*Dell-Alienware & AW Legacy Replacement Systems-Warranty Repair Issues*

Cheers mate, thanks very much for that........

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of Dell support. To be honest, I have only dealt with Dell for a few weeks, but so far its pretty abysmal. After paying for "next day delivery," it took them EIGHT business days to ship the laptop, and they outright refused to give me a refund.

I was told I would be called by a manager on another matter within two hours. After three, I called in, and the mantook my number and told me it was "on her desk" and I would be getting a call within an hour. No one ever contacted me.

I have been told things by Dell employees that are just flat out untrue (Oh, you can cancel and order and then reorder it immediately I was told - once I canceled it, the laptop went magically missing, and no one could find it. Even when I provided a "System ID" number for the laptop. A refurbished system no less, so there was nothing quite like it.)

Honestly, I don't know if this Crossfire debacle is a Dell or ATI issue. Either way, Alienware is selling a product that does not do what it advertises and at a heavy cost. "The most powerful gaming laptop" in the world cannot play games the correct way. If it is an ATI issue, pressure needs to be put on ATI to fix it. Alienware meanwhile, needs to disclaim it to their customers before purchase or offer a working UPGRADE when it becomes available.

Sadly, that would require Dell having a concept of "customer service" so we're SOL.

Sorry you're getting the runaround Stevie, but it ain't much better here stateside.

 

I have had similar experience with Alienware UK....seeming like once they have had the money, to hell with customer service!!

I did initially ave some problems with delivery too....quite the opposite to yours though as mine was going to arrive too soon if you can believe that....they said they would hold the delivery but it came and i missed it....i did however negotitate a refund of shipping fees that i had paid.

However, notwithstanding, my experience of dealing with technical support has been nothing bet tedious and exasperating to say the least. I dont know about US customers but the UK branch of support seems to be extremely lacking in customer relation skills....(i have a sales background and the way i have been treated is not acceptable as a client).

Maybe if some more effort was put into dealing with the after sales market, it may turn Alienware from being a good choice to the ONLY choice....after all, after sales market support is EVERYTHING - especially if you want return business. (god, i should get a job at alienware marketing lol)

If only they decided that post sales was even more important than pre sales then they may get a good rep.....as it stands, my experience and that of others including your good self are only bad examples of how to conduct business at this level.

 

NBD is after it ships normal shipping is 3 days.
the email address you need is [email protected]
that is Corp. Tell them everything you have been thru and what you expect as a customer be nice. They will put a overseer a Corp Rep to make sure you are taken care of.
I have never seen anyone not answered to within 24 hours and they will do what they say. Just remember it can still take some time to reslove everything. So stay cool. Good Luck!

 

Thanks for the info wolf, i have had contact regarding my issue....i still remain sceptical until i have things finalised as to my desired outcome....if it doesnt happen, michael dell will be getting a "strongly worded letter to the white star line" as leonardo di caprio said at the end of titanic.....

 

news update!!!!!!!!!!

my new laptop is broken.... seems the motherboard is shot. funny it was working this morning and now its a paper weight lol. anyways called the tech that was assisting me at corp, and he is working on another replacement. this will be my
4th replacment unit.

 

Ouch! thats gota hurt.

 

alright guys here are the specs im getting for my replacement. to put it short its the q9100, 128gb ssd, sli 260s, 6gb of ram, bluray, and wuxga. so im pretty happy about it. seeing how its for my 5 yr old xps m170 which i payed 300 for on ebay... ha.
so im excited. i know its not the best, but its still a beast... and worth it.
it shipped yesterday and is arriving tomorrow. what do you guys think

