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

Steve,

Was the tech called Dan that came to your house, I think he does our area.

Your nightmare sounds similar to mine I had with the 17x r3 last year. I emailed and emailed and emailed, had a heated telephone conversation with AW, emailed Dell customer complaints and got nowhere. In the end I sent a recorded delivery letter to HQ along with copies of all the emails that bounced between us, and stated that I had instructed my bank to put the transaction in dispute etc etc. Two days later I received a call from the Dell executive department, they offered me either a partial refund or a full refund (which I took). All in it took about 2 months.

if you need any help, or copies of what I sent let me know.

Jim

 

Hi Jim,

Nah, this guy was called Brian and I'd say he was around 45-50ish, and he travelled from Warrington to my house. Nice guy, and not his fault at all. Actually, he said that it was a common occurrence that Dell gave him wrong parts. He also went on to say that the depot staff just grab the next best thing off the shelf if the correct part is not available - that's why this error was made twice.

It's great that you got sorted out. Again, it's a great shame that it took so much effort, on your behalf. Yet another quite shocking example of the lengths people have to go to so that they can get the correct level of service. I imagine there are MANY customers who simply are not up to the task, and end up settling for less than they are entitled to.

I have had success in the past in dealing with Dell Executive Customer Resolutions Team (Dell ECRT). I haven't "knocked on their door" just yet, as there are a few proverbial "irons in the fire" right now, and not wanting to complicate things with TWO sets of people trying to sort the same problem, I will probably wait to hear back from my first avenue of resolution. It then might be time to give ECRT a visit.....although I have a feeling that they are already aware of this.

I thank you for your offer of assistance, if I do need anything, I'll be sure to reach out to you via PM.

Cheers,
Steve.

EDIT: I just noticed another couple of votes....another person who chose the "top option" - some of the people voting must be insane....

 

What warranty did you get?
I got the full accident and replacement warranty for my G75. They have to fix it/replace for the next 3 years if something goes wrong.

 

No news as yet - nothing. Silence LOL. I imagine they are FAR too busy getting ready to launch the new line-up to worry about bothering with my problems......no surprise there, but then again, it was only Thursday when I started this thread, so I'll give the guys some slack to work with. What's a few more days between friends, eh?

 

Would you still recommend the full accident and replacement warranty?
Do the machines tend to need repair/replacement?

 

Sure. Generally speaking, the machines are very robust and fault-free. I'd rather have warranty and a chance to fight to get things sorted (like I am doing here) than not have warranty and be left without ANY options. So, yes - I'd still advise anyone contemplating a new purchase to get as much warranty as they can afford at the outset. (did I just say that?? LOL - I must be mellowing in my old age.....Dell should be giving me commission on prospective warranty sales next! hahahaha)

Just because I'm having problems myself, doesn't mean that on the whole, Dell warranty isnt good, because it is. It can sometimes be frustrating - like right now for me - but if I had no warranty right now, I'd certainly be in the situation of not having a pot to pee in.

 

Spot on, thanks for the advice.

 

They are called TROLLS :tongue:

 

My pleasure, happy to help.

Ahhhhhhh - I knew there was a name for them LOL

 

sorry to hear that Steve, when dealing with big corporation which will avoid and redirect responsibility in any possible way is guaranteed to happen, just as how you have stated where they blame intel. at this point to really deal with them, which could be sata II/III issue with mobo, cable or connector, if I were you, I would do it another way which I would not discuss it here.

as for the 2nd part where you pointed out Dell actively selling raid0 config on the R1 even without TRIM.. well from my perspective it is the fault of the buyer not doing enough research. however what I do know is that you already knew all of these (no trim in raid 0 with exception of few desktop 6 series chipset) and theres something wrong with the machine. just thought I'd point it out this part is no fault of Dell and they shouldn't be blamed.

Dell do these configuration and let us tweak the machine but doesnt mean they accept it which is well within their right to refuse help if something were to came up. If I were to flash a modded bios with 11+ OROM just to get Trim, and issues came there after I'd blame myself for having sh*tty luck.

but anyway I had several of these issues in the past myself (refused to let me speak with a supervisor etc, fail to deliver the correct parts) and was able to get over it. from my point of view, no Trim in raid 0 on the R1 would also affect read, not just write but mostly take part in sandforce controller as proven by Tweaktown and Aanadtech, but should not affect read as much as it does to write speed. care to post any picture and update your first post? in CDM and HDT and show us how performance was effected?

btw I'd test each and every single sata port, just to prove it to them. test port 0 of sata III, and port 1 of sata III also test the SSDs in another computer and explain to them its a faulty to begin with. of course if they insist nothing wrong with their product or SSD, then its just bad service as we all know read speed under raid 0 should almost always stay near top (with cstate off, which only comes up in modded bios)

cause at this point it could be the hardware raid thats faulty, sata cable or ports, SSDs or the motherboard etc. heck at this point I wouldn't be surprised if something wrong with the CPU lol. had bought one from ebay would only boot if only single GPU and ram stick was installed and the slots didn't matter, a extremely rare issue, just saying.

