Does My Alienware M17X R4 Have Unique Features?

Question

Hi, so I'm having problems with getting some customer support with my Alienware M17X R4 and have some queries about the specs of mine. When the system arrived, the left speaker grill didn't light up and the right-side of the keyboard made a squeaking sound whenever several of the keys were pushed; a technician came round and repaired my system with all the subtlety of Dr. Hannibal Lector after he'd drunk a case of Red Bull by pulling away at the system to replace the palm-rest and keyboard before plugging the monitor into the wrong port, misplacing half of the screws on my carpet before putting them in the wrong holes and then causing the screen resolution to mess up, the graphics drivers to revert and having to call technical support for help, although he did help me add some extra RAM underneath the keyboard. Upon leaving I later realised the screen wasn't attached properly, the right side of the keyboard was raised and the left mouse-button was making a clicking sound with the touchpad itself dipping on the left and a second technician was sent out with more parts. The palm-rest again had a fault where the left speaker grill didn't light up, and the etching under the keyboard isn't properly done; the technician was very innovative by taking the touch-pad from the new palmrest and putting it in the old one, the monitor was re-attached but is raised slightly on the right. The touchpad is dipping at the top-end and can actually be pushed down against the motherboard beneath it with a very gentle force and has started giving me static shocks, (I should point out I'm an Epileptic with several forms of non-photosentive seizures which could cause Sudden Death Syndrome). I've been asking Dell Support for a month to resolve this but they're now refusing to honour the 1 year NBD support on this for either a repair or replacement, (I'm now demanding a replacement so I can swap the HDD's over then return the faulty unit for one that doesn't give me static shocks), I've been asked to re-install the drivers and firmware for my Motherboard to see if this will resolve the concept of electrical discharge through the touchpad, (I studied ICT and Computing at college and must've missed the class on this). I'm being told that the system is working as designed by the keyboard not lighting up properly, the screen not closing fully and the touchpad giving me static shocks and I was wondering if anyone else had the features that make it hard to see the keyboard fully in a dark light, the monitor closing more on the right than on the left and the features that could possible result in possible death or your house burning down, as I don't remember these being listed on my spec sheet. I was quick enough to provide screenshots and even a video to showcase the faults with my system before being fobbed off with 'our system is working fine and lights up the same as yours', but have still not received pictures of their system that I requested over 2 weeks ago so I can be assured of this myself. As you may be able to understand this is now causing me a great deal of stress which due to my health concerns isn't exactly help for me, the person I've been trying to resolve this with has even stated that Dell cares about my health with their products but this doesn't seem to be the case; I've since removed the battery and HDD's and am keeping them apart from the main system itself to minimise any risk of fire and am now refusing to use the system under these conditions as I've been in hospital before as a result of seizures being wired up for everything but cable and it's not exactly top of the list of my days out.

DELL-Chris M · Answer

Scott Bull,

I think a system exchange is warrented. Contact the Alienware Team at this email address:
AWCC-Resolution_experts@Dell.com

Provide the following information in the email -
Name:
Shipping Address:
Phone:
Best Time To Reach You:
System Model: M17x-R4
Service Tag number:
Issue Description:
Troubleshooting done:
Number of onsite visits:
What is still broken:
Request: Like for Like System Exchange

Scott Bull · Answer

Many thanks for the swift response and I want to personally thank you for treating me with respect and as a customer rather than with contempt and as a wallet. I added 2x4gb under the keyboard, totalling 14gb; would it be possible to have the replacement sent with this as standard so I don't need to ask for a technician to assist me with this, (plus with the issue of static discharge I don't think it'd be safe to open the old system just to remove the RAM costing a few quid). Finally, as a goodwill gesture would it be possible to have the RAM upgraded from the total 14gb to 16gb, which wouldn't cost that much considering the cost of the entire rig, (the system could be shipped without a HDD as I'd be installing my existing HDD's), such a goodwill gesture would make the whole past month nothing but a bad memory. Once again, thank you for the help and also the respect; I'll be contacting the people mentioned tomorrow.

DELL-Chris M · Answer

I doubt it. The system exchange is normally like for like. But you should ask them...

Scott Bull · Answer

Thanks; I'll ask that a technician be dispatched to me if they can't pre-fit the upgrades as I was nervous enough removing the HDD's from the faulty unit, (I wore a discharge band and gloves and borrowed a non-metal screwdriver to ensure my safety), though I wouldn't want anyone else to be given a shock by the hardware either, (the unit has had a full drain and not been plugged in).

I'll reply here if I have any further issues though I'm hoping this can finally be resolved.

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