1 P303J Base,Notebook,Alienware,Black WXGA-AG,M17X
1 2835C Module,Documentation,Airborne,2-DAY,DELL DRCT
1 2J4FR Module,Software,Certificate Of Authenticity,W7HP64,Alienware
1 3TF5Y Module,Information,Wireless AW1510
1 C771R MOD,CRD,NTWK,AW1510,US
1 CP1VF Module,Software,W7HP64 Consumer Desktop,English Dao/bcc
1 CTX0X MODULE,INFORMATION,WIRELESS, BLUETOOTH,370
1 D002R Module,Software,Alienware RESPAWN2.0
1 D003R Module,Software,Alienware OS-CUSTOMIZATION
1 D694P Module,Software,Alienware AVATAR5
1 D712P Module,Software,Alienware AUTO-UPD,ON
1 D721P Module,Processor,Core Penryn Q9100,ANW NBK
1 D9KVP Module,Software,Quick Fix Engineering,W7HB32,Consumer Notebook
1 DNF92 MOD,INFO,CHASSIS,BLK,M17X
1 F219N Module,Software,Creative Camera,Consumer,W#3,Factory Install
1 F575P Module,Software,Alienware WINDOWSTYLE,Graphite
1 F584P Module,Software,Alienware POWER,High Performance
1 G427R MODULE,ACCESSORY,ALIENWARE, M17X,ENGLISH
1 H064J Module,Solid State Drive,128 S2,2.5,Samsung,Extreme Performance System
1 H919R MOD,MEDIA,RDVD,ANW,M17X
1 HYT0K Module,Bracket,HDD,FOAMKIT,M17X
1 K001R Module,Liquid Crystal Display,17.0 Wide Ultra Extended Graphics Array,Alienware, M17X
1 K005R Module,DIMM,6GB,1333MHZ, DDR3
1 K972H Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,240W,Delta - Ac Adapt World Wide
1 MGNNT MOD,CRD,NTWK,370,FXCN,CNB,DAO
1 N329P Module,Information,Artwork NAME-PLT,Generic,M17X
1 N971H Module,Cord,Power,125V,2M,C13 United States
1 P395P Module,Software,CYBERLINK Powerdvd,8.0,Alienware
1 P398P Module,Software,NERO,9 Alienware
1 P811N MODULE,INFORMATION,DIRECTSHIP,FLEXTRONICS
1 R0N0R MOD,DVDRW/BD-ROM,HLDS,BARE,ANW
1 T780J Module,Battery,Primary,85WHR 9C,Dynapack International Technology Corp
1 U661N Module,Software,Alienware WALLPAPER-CO6W
1 U777M Module,Shipping Material,PACK M1740
1 VW0X1 Module,Keyboard,Alienware,101,ENG-US,Personal Computer
1 W124P Module,Software,Alienware COMMANDCENTER
1 W125P MODULE,SOFTWARE,ALIENWARE,ALIENFX,FUSHIA
1 W482P Module,Software,Alienware TIME-ZONE,CENTRAL
1 W871N Module,Software,WINDOWS-LIVE Consumer
1 X771M Service Install Module Software,Alienware,M17X
1 XM3FX MOD,LBL,INTEL,NBK,C2Q,RBDG
1 XWXTD MODULE,CARD,GRAPHICS,GT1,SLI
1 Y2FYM Module,Software,W7HP64,Digital Video Disk Drive,Multi-Language,Alienware
1 Y540P Module,Software,Alienware CYBERLINK,YOUCAM
1 YC8XT Module,Tuner,Software,TVT11 NTSC,Advanced Television System Committee

 

I think pretty nice upgrade, the Q9100 is Over Clockable
You should be very happy with it, I had one just like it.
Run it out of the box and see how it go's. I would say nice score for a 5 year old lappy. I'am I reading the sprc's wrong?? is that a TV card with it?

 

Well I received an email today saying that a dispatch number was setup to start the system exchange. They provided me with the dispatch number, but beyond that I have no idea what happens now or when I should expect to hear something. Anyone able to tell me the process from this point? I have no idea what they even plan to replace it with.

 

oh yah it does look like it has a tv tuner. sweet, nice catch man.
i used to have the q9200 in my m17 thvt overclocked with a hacked bios.
how do u overclock the q9100. is it in the bios, or do u hack the bios or use an overclocking tool...