 

Thanks for your lack of support. Truly unappreciated, especially when I counted you amongst my friends here on NBR. Thanks for nothing.

Oh, and I disagree with more or less everything you said above. If you had read the thread from top to bottom, you would have realised that I had already shown Dell the performance issues at hand.....via live remote and live benches. I don't need to repost them here, although I did post some information a bit back, but you obviously missed that. I don't need to waste my time reposting it just for your benefit.

I havent flashed a modded OROM, so I dunno where you are coming from with all of that....

Ach.....it's too late to fully reply to this right now...but I probably will come back and point out a few "correct" details in the morning...

Cheers, mate - thanks a WHOLE bunch....really.....can't tell you how much I appreciate your support...shame I can't "dislike" a post or give you - rep.

Oh,and thanks for the impatial vote. Truly, thank you.....

 

hey man, as a tech guru such as yourself I thought you would understand. you're not alone though I can tell you that, i have seen countless of youtube videos of people showing their frustration and their share of anger and imo learning how to deal wit them is what I concluded the best way to solve it.

as for the modded bios with OROM, was just an example. like I was saying though, theres no doubt in my mind there are people also gets rejected help but could be the way they approach things are wrong and I understand it is ultimately your money and time they are wasting and if I were in your shoe I would be mad too. I live in Canada and all these nice resolutions from people and discounts I have seen on NBR are mostly from the states which your example once again made me realize its possible only those guys gets good discounts, and support. however I do not work for Dell and Dell canada maybe a lot different from Dell at your location so I'll leave it as it is as I do not wish to spread false rumor. I have spoken with many positive workers from Dell, and many bad ones, and one of them was a supervisor which basically told me to scram lol.

as for your 3rd part, it is totally unacceptable which they make screws up like that, replacing samsung with another SSD brand. I have had my R1 parts replaced 4 times, machine replaced twice and had three occasions where they screwed me over and spent my time waiting for the wrong parts so I understand your frustration.

I have went through all of your paragraphs actually, I didn't miss anything but just few things I decided not to include. but before getting my alienware, I knew trim in raid 0 was not possible as it was the same for desktop and I wouldn't blame Dell for it.

Stevejones, I hope things work out for you and just maybe you'll end up with a working machine just like most people did here on NBR. imo there are people who will always support you and I included, im just a highschool drop out who loves to game so how I voice my concern for you may differ from others so don't take it personally

anyway, did you check any of the things I've mentioned? there are only two sata III ports in R1 HDD bays and if you test each one, in AHCI should give you full performance 500mb/s read, 400mb/s write for samsung 830 256gb SSD. test each SSD, in each port one at a time, total of 4 times. if there are no issues with performance for both drives, in both port or if you have tested the SSDs in another computer with sata III port and found no performance degrade then you can conclude the SSDs are fine, and its fault with the hardware raid which is part of the motherboard.

I would personally ask Mr. Fox and Johnkss for help as they are true tech guru when comes to alienware and surely they can help.

 

oh right, 1 more thing. I have read in a thread where mr Fox posted something about his two sata III ports becoming sata II and it seems to be very similar to your issue. if there are no problems with your SSDs then it could be that but forgot how he solved it.

 

yeah i had horrible a horrible experience with dell warenty on my m18xr2 i will just quickly brease through what happened

1. got alienware m18x r2 in australia sent from america (in june) i turned it on an worked fine

2. next day when i turned it on keyboad would not respond so i wait a couple days till i get to i move bcak to canberra (capital city) and over the next month a repair tech come 5 time replaicing nearly every part to no avail

3.repair tect takes it away and they will send me a replacement over the next month i ring up every couple day's asking wheni will be getting it the people are nice but give very little information

4. 4 months later in december i finally get a working laptop back with duel 675ms (insted of the amd 6970ms(i think they were faulty)

5.it has been working fine since then the amount of time it took and the lack of information i got out of them was unberable. compared to my last laptop (clevo/sager 170pm) which had a dead pixel i sent it away(1 email) and got back a replaced screen less than a week later

conclusion: i really like my m18x r2 and it is a great laptop but the trouble with customer service was abysimal

 

Sorry to hear you've been victim of quite the disservice here, steve. I'm aware that you're not someone who complains easily, so I can only understand why this mishap must have brought you over the edge and make you lose confidence on AW support. I personally agree with your view. Our systems are about performance, we pay Dell good money for and we expect it. If we just wanted to have functioning hardware we would all be in the Inspiron forum sharing and discussing apps. When I had my r1 I had my share of techs showing up with the wrong hardware to replace the damaged ones, even 4 times in a row. Wrong GPUs and wrong screen (damaged by the tech who mishandled the palm-rest and scratched it badly). As we all well know, hardware will eventually wear down or die over time with use, etc. yet, that's why we also buy Dell expensive warranty: we want cover for when that will happen and expect, since we pay for it, that Dell will replace not just defective hardware with functioning one, but replace it with something that matches its performance. We know it might take time, phone calls, and in some case length of time and headaches, but Alienware when pressed takes care of its customers. So, I feel your disappointment and resentment toward Dell EMEA, since it seems not to care of its customers as its US branch does. Steve, don't give up.

