*XPS M1730 Problems/Dell Replacement Issues*

A supervisor called..said that the ETA for availabilty of 8800m gtx cards worldwide has been finalized as Jan 3 2010.

I told him that I am definitely not going to wait this long to get my system fixed. Then he says that he can try to get my system replaced with a Vostro or an Inspiron!! I mean COME ON! I almost started laughing. Is this a joke?

I told him Hell i am not going to get my hi-end system replaced with something like those. He said he will look into it and give me a call.

Lets see what he has to say now.

 

I have a theory on why this is happening, but most of it would be a jabbering pile of vulgarity with virtually no cohesive thought and expression, and we don't want that because that would be spam. Although in all fairness, it takes nonsense (vulgar outrage) to explain nonsense (Dell's perplexing tactics).

I had a similar problem yesterday when I was getting the warranty transferred, and man, did the guy totally miss my point. I'll go into detail, later on.

 

Well being impatient, I called dell again, got a very nice rep

Anyway my issue has been fowarded to the corporate escalation desk so I have no choice but to wait...

Argh my world of warcraft is fading, must get a life... NO!!!

 

A bit of background is required here, so I'll explain the premise to this story. I bought a laptop from another second-owner, who probably bought the machine from another second-owner. This time around, I didn't care much for the 'original customer', because I got the laptop cheap, and the goal here is to baiscally maintain the machine and if something goes wrong, work with Dell on suitable part/or system replacement.

The last owner, who sold the machine to me, purchased a three-year-warranty extension in June. However, since he never had to use warranty, an official transfer of warranty never took place. So in a nut shell, Dell had a stranger 'pay' for extending the warranty of the service tag. Lawl. They even issued him a customer number and invoice for the purchase of the extension.

Here's what happened with me when I called to transfer the warranty. I explained the situation, and gave them the name of the last owner. The rep. said that he is sorry but he cannot find the name on the system. I told him that the latest '3-year-warranty' package was puchased by this individual from Dell, so it must be on their systems. He reiterated his previous reply. Then I told him that I don't really understand how I should go about this situation, as the system is only a year old with over two-and-a-half years of warranty running, and that I need to find a way to transfer that warranty and tag to my name.

The man said that the matter is easy to sort out, and could be done within a day. He advised that I should contact the previous owner and get him to verify this claim, and that he--rep.--will be happy to get the matter sorted, and that such a verification would be easy. I said, "Well, I just gave you the name of the last owner, and I also gave you details on his contact information as well as the fact that he purchased warranty from you - I cannot get you anything else, because he himself could not get you anything else. You guys let him extend the warranty for this service tag in the first place, and yet you never verified the ownership claim?" The man said that he'll put me on hold and pull up more details on the system through his supervisor and try to get the matter sorted.

The very moment I was put on hold, I got my other phone and called the previous owner. Why? Because I knew Dell would not be of any help in the matter. I already have experience with this line of bad communication, and so I knew what I had to do; rely on the previous owner. The guy was very helpful, and he provided me with all invoice, customer, and reference numbers on the invoice he received for the aforementioned 'warranty extension'.

Now the moment the Dell guy got back on, you can bet his first sentence began with a, "I am sorry, but we cannot. . ." only to be cut off by me right on spot. I told him that it doesn't matter, I have new information. I gave him all the relevant numbers, and then he put me on hold again. After he was back, he said that he has the information, and it checks fine. and

The 'technical rep.' explained that there was confusion on the matter because the original service tag was never transfered into the new name, and the next owner purchased the warranty to the same service tag. I was like, "exactly what I had told you. . . the confusion was there because system's original owner was one person, who sold this machine to another person, now that second-owner purchased a warranty extension for the laptop, but never transfered ownership into his own name." To which I got, "no, sir, it's that the machine's service tag was under the original ownership, and the warranty purchased for this service tag was by another individual, but they both linked to the same tag. . . However, to avoid this confusion in future, I have transferred the tag and warranty into your name so you never have this problem again in future."

Excellent! My matter is resolved! But did you see how that guy completely missed what I had said, and then repeated the exact same analysis of the situation? Bloody hell!

I will say, this rep. was nice. Good chap. However, the fact remains that it took a bloody 40-minutes to resolve a matter that could've honestly been packed in under 10 minutes. I fault the Dell-training in this area, because they put so much protocol and script into the call-centre machine that their representatives lose the ability to properly 'comprehend' and 'understand' what the customers are saying.

