My experience on trying to buy Alienware (long)

Okay I've first started this journey on purchasing an Alienware Aurora R8 when a promotion came up with 10% off code and $200 promo gift card. The system specs came out to i7-9700 (non k), AIO Liquid cooling/power supply & RTX 2070 Super (free upgrade). All came out to be a bit over $1,400 after the 10% code so I was ecstatic on soon owning my first Alienware after always wanting one as a kid. The price was great and the timing was perfect because my sister is starting university so I gave her my MacBook.

This order was placed on August 10th, 2019 and the estimated arrival was to be on August 23rd, 2019. But after the 20th rolled around and my shipment status did not change, I finally reached out to support and they told me there was a parts shortage and will assign a "special case" rep and "escalate" my order and that I should hear from my assigned rep in 1-3 days. I never got contacted by anyone other than a noreply e-mail 2 days later stating that the estimated delivery is delayed to September 25th - which I was fine with, until I was browsing the slickdeals listing where I initially came upon the promotion and saw many others who are experience the same delayed shipment. For those who don't know, slickdeals is not a 3rd party shopping portal, it's a community of people who post ongoing sales.

Now this is where it starts getting frustrating, while there are those who have had their shipment delayed, there were many who ordered after me claimed they received their computer on time. This is where I contacted Dell support again via e-mail and expressed my frustration and asked what exactly is holding up my order (at this point I still had full intentions of waiting however long). They told me it was the liquid cooling/power supply that is backordered with no actual ETA on when they are receiving inventory to fulfill my order. The support guy I talked to was really cool, I have nothing against him and I did not want to give him a hard time. He recommended that I talk to the sales chat to find a comparable product so that I can cancel my order and place a new one that's ready to ship. So I did, I talked to a sales rep who tries to sell me an Aurora R9 (don't remember CPU) with RTX 2070 (not super) for around $1,700 full ticket price. I've worked in sales before so I get it. But after this interaction I decided I was done with Dell. As much as I wanted an Alienware, I have never felt more disrespected and tossed around as I did for trying to purchase a $1,400+ hardware from what I'd consider a premium brand, so I canceled my order but with no hard feelings towards anyone specifically other than a bit of frustration on the experience.

I was still in need of a new PC and so I decided to go the HP Omen. I was in the process of purchasing and working out prices with a sales rep and came up with a comparable specs i7-8700k, RTX 2080 for a little more than what I would have spent on the Aurora R8. Before I solidify the purchase I had to run to work for a important meeting with a client. It was during this time that Dell customer care called me which I ignored, then they send an e-mail afterwards with these exact words:

"Our aim is to provide an experience you could cherish and when we fall short of expectation, we would like to do something to make you feel better. For all the delay and inconvenience caused, I will be pleased to offer you 5% credit on your next purchase."

Now I was not expecting any sort of compensation for that recent experience. I've also worked customer care positions before so I understand that these things are out of their hands. But I was pleasantly surprised and my heart was easily swayed because after all, I really want an Alienware. I swiftly made the re-ordered with Dell after I got home. The listing I originally ordered no longer had the free RTX 2070 Super upgrade so I had to settle for i7-9700 (non K), RTX 2070 (no super), same power supply but this time with the killer wifi chip. This came out to be $1,639.24 after the Labor day sale and also came with $200 gift card, so I figured along with the 5%, I'd only be paying almost $100 more for a slight downgrade. I also decided to add a $300 monitor instead of purchasing a comparable LG monitor for on sale for $225 because decided I'll just order all that I need with Dell since they were nice enough to give me a 5% to retain me as a happy customer. All in all, this brought my total cost to $1909.23. So I contacted the Customer Care rep who reached out with the offer after Labor day. I get a call from Customer Care that I missed and later called them back. Talk to this kind lady and updated her with the details. She comes back and tells me that they're willing to offer me $75 credit towards my purchase. She was told by the finance mangers the 5% is only applicable towards the computer cost, excludes the monitor. This is where I give a looong sigh and told her fine because I was at work. I did ask if this is going to be delayed which I assumed so because it had the liquid cooling/power supply, she said that the order is in the "final stages of production" scheduled for the approximated delivery of 9/6 - 9/11 and that she will assign a "special case" rep, escalate my order and also sign my e-mail up for shipment notification (which is already done by default so I have no idea why they keep mentioning this). But we all know those are just terms to throw around to reassure the usual customers.

Here's the thing, the e-mail states 5% on my next purchase. I did not expect nor fish for this offer and I was already moving on from the idea of owning an Alienware. I can see the grey area of not including the monitor price since my original order did not include one. But 5% of $1,638.24 is $81.91. I made the goodwill of actually spending more on this order for a slight downgrade despite my recent experience out of respect and understanding for the brand and Dell's employees. This 5% offer was not honored and this is what I mean when I say that I feel disrespected and tossed around as a customer of Dell. This happens again and again and here I'm sitting feeling like a total fool while strongly reconsidering my decision. So now I'll ask, will you honor the 5% credit offer on my total purchase?