M11x R1 - Failure.. and expiring warranty. :sigh

My m11x r1 has 30~ days warranty left.
I've had the hinge fixed once already, and the battery replaced.
I now have problem with my GPU fan. At first it became extremely loud when it would come on. Now it doesn't even turn on.
The bottom of the laptop is INCREDIBLY hot. Jesus, i can smell the heat of the electronics.

I've also been having lockups (before the gpu issue) while transferring files to an external hdd, and the hinge is broken again.

I called dell and told them about my issues, and they sent me a box to send the laptop in.

I'm super scared that i'm going to get it back and have more issues with my warranty expired, and the $260 for an extended (1 yr) warranty is just too much.
This is bullcrap. I want a new laptop. I want a refund. I don't want this thing. I had an XPS back in the day that had multiple gpu failures and they strung me along fixing it over and over until my warranty was out and then i was screwed.

Anyone have any ideas on how to get them to give me a new laptop, or advice at all?

 

Don't give in, speak to managers over the phone say that you are leary and you want a new replacement, or complain about all the failures you've had and say you will never buy a dell or alienware again unless something is done, they may extend your warrenty for free.

 

Definitely go for the extended warranty for free. They have done this for me on multiple occasions across 3 different laptops which have had multiple failures each (14z, studio 15 and currently replacing the motherboard/cpu/gpu on my m11x r2 for overheating issues - 91+ degrees Celsius consistently under load, 80+ on the GPU - always freezes at some point between 5 minutes to 2 hours). They have extended my current warranty an extra 6 months. Each time they have done so, there has been a revision in the actual hardware used and by the end of my dell-extended warranty; they work great. The 14z and studio 15 run flawlessly, now. I'm confident that with this new motherboard and, eventually, a new hinge, the m11x will be solid too.

My spiel: My significant expenditure should not have been an investment in wasted productivity. Sure, I utilized my warranty, but as a result of the wasted time - I lost much of my coverage, as well. My confidence has dwindled, and I'm not sure what we can do to ensure I make future investments with you. What does your manager think about the situation?

Then let them talk to the manager, they'll take care of you if you just work them over a little bit.

 

I just called them again. They were really no help. I was on the phone with him for 45 minutes and he wouldn't budge. I explained that the reason for having a warranty is for reassurance that my working laptop--if anything goes wrong--will be covered and repaired. But for me, it's more like "i hope my computer doesn't break again before my warranty is up."
He kept repeating the same thing "there's no way for us to extend you warranty for free.. we aren't even authorized to do so"

He told me to send it in, and upon inspection call them if there are any remaining issues. I told him about my horror stories of calling dell/alienware while out of warranty and them not even talking to me and he said that wouldn't happen.
NEVER AGAIN, DELL/ALIENWARE.

I should just get this thing fixed and sell it immediately.
How much could i get for it ? R1 (specs in sig)

 

Probably $500. That sucks, man. Customer service is going down the crapper everywhere.

 

any chance that you could tell us how you bought this machine?
I think if you buy it with American express or Visa(some cards), you can get extended 1 year warranty from credit card company.

btw, opening tickets with customer services for differences issues (get different dispatching number) before you warranty expire will at least get you all borken parts replaced.
going to 2 year extended warranty may cost around 300 dollars....

 

Keep calling man, escalate to a manager and vent your fustrations if you don't get what you want, call back and do it again, they are lying to you when they say they can't.

 

I got it financed through Dell.
I just think it's BS that I have to send it in, leaving me without a laptop for almost a month and they don't even extend my warranty for a month, or the time I'm without it.

I'm going to continue to call.
I've had good luck with writing a letter directly to Michael Dell, so I may try that if my issues are not solved.

 

did you ask to speak with a super visor?

 

Why are they insisting on sending it in? Your warranty entitles you to NBD on-site service. Any and every component can be replaced on-site. Have them replace the motherboard and whatever else it might take. Do not send it in for repairs. Escalate it on up the support food chain if the first level dweeb refuses to understand how this is supposed to work.