Note: I voted but due to my quick scrolling of the webpage I clicked unwillingly the "Inadequate service! I wouldn't expect this myself, and I'd be VERY unhappy, but I'd accept it." Consider that vote for what I meant: "

This is unacceptable service. I would be VERY unhappy and would not accept this."

 

Firstly, apologies to unityole - I didn't mean to jump off the deep end at you. Please accept my apologies. It's been a stressful time, and still is.

Rafix, thanks for the support mate - don't fret over the vote, I got the intention clearly enough, so thanks a million for your words.

To all of you who have either voted, or commented or even emailed to support me - again, thanks a million guys.....I feel I am nearing the end of my saga here...I wont say too much right now, but suffice to say that an amicable solution is in sight. I've had contact from @DellCares and a few other guys from within Dell - names remain anonymous, remember? but suffice to say, THEY know who THEY are, and I want to thank THEM personally here for their involvement - without that, I do feel I would not be in the same position as I am now. BIG respect goes out to you guys......and hopefully to EMEA, too.

I'm still waiting on finalisation of things, but at this moment, my mind is relaxed because I KNOW that I am gonna be taken care of. Period. As soon as I know more, I will let all you guys know more, as it's only fair to keep you in the loop because you've all been rooting for me in your own ways.

I'll update when I find out more......

Thanks again to you all.

Steve. (notice the smiling face now!)

 

^^ cool & great news man! Way to go!

happy for you things are about to go well!

At last some relief

Keep us posted (I know you will, im just sayin )

BR

 

I Will, don't worry! - thanks bro.....

 

Hey Stevie,

I live in UK as well and i bought an m18xR2 last January. Today i had a pretty weird experience with the Tech support as well.

My wireless card drops me constantly. On different networks and providers. I travel a lot so i am sure its the card and not the ISP. So i called AW Tech support and explained them the problem ( i had a wifi replacemend a few months back with the same problem ), and he wanted a share screen, so i did, he haggled with some options and after finding out that everything is good and me repeating that i already did all that, the tech wanted me to wait a few mins to consult the rest.

So i waited, he came back ( 30 mins into the conversation.. ) and said that it must be a software issue. I explained that i used every driver imaginable, clean OS and all that and the problem is still there so he said that its impossible and they replaced the card a few months ago..

SO after some silence and a few more pauses to speak with the others and asking me some questions i gave answer to like 10 times already he said i should speak with the ISP`s in UK to ask them if they use the buffering option or not... and if not.. well he didnt say anything.

At this point i was getting frustrated ( 45min into conversation ) and i told him that its impossible my 300$ laptop next to me to have perfect connection and the 3000$ one to have a constant issue and since i am paying for warranty i shoudnt have to call ISP`s or to go their shops and ask them stuff like that..

He was on the edge to start yelling at me. Pretty weird..

So then he backed down a bit and said to try a few things and i would receive a phone call tomorrow.


It was really weird and it was like he really didnt want to fix my issue. Pretty frustrating i must say.

 

Hey Zo0r7y, sorry to hear about you rather poor experience.

It's quite sad when we met so much resistance at first point of call. Seems to me that a lot of the guys don't know what to do half the time...I'm betting your issues are killer related, right? - I've seen countless killer issues. What card do you have right now? - if I were you, I would ask for an Intel card if you do have the killer. If your other machines are connecting to your network fine, it's not the network - its the card. I agree, you shouldnt be asked to go to the ISP...

One common thing that really does my head in, is that when you call for assistance and its pretty certain it's hardware related, the tech's blame software....probably because they can then direct you to the 'paid for per service call' Dell Solution Station - which supposedly deals with software, not hardware issues....but for this assistance, you will be charged a hefty price.

So, instead of trying to HELP you, you get fobbed off, messed about etc.....

I hope tomorrows phone call goes better than today's, mate......if not - don't settle for being ignored.

 

Haha, of course its killer wireless it kills my hopes of a stable connection .

Well to be honest i called them thru my mobile and for 45min i probably paid my intel card
Anyways, i hope it goes well today. Will update latet

I am certainly not gonna stay and beign ignored when haviing an obvious problem

Cheers

UPDATE:

Stevie, after 2 more phone calls, authorization from the supervisor i was able to get my killer replaced with Intel 2230 ( meh.. i hope i works ) and the good thing is i get to keep the Killer card. It will be a courier delivery.

I see that the new Alienwares are with completely different wireless cards and i wanna get my hands on one of those Unfortunately the tech didnt have much info about them.

After all, i received a new card with quite a lot of hassle.. But i guess you have to be very persistent to achieve what you are supposed to get.

