My nightmare experience with @DellCare / Dell Complete Care Warranty / EMEA Dell support FULL DETAILS INCLUDED

You did do research, valid point. I suppose you could say it's Dell's fault in that they don't train their CSR's well enough, but that's what I was getting at: The CSR's are the weak link in the chain here. If you want to be absolutely sure of something, go by Dell's documentation. That's usually very detailed and precise. Find the model number of the chipset, and cross-reference that on Intel's site for RAID/TRIM support, etc. If you assume that any L1 you speak to knows only what you can find on Dell's site anyway, that'll serve you very well in future.

It sucks to have sub-standard hardware, and to have to jump through so many hoops to get it replaced / the way you want it. I know from personal experience that's never fun, and can put you in an extremely bad mood. As such, I probably shouldn't have come on as strong as I did (I'm sure that did nothing to help the situation) so I'd like to offer my sincerest apologies for most-likely putting you in a worse mood than you already were.

(I know I said I wouldn't post in this any more, I just felt I should apologise for the less-than-helpful way I posted things)

 

Hey, it's fine to post. I'm probably as guilty for jumping the gun and having a dig at you. Please - carry on posting, and let's forget the little exchange of views we had, eh?

As far as CSR's etc, not everyone calls up and talks to a rep. I know a lot of people that I have referred to Dell for their AW purchases (reference my thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-aw-system-accessories-please-contribute.html) that simply do not like to deal with someone over the phone. Wether that be because they don't have the confidence to do so, or for whatever reason.

So, if someone elects to NOT pick up a phone, does that mean they should be any the less informed? - are we placing too much responsibility on the customer to find out important information? - shouldn't that important information be made available to everyone, not just those who make an effort to enquire about such things?

I could liken it to cigarette branding - you could argue that it's up to the individual if they choose to smoke, but packaging these days is clearly labelled with the possible consequences of doing so. If you hark back years, smoking was highly fashionable and there were no warnings to health. What would you say to those people who developed Cancer or other related illnesses? - "Hey, you should have made more enquiries - it's on you!" - probably not.

Of course, this in a completely different league, but as we are talking about very expensive computers here, don't you think that it should be a responsibility of the vendor to provide as much information as possible to prospective buyers? - I know I do.

Recently, we saw Dell's website throwing up a "compatibility alert" when configuring an M18x with 680m and a 7mm SSD - this was obviously down to some issues with the PM840 (Dell's OEM variant of the 840 Pro, I think).....What I, as a customer, would have liked to have seen when I was buying would have been a similar kind of "alert" when selecting raided SSD's. Kind of a disclaimer, if you like.....the customer then would have been warned, could have proceeded if they wanted to take that risk, and THEN it would have been "on them" as you put it.

As it obviously panned out, Dell did not feel that it was important to notify buyers of the possible drawbacks - they were quite happy to take the high prices for that kind of configuration. My case is just an example of this. They took the cash and don't want to deal with the after effects....

 

As they say performance comes with a price.

 

Meaning what exactly? - that because I chose a high value/high performance machine, I should automatically expect that it craps out at some point, with that being the compromise I have to make for choosing performance in the first place? - that statement/assumption is SOO flawed LOL.

I'd try try saying that to ANYONE who bought the "top end" of whatever product they bought - I wonder what kind of reaction you would get....

It's akin to saying "Here you go, Mr Bugatti owner, nice car, best in the world, but be aware, because of your choice, it WILL turn into a lemon"

 

Oh I completely agree. I'd love if Dell made as much in-depth information as possible publicly available, right down to engineering whitepapers and the like. The problem is that often much of the more in-depth stuff can be really heavily buried in their sight somewhere, and really isn't at all that easy to find. Even if they had a simple tab next to each system labelled "System Builder Info" or something similar. Even just linking to an FTP server with all the documents chucked in would be perfectly acceptable.

For the average customer, the amount of information Dell provides is fine, and they know this. I suppose they're assuming that anyone who knows enough to want more is going to, well, know enough to go look for it. You ask Joe Blogs to find the TDP of his processor, and he'll look at you like you have ten heads. Likewise, most people in the know know enough to steer well clear of Dell's phonelines. Is this an ideal situation? Not at all. Is it a cost-effective one? You bet'cha. At the end of the day, it's cheaper just to give the one-in-a-thousand customer his bigger SSD than it is to train legions of monkeys on something they're almost never going to need to know.

 

I agree, but I wouldnt agree that it would have been impossible for Dell to place a kind of disclaimer alert on that configuration. Heck, they would have effectively been saving themselves a LOT of cash in warranty claims by doing so.

Either way, the proverbial "milk" has already been spilt. No point in me debating what could or should have been done, from Dell's perspective and my own. The only facts that remain now are the fact that the problem exists now and I have warranty. How Dell to choose to deal with that warranty is the whole reason for my thread. It's still an open case.....

