Trying to understand Alienware Tech Support?

I would say push harder ....don't be rude but be firm ....the rep has to get a supervisor on the call...he can't refuse that ...again I recommend also getting in touch with Alienware reps on this forum as well such as brother Luis Paros .

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

Trooper,

I have pushed a little harder. I have PM's the alienware rep for the forums and I did send an email to the email address you pm'd me. We will have to see what today brings.

EDIT:
It appears that they are just sending me something without letting me know what it is. I just checked my service page and saw this.

If this is what it looks like they are just waiting on dispatch to process the exchange and ship it out. Am I seeing this right, or is something else going on? Also those snip are from two different pages under my service page, but anyone else notice that the dates and times do not match? the Initation date on the SR is a little over 17 hours before the service call?

 

This dispatch status is quite normal, at this point basically it just shows that an exchange authorization has indeed been processed and approved, eventually you will see parts show up but it will be generic info as well. I have gone through this same trial back in November of last year and this is exactly how mine played out.

What will happen since you are getting a refurbished system I take it is that they will literally wait 2 or 3 days and search high and low and find the "Best match" for your system and then call you. In my case they couldn't find one and wouldn't build me a new one so they shipped the best they could find, but it had a 660m not a 675m, no mSATA but it did have more ram. So be real careful of the specs when they quote it. If the best they can do is an inexact match make them email you an approval and swap the parts from your old machine to the new one that don't match.

Really either way if your going from R1 to R2 that's a win but it should be like for like. Since you had 6990m's either a single 680m would work decent or if your really lucky (or unlucky) they might even give you Dual 7970m's

One thing is for sure Dell / Alienware will in the end take excellent care of you. There are like any organization of sizable nature bad "Apples" among the bunch so to speak. I hope this works out well for you.

 

Thanks for posting in the thread, I am glad this is atleast somewhat normal. Since I am going from an R1 to an R2, which is nice, there is no exact part match. Performace wise I don't think any of the lower end GPU options match Xfire 6970's. A single 660m won't come close, dual 675m's would, but I had AMD cards and from I have been told they try and match the same brand, which leaves the 7970's which really outperform the 6970's. My point is matching the two systems is a crap shoot. I think you are right though they are just going to give me what ever refurb they have lying around under the notion that well it is a newer system than yours so it is automatically better ( which we know is not true). At this point I am expecting to see either dual 7970's or a single 680m the rest doesn't really matter I suppose as my current proc is a 2630 ram is cheap, and I have been using my own HDD's anyways.

Quick question for you though, you said yours did not have msata. Does that mean yours had no masata slot, or had the slot just not the card?

 

I think your case is going to the right direction! I had that EXG status when my replacement was in the order. I'm sure you'll get ATI 7970m Crossfire. I just received my replacement laptop yesterday and it's amazing. I say it's really worth the wait. Also about the previous warranty question you had. I have a month left on my new system so I decided to wait until I have my new service tag to extend for another 2 years to avoid any confusions. I really hope you can get that new system soon, I know the pain so well .

Just extended my warranty for another 2 years for $294.02 (I called in). About $50 dollars off from the website price. Just giving you some reference when you extend yours!

 

It is moving now and that is wonderful. I have been in contact with Alienware-Luis_Pardo and I am hoping he is going to assist me with this from this point forward. I am glad you received your replacement system and it is doing so well for you! I hope to be saying the same soon

EDIT:

After seeing the dispatch created I figured they had found a system and I was just waiting on it to be shipped out. So I called in to see what spec's this replacement machine was going to have. The rep was very pleasant and seemed knowledgeable which was a change. The rep put me on hold while he checked into things and finally came back and told me that they were still trying to match the configuration. I asked him if that was the case why was the dispatch order created already and he replied that the dispatch order was created since the exchange was finally approved for easier tracking. I told him that I was told the exchange was approved days ago, why was it just now created? He was not sure, but assured me that from this point I can track the status using my dispatch number and offered to give it me, which I declined because I can see it in my account. I then asked the rep why it is taking so long to find a matching system since I was getting a refurbished unit and I am pretty sure Dell has a top notch supply chain management system which should let them know what systems they have in stock. The rep proceeded to tell me that there is probably a back-order on parts for my unit that are needed to match the system? I then asked how do you have a back-order on refurbished parts and he said that it just happens when there is a high demand on parts, and that I should check back next Monday to see if they have matched the system.

