Random colors in the Dell/AW outlet?

So, i got myself a nice Nebula Red AW M18x last friday when they had the 20% coupon going.

Arrived at the office today, and it was... Black.

Called customer care, and the rep basically told me the computers in the outlet are not sold by color, just specs.

Anyone know if this is true or just BS from customer care?

 

Wow. Bizarre. I guess if the specs are all the same just keep it.

You can always order the red pieces separately for around 280 I think.

 

Well yeah, i just don't like the grayish black of the M18x, it's not as black as the M17x black.

Where can i get the red parts for 280? Dell?

 

Call again, that is not right. If the colors are random they would not be listed with the spec's. Call sales if you need to but at the very very least they should give you 50.00 off or exchange it. I know you do not want to lose the 20% off but they screwed up and need to make it right.

 

The guy to talk to is skygunner. He has had pretty much every part of the m18 sent to him.

There is also a parts list In the forum somewhere and I'm pretty sure the lid and base parts you want that are red are only two pieces and they are about 280 bucks ish.

 

Cool, thanks guys.

 

Here's the part number list for the M18x:

Spoiler

Bottom Plastic
13PC8 Bottom Base, Black
1988J Bottom Base, Red
J6NT3 Assembly, Keyboard, Frame
JM0N0 Assembly, Bottom Door, Black
N6JR7 Assembly, Door, LCD Cover, Hand Grip

Cables and Cords
0R215 Power Cord 15A, 125V, 10FT
436V8 Assembly, Bluetooth Cable
5120P Power Cord, 6FT
5FG2Y I/O Board Cable
67GPX Power Button Cable
GG7V9 Media, Daughter Board, Cable
JT0HD LOGO Board Cable
KFR5C NumberLock Board Cable
K8 ODD Cable
7VKT9 ODD Bracket W/Cable
9JP9M HDD FPC Cable
KFNTK HDD Bracket W/Cable

Optical Drives
1HC8F 8x DVD+/-RW HLDS
M5F6V 8X DVD+/-RW PLDS
P94GT 6x DVD+/-RW/BD-ROM HLDS

HDD
PVGPX 256GB SSD-S3, 2.5", Liteon Vangogh
4K2C3 256GB SSD-S2, 2.5", Samsung PM810
R6KNT 750GB S2-P11-4KE, 7.2K, 2.5", Seagate Desaru
65X3D 500GB, S2, 7.2K, 2.5",P11, ANAK
23NXF 320GB S2-P11, 7.2K, 2.5", Samsung MP4
34C6N 320GB S2-P11, 7.2K, 2.5", 4KE, 7MM, Seagate Julius
J1CM4 320GB SATA2-P11, 7.2K, 2.5", Western Digital MX320-1
PPHPX 320GB S2-P11, 7.2K, 2.5", Toshiba


Heatsinks, Fans
0TYGV Heat Sink, VGA, Left
HD9NJ Heat Sink, CPU, Qual Core, XE
P0DG8 FAN, Graphic Card, Master, LF
X4KPF Heat Sink, CPU, Qual Core
XHW5W FAN, Graphic Card, Slave, Right
Y8T9Y Heat Sink, VGA, 6970, Left

Keyboards and Mice
9M46F Keyboard

LCD Plastics, Covers
J1C2G LCD Cover, Red
122RP LCD Cover, Black
99FWD LCD Hinge w/Cap, Left
615Y8 LCD Hinge w/Cap, Right
8NW7M LVDS Cable
PYVWX Camera / Array Mic Module

LCD/Display
8075V LCD, W/PMMA+Frame+Bracket+WLAN Antenna
DNF7J LCD, W/PMMA+Frame+Bracket+WLAN & DMC Antenna

Memory
FYHV1 4GB,1600MHZ, 512X64, 8K, 204
0X23C 2GB,1600MHZ, 256X64, 8K, 204
Y7W7C 2GB,1600MHZ, 256X64, 8, 200, XMP
YR6MN 8GB,1333MHZ, 1024X64, 8, 204
X830D 4GB,1333MHZ, 512X64, 8K, 204
PX72C 4GB,1333MHZ, 512X64, 8K, 204
560NY 2GB,1333MHZ, 256X64, 8K, 204
F073F 2GB,1333MHZ,256X64,8K,204
V1RX3 2GB,1333MHZ, 256X64, 8K, 204

