Dell service visit killed my working Alienware 18!

UPDATE: The box I was promised Friday didn't turn up. Dell were very apologetic when I called to find out when it will get here, and they'll send another tech and another pile of parts Wednesday. I hope they don't  it up again! Fingers crossed.

Hi!

Any updates from the repairs? Was the problem solved after the technician replaced the parts?

If you require further assistance let me know or send me a private message with your information so I can look into your case. 

It is now almost a week since the repair tech killed my machine, and I am DISGUSTED with Dell and Alienware. I will never deal with this company again.

Another tech came on Tuesday (who knew the system even less than the first one), replaced a bunch of parts and RAM, same result. No POST, two beeps. He came again Wednesday, replaced the CPU. Same result. After so many disassemblies (at least six), there are bent ribbon connectors, burred screws and dings/scratches all over the place, not to mention broken plastic clips on the palmrest.

In the end, I finally persuaded Dell to exchange the machine for the new one. I am not going to trust a machine that's had every major component replaced at least once and been pulled apart and reassembled more times than a test rig - assuming it can be fixed at all.

Now here's the kicker: I was told it would be THREE WEEKS before I would get a new machine. No matter what I said, no matter how much I reiterated that it was a Dell-appointed technician that killed my machine and that the company had a duty to rectify this very fundamental mistake with reasonable speed, I was blindsided and "company policy" was repeated to me.

This is deeply insulting and demonstrates extremely poor customer service, not to mention a complete lack of corporate morality. Professionalism means not only avoiding mistakes, but doing all possible to rectify them when they are made, instead of treating customers like cattle.

I have now requested a full refund, which I have been told will take another MONTH to process - an equally outrageous timeframe. I am now without a functioning computer suitable for my work, without the funds to buy a new one, and have wasted four full working days in trying to solve this, resulting in loss of income and not inconsiderable personal stress.

The entire episode has been nothing less than shocking, from the repair techs' lack of knowledge of the system to ineffective customer service.

Thanks Peter. I used ThinkPads for many years, but now their larger hi-res screens are all lo-res for some strange reason. Shame, because I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

On my current situation, I wrote the following email yesterday to , Alienware Technical Manager, , Alienware Product Marketing Manager, and CCed to  Dell Director of Corporate Affairs (my personal info removed):

Gentlemen,

My name is __. I am____. I am writing to let you know what's going on at the lower levels in Alienware's organization based on the shocking experience I have just had. I appreciate that neither of you have direct responsibility for technical support, but as individuals who have publicly represented the company, I expect that you care about its image and corporate culture more than many.

As a media professional who does a lot of design and photo work, I purchased an Alienware 18 a little more than a month ago as it met my needs perfectly. The machine's express service code is ______ and the service tag is ______.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that SLI was not working, so after extensive troubleshooting I called for service. On Friday May 2nd the technician arrived to replace the GPUs and SLI cable. He didn't know the machine's architecture at all, and succeeded only in reducing it's state from fully operational (sans SLI) to being unable to POST at all and just giving a two-beep error code. The machine was taken apart four times in the process, including a motherboard change, and he eventually gave up.

A second technician came on both May 6th and 7th, this time replacing the motherboard, RAM and CPU. He was even less familiar with the machine, but my experience with the first guy allowed me to guide him (is the customer meant to know more than the tech? Really?) Still no POST and two beeps. After a great deal of telephone holding and explaining the issue to various people who insisted that I send it for repair to the depot in Texas, I was finally told I could have a replacement machine (would you trust one that's been taken apart this many times, especially by techs who'd never worked on it before?)

I was then told that a replacement machine would take ONE MONTH in total to arrange. I was tempted to ask . A Dell-appointed tech killed my machine, I was given no apology for it whatsoever, and when I pointed this out I was ignored and blindly cited the warranty conditions and told I'd just have to wait in line to get a new one!

When I asked the so-called "manager" if I could speak to a higher level, I was told that this was cast in stone and nobody in the organization would offer me any more. I cannot believe that any company would damage a customer's equipment then believe it is acceptable to put them in the line with everyone else.