Here is what I want to know, if they do not have a refurbished system in stock am I just going to wait until they get a unit in, fix it, and get it refurbished to have my unit replaced? Also how long am I, the customer, supposed to wait for a refurbished system to have my system replaced. I understand that the preference of Dell\ Alienware is to replace my unit with a refurbished one, but what happens if they can't and what is enough time to give up and say that they can't?

 

All the M18X R2's have the mSATA slot to the best of my knowledge, just mine was not populated with a card, so I transferred mine from the old machine to the new one along with my drives and sent the old machine back with Dell's blessing minus a few parts.

And as for what if they don't have a refurbished machine of like stature to replace yours with, well only your rep can really answer that question fully however I would expect that if they cannot find one they will likely just have to do a new build and forego the refurb machine. Just my opinion but I do know that Dell / Alienware will take excellent care of you in the end might take a bit of patience though.

 

Thanks for the response, I asked the question because I was told once that if they didn't find a refurb within 48 business hours that one would be built, then I was told a second time that if they didn't find one within 72 business hours that one would be built. Now I am being told that refurb parts are on back order and I will just have to wait. I am both high confused and ticked off at this point. Yes I know in the end that it will be taken care of, but come on they really need to pick a story and stick to it.

 

Tell them it's inacceptable and that you need the system. If they can't send you a refurbished replacement right away, insist that they build a new one with equal or better specs.
Also, triple-check that they have your current phone number and aren't trying to call some old one instead.

 

I have tried this with the lvl 1 tech's got nowhere, so now I have had to resort to the @dellcares twitter feed. This is just ridiculous if you ask me, maybe I am out of line here, but I don't think it is right for them just to keep telling me I have to wait for refurbished stock to come in to get a warranty replacement. Hopefully someone will eventually want to get this resolved.

 

I really hope that you get this resolved soon. I have got some issues with some reps. I was going to buy a HDD like 1 year ago so I called Alienware and the rep switched my call to the software something center. The guy who I talked with quoted me the HDD for $110 including shipping and it was a 750GB one. I couldn't buy it that time because I didn't have my card with me, so I arrived home and called again and the rep that answered my call tried to sell me a 250GB HDD for $175 including shipping, because he said that this one is the only one that my PC support. Of course I said no because I already got a numbers and with a bigger one. So I called 2 days and the other rep told me the same thing. Then I decide to call again in the night of that day, but saying that I had an software issue so they could change my call to the software something center. After arriving there the guy who answered sold me the $110 750GB HDD and I have been using it since that day with Ubuntu 12.04 without any single issue.

So maybe some reps don't like the job and they just do thing because they have to and they don't mind helping you out. Don't give up you will get what you paid for!

 

Rotary Heart, Im sorry to hear your story, but I am glad you eventually got what you needed. A little update from the twitter reach out, the rep from @dellcares is wonderful with communication, but I think he is missing the point. The rep is trying to tell me that there system matching tool has been down and that it is quicker for me to wait for a refurb. I have told him that I don't mind the wait for a build as long as there is progress on a system. I told that it is unfair to me the customer to have to wait indefinitely for them to find a refurb. I have asked for a call from someone who can assist me further and thanked the rep for looking into this. Also the reps first response after asking for my service tag was to ask me to remove the tweet, there was no polite way to say this, but I did try to be polite, but I replied that I would be more than happy to remove the tweet after a resolution was reached, which I thought was fair.

Edit:

After several hours of going back and forth via twitter with JA @dellcares the bottom line is there is nothing they can do. The best he can offer is to ask the rep in charge of my escalation to prioritize my ticket, but could not get me in touch with anyone else who would assist me. I ended it by thanking him for at least trying to help me and agreed to remove the tweet but promised him I will share my experience with Dell support when I can and with who I can. i am not sure what happened here, but I am glad others have had wonderful experiences with Dell support. I unfortunately can not say the same. I think I have exhausted all resources in trying to get this resolved, but in the end it was all a waste of time. Dell will replace my unit on their time when they have a refurb unit on hand. I do not think it is right, but that is what they are willing to do and I don't think there is anything else I can do.

I want to thank everyone for their suggestions on the forums, and ask that others take this experience as a possible outcome when dealing with Dell's support. It really is a crap shoot and I guess I just got a really bad rep.

 

I feel your pain..but don't give up ....It's important that you don't ...I know it's a waste of time ..but you deserve a wOrking system
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

trooper, it seems as if you and I are the only ones that feel that way, but one thing is for sure and that is Dell does not at this point. At any rate, I will continue calling them every evening to see if a refurbished unit showed up finally to send me. Also I went ahead and extended my warranty today just in case. I have a feeling this is going to be going on a while. I will say I was rather taken back by the lack of concern the @dellcares rep had.


