I need to vent this; I am furious (Long read...AW reps enter at your own risk).

I have posted in my post history good and bad times I have experienced over the years with AW and I am going to post this not to bash the company but to vent my frustrations about a company that seems to be really milking the consumers.

I am not one to demand getting something for "free" for simply being inconvenienced, however, this m15x is absolutely ridiculous. How on earth can AW justify selling this computer? If I polled the owners, I would venture to say the majority have spent a significant amount of time troubleshooting and monitoring their m15x. How many bios updates did we have to go through? How many calls to tech support? How many programs did we install just to monitor if our computer was operating as it SHOULD HAVE been from the factory (rivatuner, cpu-z, etc)? How many times did some of us have to ship the computer to depot to adjust cracking screens, cracking chassis etc? How many of us had ALL of those problems? I know I have.

So at what point does a company take responsibility for releasing a computer that they should not have? Rumors are circulating that a redesigned 15x are in the works LESS THAN A YEAR later. This would be the nail in the coffin for those who have cried, "We are the beta testers" and then the real m15x emerges. "Will the real m15x please stand up?"

Our call history's are documented. Have you ever received an "I am so sorry you are so troubled by your purchase"? I know I haven't. I am a busy professional that needs this computer to conduct business. AW reps said, "Unfortunatey we cannot send anyone to your work site for repairs, only upgrades." How about you "upgrade" my screen to a...functional one?

Will AW reps read this? Probably. Will anything happen? Probably..not. But that doesn't mean that one person doesn't read this and say, "Gee, I don't want to go through with a purchase that appears to be high risk of failure." That is one lost customer; well 2 lost (because I won't order again). Should a refund be issued? Should an "upgrade policy" be issued for owners with SEVERE problems and AW documentation in the call history? Can early owners be compensated for beta testing this computer, their bios, and for all the countless (and free) troubleshooting we did for AW to finally start to work out their OWN isses? I think so.

These are my feelings, take them for what they are. But after processing this for the past few nights, I have realized that AW just lost a repeat customer that has been loyal to them for 4 years. Thanks for reading

 

I know what you feel like, I owned an acer. very similar experience.

well, I'm looking at Lenovo now...

 

it's sad to hear about your issues, daveh. i sincerely hope AW gives you your money back pronto and you find a new laptop that suits your needs.

with that said, i'd just like to say that my m15x has been working perfectly so far, as have those of others around here. so maybe

is a bit over the time. but i understand what you mean.

 

Hey thanks for the reply. I do think though, that the majority of people have had problems but the majority have not thought to troubleshoot. I know I was experiencing downclocking but never would have known if I didn't check for it via Rivatuner. I was an early adopter, and while I do realize there is SOME risk with that, I don't think the early adopters should have had to endure what we did. Plus, I think that the majority of people who come to these forums have had to troubleshoot their systems (even as much as run rivatuner to make sure problems dont re-emerge).

I never complained too much on the downclocking when AW finally listened and began offering fixes. But to have my computer's screen crack 6 months after owning this computer, is too much. I guess it was the accumulation of things that were wrong and this was a big issue.

 

you appear limted in your optmisim....
name one company that has never had a bad product or product line at sometime in their existence....it happens and is a fact of life.
while i understand your "furious" nature...i ask the following:

did you happen to keep the names, dates, and issue(s) discussed during any of these times you had issues?
did you happen to make notes of the things you did to help AW in thier troubleshooting during beta as you say to prove any of this?
have you contacted corporate with any of the above and expressed to them aside from just the forums?

AW has taken responsibility by issuing fixes and updates, by replacing defective and/or borken items...by offering at times a completely new system.
this in no way says AW was neglect towards the owners of the m15x as you say.
while the CS has had severe issues (as well as the m15x during the first months), i think AW has addressed the majority of them for resolution to the consumer.

if you have all your ducks in a row, then send it all to AW and let them know about this. you may be surprised what happens when you do.

 

Ehh don't really know what to say to this...part of the reason AW responsed was in response to the forums. The day AW began joining these forums I made a post very specific to the problems we were facing as well as Stone and maybe one other person. I am not going to go through my posting history but if you care to find it you can. Yes my ducks are in a row and yes I have spoken with AW countless times documenting these issues. As stone and others already know.....we do know what to expect so saying "you may be surprised with how they respond" i just say...ok sure.

 

AW asked me specifically to help troubleshoot as well. They would "jack into" my system matrix style and watch some of these issues unfold themselves.