I told them yesterday to forget it and just give me a refund, which will take, again, ONE MONTH. In the meantime, I go without a machine for magazine production (I don't have a spare $2,500 laying around), not to mention the four working days I lost dealing with this utter mess.

Had I known that I would face such complete incompetence and lack of care, I would have never considered purchasing this product. Disgraceful performance.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know.

Sincerely,

To cut a long story short, my attempt to reach out to senior Alienware staff for help has failed completely. One of the two gents I wrote to above did acknowledge that I had been badly let down and genuinely tried to help, but it seems he got nowhere too, and as this isn't even his area of responsibility, I can't blame him for that.

So in the end, I never got to deal with anyone other than the very individual who refused to help me in the first place, and I was told yesterday that I'd just have to wait in line for a replacement machine.

Defeated, I wrote the following reply to the customer service agent today, and CCed several senior managers and directors at Alienware and Dell:

Dear ********,

You win.

Go ahead and order a replacement machine, and let me know how I get the non-functioning machine returned. Due to the fact that my livelihood has been and will be seriously compromised by such an extended period without this machine (which, remember, a Dell-appointed engineer broke!), I simply cannot go on attempting to get fairer treatment, despite my (failed) efforts to have this matter considered professionally at a higher level.

Please note that if an Alienware 18 with dual NVIDIA 770m GPUs is unavailable (I gather this card has been phased out), I expect to receive one with at least dual 780m or 880m instead. I do not want the 860m, as it has less RAM and narrower bandwidth than the 770m, and provides inferior performance in the key applications I use. If I am being made to wait this long for the new machine, I also expect it to be a new factory build and NOT reconditioned in any way.

Do not bother with your extended warranty offer, I consider this offer to be bordering on an insult, given the huge amount of time and money that this warranty's failure to perform has so far cost me.

I have copied this email to senior members of Dell and Alienware staff, although given the fact that my attempt to raise awareness of the situation at a higher level seems to have failed utterly thus far, I doubt that any good will come of it.

I would however like to sincerely thank ********** of Alienware (CCed), who at least investigated my case, recognized that I had been badly let down, and attempted to assist me. Unfortunately, it seems, his efforts on my behalf were unsuccessful.

Otherwise, I consider that my treatment by your company, from the moment it broke my computer to me now being forced into accept this so-called "resolution" for the sake of expediency, has been nothing short of disgracefully unprofessional, with the sole exception of ********.

Professionalism, as I have said in previous correspondence regarding this matter, means apologizing for mistakes, fixing them PROMPTLY and satisfying your customer. None of this has happened here.

Update:

The senior guys at Alienware I've been in touch with obviously leaned on customer service following the email above, and a manager called Monday to say they'd have a replacement machine with me in 5-7 days. When I raised the issue of graphics cards, he tried to with the 860M model (despite what I wrote in the aforementioned email) and insisted that this was the best they could offer.

A few irate emails later, the senior manager in the supply division I've been in contact with said he was trying to solve this. That was yesterday, still waiting to find out if they're going to do the right thing and replace my machine with one that meets the spec of the one they broke!

The saga continues... painfully.

Finally... this painful episode is at an end.

After much pushing by both myself and some senior staff members at Alienware's corporate office, customer service finally agreed to replace the machine in a decent time period, and a new Alienware 18 arrived on Friday May 30. Great!

...But with one rather glaring problem. The sound board that carries the three audio jacks on the side of the machine fell into the machine the first time I tried to use headphones! I opened the machine, and all three of the screws that are meant to secure it to the motherboard were missing! Seriously!

Luckily I had some screws of the right type, so I screwed it in and it worked... partially. Only one channel from the center speaker jack and, nothing from the mic jack. So, I got in touch, and a replacement sound board and screws came today, which I've installed and is now FINALLY working fine.

So, it's over. In the end I was looked after very well by the senior people I reached out to, but the whole episode indicates that Dell has some serious issues with customer service at the lower levels that it urgently needs to work on, not to mention quality control issues at the factory and lack of product  training among its service contractors.

Sad, because otherwise I'm very impressed overall with the Alienware 18 as a product - being now so intimately familiar with it inside and out, I rate its build quality highly, and its performance is off-the-scale terrific. If you buy one, just pray nothing goes seriously wrong!