 

I would break this post down but i wont. You probably already frustrated and stressed with the whole situation on hand. Your in good hands with Dell even if they shown no love at this stage they usually always pull through for their customers. Its a matter of time before the right person comes and fixes this whole mess. All the best

 

Please, feel free to elaborate all you want. This is an open forum after all, any you have just as much right to voice your opinion here as I do. Just because we may not agree shouldn't mean you feel like you shouldn't post up. I've got broad shoulders - I can take it!.

Thanks for the best wishes, though.

 

Yes it surely does and stevie paid a premium for that performance, hence for the premium he paid (850 GBP), he SHOULD have the performance available. But due to intel's fault and dell's ignorance, stevie, the CUSTOMER who PAID the PREMIUM for PERFORMANCE is suffering.

 

I too am sorry to hear of the frustrations. This is a complex issue with "right" on both sides and as usual this sort of problem is always the most difficult to resolve. Dell sold this system with SSD RAID 0, they did not disclose that TRIM was not supported. If they had my vote would fall to them, but they did not!
1) It is pretty clear to all technically astute users that TRIM is requirement for ongoing RAID.
2) Dell needs to support its warranty for the full contracted period
3) The system / drives fail to support the as advertised rates RAID 0 within the warranty period and no permanent remedy
4) So action is required! steviejones133 has suffered damages.

a) Given the difficulties he has been put to I suspect and small claims court would provide offsets for Dell intent up to treble damages,
b) This is offset by Dells offer to replace the drive with a 512 gB SSD not ideal but not an unreasonable either, and it was accepted by brother stevie on condition that it was a Samsung Drive.
c) Dell cannot provide the agreed Samsung Drive (probable because they cannot support it in the long run) The drive is close in spec. but not the same.
d) Dell's refusal to meet the terms of the Samsung drive puts them back to (4) above since they have chosen not to meet the terms of their settlement offer.

Why not refund the price paid for the Drives? At todays prices stevie could do a very nice upgrade to a solo m500 960 gb drive maybe even 2 of them?

Ball is back in Dells court, I trust they will treat this properly stevie has suffered enough.

PS Be proud Stevie, the civil law surrounding this is of British origin even for all of us in NA

 

I wouldn't call it ignorance on Dell's part.

"Dell" the company, I'm sure knew full well that TRIM wouldn't be supported under RAID. For whatever reason they chose not to point this out on their website, whether they just wanted more money, or forgot, or whatever, I'll leave alone. The point is that Dell's CSR's are not Dell. Dell (when I say Dell, I mean the high-ups. Engineers, execs. whatever) knew, somewhere along the line. This information didn't make it either out of the company, or into the CSR's training. That's where the problem lies.

 

Thanks for your post, Bro - much appreciated input. Interesting take on a possible refund. I hadn't really thought of that. Wether or not that would be a viable option from Dell's perspective, I don't know. It would certainly be something worthwhile looking at, if offered - the only one drawback to that is the loss of raid performance from a perspective of single vs. raid figures.

Originally, I guess I was simply exhausted with all my efforts to resolve this, that when a solution was offered (Single Samsung 512gb) I jumped at it with both hands, as right then it was like "okay Steve, this is the best you're gonna get fella - just take it". Since then, and since starting this thread, many of the comments made have really made me think long and hard about things.

I'm losing out on the raid performance I paid for, and no-one can wave a "magic wand" and make my machine TRIM compatible....that one is down to Intel "back-tracking" and making series 6 chipsets compatible with TRIM, which is something I don't think they are about to do any time soon as why would they? - from Intel's perspective, the money/profit is to be made on sales on newer chipsets and not bringing older ones up to date.

As I've maintained all along, I am open to ALL possible solutions, so we shall see what gives.

True, but this is only a valid point if one deals with a CSR. There are plenty of ways to buy a machine without speaking to a CSR, so from that perspective, you could say that their training is irrelevant. Of course, I agree that they should be well trained to field questions, though.

 

Actually, dell csr's represent dell, a customer does not have access to talk to high-ups, this is a proven fact, even trying to speak to a team manager is almost impossible for anyone outside us, a simple answer provided by dell csr's is,"sorry sir, my manager is not availale" or "sorry sir, manager is in the meeting", this is almost always accompanied by "manager will call you back shortly", which everyone knows is complete bs and never ends up happening. As such to a customer dell csr's are pretty much dell, they represent dell and customer can only talk to them.

I can call it ignorance or intended fraud by not providing a critical piece of information to a customer, considering this single piece of information will turn away quite a few customers, then the fact, that dell will suffer massive amount of decline in sales of ssd, which is obvious that dell charges a premium for.

Although dell has made an offer, this offer does not resolve the issue of performance, customer will actually get half the performance if agreed to this. Customers intend to resolve the issue and still accepting the offer but then dell refusing to provide the samsung drive. Dell has to support the Samsung drive in the long run as this is part of there warranty, since dell sells extended warranty, dell has to support it with either same or upgraded parts.

Not trying to stir anything, just my humble opinion as a third party who went through something similar but with graphics cards.

 

I will give you guys a very small simple example.

