Alienware/Dell technical support rant...leading to a simple question

Question

Long post, if you just want the simple question that is the last sentence....

My first time posting on this site so if I'm doing this in the wrong spot I apologize. I received my Alienware Aurora on 2/18/11 and was initially very impressed with the performance. On 2/24/11 the machine blue screened and rebooted suddenly. Once it booted back up the system lighting did not come on and a few error messages popped up which I took screenshots of and saved to show to support. Being that this was the first time I had an issue (even after only 6 days) I popped open the case made sure the RAM/Video cards were all seated properly, the HD/fan cables were all connected securely to the motherboard, and booted up once again. All was well for another week or so and then once again I booted the machine to find the tower lights didn't come on. Logged in and the same errors popped up regarding the AlienFx controller blah blah. I then found out that after 15 minutes of normal use while the lights on the tower are off the machine crashes (no blue screen, just a screwed up video display and a loud monotonous WAAAAAAA noise from the speakers). I then decided to use my warranty support and give Dell a call.

First time I called the technician had me hit F12 at the splash screen and run the PSA test, which took about 30 minutes and found nothing wrong. He then flashed the BIOS (same version of the BIOS the machine already had) and reinstalled AlienFX Command Center. The machine seemed happy with the attention so the ticket was closed. After another week or so the symptoms of booting up with no system lights returned. I smartened up after the first time it crashed with no lights and decided I better reboot the machine until the lights come on. This technique worked well for about a month as there were no further crashes while running the machine with the lights on but eventually the computer did indeed start crashing regardless if the lights were on or not.

Second call to Dell support I once again was instructed to run the PSA which again found no errors. He then flashed the BIOS (no new version of the BIOS yet) and reinstalled AlienFX Command Center, eventhough I told him this was already done and he confirmed that he saw the notes from the last support call doing the same exact thing. Before hanging up with me he something to the effect of "a lot of times when this occurs it's dust on the circuits. make sure you blow the machine out regularly." I took this advice and purchased a DataVac Electric Duster and have been blowing this baby out on a weekly basis since.

Needless to say this did nothing to stop the computer from crashing. I do not have the 60-120 minutes per day to give Dell a call so they perform the same exact troubleshooting techniques that find nothing every time. So for a long while I just dealt with the issue and kept rebooting till the lights came on, then walking away from the computer for 20 minutes after booting, as it seems that if it's going to crash it will happen within 20 minutes or won't happen at all. I've had the computer turned on (sleep mode when walking away) for days at a time and have had no issues at all. It seems that after a prolonged period of being off (2 hours or more) this issue pops up. I tend to boot up in the morning before going to work then shutdown for 12ish hours while at work/commute, then boot up again when I get home. As of last week I was getting about 2 good boots per week, meaning when turning the machine on the lights would come on and no crashes would occur through the time I turn it back off. Most of the time I'd have to reboot the machine 3-4 times before the system lights would turn on.

This Monday 6/4 I called support back again to report that the same problem that has been happening since 6 days after booting up my machine for the first time is still occuring. Once again ran PSA (found nothing), ran another diagnostic test on the HD/RAM (not sure what this one was called) and that found nothing also. He decided that those diagnostics were enough to say conclusively that nothing is wrong with the hardware and asked if we could bring the OS back to factory defaults to eliminate any possible software problems so we did this.

Yesterday (6/5) I had to call support back because the same exact problem started occuring again. Ran the PSA again (this time it at least crashed twice during the PSA where I had to start the process over again). Once it got through the PSA, again finding nothing (despite the crashes..weird) he decided that I should remove the video card. I can only assume that an Alienware support technician knows these machines very well, so I comply. He then tells me to boot the machine and see how if it works. I tell him I have nowhere to connect my monitor as the video cards are not in the machine. He then gets very condescending and very slowly (because i'm the idiot and not the customer) tells me that you won't have the graphics performance that you are used to but you will still have the "basic motherboard connection" (yes, that's how he said it). I told him there is no integrated VGA on this motherboard and then he told me that's "impossible". Since I was obviously being a huge jerk and mentally blocking out an invisible "basic motherboard connection" he sharply told me to hold, which I did for 5 minutes before he came back on the line and said "put the video cards back in and take out 1 stick of RAM" (you would think a little apology was in order but nothing). I played along and did as he said. This time the machine booted and the lights didn't come on. He connected to my machine flashed the BIOS and reinstalled AleinFX Command Center. Rebooted the machine and the lights came on so he said I will call you back tomorrow to see how things are going.

