gentlemen that I had nothing to do with it, that it was the previous owner and he seems to understand. I asked to speak to him manager to see what exactly we could do, and he agreed. I get on the phone with his manager, and he tells me that Dell is going to refund all of the money I've paid for warranty since I bought the machine, and that it shouldn't have been allowed to have the warranty extended. I respectfully decline, and tell him that I've paid for a service and they have to honor it. He tells me this happens often and this is what they always do. NOW, I got mad. I explained to this guy that if nothing had happened to my laptop and it didn't need a repair over the course of the roughly 2 years that I am paying for warranty, Dell would have had absolutely no problem keeping my money. The ONLY reason they want to force me out of warranty is because it is going to cost them money. He says "Sir, we are going to fix the laptop for free because we already started working on it, and you will get all of your money back." As a father who supports a family of four on a single income, I cannot keep missing work to have a tech come out and fix my laptop. I am absolutely infuriated with how this is happening, and would like some input from you guys. Can Dell do this? And if so, do they do this often? If so, I swear on everything important to me I will never buy another product from Dell again, because this is absolutely rediculous. A company should stand behind their product, especially when it's under warranty. Thanks in advance for any and all input. Good Day

 

Bro.

1st Mistake you have maid is

YOU did not dispute the transaction with eBay, where you should get your money refunded and return the laptop to the oryginal owner.

Do me a favor and go to ebay and DISPUTE THE TRANSACTION STRAIGHT AWAY - NOT AS DESCRIBED - FAULTY NOT BOOTING -if it is not too late bro

Fight for a replacement laptop, make 1000 more calls to Dell if you can, BE NICE AND POLITE, but give an indication you are getting mad because of the warranty !

If they took your money, and tried to fix it couple of times, they should have repaired it, if they failed, they should replace it....

If all Fails, ask for refurbished system from outlet.....base m17x R3/R4, M18X - but that is a last resort.

 

He can't dispute a transaction that was purchased over a year ago on eBay. It's no longer valid.

Here is what I think Dell should do since you already paid for warranty and service has been done and is on going.

I've been working in Customer Service/Warranty department for almost all my work life. For any repairs , by any vendor , There are warranty period that warrant the product to work after the repairs are done. It can be 30 days minimum .. as it varies by vendor. In your situation, your laptop that you paid extended warranty for will need to get repaired or replace. Dell can't come out and fix 10+ times on the same problem. It's usually three repairs and then you get a replacement. If Dell wants to send out technician 10+ times for the same problem, someone above needs to get fired. Sending out technician on multiple visits, ordering parts multiple times are a waste of a lot of money and time. If Dell wants to refund your money, take it, but make sure they repair the laptop since they have already started the process of repairing and it's still not working.

 

The advice from Rengsey R.H.Jr is good to follow. If it was me I would also email the CEO you know who @dell.com and escalate it to Corp. Explain or copy and paste your post to them. Tell them you purchased the warranty under good faith and expect them to honor it. From past times I have emailed Corp they have always replied with in 24 hours and have found a resolution to the problem that was fair. Good luck and keep us all posted. :thumbsup:

 

Can you PM me your service tag ? I would like to take a look at the case.
Sometimes the system let's the warranty go over the max period of time (5 years), that's when we need to offer a refund for the amount paid in warranty. Our tech support manager is willing to fix the laptop though.
I have always recommended to try to look for more information about systems you get on eBay, this is not the first time I see a purchase on eBay going wrong because of warranty concerns. I assume the person who sold you the system wasn't expecting you to get a warranty extension.

Sorry about the issues so far, I'll take a look and see what I can do. There is a small chance that I can do something about it.