How should I deal with Dell customer Service.

Hello, guys, my M17X R2 died, and Dell said that they where going to replace the computer with a M18X. I got the replacement computer in the mail, and to my shock, it came with one GTX 460m. My M17X R2 came with dual 5870m videocards. I got on with tech support, and they told me that there was nothing that they could do that this was the computer that they had available for me at the time, and if dual videocards was so important to me, then I could purchase a second videocard. I am very angry and confused and at a loss with what I should do. I paid for the top of the line videocards, and the computer that I buy breaks, and then I send it into the repair depot where you get chocolate on my laptop, and break the palm rest and status bar. I am also confused as to why if they where going to send me a system with one videocard, why didn't they send me the M17X R2. I emailed someone, and got a call from Executive Customer Support team (What does that mean), He siad that he was going to check with the outlet team, before we can discuss replacing my computer. Does this mean I am getting somewhere or am I just being led around sorry if this is to long or this is in wrong section, or there is a thread dedicated to this.

Edit: Also am I wrong for wanting my two videocards. I feel that it is not my fault the the R3 does not support dual cards, and that they should have sent me a M18X with dual cards, 6970m or something, but that's just me.

 

Virgle you need to call them again and talk to some else. The thing is that Dell in there service agrement says that, if they need to replace you computer then they will give you one that is equal to the current one that you had or a upgrade becuase that is no longer available. You need to talk to them and tell them that the single 460m is a down grade from the 5870x2. And if I remeber right even the 460m in sli if there where 2 is a downgrade also.

I also have had to deal with there ECS team they do get things worked out but you need to be diligant and make suire that you get the name and extension of hte person that you are dealing with. Also make sure that you voice your concerns but also do not be rude or yelling. Just make it solid point of what is going on and make sure you tell them what you want. Witch is a working computer that is comapable to what you had and the single 460m is not comparable.

I hope this helps.

 

Keep calling until you get what you need.

 

Ok thank you I never yell, or get rude over the phone, and I had the guy email me about what we spoke about so that I could have his name and email, and what he was going to do in writing.

 

I hope everything works out. Let us know what happens

 

Is the 6990 or the 580m similar to 2 5870s? I think what you're asking for is more than fair. No reason why they should not do something comparable or better.

Sorta like I bought an BMW M3 and they give me a328i cause 'that's all we had in the back', that's just crazy.

 

The 6990 xfire or the 580 sli would be nice upgrade from the 5870's but the 460 even in sli is a downgrade so yeah he should fight for what he paid for in the beginning. IMO

 

According to Notebookcheck, 460M SLI beats 5870M Crossfire, but still a single 460M is not a suitable replacement. You should have really gotten at least 6970M CF/6990M.

 

Agreed. I was going to suggest 6970M at the least.

 

A single 6970M or GTX460M SLI would be equvilant. My neighbour had his old 1710 get damaged a few times by his kids. They sent him a 1730M as a replacement with dual 8700GT which was a major upgrade from a single 7900GTX. They also told him he could not get any more complete care warranty as this was his final claim. He complained bitterly he thought he should get dual 8800s in SLI for a single 7900GTX ??? Some peoples kids. If you can wrangle a single 6970 or 6990M you would have a waaay better system than what you had.

 

Agreed. The thing is though, I dont know if they are building a new M18x for the OP or a refurb/outlet one (if its refurb/outlet, that reduces the options I guess)....even so, I didnt even think it was possible to order an M18x with ANY configuration of 460m gpu/s be it new or outlet....my understanding is that the base level gpu option for the M18x has always been a single 560m, which WONT perform better than the OP's original crossfire 5870's - meaning that "performance wise" the OP is getting ripped off by either a single 460m or 560m. The correct single gpu offering from Dell (assuming they intend only to supply a single gpu) should have been a single 580m or 6990m and NOT a single 460m.....thats craziness right there!!

This doesnt however compensate the OP for the hassle etc OR take into consideration that he indeed had a system with TWO gpu's in crossfire and not one.