 

Thanks for the advice! I'll call them asap and demand on-site repair.

Yes I asked to speak to a supervisor.. The guy hesitated by saying " well, yes I can let you speak to a supervisor, but he's going to tell you the same thing so you'd be wasting your time, but hold on..." and then i was on hold for 5minutes and he came back to say " Sir, yes, I am still waiting for the supervisor to come over here, but they're in a meeting and i can't really say how long the wait will be... it could be a half hour, and they're going to tell you the same thing so it'sreally not worth your time... "

 

At that point you get the name of the guy you're speaking to and then tell him that you will call back later and speak to a supervisor a) about his reluctance to let you speak with a supervisor and b) about having them take care of the problem properly. Don't lose your cool, just take control of the situation by calling back and getting someone else on your case who isn't being a stick in the mud.

EDIT: It's key that you have them handle this as an NBD on-site repair. You paid for that and it means that this gets taken care of sooner than it would if it gets sent off. Time is of the essence due to the little time you have left on your warranty. Having it returned from the repair depot 10 days later only to find that it's not fixed or that something else is not working is what you need to avoid.

 

Ok. I'm calling them first thing Monday morning.

By the way, what does NBD mean?

 

Are you calling the alienware # or the dell number?

 

NBD = Next Business Day

And call the Alienware number, you should have better luck with them. I called them about getting some replacement screws for my backplate, and they sent me an entire new backplate haha.

 

That's no good then, by that logic your are probably conning & being inconsiderate. Once the warranty runs out after Dell fixes it, the next buyer that buys it and something happens with it will be force to pay for the repair or buy the extended warranty because you as the original owner no longer wants to take responsibility or the headaches that came with it.

I'm not saying you are trying to take advantage of someone if you decide to sell a product you yourself is no longer confident with because of the defects etc.. but try and put yourself in the buyers position, would you buy a product that is being sold by someone that he himself no longer has confidence ( unless of course u try and bullshyet him about the product being perfectly fine) with and trying to get rid of it before warranty runs out just so you can make the quick money and not have the headaches nomore and just pass it on the next buyer?

 

So, just an update:

I got them to send an on-site technician to my house..
The first time he replaced the hinge, they sent the wrong lcd assembly. (i have the wwan, and the lcd they sent him didnt)and so we had to postpone. Same thing this time. They sent the wrong f'ing lcd assembly. I called after the tech left, and explained my frustration to the tech support rep on the phone. I got them to extend my warranty by 3 months.. better than nothing.
My work schedule is a lot more normal now, so the onsite tech was able to receive the part and come by the next day. He replaced the gpu heatsink and the lcd assembly. The alienware tech support person told me I would be getting the new hinge design, but as far as i can tell its the same as it's always been.
Things are working fine now, as far as i can tell.

I'm gonna be rough with this thing for these 3 months, so i can make sure anything that could go wrong in 6 months will go wrong in 3. I'm really pushing for a new laptop. Ideally, they wont have a replacement and will be forced to give me an upgrade

 

that's good that they finally replaced the broken parts and that your M11x is working properly.

as for the warranty issue, aside from the widespread hinge problem, i'm going to have to side with dell on this one. many, many consumer electronics come only with a 1 year warranty, with the option to buy an extended warranty. if you wanted that peace of mind, you probably should have bought an extra year or two so that you would be covered. i'm not saying that i don't feel bad for you, but realistically, you can't really expect dell or any of these companies to extend 2 or 3 year warranties to everyone, while also keeping the price of the goods where they are.

the fact of the matter is that laptops break WAY more often than desktops do. i would venture to say that it is mostly due to smaller components, enclosed in a smaller casing, with restrictive airflow (compared to a desktop), causing higher temps across the board. playing intensive games for hours with below average ventilation will definitely cause your entire computer to heat up, and on top of that, laptops being what they are, people tend to turn them on, turn them off, carry them places, turn them back on, etc. this causes huge heat swings on the components, which is also proven to shorten lifespan (not to mention dropping and dinging your laptop probably doesn't help things). because of this, a laptop is probably one of the few things i would consider buying an extended warranty for.