2 months back I bought a Lenovo Y400 and specified the sales guy that I only wanted if I get the external bay GPU so that I can use it in SLi mode (this system came with 750M card). So the sales rep told me, yes, ofcourse you can order them together and the extra power supply; Long story short, I have been sold the system with the wrong external GPU (650M) which will not work in SLi as everyone knows already. I had to cancel the external bay GPU and return it but the system is kept because I was promised within few weeks the new refresh external GPU will be available.

I keep asking them every week about the GPU and when I spoke to a manager and told him the story, he said that there is nothing he can do about it and I cannot even return the system because I passed my 30 days return period.

My problem is not that I want to return it, I need the system as I asked from the very beginning but they washed their hands and they do not care about it as long the sales goes on...

So yeah, since my sad story with ASUS in the past I had to burn my fingers again now with an incompetent company who gives no s_ _ _ about their customers.

The difference is that Alienware / Dell support team is all over this thread and they have read every bit of it. Eventually they will have to do something so that they will not go down as Lenovo does every day and keep building their customers with confidence and care. I know everything will be alright!

P.S. I am sure everyone has got my point here; and by the way Lenovo y400 goes to my nephew, its nothing but just a toy

 

I've always been able to get a hold of a manager when I needed to (twice) with no problems. *shrug*

That's my point. The CSR didn't tell him what he didn't know.

 

Exactly this. In my haste to just get this over and done with, I lost track, mentally, of what I had paid for and why. I literally grabbed at the best looking offer, because of desperation to resolve the situation which had taken so long to get to a stage where ANYONE was prepared to help. Looking back, the single drive offer, whilst would solve the degradation issues, was not really a great offer - especially when I lose my raid performance that I paid for - and the future possibility to successfully run a raid without the same crap happening all over again.

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles with the Lenovo. It's a sad state of affairs when you get told one thing and it's not followed through with. I had a similar experience just before I got my very first AW. I bought an Asus G73 from a national retailer. They told me categorically that it had a 1920x1080p display - when it arrived, it was not. I spent a long time over that one too, trying to get resolution/returns. I eventually was able to return it, and actually that whole experience ended up with me buying Alienware instead.

I'm hoping that Dell are all over this thread and that they are keeping up with it. I know a few "key people" have been informed of it, and are aware of it, so I can only hope that they do the right thing.

Man, you really need to move to the UK (or probably any other EMEA territory) and THEN try and get through to anyone with a brain, let alone a manager!. As far as CSR's go, they are only useful at order stage if you have a specific question - otherwise, they are just glorified order takers who will happily book your purchase, but know as much about "details" as they could write on the back of a stamp. I think that's the point you are trying to make, but as I said before, not everyone actually deals with a CSR - believe it or not, some people just pony up the list price and order over the internet. I didn't, but then again, I have a very good chap at Dell who helps me out with purchases.

 

I'm Irish.

(Ironically, the two times I needed Dell managers was when I was in America and Canada, but as far as I know, Canada gets the same non-US (read: horrible) support everywhere else does)

 

Well, all I can say is that you must be charmed in your ability to get through to the right people. You know what they say, right....luck of the Irish, right?

 

I have to admit, It helped me quite a bit when I ordered my R1 in the US...

 

a US manager really should spend five minutes sending off an email to his UK equivalent, giving him a heads up about the unnecessary negative publicity right before launch.

 

That wouldn't be a bad idea - but, from what I've been told thus far, Dell US 'apparently' have a really hard time trying to deal with Dell EMEA (no surprise there then, as most us feel the same about Dell EMEA.... ) but, to me, that seems absurd, as it gives the impression that instead of the "organ grinder" calling the shots, it's the "monkey" who's boss....after all, Dell US are the primary subsidiary of Dell Inc. right?

I'd have thought that if someone "high up" at Dell US was watching this thread, they could call up whomever, wherever and pretty much dictate the resolution.

On a side note, regarding the poll...it's interesting to see that almost 70% of voters say that this is inadequate/unacceptable service, and that they would be very unhappy about it if the same thing happened to them. That speaks volumes.

This is slightly off topic, but an interesting read about Michael Dell : Michael Dell: The Making of an American Oligarch - I found it quite appalling, especially farming out US jobs and Taiwanese workers jumping to their deaths because of low pay etc. at the Foxconn factory there where Dell manufactures, taking advantage of cheap labour to maximise profits.

 

I wonder if Mr. Fox is going to come in here and deflect by saying "other brands have much worse CS" as usual...

 

After reading all this I have to come to some conclusions.

DELL! Your current financial position really doesn't allow you this kind of ignorance. I work for Tesco as a Store Manager and you would not believe the hoops I jump through to please my customers. Everything I do and Tesco do is designed to simplify the customer experience. When something goes wrong, then that customers needs are my first priority. I even have big company rules to contend with, the main aim is always customer satisfaction.

Also given your financial situation I find it highly difficult to under stand why a multi million dollar company can not talk from US to UK? your the same name above the door. FIND A WAY TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN!...