He calls back today and I report that within 15 minutes of our call ending I had yet another crash but the machine hasn't crashed yet today. He then asked if he could close the ticket. I told him that I don't think it's appopriate to close this ticket as this same problem has been occuring since less than a week after I broke this machine out of it's box. Each time I call we go through the same exact level 1 support steps and each time they find nothing. He refused to do this and said if the machine crashes again you are going to have to call us back so we can run the same tests. I asked him how does a case get advanced to level 2 support? He said "there is no level 2 support and that everyone I will speak to is on the same level". I asked if there was a Dell certified tech that could either come to me or I could bring the machine to them so they can see the issue firsthand and maybe have an idea of what is wrong. His reponse to that was we will not just send someone to you to "take a look". They will only go to your house to replace a specific part and leave.

Is is true that there is no escalation process at Alienware tech support? If so what is my best bet of getting someone who is familiar with these machines to see if they can figure out the problem?

shesagordie · Answer

DJC69 Best forum to post this in, is the Alienware Owners Club HERE. Bev.

DELL-Chris M · Answer

DJC69,I need some information to investigate this. Send me the following via private message -Email Address:Name:Shipping Address:Phone Number:Computer Service Tag number:

DELL-Chris M · Answer

Since the Dell Alienware diagnostics keeps passing, we need to do some software troubleshooting. We do not have a service to send an onsite technician to troubleshoot. All onsite technicians do is replace the parts we tell them to replace. The one year warranty expired on 2/10/12 so you cannot get any onsite or parts service. I would start troubleshooting by reinstalling the Command Center software (http://dell.to/HF6EPn), restart the system and retest.

DJC69 · Answer

Hi Chris. Thanks for the follow up however here is the latest. 1 day after your last message to me I get a call from Alienware that they are indeed replacing my machine (I extended the warranty for at least an additional year). A couple days later I get another call to confirm my address and also the specs of my current system so they can send me something comprable. I received the replacement machine on Tuesday and at the very least it's running smoothly. The only issues I have with this new machine is they downgraded a couple of my specs as well as leaving a couple of additions I made to the original purchase out completley.

I will call in when I get a chance to either re-purchase the orignal WLAN i had (which was able to connect at 300 Mbps while the new one only getting 50-72 Mbps) as well as my TV tuner which they didn't even include in this machine, along with a question about the new video card setup (GPU in the new has 1.75GB of RAM where the old had 3.79GB). If I had known they left things out I would have removed the devices from the old machine before sending it back.

The new model did come with some slightly upgraded specs (3rd generation I7 processor and a hybrid solid state hard drive raid config) so it could just be an issue of balancing the price. Either way this is not for tech support. Thank you for your assistance in this matter. Hopefully the new machine is more stable than the old.

Thanks,

Don

TWGAMER666 · Answer

I am really starting to regret my order! It seems, unfortunately, that Dell is no different to banks, media companies, finance companies, mobile phone companies, software companies and other computer companies etc. etc. as far as treating "valued" customers is concerned.

This is becoming a rediculous trend that is becoming more alarming with businesses these days, who take a very arrogant and apathetic approach to customers, who see us simply as "profit makers" as well as a nuisance when things go wrong and we have the nerve to complain about it!

It seems, from the experiences you have described, that their next day on-site warranty leaves a lot to be desired! I cannot understand how companies can charge an extortionate amount on warranties and then not deliver the service they promise. What completely baffles me, is why the customer accepts this kind of behaviour in the first place?