 

Stevie! Out of commission due to those Dell 830s, I see? I remember you having problems with them not too long ago. It sucks to see you've been treated in such a fashion. Speaking from experience on the US side, it can be very difficult as well. I can't imagine the hassle of EMEA support thrown in. Fortunately for me, I've always been able to eventually get in touch with someone who sorted things out. Judging from a recent post, it seems you've found such people as well.

I hope they get you fixed up soon. Keep us all in the loop.

 

Hey, Bro! - long time!

Yeah, those drives have been acting up for some time now.....to be honest, I'll be glad to see the back of 'em. Finally. It's very true what you said....it's not just EMEA that can be difficult, anywhere can be. I think the key for ANYONE having ANY problem is to keep on banging on the door, no matter how many times, keep goin' - I think eventually you will get heard.

I'm still waiting for my own 'resolution details' to come through. @DellCares were supposed to update me by now, they haven't. I'm not gonna bash their door in again, I'll leave 'em to get back to me now....done enough 'door bashing' in the last few months....takin' a break from it and relaxing

For sure, once I know more, just like Arnie, I'll be back.

 

It is possible to enable TRIM with Raid0 on Series 6 chipset. Hopefully it works on mobile chipset as well. Good luck

AnandTech | TRIM & RAID-0 SSD Arrays Work With Intel 6-Series Motherboards Too

 

That's a good link, Cloud - one I'd spotted some time back. Acutally, some of Brothers over at T|I already tried to mod the R1 bios to update OROM but it did not work, unfortunately. Brother Fox can attest to this.

 

Sad to see such an Alienware/Dell supportive NBR icon getting treated this way. Totally unacceptable. I'd even go as far as saying that Dell US should have had a stronger word in this one and made it known to the completely inapt EMEA team that Steve here stuck up for Dell every time and quite probably attracted a fair share of consumers himself. This is not the way to reward consumer loyalty, and the day we see Steve with a non-AW would be a sad day indeed!

I completely agree - us EMEA consumers are treated like crap and every time we voice our concerns, we get turned down politely and have the door shut in our face. A consumer should never have to resort to legal mechanisms to be able to get his fair due, yet over the years that's what some EMEA Dell customers had to do. This must be dealt with ASAP before it gets out of control.

 

Thanks for the kind words, Brother Radi, really appreciated. I dunno about NBR 'icon', but that's very kind of you to give me that kind of mantle...I'm just regular guy, like the rest of you, who's maybe posted a bit more and/or been around a bit longer.

I've kind of been told from a couple of our US Dell Brothers that everything WILL work out. Dell US, apparently, don't have the 100% power to 'step in' and tell EMEA exactly what's gonna happen. The US guys that I've been dealing with have 'greased the tracks', but the final resolution is apparently at the sole discretion of Dell EMEA.

I'm actually kinda quite shocked by that. I thought that Dell US, as the 'parent subsidiary/territory' would have ultimate power over all other territories, no matter what. I, like you, thought that if Dell US tell another territory to do something, or act in a certain kind of way, they would have to play ball. Seems that isn't the case.

Whilst I am eternally grateful for Dell US intervening to the degree they have thus far, I'm still at the mercy of Dell EMEA as to what they see fit to be a suitable solution. Right now, I'm back to dealing with @DellCares who are supposedly sorting out the resolution - they have been doing so for 4 days already now. I'm still none the wiser to what it will be. Every time I ask for an update, I'm just met with "please give us 24hours for an update" - well they have had around 96 hours now......I'm still no further along.

So, it's pretty much like someone on trial waiting for the jury to come back with a verdict. The past few months have been stressful enough, now I'm just left dangling while Dell EMEA drag their heels on sorting it out.

As soon as I know more, I'll update here.

Again guys, thanks for all your support. To repeat myself again, I am flabbergasted by the amount of support and kind words from you guys. Whatever happens, I know that had ANY of you been able to step in, you guys would have had by back. Period.

 

Well thats a bummer. Well atleast the Dell guys cannot say you didnt try to resolve it. Im a little torn on who is right here. Mostly on your side though. On one side its up to the customer to figure out that TRIM does not support Raid. But its ridicilous to think that the customer should know that 6 series chipset specifically doesnt work with TRIM while the rest does. Even I had to google that up after reading your post.

Its also ridicilous to give you a much slower SSD as a "sorry". Especially considering its now a single SSD so you dont have the raid benefit with greater speed anymore. No here im with you. You have to get the fastest one here. On the other hand , the Samsung 470 is an old SSD that I think have gone out of production or atleast have very limited availability. So when they offered you the other brand, Dell might not have any other option since its those two they offer.
Best option for you as customer would perhaps giving you a refund so you could buy your own SSD of choice perhaps?

After all, 512 GB SSDs dont come cheap. Hope everythings work out for you

 

Thanks, Cloud....'ppreciate that, buddy. Here's a 'mini-update' for everyone interested....