Miscellaneous Hardware
0JDJY Power Button LED Board (w/ Cable)
4R02P PWA, Daugter Board, Media
FMG89 PWA, Daugter Board, Numlock
98X52 PWA, LED Logo Board, W/Cable
HR8KV PWA, Power Button Button
TPK3N PWA, I/O Board W/Cable
D0N00 Coin Battery, W/Cable
F1RJC Thermal PAD, PSX, Qual/Dual Core CPU
HV240 Touchpad LED Board w/Cable
K26CW Speaker LED Board, W/Cable
W2TRW Touchpad Button w/Bracket

Motherboards
61J35 Motherboard w/ Thermal Pad, Qual Core,(Contain MB C9XMR+Thermal Pad F1RJC)
C9XMR MotherBoard, order and dispatch Service Kit 61J35

Palmrests
H1KWK Palmrest, W/Touch Pad

Power Source
FCPW3 Battery, 97W HR,12 Cells, SIMPLO
V48RM Battery, 97W HR,12 Cells, SANYO
J211H AC Adapter, 240W, 3Pin, Delta
J938H AC Adapter, 240W, 3Pin, Flextronics
XM3C3 AC Adapter, 330W, 3Pin, Delta

Processor Modules
06335 Alcohol Swap for Cleaning Pad
27TV3 i7-2920XM 2.5GHz, 4C, Sandy Bridge, D2
DYP1X i7-2920XM w/Thermal Pad 2.5GHz, 4C (Contain CPU 27TV3+Thermal Pad F1RJC)
2VKDW i7-2820QM 2.3GHz, 4C, Sandy Bridge, D2
F1FF1 i7-2820QM w/Thermal Pad 2.30GHz, 4C (Contain CPU 2VKDW+Thermal Pad F1RJC)
KN579 i7-2720QM 2.2GHz, 6MB, Sandy Bridge
P18YD i7-2720QM w/Thermal Pad 2.2GHz, 4C (Contain CPU KN579+Thermal Pad F1RJC)
7YPMV i7-2630M 2.0GHz, 4C
M4Y6F i7-2630QM w/Thermal Pad 2.0GHz, 4C (Contain CPU 7YPMV+Thermal Pad F1RJC)
RTRCG FAN, CPU
6MGMN Back Plate, CPU

Software
40DV6 W7HP64
DW6RN W7HP64
446JR W7P64
JR7NY W7P64
DYHHR W7U64
TMCCD W7U64
JF3V7 Resource DVD
VD2HY Adobe Standard ver 10 (ver. X), Card w serial product key
CTTHN Adobe Elements 8
W7NRW Adobe Premier Elements 8
797D0 Microsoft Office 2010 Professional
N99X6 Microsoft Office 2010, Home & Student
WR1P7 Microsoft Office 2010, Home & Business
94JT2 PowerDVD 9.5.1
R4DW2 PowerDVD 3D 9.6
5G9T8 Roxio Creator 2011
CYYW9 McAfee Platinum
T1WKW Fast Access Facial Recognition 3.0
WC3YD Dell Webcam Central 2.0

Speakers
P8HYR Speaker, Subwoofer
VVN5Y Speaker, L+R

Video Card (VGA)
V9XKH AMD Blackcomb XT HD6970
29NC1 AMD Blackcomb XT HD6970 Right Heat Sink
RYVMN AMD CFX (CrossFireX) cable
VDV04 Nvidia M460m N11e-GS
5DWH3 Nvidia M460m N11e-GS Right Heat Sink
GDMRG Nvidia SLI Cable

Wireless
2GGYM Intel Link 6200 WiFi Half Mini Card
4W00N Intel Link 6300 WLAN WiFi Half Mini Card
G9M5X 375 Foxconn Bluetooth module (Does not include cable)
WJCJD 375 Liteon Bluetooth Module (Does not include cable)
YWXT1 SiBeam Antenna Cable

 

Ya see if you can contact customer service, there is no way that can be true. Certain Latitudes and Precisions have special edition colors, and they ARE listed in the specs, otherwise what would be the point of saying it is Covert Orange when it is the standard silver?

 

Don't take no for an answer, keep calling and raising hell until you get what you ordered. You spent too much on that machine to not get exactly what you wanted.