in a big desktop tower with nice big fans and tons of airflow, this isn't as big of a problem because it's not trying to push air through a 1/2 inch hole on the bottom, as is the case with laptops.

some components of your laptop broke within the year, and the standard warranty was there to replace them free of charge. while i would also be a bit annoyed, i'd also be relieved that it was covered, and i think that is fair. in general, most people have very few hardware problems, but you are one of the unlucky ones. it stinks, but now that your computer is back to normal, you might as well enjoy it (and your 3 extra months of warranty). i'm not sure i agree with you "being rough with it so that anything that can break will break earlier than it should," but that's your prerogative.

 

Well, sure. I understand only offering a 1 year warranty. What I don't understand is how i could have so many problems in that one year. I've been through this before with dell.
There's no way I'll ever recommend a dell to anyone, or buy another for myself after all the headache they've put me through.
I had a simple as can be cheapo compaq that lasted me 4 years with zero problems.

 

I would recommend to you one of two laptops.

1) IBM/Lenovo think pad. They are a little more pricey, but they are business class laptops. They are built to run 8+ hours a day and be on the go bouncing around and taking a beating. They are tanks (figuratively) but still are portable for a 15".

2) Dell Latitude series. They are the dell equivalent of the lenovo think pad. I've seen my step dad poor coffee on the keyboard of one and turn it on its side so the coffee can run out, ALL WHILE POWERED ON! Dell business class is a completely different beast compared to the inspiron consumer class.

As mentioned before, I always recommend the extended warranty, even if you have to downgrade on some other bells and whistles to be able to afford it. You can always upgrade Ram and HD later when the price is more convenient for you rather than breaking the bank straight out of the gates.

Good luck, I can't wait until I invest a little money in an ultraportable, 15" lappy's are starting to feel either too clunky or like a toy out of a cereal box.

 

Use squaretrade.com for the warranty. This computer was $99 for three year warranty.

 

Hey! Thanks a lot for the advice on my next laptop! I really appreciate it.
I definitely am going for an extended warranty.

Note: My m11x is still freezing during large filetransfers via usb. The tech thought it was the heatsink causing the problem, but it wasn't.
Gonna call soon.

 

Ok this has me terrified as I just bought a m11x r1. Build quality that bad?

 

I don't think my experience is typical.. (well, aside from the hinge problem but apparently they've redesigned it.. so after your first failure you should be good)

What DOES seem typical is their lackluster customer service.. so if you ever find yourself having problems you have to make sure you don't back down before you get what you deserve.

 

i am new here..
I am e dell user..after buying it june 2009 i got a problem with a visual c++ prog within two day of purchase..i called them..but they cant fixed that then..i become accoustomed with it..later my dvd writer stopped burning..i called them..they promised me to replace my opti drive within 5days..this time fixed my c++ prog issue..but ultimately i got my drive replaced after about 17 days(may be its due to my remote place).. There after it was running quiet ok..again on may 2010 i called dell and lodge a complaint about the speeker..they assured me to replace within 5 days..this time i gave them my work address..and they delivered my speeker within 3 days..bt my issue was not resolved..the onsite technician informed them..next i was scheduled to replace my motherboard..within days it was replaced..but the issue remained unsolved..then they promised to replace the motherboard and speeker again..still the issue remain unresolved..and again they replaced my motnerboard and speeker..but this time even the issue remain unsolved..then i asked the supervisor to replace my system or refund my money..they insisted to replaced mh parts again..but was strictly straight with my point..and finally i got assurance to have my system replaced(despite of being 345 days old) within 20 buissness days...
So guys this is my story n experience about dell...and i think if u have a valid ground then stick to the point and u will get ur system replace... Thnk u guys... n sorry for such a lengthy post..