In my humble opinion, what the OP should be pushing for would be dual 560m's or as stated, dual 6990's (but I doubt Dell would do the latter if the 560's are available or 6970's are in stock - I also don't think Dell would buy a Dual 580m system as "like for like" replacement, unfortunately) - its like for like from a hardware perspective and compensates for all the trouble...if Dell insist on a single gpu, I would be shooting for a 580m preferably, or a 6990.

Bottom line? - I think the OP deserves a bare minimum of 560m Sli, any current single gpu setup is not as good and he should NOT have to lose a gpu because of Dell.

Also another point to be aware of is availability of parts - seems that there is a long, long, long wait for anything 580m based.....

Just my 0.02p....

 

I absolutely agree with steviejones133. What you are experiencing is a lack of knowledge on the part of customer support. As others have said, keep trying until you get someone willing to hear you out and understands the problem.

I hope this issue is quickly resolved for you.

 

I myself had basically the same problem 3 months ago. I was told it was either the m17x r3 or m18x I would be getting. After a week I recieved a call from the tech that i'd be getting the m18x, bascially because my m17x r2 had m5870 crossfire and the m17x r3 didn't come with crossfire option while the m18x. I was given the 560m in sli option. Though I would have loved the 580m in sli I was extremely happy getting a new m18x. The 560m in sli also gave better performance than the 5870m in crossfire, vantage scores increased from 17k to 21k. Though the cpu is was the reason for most of the increased score, nvidia has much better driver support and games do run better. I'm basically able to run every game out there with highest settings, only a couple I have to turn down a little, bascially antialiasing settings usually lowered. But i'd fight to get the 560m. They are best compared to the 5870m in crossfire.

 

Thank you guys for all the responses, I was not looking to get the top of the line GPU's in my replacement I just want to use that as one of my point's with customer support, 6990m would be amazing, but what I really want realistically is Dual 6970m or 560m in all truth be told I could never get crossfire working on the R2 so I really only used 1 of the 5870m so I do not even know how 5870m CF performs XD

 

5870's always worked fine on my old R2, sorry to hear you never benefited from that! - regards to your "system exchange" , realistically, 560m sli is a bare minimum you should aim for. With the 6990 replacing the 6970, I don't know what the likelihood of getting 6970's in crossfire would be (due to stock) but its worth pushing for the 6990's simply because you have nothing to lose by doing so...they are the current Dell offering in terms of AMD dual gpu setup (and are more likely to be stocked over 6970's) and thus would be what I would expect in exchange for an older AMD crossfire setup.....maybe if you say it like that to Dell, they would see that indeed, like for like on their current lineup would be crossfire 6990's...

I will keep my fingers (and toes) crossed for you and hope you get a speedy and satisfactory outcome to all of this.

 

I just got of the phone with the person I always deal with, and she is the one that got my replacement M18X approved, I don't blame her for the video cards though. She said that she was going to see if she can get a order filled for new videocards I told her that I prefer ATI, only because I hope that they won't send me Two 460, that would be better than one but still, and from my research dual 6970 are better than 560m, and can overclock well.

 

Sounds good. 6970's would be a sweet deal compared to 460's or 5870's.....

 

I am not sure what I am getting yet, but hopefully they decide to send me two new videocards

 

So I am getting two 6970

 

YAY!!!!

Well done, my friend! - congrats on the upgrade!

 

Yeah they where original going to send another 460m, but I politly asked if I could get 6970m or 6990m, he said that he would ask came back said that he could do 6970m but not 6990, still happy, better than 5870m, and hopefully I will be able to use crossfire.

 

Thats great news - I am made up for you - doubt you will have a problem so "happy days" all around, eh?

 

Ha yeah, now all I need is to try and sell my soul to get BF3

 

Grats man glad everything worked out for you.

 

NICE! Being an Alienware customer is awesome.Congrats on the system replacement..

 

Thank's guys. Zombie thread now.