I really hope that your new system is upto par and that it works flawlessly - as it should. However, in my job, we often refer people to for this kind of company behaviour.

Tesla1856 · Answer

I am really starting to regret my order!

In this thread, Dell sent the customer a whole new machine, so I'm not sure I undertstand your tone.

I've seen you trying to help people. That is cool.

However, remember that Dell sells 10's of thousands of machines every month. What you see posted in this forum is a very small percentage.

What did you order? Well, don't start worrying until you actually get the machine. Call support if you need help fast.

schneeball · Answer

in general i find tech support pretty good to be fair , and there customer service is also above par ! if you want to buy a custom PC or Laptop from anywhere else after 28 days your gonna have to send it away for repair , which in some cases like my friends sager laptop was gone for 3 weeks .

Dell/alienware send you a tech out pretty much for any issue that they deem fit to repair , like mine i had a graphics card fault , 2 days later a tech was at my door to replace it but it turned out it was my motherboard so now they are currently sending me out a NEW machine which is currently being built ! and.......... upgraded my GPU to a 680GTX for free !!

Tell me that aint good service ? Awesome in my eyes . Yes i am upset i am unable to play games on my laptop at the minute ! but i am happy i received a top class service level !

Good luck with your new machine :)

TWGAMER666 · Answer

Hi again, regarding the above replies:

To Tesla1856: I'm paranoid and pessimistic by my very nature and have had my fair share of being ripped off, messed around and bad (no, scarp bad - terrible) customer service by many companies. It is fair to say - wait for the machine to be built and see what happens, indeed, that is what I intend to do, and hope that my system will be fine.

However, I have done a fair bit of research on different forums and websites and the machine I ordered (the same spec as the other people having difficulties) seems to be very troublesome to say the least. That being said, yes, I am worried. As far as regretting my order, we will see upon delivery.

With regards to your other question - I ordered the following set up: Alienware Aurora - Black alx Chassis (you know, the fancy one with the vents, I couldn't resist this feature), i7 3820 3.60ghz, 16GB RAM, 1 TB hard drive (SATA) and the troublesom Nvidia GTX 680.

I vowed never to go back with AMD/ATI due to releasing shoddy drivers that makes the games I play very unstable, stuttery and laggy to say the least, so I went with the Nvidia option. In all fairness, it seems that both top of the range GPU's for both Nvidia and AMD are having a lot of difficulties at the moment.

In so far as dell selling thousands of PC's every month and only hearing about a few complaints on the internet, it is still enough to make you paranoid, but yes, I am keeping this in mind.

Nice to meet you btw :-)

to schneeball: Hi there also. Your experience with your machine Versus your experience with customer service is an interesting insight. It makes me more concerned over the fact that yet again here is someone who has been provided with a faulty machine that requires multiple repairs and a rebuild. This does not inspire confidence.

Don't get me wrong, in the past I have had multiple problems with new machines not working and having to be sent back just after being delivered, these machines are very high spec, as are the machines I have had from other companies in the past. What you tell me about Dell customer service in your post is somewhat reassuring compared to other reviews, and I would imagine everyone elses experience may differ. So far, my experience with Dell via the sales and support team seems good, but thats not to say it won't change if problems begin.

Thats for wishing me good luck :) Good luck also with your machine and I hope you get everything sorted to your liking.

With regards to DJC69: You cannot deny this is a horror story and one that requires better service and an apology at the very least.

Hope I havn't offended anyone, not my intention to do so. Look forward to speaking to you all soon.