To clarify why I know I will expect nothing is because this is not the first faulty system to completely flop and ball over a lot of owners. I believe Stone got screwed with an M5550 (may be wrong on this). They had laptops with desktop processors that had numerous issues as well.

Again I am not just posting this to say "poor dave." This is what I feel entitled to do (post my FEELINGS) because I feel like I did not get a product worthy of 3,000 USA dollars. In response I have chosen to go to a very popular and referenced forum to post my story, my frustrations and my updates when they come. I have posted the good and the bad with Alienware on these very forums. I am by no means just looking for sympathy here...back to work now.

edit: the reason for the frustrations is due in large part because i ALREADY went through a lot of hassles and AW DID adderss them. Now months later to have to return my laptop and again have to deal with frustrations...well that sucks and is not cool.

 

Don't go over the cliff bro. Why don't you check out the cutting 'edge' of technology? It'll make up for all the pain Aliensuck has caused.

http://www.pcmicroworks.com/edge.htm

 

pcmicroworks? haha awesome recommendation... at least AW won't just vanish all of a sudden...

 

@ryujin - Since you are a newer member here, I assume that you do not know about some of AW's other problems. None of their 15" notebooks since the M5500 has been a solid notebook.

My friends M5500 heats up to 104C when he is playing games. My M5550 used to heat up to 96C and downclock all of the time when I was playing CS:S (they never fixed the issue), and the M15x has its own share of problems.

For some reason AW keeps on releasing buggy 15" notebooks which I think is unacceptable.

 

I feel your pain. Mine went through some stupid crap and i decided not to deal with it. I am sending it back friday (thats the day all my new pc components get shipped) and wash my hands of that company for good.

i used to praise alienware. now i won't have any deal with them. They have lost a customer and some good PR.

maybe they are trying to run themselves into the ground.

 

i'm not going to pat you on your back and say it's going to be a brighter world... because it is not...

i have to agree with you 100% in that i find it quite ridiculous what companies are doing...

since when did it become the consumers responsibility to make a system work? bios, tim whatever, despite the fact that some of the more tech saavy customers may know how to do this... a full paid system should be operational when they receive it.

yes, bios update is inevitable... but it should not be needed from the start.

at least in cars, we can get loaners... what is the company going to do about loss of productivity caused by the machines being shipped back and forth for service?

this is not just AW... but applies to all companies...

 

and one more thing guys... threads like this is needed... not to vent but to make companies aware that certain practices are not acceptable...

but threads like these only exists if we remain civil...

let's keep this civil... and informative...

 

right, we don't need another buzzin around here.

something i found weird. Alienware won't send a tech out to do anything, but Dell can send out a tech to REPLACE A MOTHERBOARD.

not kidding. my cousin needs a replacement and dell said ok, just let us call you in 3 days and we will send out a tech, NO CHARGE.

now THAT is service..... take a lesson alienware.

 

i've sent in my lappy for a MB swap... (only recognized 1GB of 2GB...)

they received it monday,
shipping it today...

buff n polished my paint too... woot!

i'm happy...
but i'm having anxiety attacks from being away from my old laptop...

 

I'm comparing the way dell treats it's customers to the way alienware does. Dell phone support, even though they bounce you around like mad, is much faster then alienware's. Their techs, while not geniuses, are very smart and quick about figuring out problems.

I've talked to 2 techs about a problem, both said they'd get back to me and neither has. I also talked to a woman who said she would email me their policy on restock fees or at least the info she had, and she never did either.

what a load.

 

Dell is an accredited company with the BBB, A.W. is not. I had to file more than one complaint before A.A finall (and I mean finally) got anything done. This is on top of me having to contact A.W. support about 60 times having to explain their mistakes to them and every time i had to start from the beginning.

I for one will not even consider doing business with them unless some major changes are made to the A.W. support department.