 

Its in the bios you just unlock and step it up with OCCT..some wont be sleeping 2nite..

 

Well I received a call today from the rep I have been working with. Said my R2 has gone into the final phase and should have a tracking number soon. They gave me NBD on it so should have it within the next few days I hope.

 

awesome... thank you.

 

Glade to hear Rockwell B1 you will be a happy camper too!
Seems like thing are running smoother on Dells end

 

On a somewhat side note...
Thought of something today that some of you might know the answer to, I've not dealt with it for awhile because I use a widget to remedy the issue. Does the eject "button" on the touch strip still cause excessive system stutter/lag like it does on the R1? Not sure what causes it, everything is up to date driver-wise and I don't have the DPC issue. It only happens when I use the touch method to eject, it essentially locks things up till the disc is ejected. I know it is linked to the DPC issue since it maxes out the red on the dpc monitor but I don't have anything but green unless I use it. Just wondering if the R2 does it or not basically, something simple.

It's not a huge issue to me if the R2 still does it since I use that widget and it works just fine, though it would be nice if it didn't. Sort of like the whole trackpad issue, I never use it but still nice just in case.

 

just ran 3dmarkvantage on my new system got a score of p11,230 .Is this what I should be getting on a system with I-7 820, 4GB MEM ,AND 4870 IN CROSSFire. Nothing is overclocked on my system

 

Rockwell, I have read your saga with interest....

Obviously alot of guys here are having problems and getting Dell to acknowledge the is like pulling teeth. Am i right in saying that you have had service visits that havent fixed your problem? - have you had your system long??

I ask becasue my R2 is only 3 weeks old and i have probs with the gpu's flickering with lines across the screen...i paid close to £2500 ($3800usd) for mine and have had nothing but probs...gpu's and power adaptors.....

I am in the process of trying to negotiate a return/full refund for mine but its hard going...

Thats when i noticed your posts (and others) about having a system sent to you with max'd out specs by way of doing right by you for all your hassle.

Do they only do this in regards to systems they cant fix? - im battling like hell to get my money back initially but it would be nice to think that someone at Dell would offer me the opportunity to re-order and take into account my own personal battle and maybe offer me something for my hassle.

Any one who has info on this , would love to hear from you.

 

Hey guys,
The repairs have just ended and i am disappointed, the technician was good and relatively experienced. My mobo, graphic cards and heat sinks were replaced. However, not only did it not stop the problem, my system cannot boot up at all, after the alien head and the screen where they they show whether your system components are healthy or not, the screen just has a cursor at the top left corner blinking and the windows will not boot up. I am extremely frustrated as i cannot use my computer and i have urgent work for me to tend to.

 

hamilcar I would say not a bad run. Make sure all background programs are closed. Go to start type msconfig and uncheck any start programs you dont need that should help. As for score Iam on turbo boost and 5% OC as for score mine is in the sig Remember unless you compete with bench scores they dont mean everything.

 

@stevie

I was one of the first with the R1s, ordered it as soon as I could and was stuck in that first batch waiting line. I've just dealt with the power stutter till now hoping for a fix, but a year without one has made me say 'that's it'. They did several repairs that were all failed and the tech reps on the phone started to give me a royal runaround and I was sick of it so I sent that email in and since then things couldn't have been smoother.

My R2 that they are sending me is maxed out because I spent $4500 on my R1 and had it fully maxed out other then the RAM, which is exactly how my R2 they are sending me is setup. They have a sheet that they go off of and give you equal or better parts if they have a surplus of those parts. There was nothing they could upgrade on mine but the RAM, wi-fi card, and maybe SSDs. I said no to the RAM because I have 8gb sticks aftermarket that would then go to waste, the wi-fi card is no big deal to me, and the SSDs... well I'd rather have my two 500gb drives for storage over speed.

If you want real help send that email off to corporate and calmly explain your troubles, what you have gone through, where you are sitting now, and say you are genuinely frustrated with dealing with the tech reps and their never-ending repair attempts that are wasting your time and Dell's money.

