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Alienware M14X Hinge complaint
Hi,
I'm frustrated and upset over this whole matter. I've spent a lot more energy and time on this than I feel I should have had to along with not having my computer available to me for nearly a month now.
At the time of the below, I had the 3 year coverage for wear and tear not related to accidents. Sorry, I'm unable to recall the coverage types name at the moment.
So, onward to the problem itself and how trying to get it remedied came to fail.
The basic problem is that my M14X laptop began creaking in the hinge, rather suddenly actually, so that when I raised the screen a horrible cracking noise occurred. It was torquing the casing when I would open it so that the monitor was beginning to jiggle loosely at the left hinge, leading me to contact costumer support over the phone who advised me to send my laptop to them for repairs and inspection. So I sent it to them with a sticky note on the top to open carefully, because the torquing effect of doing so was exacerbating the issue.
The laptop arrives there and I get a call concerning the "state" of my laptop. The Dell representative's stance went from helping and repairing to questioning directly, how did I damage it. Confused I explained the creaking and the conversation that lead to sending the Laptop to Dell in the first place. The Dell Representative reproachfully denied my explanation, because the laptop was now CRACKED open on the left side, the hinge yanked out. That was not the way it was when I sent it, which again met denial from the representative. The representative DEMANDED I show proof that it was not that way before sending it and that I should have taken pictures... Basically, as I imagine it, whoever took it out of the box ignored my note and seemingly opened the laptop willy-nilly and didn't want to face up to having made it worse. I did not think to take pictures before sending the laptop, because nobody said I should, and it was my understanding that it was going to be fixed, not made worse.
As this conversation continued, the response by the Dell Representative was that they would have to replace the whole screen "if" they were to effect any repairs at all. Because of the trouble and the denial of coverage and four and a half hours of phone time, I canceled the $400 3 year coverage plan I did have, because they wanted me to pay $400 more to do this replacement of the monitor that my existing coverage should have been handling already. The representative was very resistant to the cancellation, though the representative did not help any further in the hinge problem.
Now after having the laptop returned to me, I've been doing research on the damage, primarily at first in an attempt to fix it myself and now because It has enlightened me to several problems Dell Alienware laptops have had in the past that I was unaware of before.
A similar problem happened largely to the M11 series and sporadically to the later series models. I understand from another Dell support thread here that the M14X does not share the same hinge design and hasn't seen very many reports of hinge problems, but the question becomes, just because a majority of the customer base hasn't suffered the problem, why does that exclude my coverage of wear and mechanical failure that I didn't cause? (Let alone the extremely unethical response I got concerning the fact the hinge problem was made worse by Dell technicians and not owned up to.)
So as I said above, I canceled my coverage because it was by the Dell representative's viewpoint, not their responsibility to cover this unexpected hardware malfunction. I'm here, because I'm hoping as I've found in many tech forums that the help tends to be more knowledgeable than phone scripted tier 1 or 2 representatives who can't or are unwilling to do anymore than the prescribed and/or/if sitting on paper in front of them.
Thank you and please advise,
-Hayley
RonMan902
1 Message
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June 20th, 2012 01:00
I am having the exact same problem with my M14x... the left side of the hinge has problem... I seems to me that many m14x owner is starting to have this problem during this period of time.
I called the warranty service... AFTER waitting of 1 -2 hrs... the customer support told me that it was my own problem because they sold many many m14x and there is too little number of people that has this problem for a recall. I am a loyal customer that bought 2 dell alienware and expect for the price I pay is for the customer service and quality... Apparently the customer support only offer me to ship the machine to the warehouse to "SEE" how much it will cost me to fix it... It seems not fair for me to ship my laptop to "see" how much it will cost me to fix it, because this will certainly cause a lot of problems for me.
After reading this post, I dont see why i should even sent it in or even buy anything from Dell again.
-Ronald
dklittl
2 Posts
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June 21st, 2012 09:00
Glad I searched this as I am in the exact same situation at this moment. I have a M14x with the basic warranty and my left hinge has a problem. I sent it into Dell for warranty and now they want to charge me close to $400 because they say that the hinge break has now caused a LCD break below the surface. They will only fix both, so I would have to pay for all of this because of a noted defect in their build.