 

Too funny.
Here are the parts that are in question:

1988J Assembly,Cover,Bottom,Red,M18X
J1C2G Assembly,Cover,Liquid Crystal Display,Red,M18X

I'm sure you can have Dell send you these parts for the mix up. The bottom cover is a lot of work to change out.
Here is the service manual Documentation if you think you're up to the task. It really isn't that hard. Just time consuming the first time.

 

BS from the rep you were talking to, the outlet items are sold down to the exact spec, same as anything else.

I'd agree on calling to get an additional discount and/or have the red pieces sent to you, at least the top lid if that's all you really want. If you like the specs and price for what you have, a return might not work out well for you, especially if you got one in really good shape.

There's always the DIY custom color route, too.

 

Thanks for all the input guys, i appreciate it.

Called back again last night and was routed to a resolution specialist who introduced herself and then hung up on me. :-(

 

I wouldn't accept the unit, get a refund from Outlet and just camp out for another one unless Dell can send a technician over to replace parts on site. You should not have to ship the unit back to Dell for that service. Keep us informed!

 

I ordered a red M15x, I got a red M15x. If you look up your customer number it'll bring up a parts list as long as on that list it says Red for the chassis colors you've got a leg to stand on.

Did you by chance remember the resolution specs name? You can try calling back and asking for her. Having worked in retail for a while a number of things could have happened. Sadly most of the time too many people assume that people on phones just hang up on them but don't take into account that the headsets are battery powered and when the battery dies the phone hangs up. Also since they are headsets the buttons aren't always the best. I've had a number of occasions where a call hung up on me without my permission. A few of these were to the headset dying a couple were due to me trying to hit mute and hitting the pickup/hang up buttons. Only a couple times were the customers in question s about what happened, most were cool when I calmly explained to them what happened and took care of them.

 

Still, they have my contact details, and nobody tried to contact me.

 

They wont, you need to keep calling. Annoy the hell out of them until you get your way.

 

lol, SEE? What did I tell ya.

 

Dell usually sends out plastics for free. I deal with their tech support all the time for machines that are still under their warranty, and they are usually trying to force them on me. I'll call about a hard drive and they ask if I need any plastics replaced, two or three times during the phone call. Any of them from the LCD cover to the main cover.

Granted it wasn't for an Alienware, but I think it would be the same for any of their laptops.

 

Sweet! Thanks!

 

Sweet, thanks!

 

Just ordered a RED M18x today. On the cart it was RED but in the order the Base and the Chassis was BLACK. I asked the rep who I made the purchase from and she checked and told me that the system was indeed RED (via the service tag).

 

I have been looking for a RED M14x on the outlet site for the past few weeks, haven't even seem one yet.

 

M14's go quick, I saw a bunch back in July when I ordered my M15. If the specs were as good on the M14's and the price for that matter I'd have gotten one.

 

Just keep calling and complaining until you get the resolution you want. I just recently ordered a red m18x, tax free and 20% off for $1423.20 (with 2720qm and dual 6990's!). It arrived in black. I called and complained about the incorrect color.

They started off the negotiations by offering $75 off. I really wanted the red color and said so and they eventually offered $175 off. I still insisted that I needed the two red chassis parts. By the time I got off the phone with them I was getting both $175 and the two red chassis parts mailed to me (I will just swap them out myself).

If I can get that deal, I am sure you could probably get them to send a tech out to swap the two parts.


Cheers.

 

So you're saying you got a M18x with 2720qm and CF6990 for 1248$ ??!
That's pretty hard to believe but if true then congrats!!

 

It's true! I thought I was getting a steal @ $1779, but being able to buy it tax free, with a 20% off coupon, and to get another $175 off on top of that, I am truly fortunate. I doubt Dell was considering how ridiculous the deal already was when they were haggling with me about the color.

Believe it or not, I am toying with the idea of selling off one of the 6990m cards as well, so that I can say I got the laptop for around $650. LOL.

Thanks to all those who recommended 'Check4Change' and the Dell Outlet twitter to get a jump on the outlet coupons and the systems as soon as they get listed.


Cheers.


P.S. I am still technically in for just over $1500 since I haven't yet gotten the sales tax refund. Nor have I actually called Dell yet with the two reference numbers for the red chassis parts and the $175 refund. I don't actually expect to have any issues with any of that, though.

 

Does anyone know the Twitter account for Dell Outlet, or is only th US outlet? Do those codes work for UK Outlet?