89fordprobee · Answer

well when you come to a support forum expect to see alot fo rants and complaints.... otherwise we wouldnt needs support period :O

honestly getting a new system and upgraded is to shut you up, if it works great if not, i still had 2 more replacement systems after i had such luck with my M17X.

the percent you see usually complain about issues are probably only 0.03% of the actual machines sold some just dont bother and get lucky with supports others dont get lucky and seem to come here, exception is M11x hinges(recalled basically) X51 optical drives, replacement is out for those, and so on, now support is by far subpar (have my reasons for saying this) but they still manage to help the customer(eventually) or work something out like upgrade to a 680M GTX....... as noted .

now a few complaints on the internet might be end user issue or actual faults.....

i bought a 41000.00 SUV , constantly in the shop, kinda like my M17X was lol i love my Dodge Nitro, found out it was known issue with the driveline, and Chrysler refused to fix/recall , out of a year it spent roughly 85+ days in the shop including a transfere case rebuild due to known transmission issue. got rid of it in 2011, 2012 comes around i bought a jeep liberty which in reality is the same vehicle as the Nitro and both were built in Toledo Plant side by side . Point is i didnt just read of issues i had the known issues yet i still purchased the same vehicle again , so dont let issues you see or read about stop you from a purchase, you got 21 days to try it out if problems sure send it back and get a refund but atleast give it a chance :O

schneeball · Answer

Thanks :) , i aint on anyones side here but as Tesla said AW do sell alot of machines and lets face it no one has a perfect strike rate ?

But i found over the years with the AW support team , if your polite keep your cool when speaking to them they are extremely helpful and will 99% of time see your issue through to the end .

89fordprobee · Answer

But i found over the years with the AW support team , if your polite keep your cool when speaking to them they are extremely helpful and will 99% of time see your issue through to the end .

i couldnt agree more to this statement , show respect and they are helpfull be a donkey and you get nothing just a nice *click oops disconnected

JediWill71 · Answer

Well I would have to disagree with both with being polite. I tried to get support for my ALX and AW just kept brushing me off. They figured since I was not really upset that they could just keep giving me  help. I finally had to get the   involved, problem was fixed within 3-4 days. I am just saying this because sometimes customer service will not take you seriously unless your upset.

TWGAMER666 · Answer

Ah right... thanks :-)

DJC69 · Answer

Latest update. Called Alienware support and told them about the slight downgrades to the new model computer and that I wanted to get at the very least my wireless back up to the speeds I was used to. He said there was nothing that support could help me with and I was forwarded to sales, which is fine as I kind of expected this. While on the phone with sales I figured I'd take a look inside the machine and see how many PCI-E slots I had to work with. To my surpise the new machine has no additional PCI-E slots nor additional RAM slots. This strikes me as a little odd because the machine I had purchased not only had 2 additional RAM and PCI-E slots it also had a TV Tuner and WLAN card installed in PCI-E slots.

I relay this conundrum to the sales rep and told that we can send you a USB WLAN instead of the internal PCI-E type. Although this does nothing to rememdy the lack of TV Tuner or lack of expandability of the new box. I keep my computer in a seperate room from my modem and rely strictly on wireless for internet so the most important thing for me is a steady, strong wireless connection (50-72 Mbps just does not cut it). That being said and just being tired of talking to people at Dell I ordered the USB WLAN and was just ready to settle for no TV Tuner or expandability despite the fact that I paid for these things already. Package arrived yesterday and I open it to find a USB to Gigabit Ethernet adapter. Dismayed that I have to call back yet again to arrange a return and order another USB WLAN but that is now done.

I figured that since I had such a hard time getting my original computers issue resolved with phone calls to Dell/Alienware and the ball only started rolling when I posted this thread that I'd come back here and try again. Basically my questions are such:

*I paid for a TV tuner with my original computer (and loved the functionality that I had with it and no longer have now) can a refund for that item be arranged or even the card itself returned to me so I can recoup some of the cost via Ebay?

*I paid for a PCI-E WLAN with my original computer. New computer came with an integrated WLAN that just doesn't cut it. I have now paid $33 for a Gigabit Ethernet adapter (being returned and money refunded within 30 days) as well as $55 for a USB WLAN (at least I hope that's what I get this time). Can I get the item back or my dell account credited?

*I paid for expandability so I can upgrade my rig if needed. Nothing can be done about that but I figured to mention it again to put emphasis on my annoyance.

Locked Topics – Alienware General

Alienware/Dell technical support rant...leading to a simple question

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