Alienware Horror Story

Misinformation? Be my guest, do a poll asking people how many of them are largely disappointed with the CS they got from AW (not even mentioning the 2 AW "representatives" on the forum). My bet it will be a fair 50% of bad CS experiences. If you would read the euro threads you'd see there is not a single euro customer that does not complain about CS. Add to that many US and you'll get your "misinformation". In my opinion, seeing that everytime AW releases a semi-novel product people go through the same pain in the butt CS this thread, or a similar thread should be made stiky to inform people that while the product mightbe good/best/etc AW phone calls can be more than a nightmare for many people.

 

yeah i should probably change that. I guess this probably will be my last thread anyway. I decided to go with a desktop computer from cyberpowerpc.com.

Video: Dual Geforce 9800Gx2
HD: 500Gb
Audio: Xtreme Gamer
Processor: Core 2 extreme 3.0ghz
Memory: 4gb ram (preppin for the future)
OS: Vistas ultimate 64-bit


If you guys are trying to find an alternative for gaming systems (blackbird, voodoo, alienware, falcon-northwest, etc) I strongly urge you guys to check out this site. With all of these specs Its still cheaper than what I would have gotten from Alienware. You can make some really powerful configurations that are decently affordable.

Ps...instead of a POS hat, I get a Free poker set to play with the boys, a free briefcase and a free "sweet" T-shirt. Oh yeah and They threw in free liquid cooling and free shipping.

They said I should expect it early next week, Tuesday most likely.

 

Chaz, I am sorry but the customer service is really bad. The Agents are not empowered to do anything which is the key to making a customer feel like they care. I am sure they are paid minimum wage to read off scripts. They will continue to read off these scripts without listening to a word you are saying if they have no clue what to do. I hear the same exact words over and over again but nothing gets done. I have never had such automatronic service before.

I have not had one technical person on the line ever give me a straight answer to a problem I was having. When I call to ask about a driver update, I am told that the latest most up to date drivers are on the website. I should go visit there and download them and it will fix my problem with the games. I have to tell them that the driver on the website is the same one that shipped with the units. They should know that. Their response then is that "well then Sir that driver is the certified driver and it will work with all of your games!"

I always have to ask for a senior technical support person who then says they don't know when they will have a new driver. This is not good technical support.

I know when you love a company and you love their philosophy you let them get away with a lot. having finally bought into their whole schtick and finally purchased one of their units, I can say they are no where close to living up to my expectations.

As far as what Heathkidd says, while it is a generalization and maybe not completely accurate I also feel there is some truth to his generalizations.

I would love nothing more than to wash my hands of this whole bad experience and return my unit to Alienware, but even if the product does not deliver as advertised they will not allow a return outside of 30 days.

 

My brother who owns a Cyber Power Desktop. It runs well, but he had a few problems with his video drivers and things like that.

Customer service really didn't help with him much, with his liquid cooling problem. Now whenever he runs the computer, it makes a weird noise. And it's suppose to be a silent. So, that's what I know about them. Anyways hope it helps.

But, for an affordable price, good idea though.

 

I completely agree. Chaz, This could be an ignorant statement, but you probably got good answers from alienware because you were a "VIP", reviewing the system.

This isnt the first computer I have ever bought, and I surely have never had anything close resemble the garbage CS I got from Alienware.

And westcoastgeek...when I was in phase 2 one time, the CS agent said "I was in phase 2..yaddy yadda yadda" and totally just read what the description was on the website. Bogus

 

haha you meant to be quoting Chaz right?

 

Without discounting other users' issues, my personal experience with CS wasn't horrible. Everything from upgrading my CPU through Roswell division and the bios update phone calls, it really hasn't been bad. My spare AC adapter that was missing was sent, but with the wrong power cable and that has yet to be resolved, but it's not something I'm terribly upset over.

If you're stuck with bad CS through the regular channels, I recommend the Roswell division:

Phone: 1.866.Roswell
Email: [email protected]

 

Yeah i think so too its completely unrelated quote. Chaz gets a lot of respect here.

 

Yea. Right now the Roswell Crew is taking care of my incident. Even my critical issues agent offered me if I wanted them to take over, which I took. So, far they are doing a good job. They actually email me each day and give me updates on my m5550 and what's going on at the repair facilities in Miami. Oh ,by the way, this would technically be my third time sending it in to them for same related issues.

 

Callidor,

Currently there are some 1440x900 screens in stock but they are not enough to fill all the orders. our next batch of screens will be arriving on monday.
Send me an email ([email protected]) I will see if I can get more specific info regarding your order.

