Alienware horrible customer support

Purchased an R3 M11x that arrived in early September.

Started having probllems with it immediately; Wouldn't always turn on, screen would flicker, random reboots, etc... Documented all of the problems (even made youtube video's to show indian call center). Called customer service several times; they would always give me the same recommendation - remove the back cover, unplug battery and hold the power key.

This usually fixed the 'problem' for about a day or two, but eventually, something new would come up. Finally, the machine just stopped turning on ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao4LJw6Vt_k), When I opened up the back, I found a screw rattling around in the case - it was from the wireless card, which obviously hadn't been put in properly. I took photo's, called support, which forced them to dispatch a box for it to be fixed at the depot.

When it arrived, I received a call saying the keyboard, motherboard and screen were all fried due to water being spilled on it, which was not covered by the warranty. No matter how many times I tried to explain the machine had never been close to water, all they did was try and sell me a 'deal' to fix the machine. I'm not cheap, I spent $2200 on this machine, when the average build is closer to $900. I was so pissed I had them send it back to me.

I then brought it to CDW, which doesn't sell dell, but would attempt to fix it if I paid for the repairs. I said ok, and they were able to fix it and found scortch marks on several of the traces consistent with a metal object touching various parts of the motherboard. They found no evidence of water at all, but were able to repair the machine without buying any parts.

They were also kind enough to write up a notorized letter indicating what they had found, and how they repaired the unit.

I live in Illinois, which happens to have a Dell subsidiary here, so I just filed a small claims complaint against Dell for the cost of the repair, lost productivity, court costs and the replacement machine I had to purchase during this whole fiasco.

I'll let you know how it goes, but given all of the evidence I have (video, photo's, written affidavits from experts, emails), they will be hard pressed to win this one.

Just tired of being screwed by horrible customer support

 

Wow, that sucks dude and i'm quite surprised they made that mistake because from my experience Dell technicians are usually pretty good.

good luck mate, and do let us know how it goes.

 

You go dude.

Dell's customer support is rubbish, and everywhere you spit, you will hit someone who dealt with and ain't happy. They were really helpful when questions had to do with buying an M11X - helpful as well, eager to help. Haven't had any real issues yet, but even asking simplest questions about Alienware's features like myhive etc. they just shrug me away, without giving any answers.

I spent like half an hour looking for a way to contact them in the UK site as well, cause when i contacted then via US site, at the end they told me they cant help cause im from UK and should contact UK support...

The indians working there are probably getting payed a few bucks from every sale, at least thats the feeling i get...

 

i got that stupid "unplug the battery and hold the power button" suggestion before and i just hung up and called again. that time i got a guy who wasn't a complete idiot, he used the Dell remote desktop feature to see my problem and the next day they sent a guy out to repair it. My advice for anyone would be just keep calling untill you get someone who isnt retrded

 

This reminds me of the days when I had to replace the hinges of my M11x R1 and there was no official announcement of the problem done at the time...
Horrible experience.
Good luck with your issue, I hope it will be resolved very quickly.
Threats of bad publicity in the press and lawsuit worked for me.

 

It's weird that they sent you a box instead of sending a tech person to fix it for you on-site. I had a loose screw in mine as well and they sent someone to remove it.

 

after I had numerous repairs I requested a replacement. solved all my issues up to this point.

 

alexzogh,

Could you send me your service tag number via a private message? I want to read through the Dell logs.

 

It will definitely test your patience.

Just make sure not to take a no for an answer and persistent.

 

Just a quick update.

I'm all set for a November 14th court date. Have my notarized affidavit from the technical expert, video's and photo's of the computer, and bills from CDW, my lawyer, court fee's, etc...

In the interim I've been harassed to death by Dell finance. My lawyer recommended I put them on hold pending the outcome of the lawsuit, but inform the court the number of times they have contacted me - currently going on 56 phone calls to my house, work and cell phone from their 800 number. Since I informed them of the legal action, he thinks the judge will hammer them for being so aggressive.

Number of follow up calls from Dell technical support, which shipped me back a dead laptop... zero.

Given the court costs, legal costs, time invested, and the fact I had to buy a replacement computer, all of which my lawyer tells me I am unlikely to recover, this was an expensive option I wouldn't recommend to everyone. For me, this wasn't an issue of money.



Have

 

Just for the record though, this is a common problem people have with the Dell depot. Things get done wrongly or badly, and the blame gets shifted. It's quite common knowledge here that you use the in-home service option, never send it to Dell for repairs. Even the service technician Dell sent out told me the exact same thing.

 

Ha, thats weird, hope you get this resolved. I called and asked for them to send me a set of bumpers for my m11... simple task but they didnt want to

 

hmmm.... mine is at the depot right now.. gets me worried.

BTW, anyone who has a computer going to the depot, check out this nice little "check on my computer" page.
https://depotstatustool.dell.com/depotstatustool/searchlaptop.aspx

According to the page, mine got there today, and should be back in my hands on wed.

 

tech support sucks here in england. it was pretty awesome in canada.

 

Don't even get me started on Dell / Alienware support

I'll tell you what, they just have awful quality standards and they are happy to operate on a less than acceptable level of customer service.