Well, I'm almost a week in, after being told that I'd be 'looked after' by the Dell US guys. Apparently, they have liaised with EMEA and I need not worry. Thing is, EMEA haven't actually offered me ANYTHING concrete at the moment, actually they haven't offered me anything at all. I just keep getting replies from @DellCares such as "Please allow us 24 hours to get approval...." which I have done, STILL with no feedback. I have asked them to keep me up to date regardless, STILL no feedback. Sounds like the old EMEA "merry-go-round" all over again......where the left arm doesn't know what the right arm is doing, and I'm 'piggy-in-the-middle' all over again.

Doesn't really inspire faith in the fact that a solution was supposedly reached - heck, I don't know what it is yet, or when it might come about....I have a suspicion that EMEA don't either, hence the continual "give us some time" messages that I'm getting right now. My understanding was that Dell US had spoken to a few EMEA managers, given them the low-down and then it was up to EMEA to make things right.

Again, the bureaucracy behind all of this seems rather absurd. I really don't see why Dell US cannot say to Dell EMEA "Hey - this is what's gonna happen, now MAKE it happen and make it happen QUICK!" - maybe I'm wrong in my thinking there, I don't know.....

So, still waiting.......still, I'm used to that by now, so I guess I should have learned my lesson, really, and not expected anything different.

 

Wow, I really feel bad for you and your experience. Mine took only 2 phone calls. I had 2 actual repairs and the second didn't work so replacement on the way.

 

Thanks for the sympathy LOL, appreciate it.

 

Appalling service regardless if they end up "looking after" you or not. I wish others who suffer similar treatment in the future will be as vocal as you have been. Spread the word make some noise and maybe then, Dell would give a damn.

 

Thanks, der-kaiser.

It is quite a shocking experience, isn't it? - not the first time I've had this kind of treatment/service from Dell EMEA, and many can attest to the same kind of thing...just gotta go back through this thread (and other similar threads here on NBR) to see that it ain't just a 'one-off' kinda thing. As I mentioned earlier, I'd like to think that bad experiences *should* be the exception to the rule, however, it's quite the opposite - it seems more commonplace to be dealt with like this than it is to find examples of stellar treatment and/or service. I'm sure most EMEA customers would probably feel the same. Sad state of affairs, really.

When I look back at my experience with this, I started out trying to resolve the problems myself probably around 3 months or so ago. Finally, having exhausted all the possibilities that I had at my disposal, it was with some reluctance that I contacted Alienware Technical Support (UK). Of course, getting the brush off was going to be expected, going off my previous dealings with them. I dealt with them for around a week, from recollection.....various phone calls, emails etc....and eventually, they did give me the old chestnut of the "it is not our/Dell's problem" brush off, closely followed by the classic one-liner of "if you don't like it, write a letter" brush off. That was the full extent of their "support". Great stuff.

It's now been a month since my first Tweet....it was 17th May when I first had contact with DellCares & AlienwareTech via Twitter. Now 17th June, a week after I was told things would be sorted........what am I doing now? - still waiting......

Kind of makes a mockery of "Next Business Day Warranty" and "Complete Care" doesn't it?

 

I've had 3 issues with my M17x R2 over the last 2 years so I know your pain. I was however very lucky in that I met a lovely lad who rang me back and kept me on the phone for like 4 hours fixing my issues and replacing all the parts.
I do not know if this applies to the UK but in Ireland we have statutory rights, all electrical goods must work for a reasonable amount of time. My alienware has 2 years cover (btw I never paid for extended!!), they will do next day delivery/repair even though I have no cover. If the fault is caused by them they must legally replace, repair or refund you. If they refused to allow you to talk to someone higher then I would suggest contacting trading standards or someone... gonna check now. I find an epic site: Ombudsman Association - Promoting independent complaint resolution

Take a look: What do I do if I have a faulty product? - Which? Consumer Rights

 

Thanks for the links, thraxan.

I'm glad you got things sorted out with you machine - I guess that not EVERY case is such prolonged torture, like this one is proving to be. It's extremely frustrating right now, especially because I was told that I would be taken care of. That was a week ago now, and no-one has provided me with ANY 'concrete' proposal of resolution. I have Tweeted @DellCares several times now since I was told a week ago effectively to 'not worry' any more and that I'd be 'looked after'.

Having been told by Dell US that they 'liaised' with EMEA/@DellCares, and that I was now to deal with them again from here on in, the responses/information from @DellCares has been lacklustre and sporadic, to say the least.

Whilst I appreciate that I am not the only customer that they have to deal with, I had thought that there might have been some 'urgency' about providing a resolution for me.....I want SOMEONE to put the 'care' into '@DellCares'......someone to go the 'extra mile'.....someone to keep me updated in a reasonable timeframe....I guess that resolving this is not a priority for them, like it is for me.

Just fired off yet another Tweet asking for an update....right now, I have NO idea what's going on.....