 

Hi guys,
I just sent an email to Michael, hopefully it will help. thx guys for all ur advice, will keep u guys updated. i am generally shocked at this as well.

 

My R1 has already been sent back, and although I have not heard from the person who originally told me to send it back, I received an email stating a dispatch number was given for a system exchange. The email stated it would be for a new system with the same specs as my broken one, however I have not heard anything else yet, so not sure what all of that means, but at least I am finally getting somewhere in this process.

 

It means they are in the process of building you your new one. I will bet that it is better specs than yours and will be an R1. Id lay money on it unless you said you would only take an R1. Hang in there.

 

Guess you mean "R2" there, and no I did not say I would only take an R1, but did say I would only take a working laptop this time

 

After that long haul with my issues from Feb til now, I re-ordered today. I got an M17X and an M11X for the same price as the original Area51 m17X. Well minus those premium warranties they were a lot extra.
For those in this thread you will understand why one would go for the best warranty you can.
I did get verification today that to extend a premium warranty on an M17X is 350US dollars per year. Thx Alienwolf for the advice and help on that one.

Stevie- Agreed with others.. email the corporate office.
It took many months for them to authorize a refund for me. Pretty much they only do so after they exhaust all other routes to repair or replace.

I also wanted to simply re-order with a credit for the original system but they are not able to do that. You will have to get a refund then re-order. It is pretty painless except for some waiting between steps.
However to get to that point you may have to jump through more hoops in the repair process or they may offer you a replacement with upgrades for your troubles.
I had a long repair process and there was no replacement option for me as they do not replace the Area51m17X with a new M17X only refund.
I can only advise on what happened with me, though I believe the user 'Elkay' is an expert on stuttering issues with the M17X and can advise on that matter.
My two cents, I hope it helped.

 

Good to hear. Gratz(sorry to hear about your extended warranties)

 

infernia I just love your sig.
Dwarf King good to hear you, where you been hiding? Now therre is the guy that got me thru 7 weeks of pain.

 

Dwarfking you are one of the people that made it possible. It is because you DaneGrClose and Alienwolf all give great advice. Thank you all for the 1000th time.

 

Thanks for your input Rockwell....

I did fire off an email this morning and was pleasantly suprised to ACTUALLY get a call back. The guy i dealt with was very sympathetic to my issues, we discussed at length and talked of resolutions and i was told that i have two options....(he was from Dell executive customer relations team or Dell corporate) of which i have yet to evaluate.

They both look promising, either way i think (fingers crossed) my personal issues will be resolved.

My system isnt maxed out in a few areas such as cpu/ram...as you can see my current spec is a per my signature so i am awaiting a proposed resolution to my situation.....

Sounds like you and alot of other people have a whole world of hurt regards to Alienware, it does put me off quite a great deal on getting another after this is my 1st AW system and its given me sooo many headaches...and even every time i try to resolve them up until now, i have ran into brick walls - being passed to and fro from dept to dept with the same answer...oh we cant help you but try calling so and so.....

Got to the point of pulling my hair out with worry that im stuck with what cost in usd $3800 (us poor guys in the uk always get stung for more)....

I wonder what kind of resolution i will get offered tomorrow......any sugestions on what i should be looking for from them ?

 

steviejones133
Glade to hear the email still works, it always has. Now you have a big gun on your side things will be resolved for sure.
If I was to bet I'd say you will get more ram and up at lest one cpu for your trouble. You already have a pretty sweet set up. Don't please don't get turned off on Alienware, when one works right it is Oh so sweet. Nothing is like it. My son in the Army bought a top HP 2300.00 and it went to repair 7 times, I told him lemon get a new or refund HP refused would not even talk to him. Send it in we will fix to bad your not happy, even tried emailing Corp no response. So any company can be bad. But as I have said here I have never seen anyone not get the problem resloved after emailing Corp. Hang in there!

