so keyboards apparently can not be shipped any more direct to you..

so apparently the keyboard has to be installed by a tech.. no more direct shipping to the customer...lol..

 

While some customers know what they are doing, manufacturers do this to insure it is installed properly so they can uphold the warrenty. The company I work for sells police gear and one of our manufacturers will not sell the customer replacement parts only they or me can replace the part for warrenty.

 

YEA and gin i understand lol (this stupid keyboard) but i have been told the reason is because theres not a support article on it and i am like but there is and direct them to\/\/ards it and there still like yea policy no\/\/ is
\/\/e dont ship keyboards..

 

I have actually noticed that Alienware is doing their best not to send parts to their end users anymore. Not sure why, but the few times I have asked for it they have polity refused to do so. Which seems a bit weird to me, but meh.. I would rather a their tech do the work so when it or they messes up, which the tech almost always does, then it is covered under their warranty.

 

Eh I'd rather do it myself and be done with it. The line of technicians and parts In and out the door isn't worth the trouble when they screw up

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I recently tried to obtain a cpu/gpu heatsink for my 14, tech told me that it would have to come with a tech to install it....?? - I mean, I know that to change the HS in the 14 is a teardown job (stupid design by Dell to have to remove the system board to remove the HS ) but I told the tech that I've torn down more Alienwares than he's had hot dinners......still no dice. I told him that I knew the possible consequences of working on my machine in terms of warranty and 'you break it, you buy it' scenario.....still no dice.

I argued for a bit with him about how stupid it was that I couldn't obtain a part that I can install myself without having to have a technician come out with it - I also told him that the technician would not be going anywhere near my machine and that basically he would just be sat watching me do the work while he drank tea......I said that it would be a waste of Dell's money to send a tech - didn't seem to care. The cost of sending a tech (he told me) was £100gbp.....talk about throwing money away, which in turn results in higher prices for us at the end of the day.

If you ask me, it's gone completely nuts....

 

Yea I can understand it though. They put those policies in place for a reason. One can only assume users in the past have tried to install parts themselves and broke their machines and then tried to sue dell.

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It sounds utterly ridiculous to rational people but not everyone thinks like you and me

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lol myou know what some of the techs do to these machines..hahaha

 

Solution is simple... Let them send the tech and waste money on it if that's what they want to do, and still do it yourself. Let the tech be the parts courier/errand boy. It will save you the trip to drop the FedEx box off to return the original part. Offer the tech a soda, coffee or tea and show him how it's done. Have it apart and ready to receive the new keyboard prior to his/her arrival. You might get the part faster with the tech, too. Seems those dispatches go through faster than parts-only for some strange reason. It used to be NBD dispatch on POS all the time, but it's not as consistent as it used to be.

 

lol is this new policy across all future purchases or just some strange coincidence?
No tech will be allow to use his filthy hands on my upcoming fresh $3k AW18. He can sit and watch TV while I do the job thank you

Seriously this is stupid * 9 if new policy

 

Probably depends on who is on the other end of the phone when you are talking to them prior to dispatch. But, still... as I posted, let the tech be the parts courier and he/she can watch you. If you have it apart already they won't have any input on whether you do the work. Unless you end up with some kind of a power-crazed weirdo for a tech, I cannot imagine that he/she would object to being paid their flat fee for doing nothing except showing up at your door with parts and dropping off the old parts at FedEx, LOL.

 

One thing is the power-crazed weirdo, another is the typical "use-excessive-force-a-few-scratch-on-the-palmrest-after-using-excessive-force-wont-bother-the-customer-i-deal-with-products-like-this-everyday-go-complain-to-the-HQ-if-it-really-bother-you weirdo".

I fear him more. Far too many of these half assed people working as techs

 

That's true - let the tech be a glorified courier LOL.

Still, I think we should be able to purchase any part for our machines without the bureaucracy of having to 'have' a tech. Mind you, if Dell wanna waste their money on an expensive courier service, so be it. I just don't like the thought of those additional costs to Dell mounting up and then being tagged on to future purchase prices to make up for profit margin deficits because of their stupidity in the first instance.

 

Yeah, I don't agree with the new policy if, in fact, it's accurate. Some of the people you talk to on the phone present things in a manner that is not necessarily "the law" as though it is. But, I see this as being inconsequential either way. Just go along with the program on the phone and then do it your way as soon as you hang up. Not a big deal... you're in the driver's seat. If all you need is the part it doesn't matter how it gets to your house. They can't control what you do with your machine and it's none of their business if you have it already apart and inform the tech he will be watching you install it.

