Hi all,

 

I hope this forum might get me some clearer answers than I got from Dell's technical support.

On 15th of April 2010 I bought a Dell M17xR2 with the following setup:

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1  ALIENWARE M17X MLK : BASE SPACE BLACK
1  PROCESSOR : INTEL CORE I7 PROCESSOR 620M
1  DISPLAY : 17IN WIDEUXGA 1920 X 1200 - BE
1  SHIP ACCESSORY : NORWEGIAN DOCS
1  RESOURCE DVD : ALIENWARE M17X MLK
1  MEMORY : 6144MB (1X2048 + 1X4096) 1333MH
1  HARD DRIVE : 256GB SOLID STATE HARD DRIV
1  OPTICAL DRIVE : 8X DVD+/-RW DRIVE
1  POWER CORD : EURO 250V
1  POWER SUPPLY : ALIENWARE 240W AC ADAPTER
1  BATTERY : PRIMARY 9-CELL 85W/HR LI-ION
1  GRAPHICS : DUAL 1GB ATI GDDR3 MOBILITY R
1  GAMING SOFTWARE : STEAM GAMING FORUM AND
1  WIRELESS : DELL WIRELESS 1520 (802.11N)
1  WIRELESS : EUROPE DELL BLUETOOTH 370 CAR
1  KEYBOARD : INTERNAL NORWEGIAN QWERTY KEY
1  OPERATING SYSTEM : NORWEGIAN GENUINE WIN
1  AVATAR : ALIENWARE LOGO
1  ANTIVIRUS : MCAFEE SECURITY CENTRE 10(30
1  TIMEZONE : (GMT + 01.00) VIENNA, AMSTERD
1  NAME PLATE ENGRAVING - GENERIC
1  STANDARD SERVICE - 1 YEAR OF COVERAGE IN
1  NO WARRANTY UPGRADE
1  NO ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT
1  ALIENWARE M17X MLK ORDER - NORWAY
1  ENVIRONMENTAL
1  XPS- SYSTEM ONLY

 

System was delivered a bit late, but still I have no problem accepting that. (about 6 weeks)

Shortly after I recieved the system the computer started to freeze about 1/3rd of the times I disconnected the power cable.
I called up Dell in late June, talked to a friendly guy and the issue was solved by a BIOS and GFX driver update.
Though after about a month the problems came back. I tried to do the same thing as before, Updated the BIOS and GFX driver, only problem was that now my computer also started freezing randomly with the power connected. And both the BIOS update and the GFX update forced my computer into a freeze and I had to hard reset it.
I called up Dell, and explained the issue. They told me to do a Diagnostics from the resource DVD, I tried this 2times. First one just shut down the PC after about 15minutes, the next one I could not chose HW diagnostics it just started running RAM diagnostics automatically.
I called Dell back and the technician told me that they would replace my MOBO and GFX card on Friday 23rd of July (Next day service deal)
Friday came and I heard nothing, this morning (Monday 26th) a technician called me up, and said that the replacement parts had not arrived, and that he could not give me an ETA for those parts.
I called up Dell, and asked when these parts would be delivered, they could not give me an ETA either.

I'm running my own company, and much of my work is based around my Laptop. At the moment I can not use my computer for much else than surfing, as I am afraid that the computer will freeze and I will have to redo all work cause of the hard reset.
This is my 5th Dell laptop over 10years, I've always loved Dell and I have reccomended Dell to many friends and customers.
One of the best things being the "Next day service deal" But as this doesnt work for my computer, and Dell can't give me an ETA or tell me about my rights for this service issue, I have a major problem as I really need my computer.
This will for me mean that I will have to buy an new laptop within a few days, so that I'm able to do my job and make a living...

My question to the guys here is:

Any similar experience that can give me a pointer of how long the ETA for the replacement parts will be?
What rights have I as a customer when Dell does not live up to their service agreement?
If it comes down to a long wait (which I wont accept) does it help for instance to contact the "Market rights council" to get a refund or to speed up things?

 

Looking forward to your answers, I'm really desperate for a solution ASAP and when reading about other M17x users waiting many months for solutions I get a bit scared.