 

A couple of reminders --

1. Any fradulent posts will not be permitted. Fraud is a serious offense and NBR will respond quickly to any posts along these lines - infractions and banning of accounts will result.

2. Do not post content from chat transcripts or email, names of Dell reps with contact info - this includes email addresses, phone numbers with extensions, etc.

Any questions on this - send via PM to me or one of the other moderators.

Thanks.

 

Thanks for your input wolf.

I do finally feel that things are looking up.....i bought alienware on the back of lots of recommends from this forum (actually it was the reason i bought alienware come to think of it)
I did have an Asus g73jh which i returned as i was mislead via the seller (they said it was 1920x1080, turned out it was 1680x900 with a sub standard screen put inside).......I have just got over the hurdle of getting that return sorted prior to buying my new m17x and thinking all was sweet but to find out more problems with what i thought was thhe top gun of laptops....

My story is long winded and not just alienware based as you can see, im just fed up of getting sub standard/low quality from everyone at thhe moment...

Im hoping that i WILL get a good outcome from things, and i will post back with my outcome for those that are interested.

Regards to Batboys' last post, im not saying anything other than if any additional information can come to light from these forums that actually does help people (the little guys) resolve their problems with big industry, then its all good....at least in my book and if i hadnt come across this thread, i would more than likely still be in the same boat....so, thank god for this thread and for the information entailed within it.

Now if someone removes my post, then so be it.....i think this thread has a lot going for it to help people like me out and it would be a shame to nuter it.

Thanks again.
Stevie.

 

@Stevie - totally agree with you about this thread. If it weren't for this thread I wouldn't have my refund and re-order. It took from February until Today to get to that point and lots and lots of support from the people on here. I was educated by this thread and was an informed consumer that knew my rights. I also maintained my control and my courteous nature throughout the process when in fact I was tearing my hair out and losing sleep over it all. The thread is well worth the read from start to finish.
I think Batboy is reminding everyone to not post certain personal information about reps and reminding anyone that would try to defraud others that it isn't permitted. I don't think it was aimed at you personally.
I'm glad you have begun to progress in your repair/replacement process. Yay corporate!

 

No, it was not directed at you or anyone else. Just a general FYI to all. Posts like that need to be made from time to time.

As for M. Dell's email address, it is an email address - so no posting. If you want to google it you can.

As for the thread itself, did you forget who the OP is? lol

Of course this thread is helpful (it is why I created it - to sum up the route to take when meeting a brick wall) to owners who are not getting anywhere with support after calling. The Dell Support org is a very large entity - there will always be a rep who doesn't take the time to help - this goes for any company, not just Dell. In addition to that, it provides a sounding board for owners who are frustrated and upset. Its better these posts are here than having multiple threads complaining - wouldn't you agree?

 

Fair play, i agree no personal details etc etc but when it comes to vital info that "the little guy" needs, im all for it.....in the right manner.

I have lost lots of sleep worrying over a 3wk old system that by tech support standards, i HAD to keep and HAD to have fixed by home visits...something that i was loathed to accept after such a short space of time....eveyone i spoke to at dell told me the same....oh we will come and fix it but no one listened to what i was saying which was "it shouldnt need fixing, its 3 weeks old!!!!!"

Now, point being, finding info on here has changed my life....im now smiling again about something i should have been all along...my new "all powerful" alienware....about to maybe made as it should be by being able to contact the relevant people....all thanks to the information that people have posted on this very thread.....god knows where i would be without it....probably downing a few beers and tearing more hair out....

Best thread ive ever come across.....keep up the good work!

 

I certainly do agree and wow, thank you for being the OP of such a thread.......

 

hi guys,
it has been a few hours since i fired off my email to the boss. still awaiting a reply, do you guys have any idea whether the rep that may contact me is a local or someone at alienware's head office?

 

Typically escalations are handled by the escalations team. Regardless of who contacts you, remember to work with them - if they want to run tests via remote or dispatch a tech you do need to allow this.