 

I had the same thing on both of my M17x's, BB. My replacements went through fine. I have also noticed that my fresh installs of Windows 7 default to balanced power plan, and there isn't even an option for high performance - I have to create a new plan using the high performance scheme...

 

About the whole power plan setting thing.

FWIW In Australia both of my proposals have "default power setting".

 

Order's now in Stage 4


I sent an email about my experience off to Michael Dell's department. As I said in an earlier post, I'm not asking for anything, but I did document how painful the experience was, the inconsistency between how I was treated and how certain other customers were treated (better systems, less wait time, gestures of goodwill straight away etc), and generally gave them feedback on what to improve.

The sad thing is, is that if they hadn't messed me about, my email would have been how "yes, Dell messed up big time, but they went the extra mile when this was realised" instead of "after months of hassle, your rep tries to pull another fast one on me".

I'll be interested to see if they have any comment anyway.

 

Just got off the phone with the corporate escalation desk
Told him the story so far, will know on tuesday afternoon what they can offer me. To be honest I just want to have a working machine But if not then i want and M17x and nothing less

Has anyone gone the corporate escalation desk? If so what were you offered?

 

Well, my rep told me mine would probably ship before the end of the week. As of a few minutes ago, my order went from "Build" to "Boxing" in the phone system. Maybe mine might go through.. this is the furthest it's gone..

 

After being on the phone with Dell for 2 hours I now have a new dispatch number and a new order, according to the Dell rep she couldn't give me any reason why the order was cancelled, she said that Dell is replacing the XPS M1730's with the ALienware which mine other order was being replaced with the Alienware so who knows.

I will have to wait another 7 to 14 business days.

 

Ok so the reps have been updated to the situation then
Thats good news! Ill know on tuesday what Ill be offered, but as there appears to be no 8800gtx's or 9800gtx's odds are I'll most likely get a M17x.

 

I wouldn't even trust a replacement card at this point. Anything they're able to put in would be a card that's been repaired in some way (replaced GPU/memory).

 

I now have the order number and it is showing in production with the ETA of 11/16/09 which is something I never had before. Also I was emailed return labels for my old system which won't get sent back until I have the other one in my hand.

 

Good idea, keep the M1730 until u get the M17x
I am sure everyone here would do that

Has anyone actually got a replacement M17x???

 

Yeah that's definitely a different process. I've never had an ETA on any of mine. My process that appears to be working is different, too. No return information in the order itself. I wonder if that's what's breaking these orders, the fact that the return information between Dell and Alienware doesn't line up.

 

When did you receive your first order number? I got my first on the 23rd of October and i'm up to my 4th and it's still in Production.

I'm just looking to see the overall turnaround time

 

Exact same, 23rd. 4th order also.

 

Thanks so much Elkay, I can only hope that I'm not far behind you!

 

My first order was the 23rd too and I am on my 4th. Like Elkay, mine is in "boxing" (since yesterday) and I just got an update from my contact that the computer has been physically built and even has a Tag # in the system and is in the final stages of shipment from manufacturing for delivery. He wasnt 100% for sure what part of boxing it was in but mentioned that that stage normally takes 2-3 days. Again, cautiously optimistic but I will believe it when I see it! My previous cancelled orders all went wheels off during the weekend so we will see what Monday brings.

 

Mine is still showing as "In Production" and the phone system is still saying it's in production. The latest (4th) Order Number was submitted on 10/11/09, was yours the same?

I'm hoping this weekend doesn't bring a cancellation notice as well, fingers crossed!

 

Those are the specs for the Alienware. I had my machine set to performance from the moment I took it out of the box....

 

Let's hope together that there will be no cancelation in the weekend because mine was canceled in the saturday night. I am so afraid that it will get canceled again

 

I just check the status online and you guys were right. They cancelled two orders already, but I notice that a third order is in production and this one has what we agreed upon. When the rep. send me the specs It wasnt what I wanted, but to be honest I just wanted a working computer so I didnt complaint about the specs. I was just going to send them my original hardware and call it a day, but now they are building one with my current specs... 8gb of memory and 1TB Raid0 (two 500GB 7200 HD) Much better.. This is what I am hoping will be ship soon... For this one I am willing to wait a little longer... I will call them on Monday to see if they can speed it up a bit.. I have to use my old computer and it's frustrating.. I hate slow computers..

