AlienCare

AlienCare 3 or 4-Year Free Phone and Collect & Return
Demand no less than the ultimate in protection. With this plan, you will enjoy:

Peace of mind, knowing that you have an entire company at your disposal, equipped and ready to ensure that your computer is performing at the superior level you deserve.
No fees for parts, labour or shipping for any warranty repair, no matter what the cost.
24/7 Phone Support. Have a computer problem at 3am in the morning? No problem.
Forced Upgrade Program. If your computer needs a part that is no longer available, we will replace the part with a similar or better replacement.
Personalised Online Support Portal. Take advantage of the thousands of questions in our FAQ section, learn about computer viruses and download the drivers you need - forever!
Upgrade at specially reduced prices. If you wish to upgrade, send the computer back to us.
Service from people who know Alienware computers. Alienware systems are unique, thus we employ expert in-house technicians.
Replacement Parts: For those experienced with hardware installation, you can simply have Alienware send you a replacement part and install it yourself.

This was copied from Alienware UK, and i was wondering if the No Fees for parts, labour and shipping applies to any international order. Alienware UK has not replied any of my emails to them.

 

Alienware has an international warranty, so I guess that it's valid throughout Europe.

 

Yes, only thing not clear is if they might charge you shipment for the defective part if you're out of UK. I think all their storage and stuff are in UK only. I would say that no but who knows (hope I never find out lol).

 

I was kind of hoping that it applies to every location which Alienware UK ships to.. it's cheaper to ship parts, besides, they would have a discounted rate with DHL wouldn't they.

 

Call AW and find out. TO my understanding International warranty does not mean it will cover all cost and expenses when u are out of the country. I have experience from Sony (vaio TX) & NAD (HIFI). Ended paying full repair cost under international warranty. Long story short, I ended up paying sony USD 600 and NAD (too expensive to mention).

CALL AW and confirm this.

 

They have collect & return included.

 

But that's only for addresses within the European Union..

If our Technical Support Agents determine that your product must be returned to our facilities for repair or replacement, we will issue you a Return Material Authorisation Number (RMA). You must, however, return the product to us in its original or equivalent packaging. We will, at our expense, return the repaired or replacement product to you. We will pay shipping expenses both ways only if you use an address within the European Union. Otherwise, you are responsible for shipping the product to our European Repair Facility and we will ship the product back to you freight collect.

Copied from here...

 

I have yet to see an extended warranty thats worth the paper its written on

get out a cheap insurance policy on your machine, if it breaks get new for old...

there are so many get-out clauses in these extended warranties, you generally end up paying due to "natural wear and tear" and all the other garbage excuses for failed parts.

 

i like thier support , you can call or email them like anytime and ask them random questions and they help you.

 

thats not what I see posted on these forums, the vast majority, groan at the drones.

 

so I don't have to pay if I live in... Italy, France Germany, Spain.. etc etc, isn't it?

 

im pretty certain you won't have to pay for the shipping back to you, but i'm not so sure about the payment for shipping to Alienware UK.

 

yes, maybe I've to pay only the ship to him (around 60-100€ argh)

it's the only thing thatworried me. to have a problem, after spending lots money, and then have to return it!

 

No, collect & return means they pay for both ways shipping.

 

really? it would be very good for me!

 

European Union only it appears...but it's a good thing.

 

here it is the answer of AW, to my question about the shipping costs:

Dear Mr. x,

Thank you for contacting Alienware Sales.

Regarding your inquiry, while your system is covered by the warranty and you are located within the European Union, Alienware will cover the shipping costs in case you need to send the system back to our repair facilities.

Please do not hesitate to contact Alienware's Sales Department by phone at 0800-279 9751, option 1(inside UK) or 00353 906 456 500, option 1 (International) if you have any questions or concerns. Office hours are Monday - Friday from 09:00 to 19:00 GMT and Saturday from 09:00 to 15:00 GMT.


Best regards,

 

Allow me to share my experiences with Alienware's wonderful warranty.

"Demand no less than the ultimate in protection." ... Demand all you like, they'll simply ignore you.

I bought my laptop roughly 2 years ago while living in Ireland. All in it cost almost E4000, which included an extended 3 year warranty (which cost roughly E700).

It developed a problem (failure to POST) and I had to send it back. The only cost to me was purchasing suitable packaging as, unlike Dell they, do not provide this.

I sent it back and within a few days received an email telling me it was being returned via a reputable carrier. The parcel was misrouted then lost. When eventually it turned up again on the carrier's system I started making arrangements for delivery. I did this several times, waiting at home all day for its arrival, but it didn't come.

Eventually after much stress, dozens of phone calls, and formal letters of complaint, it arrived, a total of 45 days after it was sent.

I was (and am) fuming about this. The laptop is essential to my work, and being unable to access my data (or afford to pay professionals to retrieve it for me) led to my losing work and being left without an income for a long period of time. I am in debt as a direct result of their failure to return it despite repeated assurances that it was arriving the next day.

After being very patient (31 days) I requested that Alienware give me a replacement machine or a refund but they refused. I requested that they pay for the recovery of my data from my hard disks but they refused. I requested that they pay damages but they refused. The only concessions they made during this unacceptable fiasco were:

1. A free 2Gb thumbdrive (value approx. £8).
2. A 90 day extension of my warranty (still awaiting clarification as to whether they propose to actually extend my warranty or replace it with a mere 90 day one ... I won't be surprised if it is the latter).

They have behaved appallingly and I very much want to bring them to court under consumer legislation. The difficulty is that Alienware do not have a registered address in the UK, so as far as I can tell proceedings would have to take place in Ireland, where consumer legislation is substantially weaker (e.g. makes no requirement for goods or services to be provided in "reasonable" time).

Furthermore, my laptop has suffered minor but nonetheless concerning damage in transit (the clasps were smashed so I can no longer secure the lid/screen when traveling). I also believe the repair was not conducted properly (the fans are no longer thermostatically controlled which will inevitably lead the the mobo frying again).

I cannot urge you strongly enough to avoid dealing with Alienware. If you must, do not spend any money their warranty. It exempts them from liability for everything short of murdering you. I agree with a previous poster that you should seek a decent insurance policy instead.

 

oh great, is this what ive got to look forward too.
i also took out the extra 3 year warranty.

sorry to hear youve had such a nightmare with AW.

 

There are many stories like this one on the net about AW. However, never ever send in the hard-drive when you send your computer for repairs. Always deal with them that you can keep the hdd at home. If you need to send it make a backup. No company insures you for the data, actually when you send the computer for repairs most companies do not guarantee you will get the same computer. I remember a famous Apple case in which someone got the HDD of another guy in his machine which he sent to have it repaired (hdd was fine).

 

www.alienwareruinedmylife.com, $29.95 ... Reckon I should buy it and set up a support community for Alienware victims? I might even be able to make my money back with pay-per-clicks as it certainly seems there's enough potential traffic out there!

 

@A l a n - Here at notebook review I think we do a great job at helping people out. Personally, I have helped multiple people who have had trouble with their M5550, the most recent being Dhoang. No need to open a site like that, the support here is great.

 

Yea, Stone helped me out, and I was able to return my m5550 and everything else I bought at the time for full credit towards a new m15x.

I can't tell you right now how very, very pleased I am with Alienware.

Feels like a testimony speech!! Just give it a try. Fight with patience.

 

Heh I wasn't pleased with Alienware for the 14 months that my laptop wasn't working. When I finally was given a credit I was happy because I was able to get the M9750 which actually can play games without downclocking

 

You could contact these guys

http://www.badsoftware.com/alienwaresucks/