For your issue however -

Let me ask you - do you have one hard drive or two? If the system is a RAID system, you need to make sure the BIOS is set for RAID. After a motherboard swap, the BIOS will default to base settings - this does not include RAID. It must be set manually. Did the tech not power up the system after the repairs?

Also, in your original post, you mentioned stuttering. Audio stuttering can easily be resolved by running BIOS A03 or A04 and one of the DPC Latency fix drivers.

Feel free to PM me beef and I can work with you to try to resolve the configuration aspect. If you just received a new MB and GPUs, both being dead and killing your system is unlikley. I'd say its more of a config (BIOS) and the rest can be resolved with the correct updates. Just my 2 cents of course.

 

Give it some time. 24hrs at least.

 

wow silly me, I forgot BatBoy was the one to start this. Been so long since i looked back at the beginning, Holy cow it was you

 

I wanted to ask really quick, if you feel a tech who is there to repair your system is horribly poor at his task, can you ask him to leave and request a new tech? (Or do you have to let him wreck it and try 3 times for a replacement?)

 

Of course you can - just be sure you have a good reason. Give the tech a chance... One point to remember, if in fact the tech does damage your system - Dell will make it right. Be sure to follow up with your rep handling your case if damage is caused by the tech. I also would have the tech contact support before leaving to report the damage directly.

 

I owe Batboy a thanks for the great thread too.
Now if we can only get together a testing/benchmarking thread for each type of system (M17X,M15X, M11X) and have stock number ranges for various tests, no Overclocking.
That way when we get our repaired systems back or suspect a problem we have a comparison to make sure it is running the way it should. Believe me having the proper programs and testing my repaired system with only 7days left on my warranty made the difference between a refund and having a 4900 dollar paperweight.
Wouldn't hurt for people with new systems either, for people that have no interest in overclocking or competing in benchmarks. Kind of a Howto on testing your new/repaired system.
I just wish I had the resources to do so. Well either way I'll be searching the threads for the best way to do so when my new Alien's land Aug 04 and 06.
@beef - It took corporate 2days to email me. I never got a phone call just the email. They will contact you.

 

No thx necessary as a forum is only as good as its member base

As for the benchmarking by type, we already have benchmark threads in place for each model. It really does not serve much of a purpose to create multiples only for replacement/repaired systems. The existing benchmark threads are for everyone - you do not have to be an overclocker or extreme# chaser to post.

Sorry

 

Understood. I have been looking through the benchmarking threads and you can find stock numbers. Just thought it would be helpful to some that don't know to look there. I understand your point. Even I get frustrated when I search a subject only to find multiple threads dealing with the same issue.

 

My own personal experience of doing this is that i sen my email yesterday ar around 11.30am and next thing i know, i got a call, not an email from a corporate guy at 4.30pm........to say i was amazed would be n understatement....at last i felt valued as a customer.....

Hoping for some more developments today about replacement system specs or new system discount....

Will post later with any news

 

@ Rockwell,

What was the original spec o your R1 out of interest?? - just im thinking here that yeah, you obviously had it maxed out pretty much and had spent alot on it.....im thinking about how much it costs to get a maxed out R2??

I could use this as a guidline because im assuming that even though your R1 was top dollar, a new R2 with top spec would cost alot more than $4500??

For my current spec, i paid around $3800usd but as i live in the UK, i obviously got less as its alot more expensive to buy here.....i wonder if i can deal on the basis of USD purchase prices??? - just been playing about configuring systems on both the US and UK sites and its UNREAL how much difference there is in cost for identical specifications!!!

 

hey stevie,
Its 22 hours since i sent that mail and no call and no reply from dell. I am to say the least, disappointed.

 

Beef, I hhad no expectations whatsoever about a reply, actually i thought that the email address may have been a hoax one given its nature...

Guess i just got lucky that someone got back to me so soon, hang in there, i am sure that someone will get back to you in the very near future...after all....it seems to be the right place to address issues!!