 

THankfully i don't do any major PC gaming anymore (And even when i did i stuck to desktops) however i can attest to Consumer line support with Dell being iffy at best(Numerous experiences helping friends and family)...that said i LOVE their business support/Machines. I had owned Alienwares PRIOR to Dell buying them out in my younger days...now with Dell having bought them i would never dare buy a non Business machine from Dell all so that i can speak to some chap whom can not speak my language properly and tell me to run tests i know are irrelevant when i have vastly better training than he does.

I do so love my Latitude machines...hell my C600 Still runs like a champ to this date!...but the thought of Dell Consumer line anything...makes me shudder...

I hope your issue gets sorted...as Dells pricing for these rigs is not exactly "budget" by any stretch...when your asking several thousand for your machines you more or less sell on reputation...with more and more complaints like this,they do take their toll.

 

Don't get me started on the language barriers and the troubleshooting steps! - whilst I appreciate they have certain protocol to go through, it would be nice to be able to do that with someone who actually understands what you are talking to them about and has a knowledge better than what you could write on the back of a postage stamp. Of course, we al know the reason behind having support based in foreign countries, right? - at this kind of price level, there should be better support options, in my book, than having to try and spell out your problems to someone who purely reads cues from a screen.

Anyway's, I won't rant on about that any further. Just an update regarding @DellCares following my last Tweet - "Please give us 1 to 2 days for the team dealing with this case to respond" - I guess they run a skeleton staff......

 

you should contact them and tell them that you need a new laptop because you occidentally destroyed yours in a fit of rage whilst repeatedly failing to get any resolution with incompetent dell support, during which you smashed your hand on the table so hard that it broke and your laptop fell screen first on the cold hard kitchen floor. good on you for at the start wanting to do things clean, but tbh this is a take. its not like its on its last day of warranty and you wreck a perfectly fine laptop.

ps perhaps such a scenario would be more believable to someone who is a rage a holic with a short temper, like myself

 

Hahaha! - you don't know how close I have come, mate. The thought of chucking this thing off a multi-storey car park has often entered my mind...still, wouldn't want someone below getting a heavy laptop hit them square on the head!

I will play it all the way how Dell want to play it.....I'm a patient guy and can keep this up all day long....no sweat of my brow to keep banging on.....I don't mind the long haul one little bit :thumbsup:

 

heres something about Dell Canada

initial machine, sound breaking off and media panel lights disconnects half the time and they wanted him to send his machine to depot already only after TWO days receiving it. I told my friend to be firm and ask for an in-home repair and they did (which is in the warranty anyway). they sent out TWO tech, one under training to work on the machine, while the other one watches him, like really? I was laughing pretty hard and my friend was pissed LOL

tech couldnt fix it, in fact they made it worse machine wouldn't boot after repair so they agree to send replacement and that one came with mousepad not working half the time, and fx lighting on macro key flashes and disonnects as well. he then ask for a 2nd replacement on the spot where they delay it for roughly 4-5 weeks due to parts shortage. getting angry he called Dell again and finally they agree to send one out (brand new replacement) only came seems used, and on two occasion machine wont boot past POST and would beep.

my friend is on his 3rd replacement, and it's almost 3 months into his warranty LOL. his case specialist was on his case for roughly two months but was very professional over the phone, and always look out for my buddy. then one day just last week we called back for an update on replacement status, and wanting to speak with case specialist and was told by a supervisor that person (case specialist) is no longer available because he did great and got promoted to US department helping US customers.. LOL

so yea there you have it, states get the goodies hands down. even though we are only an hour drive away from the states, we get almost no discount, crappy promotion and our sales rep gives out like max $100 off which is the same as coupon.

 

That's classic.

Another example of stellar support for US vs. EMEA. I'm pretty much fed up of Dell, Right now. I'm never going to buy anything Dell related ever again, as it stands this very minute. I love Alienware, but I will not be treated like I am 'second best' just because I bought my machine outside of the US. Heck, we pay much higher prices not only for hardware, but for support, too.

Right now, @DellCares have got around 12hrs (going from their last Tweet to me saying 'give us one or two days' which was dated Tuesday 18th @ 12.36pm UK time) to get back to me with a proposal. (Notice, I gave them the benefit of the doubt, again, and gave them 2 full days, not one day). I am anticipating more of the same sad/lame excuses when I contact them tomorrow afternoon at 12:36pm UK time precisely, to ask for an update.....(I'm a stickler for promptness and courtesy, something that Dell EMEA are not, current and previous experience proving as classic examples of this).

They've known about a resolution since 11th June. Surely, it doesn't take over a week to get someone to sign off on it....or even let me know what said resolution might be. Right now, all I have are words......nothing else. Empty promises spring to mind, especially as I seem to be getting the runaround all over again...

Will update again tomorrow. If I 'had' been in the US (and even the US Dell guys that I have dealt with have intimated the same) then I KNOW this would be over and done with by now......yet Dell EMEA still manage to find some way of torturing us EMEA customers.

I think, no matter HOW this is resolved, Dell have lost what was once a faithful customer. Had it been resolved with some degree of urgency (as per USA customers) and Dell had thought about how I feel after all of this, that might have been different. Sad to say, it wasn't, and hasn't been...so, I won't give my future business to an organization that treat people in this fashion.