EDIT:

This is huge ladies and gentlemen. I just recieved a PM from Alienware-Luis_Pardo and I was informed I will be recieving an email shortly with the config of a new system that is going to be built. This is step in the right direction for sure So publically let me say THANK YOU to Alienware-Luis_Pardo, you really have made a difference in this process and well I am grateful you are apart of these forums. There is still a long road on this one, but it seems like it is finally being taken care of.

Edit number 2:

About 30 minutes ago I received a phone call wanting to confirm my specs. I was offered a New R2 with the 3630, 8GB of ram, 500GB HDD, Xfire 7970's Killer Nice and DVD-rom in space black. I asked to change the wireless for an intel one which was not a problem, and I also asked for nebula red which apparently is a huge problem. After about one minute of trying to figure out why changing the color was such an issue the rep agreed to add a note asking the factory to use the red instead of the black. I then said thank you but that sounds like it just is not going to happen is it. The rep it could but he was not going to promise it. I was then told it will be about ten business days and I will get a call once a week to update the status of the build. At this point I am pretty content. Alienware is stepping up to the plate. There are a few things I would like to see changed ( color) but that is minor in the end. I think I was treated pretty well in the end, just not along the way lol.


Thanks again goes out to everyone who helped me, and especially luis for his support from the inside of Dell.

 

I am so glad it worked out for you. Kudos to brother Luis for getting resolved. Your support in these forums is always wonderful to hear about ......wheth ...at this point ...i wont be to fussy about the color .....a lot of times red chasis are out of stock - atleast that is what was told to me .....also with the current rumors about the m18x - might be around till next year or might not ....maybe there isnt a big stock of chasis ....anyways ..my intention isnt to start a rumor ...but just to let you know ...you are getting a wonderful system ....7970 are miles ahead of your current cards and these should keep you going for a few years ...i am so glad it worked out ....I have the red and i absolutely love it ...so i can see why you would be a bit dissapointed ...but hey atleast you`ll have a working machine pretty soon and i think that is what is the most important thing.

Also ....once again DELL does the right thing in the end ...trust me i havent seen a lot of manufacturers unwillling to replace systems .........even a lot of warranties that say "Accidental coverage" back out at the last minute ........so Kudos to Dell and brother Luis ....and i wanna thank everyone who helped brother wheth out ...it was truly great to see a member in need helped so graciously

 

Amazing news! So glad you are almost done with all your issues!!

 

Yes it is amazing news to have progress. The hard part now is the wait but I'd rather wait having a definitive time line then wait indefinitely for them just to find something. It's hard to think there isn't stock on the nebula red chassis as it can still be ordered for new systems without a delay in shipping time, but whatever. The rep said about 10 days to build it so I'm hoping to have this beast at the end of the week after next, we shall see.

 

I'm glad to see that our resident Alienware reps have taking care of you and that Dell has come through in the end. I kind of figured this is what would happen if they didn't have systems similar to yours in spec and you're going to like the 7970m's a lot. The drivers might be a bit of a trifle but they are hands down good cards, I had a pair of them before I switched to NVidia over the drivers.

It's kind of like they always say good things come to those who wait. And man Id say trading in an R1 for a spanking R2 is a good thing lol. Glad to see justice served again.

 

Eh... I really hope the drivers are not as bad as they have been made out to be. Also how are those Seagate hybrid drives in raid? In the end it looks like all will be well, and trust me I am grateful to be getting a new R2 that is pretty sweet Luis emailed today, and come to find out I am pretty sure that rep who called me lied to me about the red color. Now since the order has been place and approved there can be no changes, but the rep yesterday probably could of changed the color without an issue. At any rate I sure hope these 7970's do some justice, it seems there are a lot fo people here who have switched to the 680's just so they can escape the nightmare of the drivers for the 7970.

 

ATI drivers are actually pretty good at the moment with 13.4. My machine is working flawlessly whatever I throw at it. I'm downloading Battlefield 3 at the moment to test some more. The games I tried so far are SC2 Ultra (100+ FPS), Bioshock Infinite Ultra Dx11 (100+ FPS) and DayZ which is a game that really isn't optimized but still can maintain 60+ except the cities which is usually 30+. I'm glad you are getting your replacement now! Mine took 10 days to build and 2 days to ship so you should get yours soo too!