 

Hmm I also called up the sales office and they told me that the next shipment should arrive today. I guess either way it makes no difference. Production won't start until Monday anyway. That's fine, I'm just curious as to why I wasn't emailed about the part being on back order like the phase 4 description said I would be =/

Again, I'm not an AW Basher. I love my AW desktop, I've had positive experiences in the past, and I'm sure that despite the bad CS experiences people are having, the products are still very high quality. There are downclocking issues with the 8800, but honestly stuff like that is sort of to be expected when the product is new. Atleast they're taking steps to fix it. Plus i ordered the 8700 so i'm not gonna worry >.>

 

"Customer service" IN GENERAL is hit or miss for everyone... on the internet you hear a ridiculous # of complaints about EVERYONE: dell, verizon, att, tmobile, bmw, VW, sony, citibank, b of a, amex whatever... the list goes on and on and on and on. From the same commpany, some people get great CS while others get the shaft... its just a matter of luck. AWabouttime ended up w/ a horror story. it happens, unfortunately.

I've learned to expect the worst from CS for all companies. If i get helped in a positive manner, its a plus. If and when I get the shaft, oh well... bad luck for me.

 

I think you all misread my post unfortunately. Note I did not say whether the CS was good or bad, only that Alienware marketed themselves on it. That's all. I do not own an Alienware and the CS I got was not the same as a standard customer would get.

Read it again:

Secondly, the 'misinformation' I was speaking of was as follows:

I don't believe anyone here is doing market research for Alienware so broad comments about their customer base are unfounded.

 

I think there are some misunderstandings about my stance on Alienware. I am not affiliated with Alienware at all nor do I get anything from them for doing a review. My goal in this forum and all of the other forums I moderate is to make sure the information is at least somewhat relevant and helpful. Trolling and other senseless comments I do not tolerate because they help no one and give the forum a negative reputation. My personal stance on Alienware is neutral - I both like and dislike things they do. As the forum manager here, I need to keep my comments objective.

 

we all believe in you Chaz, its only the whole CS thing made ppl very unhappy....especially it is a high end machine

 

im sending my crapware m9750 back'

 

For my 2 cents, I have gotten good service from AW so far. No complaints from me other than the long time to wait, which was not so bad, since I seemed to end up with a good system.

 

lol @ telling an admin to read the forums.

l2read Ioniro


And you guys are generalizing their bad customer service based on the majority of posters who come on here to complain.

 

Well is nothing wrong with telling anyone something, admin or god he can't read everything

 

He reads EVERYTHING and is everywhere.

 

Well he's posted on a lot of those complaint forums that's why I brought it up.

 

Why? U are the no.1 fan of AW. Anything we can help?

 

Haha, I wish. The moderation team and I do greatly appreciate user help - under all posts there is a "Report this Post" icon - click that and report the post when you see something you don't like or is questionable, it sends us a report. I or another moderator will respond to it ASAP.

 

The problem is, people just weren't reading what chaz was saying...all he said was that he was neutral on AW and that he didn't like baseless remarks. A lot of people responded to this by saying "what!? how can you like their CS?"

Comment should be read entirely be for they are responded to. Also, the matter under debate here is alienware's customer service. though that department does admitadly have problems, they still make solid PCs imo...

 

I understand people getting bad service, I have gotten bad CS from many companies over the years.

I've also purchased a $4000+ laptop from alienware (second in my sig). The purchase process for me was pretty much flawless. The chassis has a built-in defect though (Its a Clevo Brand 900T I think), where the heatsink fries its sensor and the cooling system malfunctions. I think 50% of the issues peope had with that model were caused by the heatsink defect, but most didn't have the knowledge or time to pinpoint the issue.

Well I did, it took me a few weeks and some technical tinkering, but I knew it was the problem. I called Alienware about it and sent it in (with my recommendation that the heatsink sensor was the faulty part).

Long story short, they sent it back with a new CPU, GPU, and motherboard, but they didn't touch the heatsink. I didn't care, but I knew the issue would resurface sooner or later....and it did. So I was sent a new GPU and that temporarily fixed my problems, but I knew the heatsink sensor would cause a resurface of the issue. And it did...so I sent it back in. I made about 40 or 50 mentions that I knew EXACTLY what the problem was to the CS rep, I said "say it is the heatsink". I even wrote down on a piece of paper in the box that it was the heatsink.

Anyway, I get the box back and it lists the checkmarks of what was replaced. Once again, every part was replaced, and right next to the heatsink there was a giant check mark and smiley face and an "OH".

So hey, Alienware spent around 6000 dollars repairing my system under warranty over time. I could've saved them about 5700 if they had just fixed what I told them to fix, but what do I care? It isn't my money I am losing!

So yeah, they get an 8/10 for me. 8 for getting it all replaced at no charge to me, and 2 because they were being silly.

That said, I understand they can NEVER take the word of a customer who "thinks" they know what is wrong. Because 99% of the time the user is an idiot and "thinks" he knows everything.

 

sorry for the misunderstanding Chaz. IMO, the AW desktops seem more stable than the notebooks.

And in my situation at the moment how the cost for shipping two ways for Repairs and the GPU swaps are all paid by AW, I'd say the warranty is really excellent. That's a ton of money which AW has spent on me trying to repair my m5550. I know that it's a lot of money.