I have just sat a course with Tesco about social media, we learned how its the fastest growing sector of retail customer knowledge EVER..... Companies can no longer continue to ignore the internet. My shop even has its own facebook page. You might have, facebook, twitter etc.... The thing is your not really defending your position. 1 good sale generates 1 good sale. 1 bad sale is 7 lost sales. Given the amount of people now connected to the internet and the niche market Alienware represents is it wise to ignore forum posts such as this?

Luckily The UK Sales of goods act should provide some assistance here. As if Dell did not provide customers with the correct information about degradation of product, then product should be expected to perform its advertised function for the duration of warranty unless the terms and conditions state otherwise.

Really if nothing else I would expect to see several things from dell at this point

1.Active presents from Dell EMEA on this forum to promote themselves and aid resolutions. Needed to restore customer faith and grow sales as a business.
2. Replacement of system or hard drives each time performance fails until warranty expires.
3. If 2 is not the case then a post from Dell with cited reasons quoting factual accuracies as to why this is not the case. To aid in customer loyalty in understanding warranties and Dell's continued commitment to the UK sales of goods act and customer quality of service.

I consider number 1 to be non-negotiable for a company of Dell's size.

 

Well said Brother, I find Dell's whole "they are a different section, I would love to help but can't do anything" a rather disingenuous and difficult pill to swallow.
I totally get how companies operate within their own territories, but seriously. Is it that hard to pick up a phone, talk to your co-worker, and recommend a course of action.

 

Other brands do have much worse CS. Even if it took a while, at least they offered him a resolution (though not sufficient). Try dealing with ASUS or MSI support in the same way, and you'll see it's true.

Not to say in the least that this situation is acceptable... I work in customer service (of a sort) and do anything to keep my clients happy. Such as running into work on my day off, like today, to set something up that they forgot to order... *grumble*

Happy clients are returning clients.

 

How exactly? What are your experiences with either company for you to be so definitive sure they are worse off than Dell? We are talking about Dell not Apple. Dell is not exactly universally acclaimed for their after purchase CS. My dealings with ASUS warranty claims have been nothing but positive in Australia. Can't say the same about Dell for a lot of us living outside of the States. Not saying Dell is worse off than ASUS or MSI but I just can't see how it is that much better then either of those companies.

Given the lack of options in the gaming desktop replacement market, companies can afford to offer sub par service and still retain sales. Despite my past experience with Dell, I'll still purchase the upcoming m17 from them if it's a solid machine that meets my needs. Just got my fingers crossed I won't need to lodge any warranty claim.

 

It can happen & has happened to me when the ivy bridge upgrade offer was on if your system was in production at the time of the announcement even though you ordered
a sandy bridge CPU you were upgraded to an ivy bridge free of charge.

I rang Dell Australia & they said nooooooo it only valid for US customers (gee fancy that). Then Lionel Menchaca had a blog on Direct to Dell which said the free upgrade was global so I left a reply on his blog site where I told him that was not the case.

Anyway to cut a long story short & it was loooong, I told Dell Australia that I wanted to return my system even though I was past the 30 days & surprising they said
yes (so that can be done as well …another myth) but said I have to pay a restocking fee.

I had a big whinge on the Dell Alienware forum and this is where Dell Bill stepped in (Big thanks to Bill, Lionel & Dell Chris M) and said that is not on & I will not have
to pay a restocking fee and he contacted Dell Australia on my behalf.

In the end Dell Bill organised my M18x R1 sandy bridge to replaced with a brand new M18x R2 with ivy bridge CPU.

So my point being it can happen and does happen, it just depends on how high up the corporate tree your contact is and their willingness to help.
I was lucky enough for these terrific people to help me & I am greatly appreciative that they did.

So Stevie I really hope things turn out well for you (Even though you are a pommy lol).

The fact remains Stevie regardless of your particular problem the quality and level of customer service, pricing, deals & discounts should be the same for
all Dell customers not just US customers, it’s like the haves & have nots, second class citizens so to speak which Dell really need to address.

Good luck mate :thumbsup:

 

I have a suggestion (don't know if this was already talk about) why don't we all write a latter to Dell UK asking why this issue is not taken care off. I mean no angry mails but normal polite questions why they are not helping !tevie. And the something we should do on Twitter.

On side note Dell still got Samsung SSD 256 PM830 drives, I got my new R4 with is this week and order was on issued on 22 of may, so they saying that they don't have them is BS.

PS. Sorry for my poor English

 

Top of the morning to you, guys! :hi2: - it's a beautiful sunny morning here in the UK (makes a change!) so it's time for me to recap on what's gone down here overnight. I like to keep up with your comments and views, so again, I thank you all for taking the time to post your feelings and opinions about my case, it's continually appreciated. +Rep to you all, when NBR let's me spread THAT much luuurve!

Thanks for posting, mate.

It's funny, but my old dear works for Tesco, too. I can say that you are spot on with the approach to customer service. She works in a customer facing role, and it's ALL about the customer.

I also find it quite odd that it appears to be extremely difficult for Dell US to liaise with other Dell territories, especially at this kind of level. It's also quite distressing that it seems to be the case that to get ANYWHERE with problem resolving for many folk from the EMEA side of things, customers are kind of 'forced' into HAVING to fire a barrage of 'hail mary's' to Dell US or Twitter etc. as they are often left with little choice because of the the way Dell EMEA conducts things....