 

Sweet I am glad the drivers then have taken care of the issues. I received an email today from a dell rep saying my system is set to ship on 5/15 so we shall see. Also according to the order they did in fact change my system to nebula red. Right now I am a pretty happy camper! I cannot thank luis enough for his part in making sure this happened!

 

Wheth4400,

I run them in Raid 1 and have yet to have any issues at all with them other than a bad cable on my original machine once. They preform very well and with a 32GB mSATA cache this machine flies like a rocket, sure a pair of real SSD's running RAID 0 would smash them but then again my bank account thanks me since these drives were only about 140 or less each at their prime over a year ago I totally recommend them, I have them in every portable I own including my MacBook Pro and it flies too.

 

And they live happily ever after!! Congratulations!!

 

Remember to tell us the news and post some pics when it arrives home .

 

That is exactly why I opened this thread ....to remind the OP to post some pics and a little appreciation post to remind people...things can go well

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

Yes the 13.4 and beta 13.5 drivers are absolutely rock solid, not a single issue with my dual 7970ms

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

 

I plan to, I received an email saying the laptop is supposed to ship the 15th, so maybe the 16th I will receive it since apparently I have next day shipping. Dell really seems to have taken care of me.

EDIT:

I emailed my executive customer support rep today to inquire about my exchange since he told me it should ship on the 15th just to see if it was going to ship on time. I received an email back saying that it was still showing in production, which I could see on the order page, but he will call the factory to check on it and get back with me. He never got back to me, which made me think, Why?

From what I have been reading it is not uncommon for build to be delivered while still showing in production on the order page. So is it possible that my order already shipped and they couldn't find it? Who really knows but it should not be long at this point. I am expected to hear back tomorrow with a status update saying it shipped, or hopefully receive the laptop. Either way this is moving along and based on what I have been told I should have it no later than Thur.

Getting close hehe

EDIT:

Well today my replacement laptop was supposed to ship, but instead I received an email saying that it has been delayed due to a shortage in the chassis. I'm confused at this point. I would of thought they would of known this during the pre-production phase not this late into the build process. I'm disappointed to say the least I thought once the executive customer care rep to take over my ticket the communication would of improved and things were on the right track. The rep has been hit and miss on emails and I honestly feel this case was being handled better when brother Luis was looking after it. The worst part is there is now no ETA and apparently the factory doesn't even know when they are supposed to receive more of the chassis part they need.

I have to keep telling myself in the end it will be taken care of....

 

Get brother Luis on this ...hopefully he can help ....also not to get your hopes up but once I got a delayed message and the next day my laptop shipped...so best would be to speak to someone who can read case notes

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Trooper under the order page it hasn't shown an estimated ship date. The executive support rep told me through email what the estimated ship date was, and then told me today through email of the delay.

 

Any update

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Thanks for checking in Trooper,


On Thursday I received an email saying the laptop has been built, and should ship on time ( the 24th).

Yesterday, the day I was told my exchange will ship by the executive support rep, I received an email at 11:00AM from Jose over at their support saying they were just waiting on the return label, and that he would keep me updated. He and I exchange several emails through out the day waiting to see the laptop ship. At 3PM I emailed him asking if it was going to ship and he emailed me back saying that if It did not ship I could chose one item from the included list and he would send it to me for free. The list was, the TactX Keyboard, Mouse, Orion backpack, or the Taxt X headset.

Right after that email I received one from the executive support guy, who informed me that laptop was not going to ship as it was stuck in testing. I forwarded that email back to Jose, who so far has been awesome, and he replied back saying that at this point I could choose two items, and ensured me that he was going to do everything that he could to try and get it to ship. A little later I received another email from Jose, saying that he did everything he could, but that the shipping process from the factory is extensive, and has to be shipped to Alienware, then shipped to me.

Shortly after that I received an email from Dell saying I was sent a $18 promotional Dell gift card, I kind of flew off the handle over that. To me that was an insult. I forwarded the email to Jose, and asked if he sent that, and if not could he find out who. He immediately replied back, saying he did not, but he could inquire with sales. I then sent him a rather nasty email, but made it clear that it was not directed at him, but I wanted him to forward it on to someone who might possibly care.

So where does this stand? As of right now, I am on my third given delivery date, still no laptop, my executive support guy, is a tool, and I prey that none else has to deal with him. He doesn't respond to emails, provides wrong information, and quite frankly should not be in support, or customer care. Jose, is awesome he is a tech support manager, and if ti were up to him my new laptop was going to be in my hands today. He is the only one who has thought to compensate me for any of this. Keep in mind my third repair attempt was on May 2nd, and that was the date the original exchange request was put in, Some how that request never was received by Alienware, and a new one was put in the 4th. The 9th is when the order for the new laptop was put in, and here we are at the 25th nearly three weeks later with two missed delivery dates, and a laptop that has been built for two days that has to go through an "extensive" shipping process before it will ship to me.

