Help! Problems with my hinge repairs by tech....

So today I got a call from the tech that my parts came in to fix my hinge problem. We meet at my wife's office and I see that the replacement part was actually a new screen !

So the tech says it will take a half an hour to make the change. 45 minutes later he is struggling trying to get the computer back together and having difficulties with the cables meanwhile muttering how poorly this computer is constructed. Finally after an hour and 20 minutes he says he finished it and we boot it up and it works well. We are in a rush to get to our bible study so I give it a quick once over and say thanks and we part company.

Well not 5 minutes after we leave with my wife driving I notice that the hinges are great the new screen is kewl and then I close it and am shocked that the "hinge" in between the hinges is separated, not even close to being closed !!

So I call the guy back and asks me to try and see if I can fix it and I say nope not gonna void the warranty, that he needs to fix it tomorrow. He says that he will call his boss and get him to authorize more time to fix this "new" problem.

Have any of you had a problem similar to this when getting the hinges fixed? Is it possible that the screen they sent me doesn't fit properly or is it that the tech guy didn't put the cables in correctly thus making the two parts not fit snugly?

 

Yea that's simple...

Just press it together, it will click in.

 

First thing I tried, no luck though as they don't come together except on the very end of the left side. I believe that it needs ot be taken apart and put back together more carefully, as he was in a hurry because we were. I did him a favor by meeting him at my wife's office and saving him 40 miles driving.

 

Squeeze both sides of the hinge they will snap together, it requires some force make sure the screen is closed.

 

I will try when I shut her down but I do not think that will work as it just looks like they will not reach, due to the poor cable reattaching, IMO.

 

The tech probably broke the clip or placed wires inside wrong.
Call Dell and ask for replacement part for alien head with power button.

 

Man, this sounds like a horror story, pretty much whenever I deal with techs I replace the the part myself to avoid that from happening.

 

Yeah, he did ask me to try and reattach the cables and I had just hurt my back earlier and said noway man I only work on the outside of puters lol. He did not exude confidence in the least. I hope his boss will fix the last part as I have found that older techs usually 35 or older are better than ones like this guy who was in his 20's. At least in fixing Dell/Alienware puters.

 

Not sure about R1's, but with R2's, the wifi antenna wiring, and power button wiring has to be routed separately from each other. If they are routed the same way, it will get chewed up every time you open/close the laptop.

 

So the tech calls me and says he is too busy and cannot make it out today but has an idea. You see he is having a hard time asking his boss to make out an additional "labor" ticket for the work to finish the job. So he tells me to call Dell and tell them that I need a new keyboard so that he can justify the time
I tell him that I will not do it because it is unethical and that he needs to make the time to finish the job he started. He says he will not be able to get back to me until Monday....
So my question to you all is how long do I wait until I report him to Dell? The lappy is working fine now but I do not know if the way he put it back together is not harming some aspect of it and that is why it will not come together properly in the back.
What do you think?

 

Well you do have to order a new media button from what I've read. If he comes by, and finds out you do need a media button panel, you end up wasting a day also.

You don't have to be the judge of the field tech being ethical or not, just call dell, tell them what the problem is, and they should take care of it.

 

I would not hesitate to call Dell back first thing in the morning. Regardless of this guy's personal situation with his job or his boss or whatever, that's really none of your concern. Either his competency or job skills are enough on their own merit or they aren't. The fact that he appears to want to avoid any responsibility for this and leave you hanging is not right. It's not what you paid for with your warranty coverage and I suspect that's not the type of treatment Dell is paying him for either.

Call Dell and explain that you feel there are ongoing issues that stem from the repair that he did and ask that they make sure that he isn't sent out again.

 

@OP

EXACTLY the same thing happened with my tech. Call the tech support, and they should send you a new "Latch cover". It doesn't have any screws you can take it off by GENTLY engaging the screwdriver in the narrow hole in top right corner above the keyboard then very gently taking it out. Same goes for pushing it back - don't apply too much force - it should click when it engages its spot nicely.

Media button panel = latch cover. The tech support on the phone should know it by that name.

 

yes this hinge problem may be a design flaw. the latch cover bolt that hold the hinge is so weak that all m11x will really undergo this problem. i am from philippines and its so hard for me to get a warranty much more a replacement for this part automatically. i have already do it yourself repair with my hinges because the screw in the hinges just literally fell off. so what i did was to bond it with a steel mix devcon epoxy and though it holds it for the meantime but the hinges is so hard in opening that it will eventually break the bond that i have put. now i see some movements already on the left hinges which i assume that the hinge have startined to fell off again. hmmm i might try to bond it again but a more solid epoxy approach for this time. i hope it would hold much longer. its was now 6months ago that i bond my cover and hinges and i hope my re bonding it would hold it much longer for parts to be available here in dell service center in phil....

i really conclude that the hinges of the m11x is a big design flaw.

 

Tech is really pain in the butt to deal with huh..?

 

Thanks for the good advice and that is what I will do tomorrow morning. Man this does kind of disappoint me about the quality of this machine and also Alienware's name takes a hit from where I am sitting....

 

Well I called Dell tech support today and spoke with a very helpful guy. He instructed me in how to take off the panel that is above the keyboard and try and refit it to see if it would snap in place on the backside between the hinges. No matter how hard I tried it would not work and I believe that I discovered the reason why it wouldn't. See the attached picture. It appears as if the tech had improperly attached the cables and one was in the way of allowing the back of the panel to connect properly.
So after an hour and 25 minutes the helpful tech support guy set up yet another ticket for me and sent out a new part along with tech support to come onsite next week. I just hope the cbale is not to badly damaged as some of the insultaion is ripped off. What do you think?
View attachment M11x hinge issue.bmp

 

^If the outer plastic is stripped from the cable, they will need to install a new one. I would call support and mention it to them so that they send out that, too, soon--hopefully to arrive before the tech visits you.

 

That's exactly what I mentioned on page 1.

Wifi antenna routed all wrong. Make sure the field tech takes everything off and reroutes it. The power button wiring goes OVER the metal hinge, and the wifi antenna stays back of the hinge.

I hate to say it, but you might end up with a noticeable gap between the new part and the hinge closing that's part of the bottom housing. The incompetent field tech's poor workmanship probably ruined the bottom housing hinge closing.

Either way, call the tech support, and email the picks also.

 

Yeah I sent a pic to the tech and told him I needed another new screen because of the tech's inemptness....

 

I have another question regarding the new screen that I received to fix the hinge problem. Is it possible that this screen could be the R2 type? It seems so to me as it does not show smudges like my original R1 did and seems less shiny. Anyway I can tell if it is indeed an R2 screen? Oh and I am talking about the backside (black) not the actual screen.

 

If it's the R-2 version, you'd be able to easily tell. It's coated in a soft (rubbery) material, not just the hard plastic of the R-1. R-1 looks metallic, R-2 more like a flat black finish.