On a brighter note, I could be wrong....I could wake up to a resolution from Dell. I HIGHLY doubt it.....but who knows....people do win the lottery, right? (it seems that there are just as much odds of that happening as Dell actually resolving this in a reasonable timeframe with a reasonable solution, going off current form )

 

its pretty sad they fail to get this to work. not sure what goes on in Dell but it's messed up they can't get three machine checked before sending it out, and all have easy noticeable issue. I should totally get my friend to join NBR and do a write up on this to put more pressure on Dell but as thing stand he doesn't have an account here and probably will go unnoticed. I have asked a representative here for help for my buddy and they never got back to us, and I don't know what happened there.

imo theres clearly some discrimination going on between countries and is probably due to all the resellers in the states, mainly clevo. in states there are multiple resellers where as in Canada I think we got only two, and clevo isn't popular here as most go for Asus and MSI, and full of bashers on Alienware and I can see why now.

 

I don't know what Dell is doing: charging premium prices for these laptops and offering shoddy support. I imagine that many people pay the large premium for Alienware because of its warranty, which starts at only one year of coverage and is itself pricey.

None of Alienware's competitors sells laptops with "complete packages," but such defects might be excusable for a much lower price...

I hope Dell resolves your situation.

 

I have also experienced terrible customer support from Dell/Alienware; I am from the Philippines.
I didn't know there was a double standard for USA and EMEA customers - that explains a lot of things!


I hope I don't hijack your thread, I just want to share my story as well.

Back in March 2013, I bought an Alienware M14x R2 in Singapore (there is no Alienware being sold in the PH). Upon buying however, I made sure to ask about the warranty. I was told it would be repaired/serviced/replaced at my place of residence. I was intrigued by this - I asked, "even if there is no Alienware in the Philippines?", to which the sales representative yes. It was actually what pulled me into buying an Alienware in the first place. I was just strolling along the mall, not even thinking of buying a laptop. A very stupid and impulsive decision by me.

Over the course of 2 months, my unit has been repaired a whopping 8 times! The problem first started with a busted subwoofer 1 week after purchase (I had already gone back to the Philippines then). I finally was able to find the TS contact number and reported the problem. The very next day, a technician came! I thought to myself, "Service is terrific!"

The technician replaced the speakers, but it did not resolve the problem. Apparently it was the subwoofer that was broken. So he came again a few days later to replace the subwoofer. That was technician visit #2. After he left, the ALIENWARE lights in front of the screen refuses to light up. I called it in again and they sent another technician to replace the whole LCD panel. Sloppy work, I saw broken clips from the chassis and the LCD does not extend all the way back. That was visit #3. Upon checking the laptop, the technician and I noticed the wifi indicator was not working. ANOTHER problem! A few days later they sent another technician to replace the wifi indicator (visit #4). Apparently that was not the problem because it still refuses to light up! He finally told me the motherboard needs to be replaced. After a week or so, Dell sent a technician to replace the motherboard (visit #5). Upon replacement, a lot of new problems have showed up - Video hardware error. Super lag when playing games, 8FPS!, overheating at every program - even when just opening Chrome. The subwoofer got busted a few days after as well, and they had to make a separate report for that. A few days later the technician came to replace the subwoofer (visit #6). Exactly 1 day after that, it was the weekend and I open my laptop to see BSOD. Recovery, windows needs to be repaired. I called customer service again to report the problem. I kindly requested for a new unit - I told them my unit is 2 months old and it has been gettting more and more problems after they replace some parts. The customer told me they will repair it one more time and if it still doesn't work, they will replace the unit!

Technician came to my house (visit #7) with a new motherboard, CPU fan, heatsink, HDD, Windows 8 with license. LOL! They really wanted to fix my laptop! Upon replacing all the parts, the technician could not install Windows 8! The license key was not accepted by the installer. DELL DUN GOOFED! The license is embedded into the motherboard, but they replaced my motherboard with a new one - making the license the technician brought useless. It was getting late and the technician still had to another service so we agreed to continue the very next day.

Next day came (visit #8), he still could not remedy the problems of my laptop. The technician also ran diagnostics and found out that my subwoofer is busted again. Aside from that, the LED lights of my unit is not working properly. I finally called customer service while the technician was still at my house and I told them I would like to get a replacement. I politely informed them that I have spent more time calling customer service, troubleshooting, and accommodating technicians than actually using the laptop! I have cleared my schedule 8x, skipped work, lost my data, etc.

