Alienware warranty satisfaction thread - please rate/share

There seems to be going on a lot of confusion about the Alienware warranty. So this thread shall serve as a poll or survey on how good or bad it really is.

To make this as clean and easy to navigate through, all posts regarding your own experience must have this layout:

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Make sure to answer the poll as well. Or just do that without writing your story down although it would be helpful if you did.

Please keep the discussions down to a minimum and follow the post layout when sharing your experience.

 

Country: UK
Model: M14x R2
Issue: Chirping DVD and mis-aligned lid to case (hinge)
Resolved: Was offered a completed new machine, machine was bought through my business and we had spent ££££'s re-fitting 2 offices, but also told better the devil i know, and reading on these forums decided to keep my one
Satisfied: hard to say, as offer of a new machine 3 months after delivery felt like it was to keep me happy so i placed our next order which is getting signed off in September - new office down south

-H

 

I'll include my XPS system in here for the sake of completeness.

Country: UK
Model: XPS 1730
Issue: Graphics cards dead. Machine would boot and could be used for basic tasks, but FPS of 10-15 on desktop. Games and such wouldn't even start due to the hardware failure.
Resolved: Dell immediately offered to replace the graphics cards. After waiting for months due to supply issues and being given the runabout, a Dell rep eventually pressured them into a system replacement after ~3 months in total of a practically unusable machine.
Satisfied: No. The supply issue was not Dell's fault but after months of waiting they did not seem to accept that this was not an acceptable situation, especially for such an expensive machine. It was only thanks to NBR and the help provided by one of Dell's community reps that they eventually offered a system replacement (initially with terrible specs). In the end I got a nice upgrade, but it was a huge amount of hassle and stress.

Country: UK (System Replacement)
Model: M17x R1
Issue: Intermittent issue where the machine would periodically freeze between ~5-30 mins when running an application that used 3D graphics.
Resolved: After initial troubleshooting, driver and OS reinstallation they sent a tech out to replace MB and both graphics cards. MB was faulty and bricked the machine so another call to replace it... which was also faulty. 3rd service call to replace MB, graphics cards, and CPU heatsink which got the machine working again. Issue was still not resolved so Dell offered a system replacement.
Satisfied: Yes, though I was disappointed with the number of defective replacement parts. This was an exceptionally difficult issue to troubleshoot due to the intermittent nature of it, and because it was impossible to get any crash diagnostics. I can't fault the effort Dell put in to help me with this.

Country: UK (System Replacement)
Model: M17x R2
Issue: The DVD drive failed to read DVDs, but CDs would continue to read as normal.
Resolved: After basic troubleshooting they replaced the drive which solved the problem.
Satisfied: Yes, though this was a fairly open and shut case.

Country: UK (System Replacement)
Model: M17x R2
Issue: The power supply jack became loose due to wear and tear, resulting in an intermittent power connection and performance drop.
Resolved: Dell immediately came around to replace the MB. This MB was defective (again!), so a second call took place to replace the MB, fixing the machine and the original issue.
Satisfied: Yes, even if quality control over the parts still seems suspect. Though it should be noted that the machine developed an issue ~6 months later where the thermal compound failed on the CPU, so either bad compound was used or it was a poor job.

The issue where the cards couldn't be replaced has been my worst experience with my current line of systems. Otherwise all the other problems I've encountered have been fairly minor and quickly sorted out with minimal hassle.

 

All I will say is that this sounds familiar, coming from the UK. Not sure if I should post, vote or comment further, but here goes nothing:

Country: UK

Model: M18x R1

Issue: SSD RAID0 speeds reduced by well over 50% from new with no excessive read/writes. Optimizing as single drives under AHCI did not restore performance. Still extremely slow performance in comparison the when new - no way of restoring lost performance.