I liken dealing with Dell EMEA with trying to reason with a tyrannical dictator, where the 'little guy' who has a problem is often just brushed aside, as I was quite nonchalantly, when I was 'forced' into having to turn to EMEA for support, after my initial ''reaching out' to Dell US (via NBR) failed. Dell EMEA's attitude was plain and simple - 'this is not a Dell problem - this is normal - deal with it'. I find that unacceptable service.

Exactly. Especially important when dealing with clients who have had bad experiences. Would I be swayed into buying Dell products in the future with better treatment? - sure I would. Just like I would be turned off from buying Dell in the future if the opposite proves to be the case.

I guess that experiences can vary, wether you are dealing with Dell or Asus etc - there is always good and bad in everything, some people get excellent support and some don't, regardless of manufacturer or location. I think the whole "Dell has the best warranty in the industry" opinion is somewhat valid, but it's a shame that to experience this requires the person (more often than not) to be located within the US. I wonder how many Dell EMEA customers would sing about Dell's 'excellent' warranty, in comparison.

I've had three or four 'major' instances of where I required Dell's help and I HAD to approach Dell EMEA over all of them. Is it coincidence that on each occasion, I have had to resort to the old 'hail mary' tactic to get heard? - or is that more suggestive that this type of treatment from EMEA is more the rule, rather than the exception? - I'll let the public decide that one .

Were my previous problems resolved, you may ask. Pretty much so, yes. So, from that perspective, I've had generally good warranty service from Dell - it's just a real shame that to actually GET that good service, I've had to spend MONTHS to get it - actually, if I tallied up the total amount of time I have spent trying to sort out various warranty issues, it would probably come close to a whole year of my life. I have better things to do with my life than having to waste a whole year of it battling with Dell for service I have paid for!

If you are from EMEA territory, it requires a certain dedication to the problem at hand, it takes a LOT of time, a LOT of patience, a whole heap of motivation, and most importantly, a desire to NOT settle for second best. If you are in the US, the process is, generally speaking, a LOT more streamlined and customer friendly. I'm not saying that US customers don't have my kind of experience, because they occasionally do.

The prime example of EMEA vs US would be my initial 'outreach' here on NBR to one of our great Alienware Tech's - if my service tag had have been a US one, I'd have had my resolution right there and then. Unfortunately, it's a UK tag, which meant US assistance was not available to me, meaning that the EMEA 'merry-go-round' was the only way for me to escalate this issue. Of course, because I have been on the 'merry-go-round' a few times already, I pretty much knew how this would end up.....and that's where we are Today.

As I mentioned at the start of this thread, I'm normally not one to have such a big moan in public as I'm kind of a private guy who just get's on with my own issues without bothering others too much. If I can fix things off my own back, I'll take that approach any day of the week over having to resort to this kind of action.

Why did I post this thread? - well, it's just that I am extremely fed up of having to jump on the 'merry-go-round' every time I need help. Fed up of the poor EMEA support, and quite frankly, fed up with the huge divide between the level of support on offer from different Dell territories. As mentioned many times already, Dell are a global/international business and they should make every effort to ensure adequate and equal customer support is offered to ALL of it's customers, regardless of their location on the planet!

Thanks buddy!

I recall that very offer. I find it quite appalling to even 'think' that Dell would only have honoured this 'promise' for US customers, and leave EMEA customers effectively without a pot to pee in over the free upgrade. Possibly another example of Dell not having a level playing field with it's customer base. It's quite ironic, in a way, that Dell US offers excellent customer service to it's citizens, but in the same instance, cuts thousands of American jobs and farms them out overseas. Kind of a classic 'we'll still take your money from you, but as far as supporting the nation as an employer, we'll just crap on you instead' - I know that's probably off topic, but worth a mention.

I have had a similar experience that also worked out in well in the end. The Social Media guys did step in, and they did resolve my problems very well. Again, it was one of those 'experiences' where Dell EMEA were absolute pants in helping, so like you, I did the usual thing (which has become more of an expectation to have to do to get anywhere) which was to fire off several 'hail mary's' again to the likes of Twitter, Dell US, Dell ECRT etc etc. Bill was pretty instrumental in helping me out on that one, which is why I'm still holding out some hope....

Side note: Pommy, eh? - actually, if my folks hadn't have returned home from Sydney back in 1972, I would have been an Aussie - my brother is, he was born in Camperdown....unfortunately, I was born just after, in 1973 - if I'd have been born there, I'd have been using my dual nationality passport to come back over there and enjoy the much better climate/lifestyle. Can't win 'em all though, eh? - but I'd rather have been able to throw a couple of snags on the barbie and crack open a brewski or two on the beach

That's a very kind thought, and I thank you for it.