1 224-5967 Black Metallic
1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory
1 313-8570 Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Burner (BR-R, DVD+-RW,
1 317-0818 I ntel Core2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz
1 317-1499 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 2 x 4096MB
1 320-0762 SLI Dual 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA GeForce (NB10E-GTX1)
1 320-8140 17.0in, WUXGA,LCD,ANW,M17X
1 330-0171 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks
1 330-3924 Name Plate Engraving
1 341-0012 1TB (500GB x 2) 7,200RPM (xMB Cache) - RAID 0
1 410-0201 MCAF,36MTH,MUI,ANW
1 410-1883 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
1 412-1397 No Productivity Software requested
1 421-0360 Avatar1
1 421-0389 Window Style, DFT
1 421-0398 Power Plan, BAL
1 421-0399 Time Zone, CENTRAL
1 421-0405 Automatic Updates ON
1 421-0410 Wallpapers, C01W
1 421-0726 ALIENFX BLUE
1 421-1304 CyberLink PowerDVD 8.0 Software
1 421-1305 Nero 9 Media Burning Software
1 421-1398 Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English
1 421-1724 Soft Contracts,Dell In Home,Alienware
1 430-0628 Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
1 430-3558 Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n 2x2 MIMO

 

Do NOT call and try to get it expedited.. you'll end up with another cancelled order. Be patient and just let it run its course.

 

Order shipped via UPS. Just a few more days from having a working system again!

 

Awesome! Mine should hopefully ship Monday then!

 

Aye, hope you get yours soon as well.

I don't know what's with this weird order cancellation business; it seems to be exclusive to the US or something. I guess each regional department has their quirks.

Edit: also for some reason I have both a "1Yr Premium Warranty Support " and "2Yr Premium Warranty Support" on the shipping slip. Has anyone else got this, or is it just a weird glitch or something?

 

my order shipped too. I have no carrier info yet, but mine was shipped next day. Let's see if my nightmare will be over.

 

I am in Canada my order got cancelled.

 

Alienware warranties are all 1 year. The 2 year is probably to cover the remainder of a 3 year? I'd call and ask *after* you get the box. My warranty got messed up when I extended it and they just had to cancel and redo it. On the positive side, they restarted it from just a few months ago so I got over a year of warranty time free.

 

As I understand it, when your system is replaced, your warranty typically will carry over to your new system. Your warranty expiration date will not change unless you negotiate this during the system replacement conversation.

When my XPS M1730 was replaced back in July, my warranty continued with the M17x. It is set to expire in June of 2010. In effect, I was only given 11 months of coverage... lol. Its ok, I will be extending it prior to expiration.

 

Correct. I was told this as well.

 

Mm...i cannot check the order status now even with the phone. In the website, it shows "information temporairly unavaliable." then in the phone, i would have to wait a long time and it will say transfer to another.... I hope mine won't get canceled after this....

 

This is normal. Usually goes down for a bit around this time. I assume they're doing backups or other maintenance.

 

Well I was offered a 2 year warranty with the new system (since the warranty on this M1730 has something like 21 months remaining - 23 at time of failure), so even if their system has glitched somewhere it shouldn't be hard to get it sorted.

I guess the 1 year thing was just added automatically on their system and they manually added the 2 year warranty as well without removing the 1 year.

 

A bit of information from U.K. front; I was offered a brand new four-year-warranty on my new service tag for the replacement system. This was the case when I received my second XPS, Batboy.

 

i got tracking number, FEDEX baby, should have it monday according to their info. Cant wait, this XPS has seen better days.

 

Congrats argh waiting to hear what dell will offer me... its so frustrating, just want to see the M17x on route too

 

Long time reader but first time post on this thread.

This is my experience of Dell Hell, Apologies if it reads a bit strangley but it's sort of a running log that I cut and paste/edit to suit whoever I'm having a moan at

I have been having problems with getting DELL to fix my laptop under the extended warranty

_*11/11/09 unanswered email to technical support*_ They say they will reply within 24hrs



I am not happy about being told that my DELL XPS m1730 will not be repaired for at least another three weeks due to lack of available parts ( Nvidia Geforce 8800m GTX Sli Graphics card ).

Originaly my laptop was taken away for repair on 20th of October and delivered back to me on 3rd of November with a single Nvidia Geforce 8700m GT Graphics card fitted.
As you may know that is a massive downgrade having only about one third or less of the performance of the 8800m GTX Sli Card.
Of course I was not at all happy about this and sent the system straight back to DELL the very next day.

DELL have now had over three weeks to repair my system and now tell me it will be a *_minimum_* of three more weeks before it can be fixed. (If ever as I'm pretty sure the graphics card is no longer made.)