Rob

 

points made and understood.
i am just being devils advocate in that i see other sides of stories, and lets be honest....no one ever posts 100% the negatives they do during contact with AW CS or other.
if you actually provided as much feedback as you have, to include letting them 'jack' into your system, then you have more of a leg to stand on then the average person.
i am but stating that IF you decided to actually do anything aside from posting here (i do understand the need to vent), then get all of the information together, draft a professional letter, and send it off to the CS Mgr's, Sales Mgr's, Board of Directors, CEO, etc....
while AW may have a couple people involved here for CS, the percentage of owners that actually come here, let alone post, is probably below 1% of the total.
please understand that i am not trying to be a buzzin, nor trying to sugar coat your experience and relieve AW from the responsibilities to the consumer, but if you really desire to make a statement, and further AW the opportunity to resolve this with you and everything you have offered, then step up to the plate and take a swing.
also understand please that i have written letters to corporations, stores, directors, etc..., when i get to a point without resolve. i also do this when i recieve excellent CS and feel the person(s) deserve to be awarded with such.
to rob: AW is a subsidary of Dell now. and i offer you do the same with a letter explaining everything you experienced.

all: why i say you would be suprised, is that at first i thought the same as you...vent it out....forget and move on...
now i get calls from Mgr's, local, district, area, etc....i have even gotten calls from VP's and such from CS dept's and other areas within companies to either address my issues or to thank me for sending a positive note about an employee...
it does work, but you have to be willing to put more into it then just a ventative post....

 

@Ryujin - I have spent over a year and a half dealing with AW on and off. Sometimes they are helpful and sometimes they are downright horrible and I think it is the luck of the draw. My experience with them (basically since I've joined the forum has been horrible).

 

i am sorry some persons are having troubles with their m15x, and i hate to see that you guys are having problems with AW reps.


now having said that, i had my m15x for a while now, and it works flawless, and i only had to do 1 BIOS instalation, not because i had any problems, but because i thought i needed to upgrade to have the new BIOS



so i agree with Whizzo

 

IBM ...................

 

nirvana what happened to your account??

 

nirvana, you got banned or what?

 

I am here.

 

Hmm there is someone who stole your name 0_0

 

Guys sorry to pop back in from time to time. Dave I feel your pain. It took me a while to develop a communicative relationship with an AW critical issues team member. Once I was able to do that things did move forward with AW.

Although with that said my System was a complete lemon, and having my system always sent in for repairs became to much for me to handle. Despite the fact that I had paid for ONSITE REPAIRS. To me that is completely false misrepresentation. If you publicly sell onsite repair warranties they should be honored. To make a long story short. I am glad I returned my M15x and chose another company. Wether that company will be any better(to date they have been amazing) that is a personal choice. I do know one thing for sure. I will no longer support anything to do with AW. AW pushed me so far to the end of my string, I will no longer buy Dell products. I strongly feel that AW should be held accountable for their misrepresentation of warranties and services provided. I'm convinced they publicly owe every M15x owner a written apology. And for all those first M15x owners, they surely owe you guys some new hardware.

For those people that continually stick by AW I am surprised. I am all for brand loyalty, but you should also "know when to fold them".

Ryujin, I totally agree with your logic on being respectful and support your issues with known facts. I did as you have you yourself have implied, only to find with AW that did not work. Unfortunately from my experiences with AW the only method they understood was direct action. I personally had to make several complaints to the BBB. Unfortunately AW still owe $200 for my full refund, and I have since given up on them. And have moved on. And I am confident that $200 they owe will be a lot less then the profit they would have earned by making me a satisfied customer. I encourage all my friends, family and coworkers to avoid Alienware.

 

good company, but i bet you somewhere in thier history they have had issues as well....maybe not on the scope of this, but then again, when IBM was the success they were, there was not the available forums such as this to spread the word(s)....good or bad....

 

Don't bet; prove it.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/
compare to NBR, that forum is far more famous and informative regarding IBM/Lenovo products. and been existed for years.

 

it´s dificult to complain when i have not had any issues with my m15x, i do wish there wouldn´t be so many issues with other users, and even if so i agree you guys should get a full refund.

 

I hope you dont get issues but the thing is, you may be a new user. After the hours and hours of beta testing that myself and numerous other forum members did, AW responded to fix their beta project. I went months without a significant issue. Then BOOM....screen breaks. So knock on wood my friend

 

you brought it up...the burden lies on you.

maybe, but my point was that when IBM was the 'king of the road' as it where, there was no such thing as forums back then. that pretty much dates the company and its success....

 

I want you to do this nirvana0002 We dont want stuff like "Don't bet; prove it." You Open the book nirvana0002. You have to prove it. We want the facts from you.

Fact is that alot of company hide there Issues.

Let look at this one in NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06270.html

Oh hold it this is a major issues

Lenovo and IBM Announce Recall of ThinkPad Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Fire Hazard.

Oh Hot Topic.

 

the m15x is a great machine when you get a good one. but the fact that so many have problems and AW doesn't help much in their support is awful.

and where are the NBR alienware reps now? why aren't they defending their company. All they seem to be able to do is apologize (not just NBR but all alienware reps) for any inconvenience we have had and shove us along to the next person.

they really just don't care.