Later that day, a customer service representative called me to say that I was granted a replacement unit. There's a catch though - I need to bring the unit back to Singapore and stay there for more than 2 weeks! I told them that would end up costing me more than what I paid for the M14x r2. AND.. they cannot repair my m14 if I am getting a replacement unit. I told them that their remedy was absolutely ridiculous. First of all, the sales rep lied to me when he told me I would have my unit replaced at my home if ever the need arises. Second, the waiting for 2 weeks in Singapore is a waste of time and money. Third, they refuse to repair my laptop - meaning I won't have anything to use for more than a month! They can't seriously expect me to book right away - I have to schedule a trip and everything. I told them I would think about it.

the next day, I called again. I got a bit upset over the phone because they didn't seem to know how to respond. All they kept saying was, "I understand." They have no modicum of discretion for simple decisions and they refuse to let me talk to the manager. I made sure to always speak politely and with manners. He told me he could try his best to help me with my situation - and after a long hold on the phone, he came back to tell me that I wouldn't have to wait 2 weeks in Singapore for a replacement unit. They would have it ready by the time I go there (they should have thought of that in the very first place!!). I told them fine, I would accept whatever the conditions are just to get a replacement unit, but still I insisted to talk to the manager to voice out my displeasure. He still refused and told me to voice out my concerns through email.

They were supposed to send me an email regarding the quotation of the unit replacement. Anyway I emailed the guy 3x and he never responded back. I called customer service after a few days to ask what's up. Another representative was on the phone and told me the person I talked to a few days ago is not available at the moment. I explain everything again and I was promised that my quotation would be expedited (it usually takes 3 days she said). I again asked for the manager and she still refused, saying that their manager is a very busy person.. Okay.

After 3 days, I called up again asking how come I never received any email. And the customer service rep I talked to is not responding to my emails.. the guy on the phone told me that that person is relocated for a week for something and that I should email him so he can follow up with that guy. I did! It's been 3 days and I have not received a single reply from them. It has been 1 week since I was promised an 'expedited' quotation email. Not a word or update from their part. Worst service I have ever received over the course of my entire life.

 

the AW in states gives excellent support, or so it seems. anywhere else you get this kind of service. I learned to stop being polite and have the right of way, because being polite just means to endure more, at least for AW outside of states. AW will have to step it up, serious stuff. when things dont go wrong, it seems to be ok, but if it does then its terrible.

I will not buy another AW system unless they up their service and promotion here in canada, or unless they got some extreme end hardware spec for their machine. cause right now, it looks like they fail in comparison to clevo, and in another year or so I'd say clevo would surpass them completely, in hardware capabilities, and I will no longer look back.

 

@ Jourdy: Sorry to hear you're having a hard time with your warranty. Unfortunately you are somewhat hi-jacking a thread . I'd recommend you start your own thread, you will find you'll get better feedback, and it makes things much easily for everyone when we can follow and comment on the 1 discussion.

 

I apologize, that was not my intent.
Was not really asking for any feedback, but rather just wanted to share. I just found out after reading this thread that US and EMEA Customer Service is different! No wonder the great things I hear about service is so far from what I expected.

I will, however, follow your advice and start a new thread. Now that I think about it, that would probably be a good decision so that I could see what direction I can go forward with.
Thank you very much.

 

Hey jourdy,

I'm sorry to hear about your poor experience - I don't mind you sharing it here, no problem. I've nothing against anyone sharing their own personal experience, it kind of adds to the perspective of EMEA service being a totally different 'experience' that what native Dell customers get. I know that some US people have their own share of problems that go unresolved, but the scales are heavily biased, IMHO, to those resident in Dell's 'Home Turf' get far better treatment. To a degree, I can see why - they have every right to bend over backwards to please their own native clients, but I take exception to such a discrepancy when it comes do dealing with non-US residents getting the crappy end of the stick.

I agree with Brother Tbone, a thread in it's own right would possibly be a good move for you, that way, things don't get mixed up and anyone from Dell (or anyone else, for that matter) can read your case (or mine) and get the full 'low down' on it without having to work out what's going on with who, when and why etc......

As for my case, and to update on my last post, got up this morning to a "Dell-Free" inbox - no Tweets, no emails. Nothing. That 'one or two days' they asked me to give them for the 'other team' to update them will expire in just over 2 hours. I wasn't holding my breath for anyone to ACTUALLY get back to me within that time frame, mainly because they have already gone over two instances of this kind of 'empty promise'. I will Tweet and ask for an update once the current time frame for update has expired.....I doubt I will get a reply to that in a reasonable time frame either.......

 

It is really sad that you still have this problem Stevie, If I were you I would write to Michael Dell. I don't care what US or Uk or anyone in Dell says He has the power help you.

 

I have a feeling that writing to Mr Dell will be a futile exercise at this point. I know that emails sent to 'him' are basically dealt with by Dell's Executive Customer Resolutions Team, and I have a strong feeling that this team is already involved, and that is why @DellCares keep on asking me to wait for an update from 'the team who are working on this case'.......

Another example of 'over-complicating' things.....the whole escalation process is quite convoluted, and only made more so because of having to deal with many different departments/teams.

I've mentioned in the past that I had hoped that someone at Dell (just one person) would take "ownership" of my case and deal with ME, instead of this 'abortion' that is deemed to be the simplest way of problem resolution. It isn't.