Actually, I did say to Dell that new machines are still shipping with PM830 drives. The thing is, Dell have stock for new builds and stock for warranty claims. I mentioned to them that if they are 'out of stock' for warranty claims, why not build a machine that does have the correct part? - 'Hahahaha' was pretty much the response I got from that one. I actually thought that this was not a bad idea, especially given that there was no lead time on the 'promised' drive becoming available, and that I would have been left waiting indefinitely for it to become available. That solution that I proposed would have also possibly meant that I *might* have ended up with chipset that actually does support TRIM and would maintain a raid0 setup. (note that my current machine performs on par with an R2 anyway, so it's not like I was gunning for this as a route to a "free upgrade" to a more powerful machine, if you like. Some people may have seen it like this, I'm not sure, but I've already got Sli'd 680m's and my 2960xm is pretty damned good, if not pretty much on par when compared to an Ivy XM, so that possible notion is NOT my aim here. I wouldn't elect to give myself so much grief just for that lol)

I was under the impression that "reasonable timeframe" was an element of Dell warranty - if they cannot sort within a 'reasonable timeframe" then they have other options open to their discretion. Obviously, they thought they would forget about that side of things and simply offer the route open to them that would be the easiest/cheapest way to get it resolved - from Dell's point of view, anyway.

The Dell response to that suggestion was not 'yeah, let's get this guy sorted out as soon as possible - cost not an issue - he's got warranty and we NEED to look after this guy' - instead it was 'yeah, instead of sorting this guy out as soon as possible, we'll just chuck him the next best thing off the shelf that is kind of similar and he'll have to be happy about it'

It's bad enough that I was pretty much rail-roaded into the single drive solution vs. my raid setup - yes, I did ask for this as a solution, but that was pretty much borne out of frustration.....you bang your head against the wall so many times, you tend to jump at something which seems to be your only way out, right?

To add insult to injury, Dell decide, in their wisdom, that a lesser performing part will suffice in the absence of its better out-of-stock equivalent - just because my machine would technically 'work' with a slower drive. That's like offering someone a GTX580m in lieu of their GTX680m, just because it will plug in and turn on and run!! - no thought about the performance of the replacement part whatsoever, just a case of 'here, have this....now run along, now...'

Oh, and I just remembered that with regards to the drives that were on offer, they were going to be a refurbished items - that's what @DellCares told me.....so, not only would I be losing my raid0 performance, by being forced to accept what I thought was gonna be a PM830 (I'd made the performance trade-off in my mind acceptable at that point, because of the frustration factor) but NOW, I was then getting told that I'd have to go even further down the 'performance ladder' and that I'd also likely to get a drive that may well have had some hammer already....

Go figure!

 

No matter how many times he says so... he (Mr. FOX) is TOTALLY right! ( and serve as a pragmatic [well informed and well-founded] advice and a reminder for those living or building illusions).

Just my one cent

 

No, because Mr. Fox is not a resident of the UK or European Union and he can only speak about what is factual in the US. Mr. Fox has seen enough to know that things are different for EMEA customers, and he has nothing to add at this time.

 

There should be a third option for the opening post here beside like and share - dislike (Dell UK). How anyone can vote for anything but the final option is beyond me. I never thought I would say a company has worse service at various levels than ASUS. I did a quick search on this thread and did not find anyone asking if you did a secure erase (I see you did mention format) on the original drives?
Apparently the 100's of potential service calls (to Dell) your informative posts here have diverted do not mean a darn thing.

 

Agree completely. I've had to jump through similar hoops and spend many an hour with Dell Support via both email and phone calls communicating with half a dozen different representative in the past when I had to file a claim. The whole process was extremely frustrating and taxing. Based on the posts in this thread, it seems to me quite a number of us outside of the States has had similar negative experiences with Dell Support over the years. The fact that you had to spend months battling away on different mediums only to be forced into accepting a compromise is totally unacceptable. At the end of the day, regardless if a problem/warranty claim eventually gets resolved or not, I simply wouldn't consider Dell's warranty claim process as good service when it can be so stressful and time consuming to the customer. I just don't see how they are any better than other companies from my perspective.

 

Yes, I did contemplate a Secure Erase or Sanitary erase (reference this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/718970-ssd-raid-0-not.html) however, as Samsung Magician does not allow their useful secure erase utility to work on OEM drives, it would have meant using a 3rd party app to do so - a 3rd party app that is not officially supported by Dell to use. Basically, I have been ultra-careful about doing the right thing here, so that my warranty remains in tact....for what it's worth LOL (see below).

As you can see from the posts I made on another thread a few weeks ago, it seems that using something like Parted Magic could potentially void my warranty anyway, or possibly just made things worse, and I'd have been even more up the creek without a paddle. As far as I know, Dell have no recommended tool for secure erasing.

Yes, you are quite correct. Over the last few years, I have had quite a few people message me about dealing with warranty claims, and whilst I am no expert in the field (even though I have probably had more than my fair share of issues) the one thing that stands proud is the 'immense fear' of having to deal with Dell. Various members have PM'd me asking for help and advice on how best to approach things......it shouldn't be like that. Any customer should not feel dread at the thought of making a claim on their warranty, but it does seem like EMEA experiences are far worse than our fellow brethren across the pond.