 

We are attentive to all issues that customers experience. Remember that we use third-party forums such as NBR as a way to assist customers to the best of our abilities.

We understand that forums are a popular medium for issue and service discussion. We're here to make sure your voices are heard and your issues are resolved.

Thank you

 

nothing to you personally james, but one of the reasons i am returning my m15x is because of the support staff. i got one, yes only one, good support rep during my month of ownership and about 20 calls.

My issues are that the your company seems to be more interested in charging fees and keeping me on hold then actually fixing my problem and making sure i am happy.

your warranty is purposely ambiguous when it comes to the restock fee section, and according to one rep, there are no guidelines or parameters for which customer service decides to apply the fee or not. Another rep told me you had this info but will not give it to me unless i already purchased the computer (which sounds fishy and illegal). She also told me that she would email me about this in 15 min.... 6 days ago. I was promised information and assistance and i get ignored. how is a consumer supposed to feel confidant when even the sales people don't give a crap whether you buy or not?

 

there nirvana0002....Atol found an issue with IBM. therefore validating my statement that every company has had issues with items they sell or manufacture. there is your proof - provided in part by Atol...+1 dude...

now...can we get back to the venting process...lol

 

IBM/Lenovo didn't manufacture those defective batteries, Sony did... Its like blaming AW for defective GPUs, actually manufactured by Nvidia! But nevermind, don't want to get off topic here...

 

jeesh... arguing about IBM on a AW thread? c'mon folks...

seriously...

 

AW James, much respects for you to still lurk around in tempermental waters... perhaps it's out of your nature as a human being... wanting to extend a helping hand... perhaps it's what you are getting paid to do...

but seriously... 1 of 2 things i see from my limited observation of the fellow NBR members...

1) initial M15X is flawed and it's a bomb waiting to exlpode whereas the latter shipments have been improved...

2) these are small isolated cases where the few who have been "wronged" are making very public and effective arguments against it.

but if 1) then why not get on the ball and take care of the issue, recall and make AW a respectable name?

"oh Sh!t, we messed up, but we're on it... sorry and you can count on us to deliver..."
heck, that's refreshingly admirable...

if 2) then what would it cost to settle these "isolated" cases and why is AW not taking care of it and getting rid of the complaints, that does NOT involve the customer becoming an extension of your tech team...

Do you realize that when i google Alienware, "Alienware Sucks" is the 5th linky to pop up?

 

then by your statement, AW would not be resposible for anything the sell as I am sure even the case is produced by an outside company....remember, this is part of what people blamed on AW - gpu's that overheated...they did not blame nVidia...

i call it constructive banter...

 

1) they have...and your point? they have taken the ball and tried to fix issues by offering replacement parts or to have it fixed in house. sometimes you just can not please each customer. if by chance the issues with nVidia gpu's are correct and are found faulty, then will all the people here that complained about high temps apologize to AW? i doubt that very much...

2) yes they have and yes they are....and your point? the great thing about this forum is that it offers one the ability to do so. cost to AW? at this time, i bet more then they bargained. again, you can not please everyone all the time...simple fact of life. AW James and Armando are here to gather information and assist when they can. they are not limited liabilty warranty officers for AW.... it is sad that several people here are more knowledgable as compared to the tech teams at AW, but if you feel you can do better, then apply to become a team member of AW yourself...lol

as far as google....yeah i see that too...but hey, it is not a perfect world. and to be honest, while google says it goes by number of hits, they have also said that those that pay get higher priority on the list as well as higher listing...google is a for profit company...

 

that says something about alienware when that site pops up 5th. considering first 2 are paid links. then you get the wiki, which is almost always first, reviews, drivers, then horror stories.... not a good sign.

And i believe most people are more pissed at treatment then the actual machine. My machine was ok, few little problems that escalated to something worse.

but i am giving mine up mostly because their support staff doesn't care.

 

Seriously, you make it yourself too easy here... A laptop-battery is produced and engineered by an outside company based on specs provided by the orderer. The m15x case is of course produced by someone else (Quantas I think) but is has been developed/engineered by AW (or they were at least responsible for that)... See the difference?

And of course is AW blamed for the overheating! They engineered the cooling system! Those "defective" GPUs from Nvidia do not run hotter, they have a higher rate of failure at lower temps (= below acceptable running specs)! Meaning the higher the temps your GPU runs at are, the higher the probability it goes up in smoke...

so you say, the AW-flamers PAY google to get a higher page rank?

