What does Alienware do with returned systems?

If this has been asked before, I apologize for making another thread. I'm on my cell phone and searching is more difficult than normal.

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Do they send them to the Dell outlet?
Do they clean them up and sell them as new?
Do they tear them apart and use the parts on new orders?
Do resellers get them? (Hope not, haha.)

What exactly happens with the returns?

I ask because I recently noticed that some new laptops don't have those stickers (clear ones) on the alien heads and vents, and some do (from YouTube). I'm not saying that it is extremely important that they have this, but if my messenger bag has them, why wouldn't the laptop? To me it signifies I have a brand new system that hasn't even been touched.

No, I'm not here to speculate or accuse anyone of reselling returns, I'm honestly curious. They aren't technically new anymore (debatable), but I wouldn't necessarily classify them as used... So, what happens?

Feedback is appreciated, thank you.

 

Its not going to be sold as "new" - pretty sure that would be a violation of the law.

Just like warranty repair parts, if they are received in bulk by Dell and broken down into individual units, they are required to list the part as refurbished (even though it may have been received by the OEM new). Mentioning warranty repair parts only as an example and to show how simply opening the box requires it be stamped as refurbished - in the outlet case, customer return.

In order for the parts to be used in new systems, they would have to ship them back overseas - cost issue there in addition to the above mentioned requirement - its no longer 'NEW' so they cannot sell it as such.

So, the answer is - The same as the rest of the Dell systems. If its returned by the customer, its destined for the OUTLET.

Hope this helps.

 

That makes sense, thanks.

Do you know why some systems seem to be missing these stickers I mentioned?

 

Nope other than perhaps a lack of QC? When a system leaves the outlet it is supposed to be stamped with a refurbished sticker.

I'm sure there are those shady 're-sellers' who purchase from the outlet and then list on eBay as new and remove the sticker (and of course peeps who want to remove it themselves) but regardless, when a system heads out it should be going out with a sticker.

 

This is why a company as large as dell will have an outlet as the time and resources required are worth it to be able to sell those parts.

 

I figured as much, thanks for posting fellas.

Everything I've ever bought new has bad these plastic stickers protecting certain parts of the product, from my Logitech surround sound speakers, to my car. They all had protective peal-off stickers. It has come to the point where if I buy something that doesn't, I start to question it's quality, reliability, and whether or not it's actually new. This would be an experience killer if I were to open my m18x and see none of them. (This is obviously a personal feeling, I am sure many people don't even notice it.) It's disappointing enough that they took away the awesome unique packaging, now something as little as this? I certainly hope not. I suppose I'll find out soon enough...

I appreciate your feedback guys. I should've listened to my gut and assumed the outlet handled returns, duh.

 

Ahhhh... Ok that is different from what I was talking about. I thought you meant the 'refurbished system' sticker (even though I now see you specified 'clear ones' in your first post).

Wouldn't necessarily consider a system used/tainted if it arrived without the protective thin sheet of plastic over the LCD. I don't even know what they (new orders) are shipping with these days. A protective sticker over the gpu exhausts would surprise me.

 

As ridiculous as this may sound, the ones I'm referring to are little protective ones that are on the aesthetic vents in the front, the power button, and the alien head logo on the cover (when closed). I'm pretty picky, I was just wondering why some had them and some didn't. I would expect them on all systems. It's not a big deal, I just hate seeing the QC and experience of opening one of these systems diminish. It is probably easily overlooked during the packaging phase of shipment.

Edit: I have also noticed they got rid of the Intel XM sticker (when you order an extreme edition processor you normally got a different sticker), what's up with that? Haha.

 

Maybe they stopped installing them on the palm rest and starting putting them back on the underside like they always did with the M18x R1. That was SO TACKY have those little badges on the palm rest.

 

I agree, that's a bad place for them. But I don't think they're on the bottom, I think they just stopped using the "XM" sticker all together. I watched an unboxing from only a month ago, he claims to have gotten the 3940XM but the sticker was a regular intel core i7 blue one...weird.

 

When my latest machine arrived, it had a clear protective sticker over the shiny part of the speaker grille - nothing else had protective coverings. The LCD also did not come with a semi-rigid clear protective sheet stuck to it - used to be the case that this was included but any M18x I have had has not had this, which is a shame really as when I busted open the box, there was lots of cardboard dust/debris statically stuck to the LCD display - it wasn't nice looking for a brand new product. My R1 came with the Extreme label underneath - I think Dell swapped that to the R2's palmrest but I don't know if they have since reverted that approach as it did luck kinda sucky. The *leather* bound manual had a clear sticker over the metal Alienhead, there were the usual discs, hat, mousepad, Alienhead sticker and the spdif adapter. Power cord was in a sealed bag but the PSU was just inside an unsealed clear sleeve. I had the red cloth bag around the beast itself, which was nice to have incase I was gonna travel with it in a backpack or something.

I'm pretty OCD about the look of something new too.....I like things to be sealed whenever possible and if something that is prone to scratching doesnt have that clear protective stickering, I do think "where the hell is that? - cheapskate packaging!"

There was a thread a little while ago that an Alienware rep started about how we feel about product packaging (can' recall who or where) but to me, it's hugely important. It's all part of the "experience" if you like and if it's poorly done or skimped on, it's a bit of a let down right away.

 

I think it's particularly of note when you are buying a branded high end machine, it's all part of the experience. Packaged well and ready to go for you.