To add to the Above explaination I have just got off the phone from technical support (16:00hrs 13/11/09) and they now tell me that there will be no suitable replacement graphics cards available to repair my machine untill January 2010 at the earliest meaning probably at least another 2 months untill my machine is fixed. (meaning I am expected to be without my laptop for a total of three months)
I was offered the same graphics card downgrade that I have already returned to DELL as completley unacceptable to me.

I have been in contact with other people that have been given a suitable replacement machine and now view this as the only way forward to conclude the matter satisfactorily.

Dell themselves have set a precedent in replacing the M1730 with another machine with
1900x1200 screen resolution
RAID harddrives
and Twin Sli Graphics Cards as per my original machine.

I have also found that these 8800m GTX cards are causing problems for many other people hence the fact that Dell have no spare parts to fix my machine.
It also occurs to me that if the design of the graphics card or the machine is substandard then even after repair it is almost bound to fail again causing further problems at a later date.


Further to the above I have also now been in touch with a soliciter who has this to say on the mater,

Under section 14 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 it is an implied term of the contract that the laptop will be of satisfactory quality and fit for the purpose. It appears that it was not and Dell are in breach of contract. You have to give them a chance of repairing it within a reasonable amount of time. I would suggest that you write to Dell and give them 7 days to return it to you in default of which you threaten to take them to the small claims court.

If they refuse to fix it within 7 days then sue them for a cost of a new laptop using www.moneyclaim.gov.uk


I will also be contacting DELL UK Head office in Brackley on Monday.

 

Going the legal route is a possibility, but I'd suggest getting it escalated and using other means first. The date they're giving you is a lie and a stalling tactic; they seem to try this on almost everyone in the UK.

Call up, get the issue escalated, and state how if Dell are unable to provide an equivalent part (which they can't) then they need to offer an equivalent or greater replacement machine, i.e. the Alienware M17X. Waiting 2/3/4 months is not acceptable and they need to know it.

If you run in to problems with that, escalate it further, contact a Dell community rep, email the corporate guys, file an unresolved issue complaint, whatever. Many of us here were able to get this resolved without legal action, or even the threat of it, though UK support are particularly difficult to deal with as you've no doubt noticed.

 

Cards will only be ready after 3 of January 2010
So flip off the delays...

Tell Tech support you want to escalate to T2.

There pleanty of knowledgeble guys on here

Community forums are made for these specific reasons!

 

I can't wait until January when the replacement card promise turns out to be a flat out lie.

 

I agree Ive been stuck for 21 days
I expect to have a gfx card on tuesday or be offered a M17x

 

Thanks for the advice and support

The legal aspect was to be sure of where I stand and will be a last resort.

Silly question..... to escalate to T2 do I just ask the card reading parrot on the other end of the phone to connect me to a supervisor or T2 (tech rep level 2 ?)

I also have the phone number for Bracknell Head office in the UK, do you think it is any use or will I just get redirected to an Indian call centre

 

Say u want to escalate it to T2 that puts you on the line with a manager.
I have unfortunately gone further with an email to Michael Dell, so they wont deal with me

Once on T2, say you know there are no 8800gtx and want an exchange unit, they dont have any M1730's so then ask for a M17x. When he says NO, tell him to you want him to escalate it higher.

From previous posters the managers then roll over....

 

Let them offer the m17x first, that way they're on the hook. Request a system exchange for "equal or better" and see what they come back with. Turn down any Studio units and then they should offer the m17x. If not, then play that card and insist on it, and insist that others are getting it. If they won't budge, then force further escalation.

 

I did that too

last week after I read what you did, LOL I hope it was not a bad move.

Still the sale of goods act is on our side if I have to go down the legal route:laugh:

I shall keep you all posted on any progress, good or bad.

 

Heres the bad news.. I got a call from the manager that they have made arrangements for a 8800m gtx replacement and it is ready to be shipped from Malaysia and should be reaching here by tomorrow

Now its pretty obvious that it must be a repaired gpu which was sent in dead by some dude.

Looks like if the shipping info is true.. its bad luck for me.. as I will again be stuck with some refurbished 8800 which will definitely cause problems again and probably start overheating right from day 1. And I cannot stop from getting it replaced by it either.

 

@ ankurq7

You have an out based on how many times it has failed. If it is your first failure then you have to accept it. if it is your second failure then.......

Check the free legal advice for specifics in your country. In Australia they can't just keep on subbing parts that have failed multiple times. Same as they can't fix multiple different problems becaus ethen it would fasll into the "lemon" consumer protection laws.

 

I'd also be careful, when they use the word replacement, they might actually mean a downgraded card and not another 8800 GTX SLi.