I have a call with the escalation office today, but Dell has convinced me to never purchase from them again.
-Darone
lcasti1004
2 Posts
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June 28th, 2012 13:00
Wow..
I can't even begin to explain how angry and frustrating my experience has been with dell/Alienware. It's really funny I came across this thread simply searching the web for a new m14x hinge to do the replacement myself due to Dell's insolence. It so happens my m14x's left hinge is also having the exact same issue. Creaking at first then one day it doesn't want to open cuz something snapped on the inside. Absolutely no evidence of physical damage on the outside. When I purchase a small 14 inch laptop at 1400 U.S dollars I expected to best in quality and craftsmanship. And if that was not enough, I expected for the company that I paid such a large amount of money to, to at least have the decency to help fix THEIR product with THEIR bad design. Alas they will do NOTHING. Even being under warranty means absolutely nothing to them. Why? Because not enough people are having the same issue.. Obviously people are having this issue and it's no coincidence that it is exactly the same and in the same location. Dell/Alienware are a terrible company and I implore anyone looking for a new computer to look elsewhere. They sell bad products and don't cover them. 430 dollars to fix something that was a poor design by them in the 1st place. For everyone that is having this issue please post it. Show dell their faults. Hopefully we can recieve some justice.
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
Community Manager
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54.9K Posts
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June 28th, 2012 16:00
I am assuming your wondering why we fixed the M11x outside of the purchased warranty period but not the others. The hinges on the the others are totally different than the hinges on the M11x. The M11x was flawed. We covered that one. The other Alienware laptops do not have systemic hinge failures. But, like any hardware that is under constant duress, over time, it will fatigue due to general wear and tear. We do not define a hinge failure over time as defects in materials and workmanship. We define it as wear and tear. All other Alienware laptops must follow the restrictions of the Dell Wear and Tear restrictions.
asmaticalien
1 Message
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July 4th, 2012 13:00
same problem here, the left hinge .
JaxPat74
1 Message
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December 7th, 2012 17:00
I am having the same issue. Even my warranty is expired. The screen is not yet broken but is there any other way it can be fixed at cheaper cost?
my_tvo
6 Posts
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December 18th, 2012 15:00
same problem, dell support stinks, costs half the price of the laptop to fix the laptop, what the heck is that. never buying dell again.
waiting for dell to admit they had a hinge problem like the m11x
binman13
5 Posts
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January 5th, 2013 16:00
And now I am being told I have to pay for this, 500 dollars out of pocket???? Yeah, real helpful for someone younger than working age....
binman13
5 Posts
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January 5th, 2013 16:00
I am furious at Dell, I spend nearly 2000 dollars on a 14 inch laptop, I at least expect it to not be of terrible build quality!
The area of screen around the hinge became slightly elevated, only by a milimetre or so, but it looked like a minor cosmetic issue so I left it, I call Dell support the next day, and after being told to take photo's the entire thing wouldn't open without a horrible near-cracking noise.
If this is how Dell makes their products, then I'm going back to homebuilding...
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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January 5th, 2013 16:00
I haven't really been following this. Dell has been taking care of it ... but maybe just for the m11 models ?
Anyway, are they suggesting you buy and replace the whole top assembly (the electronics and expensive LCD panel) when all you really need is some hinges and maybe some plasic outer shell covers?
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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January 5th, 2013 17:00
I know you are upset, but if you can calm down and talk-and-type in a polite adult manner ... you might actually get the results you are looking for.
Can you do the work yourself (it's highly technical) if you can get the parts?
Be sure the brass threaded inserts under the hinges are good or you will need the whole machine base tray also.
binman13
5 Posts
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January 5th, 2013 17:00
Pretty much! The screen is fine, I am taking pictures so they don't say that the LED Screen is busted and charge me even more.
binman13
5 Posts
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January 5th, 2013 17:00
Well I'm going to have to aren't I.. XD
I don't actually have the money for the repair, so I'm either gonna have to do it myself or just scrap the laptop that I bought less than 6 months ago
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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January 5th, 2013 20:00
binman13
5 Posts
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January 6th, 2013 00:00
Yeah, but they are still gonna make me pay...physical damage is outside of the warranty, even if opening the lid is what causes it...