The caveat is, if you break something you'll be buying the replacement part. If the tech does, Alienware will be paying for it. The tech won't accept the blame and you can bet your sweet potatoes that they will document it was broken before their arrival. So, having the tech show up doesn't need to be made into a controversial issue. Some people would be angry and terrified by the idea of having to do their own teardown and installation. Using a tech for the repairs or the "parts delivery boy" is a much better option than sending the machine to a repair depot and hoping it turns out OK. Even if you let them work on it, you can hover over them, supervise every move they make and command them to halt if you don't approve of what you see. The depot option is waiting and hoping it turns out the right way... no watching, hovering, supervising and no direct influence over the final outcome is possible using a repair depot.

 

Unfortunately, some of those 'half assed tech's' work at the depot, too....... http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/751192-amyone-else-s-aw-getting-zits.html ..... pretty shocking really, considering these guys have all the correct tools at their disposal AND the timeframe to fix things PROPERLY......which leads me on to the following:

Given the above, and just one of the examples of depot nightmares, I'd go for the 'glorified courier' option every day of the week, 24/7, 365. Period.

Saying that, not EVERY tech is poor, not all depot jobs are massacres - but like Fox said, at least with the 'glorified courier' option, you have a degree of control......even if Dell wanna waste money on sending a tech.

 

I had two keybpards in the last 3 months. one was yesterday. so, they do still ship them.

 

your in a different area also brother.. call the costarica office and ask em to ship direct to you lol..

on another note i should start recording these conversations and the excuses given by the reps over the phone lol..


and an update!!!!!!! I am proud to say that the tech came to my house and replaced the keyboard...right after he ripped my custom skin on the bezel..cracked the bezel because he didnt know how many screws hold it down..
and the tabs that hold the ribbons in place for the keyboard..


oh let me run this down real quick.. this dude shows up and never sits down.. takes his bag off or any thing.. starts breaking stuff and trys to hide it from me.. and when i call him on it he is like oh well ive had it happen before he says and that he makes it work.. lol I stop him right there and am like look bro go ahead and call who ever you got to call and order me another motherboard.. what does he do?? he fake dials!!! and pretends to talk to some one!!! Im like let me see your for dude.. he is like why and i tell him i dont believe you just called any one.. then he dials the number and huffs.. and he was fidgety the whole time.. im like whats wrong with you bro since you came to my house you have seemed nervous and shaky.. and i asked him if he was all right or in a rush or diabetic.. he says no..

Ok ..lol this guy tells the rep that he needs to order a new motherboard and when asked why he says because the tabs for the keyboard were broken.. I heard the rep ask how they got broken since it was already a new motherboard and he says he didnt know and I told him he better quit lying and he then told the rep that he had broken them.. i said to tell em about the bezel and he says he is on hold.. I tell him to make sure that he tells the rep that he just ruined my 65 dollar skin.. he says he will.. he gets the dispatch number and gets off the phone and im like bro.. so i take it your paying for my skin and he tells me to take it up with dell and that he is not liable... by this time my GF saw me getting mad and asked the guy to leave and wouldn't let me follow him out side lol.. damnit im upset..

 

lol what did I say? So many of these half assed technicians with a careless attitude toward other peoples property

But seriously, did all of that just happen? Seems like the worst guy ever lol

 

Man, that's bad. I hope Dell put it ALL right for you, Brother DumbDumb. Unfortunately, it's another classic example of poorly skilled outsourced technicians 'trying' to fix something that they have no idea about fixing. I'm a firm believer in that ANY tech coming to service a multi-thousand dollar (or pound, yen or whatever) machine should be fully trained and versed in doing so. This guy obviously knew nothing about Alienware machines and he butchered your machine and tried to get away with it to avoid any repercussions on himself. He should be sacked instantly on the spot - I hope you got his name etc.

I hope you get it sorted, Bro......man, next time (and I know this is all well and good looking back in hindsight) sit the guy down, make him a coffee and show him how it's done.....CORRECTLY.

 

yes this really just happened.. mmm i wish this board had a selective profanity filter we could select because thats all that wants to come out right now... haha im so mad about this that it didnt even come out right,, going to have to go back to the post when im more level headed and clean it up hahahahaha 'weoiphawPw:eljaP SWC

OK YEA when he broke the the first clip he tried to palm it lol.. and i said buddy you know i saw that right.. and he is like saw what, mutha fmmmmmmm i coulda choked the guy.. and in the middle of me telling him just stop he is yanking on the big ribbon and im like bro..stop and he fingure nails the clip up and it breaks and im like were done here call who ever you gotta call..

im so mad my chest hurts and i feel physically ill right now..