I want to point out that had Dell from the get go said the laptop will ship X date, whether that date was 3, 4, 5 weeks out I probably wouldn't be as upset right now, but the first date was the 15th, the second was the 24th, and now I am given a date halfway through next week. Let's see if that one comes true.

 

It's in production man. Take it little easy. Dell is a big company and it is attempting to make things right. Make sure to extend your warranty once all your original warranty has been transferred because I honestly think these laptops are made for a long haul.

As for techs promising you extra things, if you get it, that's great, but if you don't you don't is my opinion.

Once you get the replacement system, everything will be forgotten.

 

I get what your saying, but your missing the point here. The laptop was out of production two days ago according to two different reps. I have been given various dates to receive my laptop of which none have been true. Yes they are trying to make it right, but if they give a date they should do everything in their power to meet that date.

The funny thing is I'm not asking and have not ask for anything extra. In fact I actually asked for a slightly down graded replacement and asked Jose not to send me anything till this whole debacle is done and over with. When Jose told me I could get two items I told him just to give one. Also I have extended my warranty I firmly believe the warranty is worth it, but the frustration of dealing with dell almost makes it not, almost.

 

All you can do is wait is what I'm saying.

The replacement is coming and as the techs mentioned its out of their control.

Trust me many of us already been through what you are going through.

Unless they cancel your replacement order all you need to do is wait for it. I know how it feels.

And trust me on the extending the warranty.

My power brick or something is dying and had to call the support this morning. The system isn't even two years old. I hope the new brick will solve the problem I'm having.

 

I think at this moment...what we all are trying to say is be patient and don't lose faith ....yes we all would have liked our problems to have resolved sooner but somethings are not in our hands ..but again I totally get your frustration(I told you my story) and thank you for constantly updating this thread...it'll help people in the future to read and learn from this thread.

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I wanted to update everyone, I have a tracking number! It shows that it will be here today but is not as of yet out for delivery. I will post up some pictures of the beast tonight

 

Fantastic ...looking forward to the pictures of the beast...if you were staying close to me....I would have bought you beer for your patience

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This is a bad time of year to be getting a system replacement: part stockpiles are depleted or back ordered.

Glad the system finally shipped. I'm getting delays with my PC too...

 

what have you ordered brother dre

 

Any update????

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I ordered an Aurora R4 ALX. Got a nice deal, couldn't pass it up. First desktop ever, believe it or not. I've always had laptops. Hope I like it!

 

Sorry for the delay is getting this updated to everyone, it arrived the same day I received the tracking number so YAY.. I haven't has as much time as I would like to properly get this baby running like I want, but here is a pic, and a screen shot.

Spoiler

 

Haha brother dre ...it is indeed hard to believe...I plan to get a desktop too ....once I have an amazing job lol



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that's quite the upgrade on your old machine. especially with the processor. awesome stuff. must have been Louis pressuring that upgrade lol.

what happens with the old laptop? i have received different versions of such scenarios...some people say you get your new laptop and keep your old laptop...which you can sell on ebay / fix with after market parts if you wanted....some people say that your old machine gets taken away...and some say that technically, if you sell your machine (the replacement one i believe), they could ask for it back at some point? or something like that....

 

No you can't keep your old machine

Does that even make sense

 

there was 1 thread on this forum where someone couldnt get a working machine for 6 months (or so) and in the end ended up with a new one and having kept the old one. he was really pissed off (i think the new one might not have been as amazing or something...or just the time it took), but everyone pointed out to him what an amazing deal he actually got. clearly must have been an outlier, and something that i also thought would be too good to be true...just thought maybe there are certain occasions on when it does happen.

 

It may happen in error but doesn't mean dell wont find out in the future and change full price on the new system

 

I upgraded the processor ram wireless hdd's and optical drive myself. The replacement came with a 3630qm and yes you have to send the old one back.

 

That's exactly what I was wondering since we were initially debating about your processor earlier in this forum...anyway welcome to the red club....it looks sick what did the processor upgrade cost you and from where did you get it

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I got it off of Illusion on ebay, and I got a heck of a deal as I only paid less than 700 after trading in some old laptop parts. I am rather impressed so far with these 7970's and the new 13.6 betas seem really good drivers. So far I have no complaints other than the loud fans LOL.