Resolved: Debatable. A few resolutions were explored. Single drive options offered that did not make up for lack of RAID0 performance I paid for. One offer Dell made WAS accepted by me, but Dell could not fulfil due to stock problems. Instead, they offered a new replacement machine. Unfortunately replacement spec was an extreme 'lowball' offer - original configuration 2960xm/580m Sli with proposed 'lowball' offer of R2 with 3630qm/single 675m - not acceptable as nowhere near like for like. Dell offer withdrawn. Full refund offered which was not enough (because of original discounts etc) for me to then purchase a 'true' like for like replacement for my original configuration which they should have offered in the first place, but tried to 'lowball' me on it, like the example I just quoted.

Satisfied: No. I should add that telephone contact with Dell EMEA/UK was extremely unfruitful. Total denial of a problem. Not permitted to talk to anyone else to escalate. Left feeling completely abandoned by Dell and my warranty. Again, like Photolysis, only avenue to explore was Social Media and NBR - NBR reps tried to help - couldn't as outside of the US - referred back to EMEA. More escalation by me through Twitter (@DellCares). Weeks of one line replies from them. No real essence of getting resolved quickly. Reached out to Dell US. They tried to help. Said they could. Then referred me back to EMEA again. EMEA denied that replacement offered was not comparable. EMEA then withdrew the offer and reverted to original single drive replacement putting me back at square one after 10 weeks of stress and hassle. Still ongoing. Trying to get Dell to review the replacement offer as I cannot afford £4000 to get a like for like machine with the £3k they would refund. That should be covered under warranty. Cheap way of getting out of warranty IMHO.

All in all, I've been led an extremely merry dance over the last few months. Promised this and that, and at end of the day, not left with an attractive resolution - even though I was offered a refund, that option is not a 'customer friendly' option considering I need to spend an additional £1000+ to get what many get as like for like replacement machines.

I have MANY more examples of this poor treatment from EMEA/UK, but no point in cluttering this thread. Suffice to say that EVERY time I have had a fairly major problem, Dell EMEA have denied all knowledge it exists, like with the 6990m cold boot problem. Again, they did not help me like Dell US helped their customers - I yet again had to use Social Media to escalate. If it was not for Dell Bill B on these forums back then, I would have still been up the creek. I guess my underlying experience is that Dell EMEA are very quick to dismiss many problems that are otherwise acknowledged by other territories. One of my MAJOR gripes about Dell EMEA is this. Very poor understanding/communication, screen lickers do not know much, if anything about Alienware computers, and when thing DO go wrong, they offer ZERO support, which leaves many SOL. It is pretty disgusting that people like me have to resort to using Social Media/NBR/Twitter etc and rely on hopefully finding someone who WILL help outside of EMEA to actually address these problems. Simply quite disgusting.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have had some very minor issues sorted out efficiently. I had a free power lead sent out. Seems that EMEA can sort out little things, but bigger or more complex problems - that are not just minor parts related -are WAY over their comprehension levels and they then choose to ignore them - that is my experience, anyway.

For anyone interested in reading about my last issue with Dell EMEA, you can do so here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-emea-dell-support-full-details-included.html and http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...l-support-full-details-included-part-two.html

 

Keep the stories/voting coming guys
In the future, if anyone doubts or brags about the Alienware service/warranty, we can refer them to this thread which hopefully will be full of examples

 

Country: Ireland
Model: M17x (R1)
Issue: Broken audio daughterboard
Resolved: User-induced damage, offered parts-only, recieved quickly, replaced without issue. Warranty unaffected.
Satisfied: Yes.

 

I have always had good service from Dell/Alienware over the years. There have been occasions where i felt like i never wanted to deal with them again because the left hand was not talking to the right hand but in the end every single time either through sheer luck or some other circumstance they made it right. Sometimes it took no kidding 2 months of my life for them to handle a system replacement and other times 7 days so in essence it all balances out depending on your perspective of things.

 

Country: USA
Model: M14xR1
Issue: Broken Trackpad, Broken USB port
Resolved: Yes, tech sent a few days after the call. Both replaced.
Satisfied: Yes. No problems since.

 

Well this thread died out pretty quick. Thank you to everyone who have shared their experience this far.

Looking at the chart, it seems thatbot US and Europe have both good and bad experiences with warranty. A bit 50/50 in Europe though but they do seem to help people there as well.
Not nearly enough data yet, hopefully more will answer the poll