 

The thing about the Alienware techs, or at least the ones that I have dealt with is they don't seem to require any training to be classified an Alienware tech. The one that came to my house was amazed because he had never worked on an Alienware 17 before :| Apparently he had worked on the 14 inch series but not the 17....my confidence was kind of shot from there on in when he had to be sent out.

Now I am sure some techs actually take pride in their job and know what they are doing but not all of them.

If were keeping track the techs have broken my Bezel for M17XR4 , sent the webcam back after failing to switch it during a screen replacement and broke the LED power cables that feed the alien head on the back of the LED. But truth be told the depot broke the LED on the front of the display so lol.......all in all I got new machines out of it.

While I agree that letting them work on it because if they break it then Alienware has to fix it sounds good at the time, it won't sound so good when you are stuck with a busted computer because they didn't know what they were doing.

 

Cy_J had me email him so i did ill keep every one informed..

 

well scratch the help i got the standard email response from em..

 

Cloudfire what config 18 did you get for 3k. Mine is being built and is 3k as well.

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I will hit the 5-year mark in August and cannot extend the warranty any more. I tried to get them to take more of my money, but they will not do more than 5 years no matter what. So much of my system is aftermarket now that having the warranty is less critical now than it used to be. Other than the downside of not getting any parts original replaced that fail during warranty, there is somewhat of a feeling of being liberated to have no reliance on another entity for anything whatsoever.

 

the sad thing about your statement is that with in those 5 years they havent made any real advances in the mobile market, its like its going backwards now instead of forward..

 

Well, they took a couple of steps backwards with the 18 in terms of features and performance. I hope that gets corrected and it is not a trend, but I get we won't know the answer to that question until we see what is supposed to be a replacement for the 18.

 

Hmmmm. I think over the last 4-5 years, we've seen some big improvements in mobile computing, especially when you compare what I had back in the day (May 2010, when I joined NBR) which was a M17x R2 with 840qm and Crossfire 5870's - apart from an XM, that was pretty much top line spec. When looking at the power of Today's machines, even though the 18 is gimped, it still outshines what I had by a considerable margin.......

Heck, even my 14 with a GTX765m is graphically more potent....

 

I think it's driven by Intel more than anything else, and also whoever started the whole "thin, light, efficient" fad. (Apple?) If Intel keeps releasing garbage like Haswell year after year, it'll be kinda hard not to take a few steps backwards.

 

Also, the mobile gpu market has been kind of dictated by Nvidia for a while now. Although AMD have improved, they would still not be my choice of vendor because of past woes. That has a knock on effect whereby Nvidia don't seem to push as hard because they don't need to - small incremental refreshes/increases in mobile gpu performance is all they seem to need to do to stay ahead of AMD. Same can be said about Intel, as you mention - why push the boat out when the pathetic logic of 'a tiny bit better will suffice' just because there is no other real competition.

It sucks, but until some real competition comes about, in my mind, we are stuck with what these manufacturers deem to be worthy of being called top dollar components. Competition is healthy, monopolies make manufacturers lazy.....

 

Well today i get a call from alienware.. and im told that the motherboard they sent me was a mistake and that id be breaking my warrenty if i install it my self do to the new updated alienware warranty terms.
I told him dude its been a week since i got the board and how long am i going to have to wait and i was told as long as i have to.. I said you do understand that my system is down and he was like thats not his concern, his concern is to express to me that if i install the motherboard that ill be voiding my warranty..


yay ! this is irritating..

 

Yes, there have been huge improvements in the past five years. Core 2 Duo versus Core i7... 780M versus 8800M... massive improvement. There has been no improvements in the performance of Alienware laptops since the release of the M18xR2, but that wasn't five years ago. It was only last generation. They made some serious mistakes on the new system, but there is still the opportunity for the 18's replacement to turn things around.

So, what are they going to do? If the clip is broken off the motherboard for the SATA retainer, do they service it with a replacement retainer now? What's their new plan? If they actually have one, such as a new retainer, that would be better than replacing motherboards.

How do they apply new updated warranty terms to an existing contract that predates their new terms without your agreement? Is there a clause in the previous terms and conditions giving them a right to reduce coverage without the express agreement of all parties to the contract? This might prove to be interesting. We need to have a copy of these new warranty terms. If this is not a lie and they have new terms that say the warranty is void if the customer does their own repairs, that would deal a deathblow to what used to be the world's best brand. I have a feeling it's a lie and another example of a rogue employee making things up as they go along. Stop and think about it... the mere notion of a genuine performance enthusiast being OK with the idea of handing the screwdriver to someone else and hoping they don't ruin their beast is utter nonsense. That would be like expecting a NASCAR driver to be OK with the idea of Autozone cashiers and Jiffy Lube trainees replacing their pit crew, LOL.

 

So, let me get this straight.....

