My (not so) awesome Alienware Experience?

So about two years ago now I purchased an Alienware m15x and thought it was completely awesome. I loved everything about it; it’s been one of the best laptops I have ever owned. So needless to say about a week ago when I experienced the “hinge problem” when the plastic encasing around the LCD screen began separating I was extremely frustrated, especially being out of warranty at this point.

Nevertheless I called Alienware support and told them about my problem. And to my surprise they told me that even though the laptop was out of warranty since this “hinge problem” was a known issue they would fix it, free of cost, so long as I paid shipping, which was a crazy 104 dollars, but I figured it was a small price to pay for a $3000 computer, so I shipped it to them and waited.

About 2 weeks later I received my computer in the mail all nice and completely fixed and everything was great again. Great support service… I thought.

(Two weeks passed)

I logged in to my “my hive” Alienware account and found to my dismay charges for this “so called” free process.

(these where the charges)

Invoice | SI251350

1 | AREA-51 M15X (MD2) PANEL A SILVER PAINT (SMOOTH/RIP)

1 | AREA-51 M15X (MD2) LCD BRACKET LEFT

1 | AREA-51 M15X (MD2) LCD BRACKET RIGHT

1 | AREA-51 M15X (MD2) PANEL B BLACK GLOSS PAINT

Apparently they had replaced parts of the computer and where charging me for them, and they had not notified me at all via email or phone to tell me this, they just went right ahead and charged me, which I find to be terrible business practice. I had no choice in the matter. Of course I emailed the support team right away, which was about a week ago, and received no response… apparently this support service that I thought was great, isn’t actually.

I suppose it’s all in principle to me, it’s not that I didn’t want my computer fixed, it just upsets me that they charged me for a “free” process and without my permission, I mean really, what was going to stop them from charging me whatever they felt like, or even anyone else.

Sorry for the length of this, I just want everyone to make sure this doesn’t happen to them, and maybe Alienware’s team will be a little better in the future and responsible enough to let people know what they are doing. I know that I won’t stop until I get this charge removed.

 

ring them


give out hell

 

I wouldn't be so sure that they charged you unless it appeared on a bill. It's standard practice for them to list out parts that they have replaced on your PC as a history of work performed for the next support agent. The cost of those parts are simply listed there as well.

I've had parts replaced on my computer as well but have not been charged for them. Check your bills carefully and dispute any charges then.

 

I got what your saying, my credit card itself has not been charged yet, i just find it odd that they would include an order total of ($59.01) without the intention of charging it. But i will be watching my statements to make sure as you said.

 

you should be glad they were willing to do anything for that laptop. even if they charge you that amount, i still consider it a good deal. also it may be a good idea to apply the hinge mod, since its new. could save you some pain later down the road.

 

Well Under hive the price shows up even if you were under warranty. It's usual. I once got my gfx card replaced and they did it free under warranty but my hive showed a price of 200 something bucks. So I guess u are ok.

 

jman15601,

The reference you're seeing in MyHive is due to the internal way they track costs. When I had my motherboard replaced and saw $1500+ I almost had a heart attack. You won't be billed.

The agents use this information to determine if a system is worth fixing or just flat-out replacement. Why customers see it is beyond me, but don't worry.

 

Yeah dude, I don't think you're getting billed, just like what other people have said. I had my hdd replaced by dell for my laptop, and for a few days I saw a charge of 180 bucks on my account on the Dell website, but then one day there was a credit for the same amount. I financed mine through DPP, and never saw that activity on there, so until you get a bill in the mail, don't worry.

 

Yeah a lot of companies do this for warranty work so that you can think "Wow that warranty sure did save me a lot of money! I'll definitely buy it again next time!!!"

Usually they'll show grossly inflated labor charges so that the would-be-cost is huge, too. It's all sales tactics.