M17x R2 broken by a Service Technician

Another Update

Last Wednesday I used web-chat to report the issues I posted on the 17th...

The technician told me that since replacing parts did not fix anything an OS re-install was needed, since W8.1 just became available (through TechNet) I decided to go ahead and do a clean install, also updated video driver to 13.10 BETA and re-installed games. After some testing, everything seems to be the same, heating up after a few minutes (15-20 and fans are full blast) not cooling down after playing. If not playing, random fan speed up for 1-2 seconds and then spin down... then again 30 sec later, and also something that happened before but very rarely has now become very common. My WiFi will connect but no traffic is going in or out of the laptop, I need to disable the adapter in windows, re-enable it, disconnect and reconnect to my router in order to be able to access the internet.

So I in the chat session, the technician told me he would be scaling up my issue to the "specialized department" and that they will call me in 24-48 hours.

Yesterday, I got a call, but not from the specialized guys, but from quality control, doing a follow up and asking me if everything was fixed already. I told them no, and explained my last interaction via chat. The tech that called me took 15 minutes looking up all the information regarding my case, and told me that my current situation did not comply with internal procedures and the escalation request was probably rejected because of this, and he could proceed and schedule a fifth visit to exchange MB and Fans.

I was very concerned about this, and the tech explained that he could escalate the issue again, but it would be rejected again, and then I would have to start a reclamation (or something like that) process in order to get the ball rolling again.

So I complied with what he said, but made sure he created the service request under the same case number I already have, and almost immediately got a phone call from the local logistics person stating that the parts would arrive in 1 or 2 days (At most) and the technician would call me immediately after to schedule the visit.

Based on my past experiences I requested the last tech who worked on my system the last two times, and they told me he was not available, and that the guy that broke the connector of the fan would be the one assigned. I immediately said no, and stated that I would prefer to wait until the trusted tech was available and that I would not let the other guy touch my system again. (last time he left me with a non-working laptop for a whole week, and scratched the bottom cover, and probably was responsible for my keyboard failing the week after).

So the Service call was created and I proceeded to dell's website to verify, only to find that they requested the WRONG Motherboard AGAIN... (at this point really I just gave up)

So I started another chat session, obviously very angry, and told the technician about the case, and what had happened since last Wednesday...

He told me that my case was passed on to his supervisor who is compiling a file with all the information and it WILL be escalated, and now I'm waiting until Monday for a call-back... still the service call for the parts exchange (with the wrong MB part number) is still active on the website...

I will let you know if they call me on Monday or before.

Hi again

Still no call regarding the escalation issue.

Local technician company called me yesterday to tell me no parts are available and I will have to wait for the service until they get them.

Started a chat with support today, and they told me AGAIN that before the escalation can proceed, they need to change almost everything they already have changed twice already. And since parts are not available locally in Mexico, will have to wait ANOTHER WEEK to see if they can get the parts.

This is getting ridiculous

On another note, techs coming out with faulty replacements seem to be happening quite often now, over the last two weeks I've had a tech comeout to replace a motherboard on a M17xR2 four times. The first one did not boot, the second one had no light, as did the third, the fourth one was installed last Friday but I think thats faulty also as the GPU fans spin at full power no matter what I do or if I change the GPU

Two weeks ago they Dell tech's had to replace a GTX675M in one of my M17xR4 three times before getting one that worked.

And the best so far - 8 months ago I had a Dell tech change both the GPU's on a M18xR2 5 times within 10 days - THATS TEN GPU'S IN TOTAL - every single one was faulty straight from the box, in the end it was escalated and they replaced the GPU's with GTX680M's.

Whoever Dell get to refurbish their parts is a joke

Try taking your GPU's out of crossfire and just use one, see if the texturing is still occouring when using one GPU.

SKYRIM Vs Elderscrolls is well know and well documented as having issues with 5870 crossfire, I'm just wondering if this could be related.

