Chronic problems with my laptop

    Within the 28 day return period found that it did not perform as promised. The tech who helped me configure it said that it would be able to play WoW and other current higher end games at maximum settings. When I tried to play WoW on maximum settings the laptop could only manage 10-15 frames per second rendering the game unplayable. I called Dell and got a full refund.

    After having to send the laptop back, I still believed in Alienware and decided to get an R3 with all the possible upgrades. It was not able to perform up to the standards the Dell representative set for it either, but I decided it was a good machine and that I could use it like a normal gaming laptop.

    Two to three months after I got the laptop, it started to slow to a crawl periodically at unexpected random times. Eventually the frequency of the problem increased to the point that it affected my normal use of the laptop. I attempted to fix the problem by updating drivers and re-installing the operating system, but the problem persisted. At that point I called Dell and got help from a technician. I was passed around from technician to technician and none of the suggested solutions decreased the prevalence of the problem. This process stretched on for approximately eight months.

    Within the last three months, blue screens have started to occur with increasing frequency.

    Within the last month, Dell decided to have a technician walk me through the Windows 7 installation process over the phone. I followed all the steps given to me and the problem was still occurring without any improvement afterwards.

    After that failed Dell decided to send out a technician to replace some parts on the laptop, including the GPU. After the parts were replaced the laptop started to blue-screen just before the log in screen and random times if it happened to make it past the login screen. They were frequent enough that I would experience a blue screen at least once every time I turned on the laptop.

    Last week, I called Dell and told the technician how bad the problems had gotten. The technician arranged for me to send the laptop in. I asked the technician to return the laptop to the factory state and run diagnostics to determine the source of the problem before I got off the phone.

    The letter that I received with the laptop when it was returned to me said that one of the solid state drives was bad, without indicating which one, and that a replacement drive had been sent to me. The drive arrived at the same time the laptop did. According to the repair documentation, the GPU was replaced this time as well.

    I called the technician and asked which drive needed to be replaced. I knew that the drives were in a Raid 0 configuration and both drives were needed for the computer to start up, but I let the technician try to assist me by having me try to start up the laptop without one drive or the other. After finding that the computer would not boot in either configuration, the technician set me up for having a technician visit my house.

    After I got off the phone, it occurred to me that the solid state drives may have been accidentally swapped into the wrong locations at Dell. When I swapped the drives, I found that my laptop booted up, but the blue screen issue was worse than ever. Blue screens occured just before the login screen three out of the four times I tried to start it up. The one time that the it managed to get past the login screen, it blue screened within one minute afterwards. 

    I am still trying to grasp how the technicians at Dell managed to make this error and not try swapping the drives themselves. This error on their part is not only costly to me and my patience with Dell tech support, but it is costly to Dell itself. Dell had to pay for the replacement drive that wasn't needed. If this cost is included with the two graphics cards that were replaced, Dell has cost itself a considerable amount of money. I also found that the technicians that attempted to run diagnostics stripped screws that held components onto the frame. Some screws are even missing. My laptop was shipped back to me without all the screws it started with.

    My laptop has been abused by technicians, has been having problems in increasing frequency, and is now completely unusable. I do not have a working machine and I am seriously wondering if I made a mistake in buying my computer from Dell. As things stand now, I would not recommend Dell's computers or tech support to anyone. 

    Due to the fact that Dell cannot identify the problem even though Dell tech support and I have spent a great amount of time and energy into fixing this laptop, I request that my entire laptop is replaced under warranty. I do not want new components, I do not want technicians sent to my home to fix this computer, I do not want to spend more time on the phone going in circles with tech support. I want a replacement. I believe this is fair and may end up saving Dell a bit of money due to the cost of on site and over the phone tech support as well as all the components that may be replaced if we continue troubleshooting this machine. And when I say I want an new laptop, I mean a new laptop and not a refurbished one. I paid for a new Dell laptop and not a refurbished one. That is what I want to receive.

    This is all in reference to Case # (PM me for number) and Service tag: (PM me for tag)

    Thank you for your time,

Frustrated Alienware Customer

    P.S. Not wanting to bother tech support for something as simple as an email address to send this email to, I decided to use the website to find the email address I should send this to. I used my service number, but was told by the site that email support was not available for my system. Knowing that there had to be some way I could send this, I tried to use chat, but I was told that chat support wasn't provided for my system. That's when I contacted the order support through chat and asked for an address that I could send this email to. I don't understand why sending an email to tech support needs to be this hard. Does Dell not wish to provide anything other than over the phone support for Alienware products? Verbal conversations are not always the most efficient way to provide assistance.