Warning to all users: Do not Buy Dell or Alienware

Because I had noted a problem with my 7970m that had failed in warranty but went out of warranty they consider it a already (much like already having a pre-existing condition for health insurance). They never returned my call when I was still in warranty in order to extend my 4 year warranty after it expired. They said at time of sale, buy a 4 year warranty and I would be eligible for a 2-3 year extension at the end of the 4 years.

When I contacted their tech support/warranty extension they said they would only extend by 1 year and that it was typical of their sales department to say whatever they need to in order to close a deal, since it 4 years later you would have hard time proving it.

Yesterday I got this email:

(please be aware that for personal security I have had to put xxxxx over my private info and service tag)

So I called and left him a message that I wanted to extend and to please call me back (about 1am Friday, Jul 01, 2016). Now when I tried to get it extended they said WE DO NOT EXTEND PAST 5 YEARS, if this individual had time to pull my service tag he should have been able to have pulled how long my warranty was.

In classic Dell style, he calls me at a time I initially wasn't going to be home, even though I left him the time I would be home and even gave him the time zone (he is in CST I am in PST - but he couldn't figure out the difference in time). I said I will take the 3 year. He then goes to get me a price and comes back and says oh I am sorry I can't give you a 2 or 3 year warranty extension. I asked why did you offer it, he states, oh I didn't know you had a 4 year policy already (shows how they pay attention to details and know their customers rather than just send out request for you to buy services). so I can't give you a 3 or 2 year, but a 1 year, however I will give you a discount. I told him about the graphics card issue and how one tech rep said they would not honor a warranty extension for any part of my system. He says oh let me take a look at your system and its notes.

Okay I will talk to my department head/manager (don't remember title) and call you back (and we agreed upon between 4 and 5 pm PST since he was going to be in the office till 9pm CST). Well 6pm my time no call. I call him back over the next hour leaving messages. Finally I decide to check my e-mail.

In what has to be the best example of the unprofessionalism, lack of respect, disregard for customers, and total lack of tact I find this in the e-mail

He apparently didn't know how to pick up a phone and used e-mail instead to avoid any embarrassment.

So I ask Dell, why do you publish self-help, tech support documents and troubleshooting guides, if you don't want customers trying to solve their problems. If I had instead had been totally LAZY and just called your tech department, after probably 10-12 hours with your support team who would have ran me through your flowchart/script over and over and had me reinstall Windows over and over, this problem wouldn't have been an issue.

I post this for ALL potential notebook/laptop even desktop buyers looking at Dell or Alienware, beware. This company does not practice proper business ethics, responsibility, conduct or concern for customers, whether you are military (like me) or have a discount through a business (EPP I think they call it) that my mom qualified for. DO NOT BE TAKEN.

For admin/mod I ask you please allow this to remain so users can see exactly how I was treated.

FOR ALL READERS: If you would like to know more about my case, please let me know as I will be more than willing to share all details in case you don't feel these letters provide the full picture for you to make a judgement.

Sincerely,

Danger007

P.S.: I am a former United States Marine.

 

While I understand your frustration, I do believe a blanket "Do Not Buy" recommendation is excessive.

I too have experienced difficulties with computer manufactures and retailers over many years, however, more often than not these difficulties are not indicative of a problem so pervasive that I would say never buy from them again.

I think many of these big companies have their problems and many of their employees are clueless, only capable of following a script, sometimes not even understanding what you are saying and just repeating the last scripted response. Very, very, very annoying to be sure but eventually I either resolved the difficulty or sold the item with a warning to the new buyer to recoup some of my costs.

As to Dell I have had my share of frustration with them but I still have had many more positive experiences (both hardware and support) than negative.

A computer is not a stove, dishwasher or refrigerator with support contracts that can be renewed virtually forever. Computers have a finite life and 4-5 years is about it as far as the service contracts are concerned.

I personally never keep one longer than that unless it's a back up to my production computer to be used only in an emergency.

Sure the reps should have better training, sure they should not have given you false information but the response you received is not wholly unexpected.

I wish you well and hope you eventually are able to get some satisfaction even if that means selling and getting something new that can be covered.

 

Being that this is not my first Dell experience and being that they all have ended or have been lousy when it comes to service that is why I feel confident in a blanket statement. Only when their bottom line starts to take a hit will they remember and listen to we the consumers. For them losing a customer is nothing tragic and usually is a blessing because in many cases they are more knowledgeable than their flowcharts/scripts/support and they have to find a way to cover up the disasterous support. When you have the same discussion with several reps and then another who is actually in the dept. that sells, in this case warranties, and they contradict what others said and only when they then look at your customer details and not at (lets see who hasn't extended that I could maybe convince and get commission, meet my sales goals, or whatever) $$$$ they have to retract their offer and then promise a call back and instead use unprofessional tactics and go e-mail to say oh, too bad, sorry, then I do think a blanket warning is deserved.

I give all companies I ever do business with multiple chances. However when they do not step up, or do so infrequently or less than 20% of the time, then I will warn others. I fully intend to make sure the military papers (US Navy Times, The Marine Times, etc.) get this warning as I don't want fellow service personnel and certainly not my fellow Marines to get taken by this company. They could care less about my service, they could care less that I also qualified under their EPP (Home Depot - parent) and they reward me trying to solve the problem first before bugging their tech support with a STUPID you should have had us troubleshoot, I cannot let others who are knowledgeable get zapped for doing what us power users do, we attempt to solve before turning to the lackluster support of companies like Dell. Their solution, reinstall and it should work then, if not call us back. Well I did a reinstall on my own as I had a spare drive and it still made no difference and because I self-supported I got self-screwed.

 

Hi Danger 007 ,
Would I be right in saying that you were given an initial 4 year warranty and promised an extra 2-3 year warranty at the end of your first warranty - was this given to you in writing or in conversation [ I'm guessing conversation ] - I would write to whoever is the Head of Dell in the USA and explain your problem to him / her . Send a physical letter and an email , then they won't have any excuses of having misplaced anything
Up until now I have always bought cheap refurbished laptops , currently I use a refurbished old Lenovo T410 - I've had it for nearly 3 years without any problems whatsoever - I paid £200 for it so if it gave up the ghost tomorrow it wouldn't owe me anything .
I took notice of your message because I am just mulling over whether to buy a Dell Precision - my daughter has an Alienware 17 R3 and she had the 18" Alienware before that , she told me that Dell Support are ' fantastic ' .
I believe there are 2 seperate sections of Dell Support , the Consumer and Business , the latter being the better of the two .
Poor service is unforgiveable - I would write to their CEO then see what happens .

 

Business support is actually surprisingly good, NBD onsite service (not that much more) is a blessing. If you're that worried, get 5 years, they periodically go on sale for the price of 4, and they are contractually obligated to repair (or replace) it on the next business day, even if you're in a field station in the middle of nowhere.

The OP is a bit ridiculous, and has equally unreasonable expectations. Laptops aren't cars, you just can't get parts 20 years after you bought it. With most of electronic parts, it's hard pressed to find parts 2 years after its manufactured. That figures goes to about 5-ish if you buy a business product though.

 

I agree with you and Meerkat. Anything from a support agreement standpoint beyond 5 years is unlikely.