Seriously, cool down before your next reply and don't answer in "rage"...

 

then by your argument that IBM did not make the batteries is nullified by your new statment...please make up your mind then. either IBM is responsible or Sony is...which is it?

as far as the gpus'...the new rumor is that the cards fail due to high temps, and AW is not the only company to be effected by this...HP, Dell, and several others have had issues with them...not becuase of underheating, but overheating....

also - please take a look at the date(s) for the google page regarding the AW sucks...(2005) with no new updates or any added posts...a bit outdated if you ask me.

rage - naw....i just like to point out other sides to things as it always is never turthfully posted to show 'both' sides of a story...

 

Yet my inbox is empty from AW reps and filled with forum members. That was very poor damage control.

 

need i say more?...

really, you dont get my point? when was my post about me being able to do a better job?

c'mon ryujin, i have no intent on taking this discussion any further with you...
needless to say, you should not either...

customers have been wronged... i'm in full support of those who seem, from my point of view, to have been given a poor product... that's all...

and furthermore, let's keep this thread on topic and not digress and subject it to closure by admins...

 

king:

i will digress just to keep the theme of the post relavant...

 

IBM is responsible for the failure towards the customer, they sold the whole product, and because of that initiated a recall. But Sony caused the failure by delivering a defective product they built and engineered, and they for sure will have to pay in the end. In this case IBM is only the reseller, like with many other parts in notebooks (RAM, HDD, DVD-Drives, CPUs, Minipci-Cards, Display, ans so on). The only thing a notebook-producer is fully responsible for is the case, the barebone, because that is what they usually develope/engineere themself! As you know, this barebone may also be developed/engineered by someone else (-> clevo), but this time, with the m15x, AW made it themself!

And this is where the whole statement came from (afaik)! IBM has more customers and less to none compareable problems as aw has, because they build better notebooks. Then someone came up with the battery-recall-incident trying to prove the previous statement wrong. And all I said is that IBM didnt't cause this failure due to bad engineering, because they only resold those batteries!

As I said before, the "defective" GPUs have a higher than normal rate of failure at otherwise as normal considered temps, thats the whole problem. Dell and HP where the first to do something by releasing new BIOS' that make the system fans run faster and lowering temps. By that the probability of failure is reduced/pushed further into the future (and hopefully out of warranty time ). Now with AW, in the special case of the m15x, if a GPU fails, both sides are responsible if you think about it. AW because they designed a bad cooling system that runs GPUs at their very limits and Nvdia by producing and selling bad GPUs.

And to make myself clear, I'm not a aw-hater or something similar, I once got a m15x and got dissapointet by it. The only thing I want, is to tell people to use their common sense and think about this system before they buy it so they don't get dissapointet as well!

 

A curious observation.......................................

Dell, Cyberpower and Pro-Star are all accredited businesses with the BBB.

Alienware IS NOT accredited with the BBB.

Must be all those whining customers with unreasonable expectations.

It couldn't be anything A.W. is doing.

Rob

------------------------------------------------------------------------
M9750
2.0 Core 2 Duo
7950 GTX SLI
4 Gig's OCZ Memory
2 OCZ (not "core") SSD's in Raid 0
XP Pro sp3
3DMark06-8422

 

Right, first I appreciate the comments and I appreciate the side barred conversations halting. My post, as have almost all of my posts have been pretty unbiased. Have I supported AW? Yes. Have I had problems in which I have been vocal with AW? Yes.

What is upsetting is that AW reps have only responded to this thread when an individual asked, "Where are they now." A canned respose was given but the reality is that NO ONE has been in contact with me. You would think that they would go out of their way to try to help the people that come to these very forums because we are a different class of buyer (probably more into computers, their care, their performance, etc). Unfortunately it appears they are more into keeping their reputation clean through this disaster by making blanket statements than actually getting their hands dirty, admitting faults, apologizing and making right with the specific "few" people that are affected.

The reality is that they only respond in crisis. They only have responded when the forums have gotten irate (legitimately). What about responding for the simple fact that you put out a high end product in a VERY NICHE market and you market yourself to repeat customers. How about you try to KEEP repeat multi purchase customers than lose them?

My philosophy is that if I were a car salesman, I would rather sell 5 cars to 1 person over 15 years than to sell 5 cars to 5 different people. But that is just me I guess...