I sold a M17xR2 to a customer about 6 months ago who was having the exact same problems as you with texturing within skyrim while in crossfire, on a single card it worked fine but crossfire was terrible, the fix ended up being something complete unexpected, using the Dell recommended ATI GPU drivers instead of drivers from the AMD/ATI website - Which would have to be the first time a driver from Dell has outperformed a AMD/ATI driver, I was amazed to say the least - First time for everything I guess

Also, have you turned off vertical sync in the game options, that sometime play havoc with the GPU's

On another note, techs coming out with faulty replacements seem to be happening quite often now, over the last two weeks I've had a tech comeout to replace a motherboard on a M17xR2 four times. The first one did not boot, the second one had no light, as did the third, the fourth one was installed last Friday but I think thats faulty also as the GPU fans spin at full power no matter what I do or if I change the GPU       Two weeks ago they Dell tech's had to replace a GTX675M in one of my M17xR4 three times before getting one that worked.       And the best so far - 8 months ago I had a Dell tech change both the GPU's on a M18xR2 5 times within 10 days - THATS TEN GPU'S IN TOTAL - every single one was faulty straight from the box, in the end it was escalated and they replaced the GPU's with GTX680M's.   Whoever Dell get to refurbish their parts is a joke

Andrew thanks for your insight... I'm getting close to your record of replacements... the last technician I spoke to today says that they have to replace almost everything AGAIN, to see if that fixes my issues, now, the fans come on and off to full speed almost every 30 seconds, my WiFi card connects to my network but will not send or receive any traffic, tried with several routers, carriers and even tried it at work and with my iPhone... I don't know if it is another tech mistake, or the antennas disconnected, the Mobo, or the Wifi card itself is fried... 

I really do not want to make it worse, so I will not touch it, mainly because I don't want them to eventually tell me it was my fault, and will wait (as patiently as I can) another week for the parts to be available... even though the technician I spoke to last week told me the parts were being expedited and should be available locally no later than two days... its now gonna be TWO WEEKS...

Local Dell support is a joke, again I checked the online order for parts and they SCREWED UP AGAIN!!!! ordering R1 Mobo and heat sink... even when I screamed at the technician to double check it. I can't believe I as a customer, have to baby sit the techs that are supposed to bring me solutions, not more problems.

I've been a loyal customer for a while, both personally and at work, but I'm seriously not gonna buy, recommend or consider any Dell product in the future until they step up with their customer service and satisfaction rates, and prove their support technicians can do something else than just throw faulty refubrished replacement parts at any problem.

Try taking your GPU's out of crossfire and just use one, see if the texturing is still occouring when using one GPU.       SKYRIM Vs Elderscrolls is well know and well documented as having issues with 5870 crossfire, I'm just wondering if this could be related.   I sold a M17xR2 to a customer about 6 months ago who was having the exact same problems as you with texturing within skyrim while in crossfire, on a single card it worked fine but crossfire was terrible, the fix ended up being something complete unexpected, using the Dell recommended ATI GPU drivers instead of drivers from the AMD/ATI website - Which would have to be the first time a driver from Dell has outperformed a AMD/ATI driver, I was amazed to say the least - First time for everything I guess       Also, have you turned off vertical sync in the game options, that sometime play havoc with the GPU's

I also had several issues with Skyrim, my problem is with any game, once I've been playing for 15 to 20 minutes, texture corruption begins, and increases until you cannot see anything in-game and have to Alt-Tab out, and close it from windows.

This didn't happen a year ago, so changes on the games settings is not an issue...

Hi all (who ever still reads this thread)

I finally got a call from the escalations department engineer, about two weeks ago. 

He is offering me to keep exchanging parts, a cash refund, or a replacement system.

Since Dell no longer sells the 18 or 17 models in Latin America, I got offered the cheapest new Alienware 14 model, with no dual graphics cards, no dual hard drives, small screen and not even a Blu-Ray reader, like my system has.

I questioned the engineer about it, and he offered another system for exchange, an XPS 15, with worse specs.

So the only real option available to me is to ask for a refund...

Probably wont receive enough cash to buy another Alienware... and since the models I would be interested in are not available locally will have to look at other brands after more than 10 years of being a Dell customer... sad, but the reps I talked with don't give a <ADMIN NOTE: Profane word removed per TOU>, they just want to get the call or chat over with and the issue closed.

To Dani L and Milena M who provided assistance while trying to figure this issue out thank you very much again, your assistance and suggestions were very useful, and hope you get some recognition about it.