 

I actually read through the whole thread with the endless amount of free time I have at the moment, especially since I feel this is a topic that has been very relevant to me. I do feel that there's a little something I don't quite understand here though.. To quote stevie way back from the first post,

How was the US rep's solution of drive replacement supposed to solve the problem completely if they were just going to degrade as before? If that is all that a US customer is going to get, shouldn't we be ditching the "double standards" accusation and go with "poor standards across the board"?

I've thought about the arguments so far, that Dell was at fault for selling stevie's config without adequate warning. So if they were to "do the right thing" for stevie, which is only achievable through a full system replacement at least to an M18x R2, does it mean that everyone in the world who bought an R1 with RAID 0 SSD's should also get an upgrade to R2? That would certainly be the "right thing" but would the sheer costs be dealing a fatal blow to the Alienware M18x line? Can we as people having no stakes in the profits of Dell rightfully demand such a severe punishment to be voluntarily borne by Dell?

Now here's me thinking out of the box: if it might be true that stevie would have been "taken care of" had he been a US customer, he could transfer the warranty to an American cousin/friend, Mr. Fox or any other trust-worthy American NBR member. The new "owner" will contact Dell US and report the problem, get an offer of resolution and THEN explain that he/she is temporarily in the UK at which point the support order would hopefully be passed to UK for dispatch. Dell EMEA can't pull their double standards now as the computer "belongs" to a US customer. After everything's fixed up, another warranty transfer sees stevie back at the helm. Happy ending? Well that depends on whether there exists any accpetable resolution that does not involve Dell losing possibly millions of dollars..

 

It is true what you are saying, but Stevie didn't want to do any hanky panky and he came out with a true story hoping he will get the treatment he deserves and we all still hope that...

 

While my experience is not definitive, yours isn't either. As we all know, there are good and bad cases from every company. I've had DOA machines from ASUS disregarded and run through a circle. I've had Dell at my door in 12hrs. I've also had Dell disregard my issues (intermitten/unproven issues), and an ASUS rep authorize a replacement on the phone with a local computer store.

While I cannot be sure, and nor can you, ASUS and MSI have given me more problems and thus I feel that they are worse, even when Dell did screw me around by installing 3 consecutive, differently broken motherboards in my M17x R3, then not allowing a replacement.

 

Consider it a thought/social experiment.. Nobody would've been hurt even if stevie decides to do that, so my conscience is clear

 

I totally get where you coming from with the first paragraph. I've thought the same thing myself. Still, two wrongs don't make a right, if you follow me? - I'm sure there are many cases throughout history that see huge companies forced to compensate the masses for their blunders. Probably many cases too where individuals have successfully taken legal action against said business for whatever reason, and won. It's not my intent to start a global meltdown, I just want what I paid for. Am I going to (or should anyone, for that matter?) let someone off the hook just because it would end up costing them instead of me? - HELL NO - Michael Dell has far deeper pockets than I do, so I'm not gonna shed a tear if that actually did happen.....a few million dollars to Mr. Dell is just fuel for his private yacht, or a a few donations to the US Government, but it's a different scenario for many of us individuals. Ask yourself this. Do you think he would be that concerned about your finances?....probably not, as long as you can afford to pay the prices he asks for his products, he isn't gonna give a rats testicle about you....proven by the fact that he exported thousands of American jobs overseas. If he doesn't care about his own Countrymen and their families and jobs, what makes you think he would care more so about us customers? The man obviously only cares about profit and greed.

I know that sounds kind of harsh, but I'm more so worried about my £5k laptop than Michaels Millions...

As for the second paragraph, it's funny you should mention that approach as I'd thought of it myself AND another brother contacted me via PM to suggest the same. It's a possible solution, I'm just holding off making ANY radical decisions until I have heard back regarding whatever proposition Dell may or may not have. Of course, my next course of action depends greatly on what their course of action would be.

Exactly. I've always maintained throughout this thread that I'm a straight up kinda guy. I'm not into "accidentally" borking my machine - which, in all probability WOULD mean that I end up with an M18x R2, nor am I in the habit of doing any other 'somewhat shady' dealings. My policy is, and probably always will be, that honesty is the best policy. At least then I have my dignity.

That's exactly what I brought to the table here. My complete honesty. It's now just a case really of seeing what Dell will or will not do.

To you both, thanks for posting - opinions and ideas are always most welcome. Good idea, sponge. Julian, you see it exactly as I do, brother....

 

So, just to make sure I'm on the same page with everyone.. Are we all rooting for stevie to get an M18x R2 or will we settle for just a refund for the SSD's? Sure hope it's the former but I can see the latter option being the more realistic as a compensation for everyone with similar configurations.

As for the morality of the issue, I certainly hold stevie and the good guys in high regard for their stance. Personally I have dirtied my hands too many times in the face of inflexible/unreasonable bureaucracy to feel anything about repeating such acts anymore. To me, if the selective telling of truth leads to a beneficial situation for the individual and no real loss for "the system" then it is not categorically wrong. Though that's getting way off-topic here..