 

After my CS talk on thursday which wasn't so bad and reading the one you had I can say that unfortunately I've come across an even worse CS - hostgator.com

After being on the phone for 40 minutes (calling from UK to USA.. can't wait to see the phone bill. *yay) I got no result whatsoever. It took him 15 minutes to FIND my account and then hell knows what he did.

 

Tbh im new to the boards but not computing. I looked at buying an Alienware, and after hearing about the wait in the UK, and the problems, I just couldn't put money down on a product with problems, and a massive lead time. and then recently some people recieved them only for them to have been together in a rush with certain things not working.

I searched around and spoke to some of the guys/girls off the forum and found the Clevo M570RU-U AKA Novatech X80Pro-Blu spec for cheaper, and a better build from what i've been told. it's here Wednesday i'm told.

see i have no problem dealing with any company but when i phone CS and ask about the real world arrival date and get told it's an unknown amount of time? sorry you have an idea as your shipping them out, what if i order i get it in 7 days, or i get it in 4 months? they lost business because they had no idea what was happening... if i got told 2 months atleast i could make a informed decision.

I think even if the phase system was more accurate people would be happier, you can't jump up n down the phasing ffs.

If i'm brutely honest i used to see AW as the Bentley of PC's and i can't say that anymore

 

I see Alienware as a Geo now....lil hunk of crap "jeeps"

 

@AWaboutTIME....... why do u still have an alienware in your sig now

 

i understand your complaints, and yes..your experience should never have happened, but honestly dude. you're flaming the system pretty hard for someone who never even used it...

 

your right, I never used the system, but based on the fact that CS and products go hand in hand, its a pretty important issue. I never said the product itself was garbage, but I supose I can base that on the fact with the overheating issues and cracking chasis that it really is.

 

construction of the product and the company's customer service have essentially nothing to do with each other. You think the same outsourced indian telephone operators are putting the laptop together? (Please don't interpret that as a racist remark. I'm just saying the two things happen in completely different parts of the world. The quality of one is not indicative of the quality of the other.) The underclocking has been fixed for a lot of people with the BIOS updates, and the chassis thing seems to be completely gone in the newer ones.

 

"FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE"

IS NOT FIXED. (period)

 

I think it's funny how some people just insist "It's fixed!"
It's not guys... they just taped it with some cheap tape!
Alienguy... I'm really sorry for all you've gone through and I'm totally solidary and I do think it's simply unaceptable and you have all the right to want AW to burn to the ground!

 

It is not 100% fixed. Alienware still has some kinks to work out. But, so far it's a good start. I would be angry too if I spent that much money on a computer, and doesn't work as it should.

 

Just for the record, alienware does not outsource its CS to India. It gets it from Costa Rica

I'm from India and hate the call centre industry, but that does not mean that any and every company outsources to India

 

Are you serious? I thought I was talking to a british woman the other day .

 

Yeah that makes sense, was talking to a techie when i was having issues with my dvd drive and he said he was from Spain, living in Costa Rica.

Lovely lad, didn't fix my issue, but lovely lad.

 

Ah, sorry for the innacurracy then. Again, I hope my comment wasn't perceived as offensive, I was just trying to illustrate the CS and production are really independant of one another. Acutally, most of my CS calls to AW have been really helpful...sucks that it's not that way for everyone.

 

No, it wasnt offensive, but the generalizations do tend to go to extremes.
Many forums bash India simply because of that fact.

It was funny in Transformers, but when it happens on a large scale, you just tend to sit back and wonder

 

*cough* Xoticpc.com *cough*

Clevo M860TU

 

Mmm... flamebait.

 

lol, your in the UK, I'm sure they have there own call center in Ireland. Ask em next time you call

 

And you guys are taking all this to the extreme. Yes there are issues but AW is trying to give everyone something that no other company can offer. There's probably a reason why you can't get this product anywhere else and if AW can fix these issues, they have the upper hand. If not they'll keep getting flamed.

I'm sure with all the issues popping up they are having to get their manufacturer to make changes which is holding up a lot of orders. In all reality they should have planned a lot better and hopefully future products will come out clean/er.

 

Alienware-Steve, I emailed you Friday Do i get a response? lol

 

wow. Is it me or seems like PM's to AW workers usually get ignored?

 

Dunno about you but I just had a splended conversation about what I had for dinner tonight with an AW rep. Wonderful chaps.

 

Wow. You are one of the lucky ones.

Actually, I just call in, it just depends who you get. Once I talked to an extremely helpful tech support agent. This guy really knew what he was doing. It made me happy that I bought an AW.

I guess the main thing is that they want us to email directly to the addresses which they specifically have for such problems or call. Gotta love the tech support...

 

So Dhoang417 how is your M5550 coming in terms of repairs. Just drop me a PM and let me know what is happening when anything new comes up because I would love to help you resolve the issue since I have been through it myself.