I had a trip to Dell hell and back with my M11x R1 I bought back in June this year. When I received it the keyboard was faulty and the mouse trackpad was shiny as if it had been used for like 3 months. So I rang up and complained. Dell replaced on the keyboard. Then a week later it starts freezing even after 3 Os installs and diagnostic tests with phone support which cost me over £20! I put up with it for about 3 months until the chassis rubber feet fell off and the hinges started cracking.

By this point I was furious, I phoned Dell and told them a 3 month old laptop shouldn't have a list of problems as long as my arm and I demanded a replacement as the system wasn't fit for purpose under the Act of sales 1979 and 1984, they just didn't budge and offered me refurb parts!!!! After this I phoned everyday for a week until the manager at Alienware tech support offered me a full refund which i obviously took. Still they wouldn't refund me my phone bills or a days loss of earnings to let the tech support guy waggle a screwdriver at my M11x telling me 2ooo you'd better get those hinges looked at" cheers mate, i could have told you that myself, ffs!

I hunted around for a better laptop for the price but I ended up buying an M11x R3 i5 instead which i must say is a dream.

Point is if you have a problems with your Alienware in the first week get it swapped, if you leave it welcome to the Dell support run around which will cost you a fortune in phone bills and angry frustrated feelings of customer support neglect.

Bottom line is they didn't want to replace my R1 with an R3, lets face it Dell, you're cheap skates!

 

Well, I just got a call from the depot, they replaced my mobo, and are shipping it back to me in the morning. So, I guess I should get it back in a day or 2. I took befor pictures, but I am hoping there is no scratches or dings.

 

If you have to deal with Dell, always have the call escalated to a manager if you don't get what you want.

I spent SIX HOURS STRAIGHT on the phone bouncing between Dell departments before i finally resolved my issue. Even though it was more than a month old, i managed to not only get a refund, but they also gave me a refund for the $315 coupon code i used for the R2, when i placed the order for my R3.

Which is the story of how i got an i5 R3 with 6GB Ram, 6205 wireless card, and 1 year complete care warranty for $760 shipped with next business day delivery.

 

have to admit, i bought my m11xr2 quite a while ago, shipping took forever (that's because i am most probably anxious about getting it), then the problem started..... it crashed so many times with OC and Not OC that i had to call Dell..... I got the Malaysian call centre (i am in Australia) who then remote desktop into my computer. They updated drivers, etc, but still it crash like no tomorrow. After that, they then call a tech to come in and replace the mother board on it....... it worked, but cosmetically the tech was rough and left scratches on my new machine.....

i called them back, and within a week they replaced my machine with a new one. not sure about the rest of the world, but i only have good things to say about the malaysian tech support team..... all up, i waited about 1.5 months from New -> fixed -> New.... this is including shipping of the replacement unit.

 

I am a long time Dell and Alienware user. I own a M11x r1 (1,5 years old) and an older Dell XPS 720(4+ years).

No issues with the M11x yet but the old XPS 720 is acting up lately. It still is covered under extended warrenty.

About two months ago one of the harddrives failed. I tried it in my son's (Acer) desktop and it worked so I figured that there was something wrong with either the sata port on the mainboard or the sata cable.
I phoned Dell support, they asked me some questions until they suggested to swap the harddrive (which was useless). I told him I bought the drive after I bought the XPS, not from Dell but from a local retailer. They answered: 'we're sorry but we can't give you any further support because the drive you bought was not sold by Dell'. I explained about the sata cable, sate connector... I tried anything but no avail.
I googled a few hours and I ran into a thread about a problem with the sata connectors and the XPS's mainboard. I reseated the cable, switched it on and voila... it booted. Sometimes it still fails to boot but unplugging/plugging in the sata cable on the mainboard solves the issue.

Two weeks ago the 13-1 mediareader failed... I phoned Dell and they suggested to reinstall the mediareader drivers... which aren't available on Dell's site for Windows 7. Dell Support refused to help because they weren't supporting Windows 7 for my desktop. I had to reinstall the XPS in its original state, meaning back to XP 32-bit. I told support the reader worked from day one in Windows 7 but it suddenly stopped working two weeks ago. But no avail... again :-(
So I googled, stumbled upon a site which suggested to install Vista 64-bit drivers (which are available from Dell) and to unplug/plug in the mediareader and it worked.

While handling the mediareader issue yesterday, I noticed the dvd-burner wasn't present in Windows 7.
I didn't phoned Dell for this problem... I reseated the sata cable on the mainboard and it worked again.

To make a long story short... I paid extended warrenty twice but Dell resist to help me because the computer wasn't in its original state

The XPS has still +100 days of warrenty left... I'm not sure to extend it this time and I won't replace it with a new Dell.

Support was fine years ago... but now it's unusable. We don't have depots over here in Belgium. I guess, the older the system you have, the less support you'll get.

 

Got my tracking number, seems my computer gained a 1 pound between me shipping it to them and them shipping it back.... 7 lbs when I shipped, 8 lbs when they shipped.

Should have it in my hands in a few hours.

 

Just 2 cents. When I deal with any kind of tel. support I use google voice to call them, can save you a lot of money on telephone bill.

Likely my experience with Dell support was good.

 

I always use the toll free numbers and don't get charged a cent... Doesn't everybody?

 

Nope... no toll free numbers available in Belgium.