 

I think he should get a new R2 or even better.

I will be sending mails like this tomorrow to dell.

It will not do anything but I think if they got 30 or 40 mails like this someone will start asking question is going on.

 

Emails are all well and good, just don't escalate it beyond where Stevie has. That's his own right, and I'm sure he's going to do so when he sees fit.

 

Changing service tag to diff country doesn't work, unless system is also with in that country. AW chine has better support than AW Australia but I have had a system which was purchased in china and then brought to Australia, without tag transfer to Australia. The service my friend received was worse than service I received on Australian system.

Even for a simple hdd replacement, he had to call multiple times and explain that he's an Australian citizen and bought the system in china since he was working there. Add to that when motherboard went belly up and almost 10 services were done, replacement was not authorised because system was purchase in china. He eventually transferred the tag to Australia and then service level went a bit better, also one more service and replacement was offered/authorised.

 

It's great to have ANY support from you guys, regardless of what that might entail. I have placed no demands on Dell, nor will I do so. I'm not bothered about what is realistic or not. I will see what Dell comes back to me with, and whatever that is, it's decision time for me. It's either time to call it a day, or it's time to take my hat off to Dell for their actions. I have my own expectations, but I will not list them here because that would make me appear to be demanding something in particular, when I am not.

Of course, there are a few possible outcomes...probably too many to even list. I have always been a "scrapper" if you like, someone who will fight against something if I feel it is unjust or inadequate - 'big business' does not deter me or scare me off from tackling problems which can sometimes appear to be insurmountable. Generally, the more challenging it gets, the more I will dig my heels in and 'have a go'. I've been brought up that way since I was a kid, the grounding behind it is that "you don't get anything in this life if you don't fight for it!". True believer to that statement right here.......

Again, I'm not placing demands on Dell. What they see fit as a resolution night not entail the above. Whilst it may be nice to think of such resolutions, I feel I am not in a place to demand them. Would I like a machine that supports TRIM for raided SSD's? - sure, that would be nice, because that is the underlying cause of the problem in the first place. Wether or not Dell choose to offer either an R2 or R3 is speculation at best, so I will not hold out any hope for either.

I don't mind. If someone, or anyone, wants to send an email that supports or backs my case, I'd be more than happy for the support. The one thing I would say (or ask) is that if you do choose to support me via emails to Dell or whomever, please do not make any demands on my behalf. Feel free to express your views about my case, that is your right as individuals to do so. It may help, it may not - if you feel strongly enough to 'take up arms' in my defence, I can only thank you from the bottom of my heart for your thinking of me and for taking the time to get involved.

 

I more meant that they shouldn't be emailing Exec Res/Micheal Dell on your behalf, to not escalate it past the people you've already talked to. You know how and when to do it.

 

Of course, I don't want anyone to approach Dell with any view to discussing my case or proposing resolutions on my behalf. I can do that myself. I also think someone would need my service tag to REALLY complicate things - without that, it's kind of like 'moral support' and if someone wants to send a generic email to Dell simply to raise awareness and to show their support for me over this by linking to this thread, I can only see that as a kind thing to do. I very much doubt it would have any impact anyway, but the thought is there and it's pleasing, from my perspective, to have so much support from you guys....so much so that some of you feel like emailing Dell, which truly amazes me. Thank you.

I get your point though.....there's a time and a place for everything - when that time comes, it is down to me, and no one else but me, to fight my own battle, though I do very much appreciate the kind thoughts of support from EVERYONE that has taken their time to post up here.....however, if anyone is going to deal with Dell, it will be me, an no-one else on my behalf.

 

Sorry for the double post, but just to update the poll news, seems like now almost 75% of voters think this is unacceptable. Food for thought....especially when most people voting are likely to be Alienware owners or prospective customers.....

 

Don't know how it can get much worse than this... Sounds like Dell's position is "if your not in NA your boned. Sorry, have a nice day!"

Also I bought my warranty with Best Buy, which means i can go to a brick and mortar location, and yell at someone in person if need be.

 

Updated opening post with a disclaimer. Basically, just to ensure that any correspondence that Dell receive concerning my case/thread from third parties is only to be acknowledged as being representative of a "supportive gesture" only. As such, any contact from said third parties does not represent my wishes, instruction or intent. Nor is it in any way to be taken as said third parties acting on my behalf - I reserve the right to deal with my case with Dell exclusively, and no other contact regarding my case should be interpreted as anything other than my friends here on NoteBookReview Forum's offering a "show of support"

Thanks again guys, your ongoing support is truly appreciated!

Kind Regards,
Steve.

 

HA. Best Buy is currently treating me like crap, regarding my phone warranty. I've paid $250+ into it and haven't rooted my phone, but because the sound is gone from the bootloader while it's bootlooping, they are assuming I've used a Flash Counter Reset and I'm trying to defraud them. I've gone to 3 different stores now, and they all say the same thing. Now, I'm fighting to get all warranty money back.

@Stevie

Any new progress? Or have you been letting them stew/pointing them to this thread?