You needed a new keyboard - tech comes out with new keyboard - tech tries to install new keyboard but causes havoc in doing so which results in broken clips on your existing motherboard (as well as other damage as noted) - tech then tries to say he didn't break things and tries to hide the clips he broke off but you caught him trying to palm them - you then catch him out trying to make an imaginary phone call - he then makes a genuine call and orders a new board because he broke the one in your machine - then Dell ship you a new motherboard without a tech, right?

Now, you get a call saying that you can't use the part that Dell sent you that would actually repair the damage that the tech did ??

I really don't understand Dell's logic here - why on earth are they withholding parts that would repair your machine? - I don't think that I've ever heard of Dell/AW doing a fix on a mobo, they just swap 'em out...especially when clips are busted off, as I don't think there is a part number for clips only. Weird shenanigans going on here......NBD warranty? - hardly.

Actually, I'm wondering if when the tech has reported back to the office, he's said the clips were already broken off.....by the sound of it, the tech seems like the kinda guy that would try to cover his back any way he could, so that wouldn't surprise me - maybe that's why Dell are saying you can't install it, even though he ordered it...eventually, after trying his best at your home to avoid any repercussions on him.

 

Yeah, that's definitely not an example of NBD or good customer service. Maybe they do have clips now. It would be great if they did (it was stupid they did not have them before), but a little better communication would be in order.

 

Yeah, clips would make sense - much cheaper, and a much more sensible way to fix something that otherwise works fine. I hope that is their plan. If not, a new board should be a must.

 

This is what crossed my mind, too. Alienware should know better than that, because they have replaced plenty of parts (or complete machines) due to incompetent outsourced technicians, and even their own repair depot employees, ruining things.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about this. from what I can gather from reading Dell's warranty terms, a dell representative can send you parts for you to replace on your own as their discretion. The warranty terms reference's easily replaced parts, but that is a vague definition, and varies by individual. The warranty terms are from 2011 though.. so they maybe updated, but it was on Dell's site.

http://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/...uments/in-home-service-contract-12_8_2011.pdf

 

Yeah, it is very vague. Same thing happened to me recently when trying to buy a 'part only' gpu/cpu heatsink for my 14. To replace it actually requires a full teardown, and this is where the 'vagueness' comes in - basically there is no way for Dell to accurately gauge the level of competency of the person who would be installing the part, if acquired on a parts only basis. For me, it was simple enough, but maybe Dell think the average Joe does not have the required skills to competently work on their own machine - they will 'nanny' us as much as they can to avoid further warranty claims for bungled self-repairs.

When it suggests 'easily replaced parts', that is a hard thing to pin down per individual. I imagine that Dell mean things like HDD's and RAM.....perhaps keyboards, trackpads etc - the kind of things that don't require a great deal of competency. Whilst I can see and appreciate their level of caution, the responsibility should be borne by the owner, and not dictated by the manufacturer. If I want to buy a part, that should be me right to do so - especially if I acknowledge that by installing it myself is my responsibility and my bad if I balls it up......

 

well it is what it is.. still no phone call as 2:27pm today.. no tec.. parts ive been told i cant use.


WE NEED A REP TO COME ON HERE AND TELL US EXACTLY WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON INSIDE OF DELL RIGHT NOW AND WHY THE COSTA RICA OFFICE IS ACTING SO STRANGE QUOTING POLICIES THAT NO ONE HAS HEARD OF..

 

This thread has helped my low blood pressure. Thank you for posting.

 

I certainly understand the frustration and I would also be upset if this were me. But, if I were an Alienware Rep like Brother Porras or Wasserman, I would not want to post in this thread. Even though they did not cause this problem, it places them in a defensive position. As this is a private matter, maybe they would be more responsive to providing assistance in sorting out this problem if you send them a PM.

 

You should have told him about that moron that came over to you a week ago and didn`t know anything about what he was doing. Despite being a Alienware technician that should know how to fix things, not break them.

"So I will install it myself thank you very much. I can send you pictures from the whole replacement procedure so you can approve that this is warranty worthy"

 

Hi guys,
can anyone help me replacement of keyboard for Asus R700DE. coz its really tough to find keyboard for this model.

 

Google is your friend!: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=Toshiba+R700+keyboard&_sacat=0

 

well its day 9 since receiving the part.. and still no tech and no follow up call from Dell.. whats there twitter feed again might as well message em..

 

@DellCares - btw, that's crappy service, Bro....

 

It's actually @AlienwareTech because @DellCares will tell you to speak with @AlienwareTech.

 

Tweet both of 'em.....the more, the merrier.

 

ok so i tweeted em both and any thing else dell related lol.. now I wait..