Hi Alienware / Dell,

I have an existing open ticket to you guys regarding my Alienware 17.

The laptop is still within warranty. Last December, the laptop just "died" while I was streaming. I called your support and was advised that there is someone who would go to my place and fix it. The technician told me that he replaced the motherboard. The issue was fixed (case number: 905529116).

I wasn't personally there when he was fixing the issue and when I came home, I saw that my laptop now has power, but there was flickering on the screen. I was advised by the technician to call your contact center again to report the issue again. And so I did, I even sent them a video of the flickering of the screen in which I was advised that a technician would then go to my place and fix it again (case number: 905930783).

The second technician went to my house and said that he will need to replace my screen. I actually waited for him to finish this time (have to file a holiday from work) to see the issue would be fixed, unfortunately, he told me that the replacement LCD that he brought with him was cracked (?!?!?). He also advised me that he will need to update my BIOS, to which I advised him that I don't upgrade the BIOS unless necessary, he said that that is the SOP for all repairs, which I obliged (regrettably). After which I noticed that there was a significant slow down in logging in to Windows (boot from POST until login screen is unchanged). It normally loads the desktop and everything in less than 5 secs., but after the BIOS updated, it now takes at least 1 minute to load the whole desktop and normally just sits on a black background with the loading cursor. The technician said that he will come back with a new replacement LCD and he will make sure that it would be working then.

The first technician that first changed my motherboard, then called me asking if I'm available last Thursday (23rd Jan.) and I said yes. Since I don't want to file a second vacation just for this, and there is no one in the house to assist him, I asked my boss if he can come to the office to fix the laptop, good thing he agreed. I then brought my laptop to the office on the Friday (24th Jan.) and met him there. He then went on and replaced the LCD and he even told me that he will replace the LCD cable as well to be sure. What happened next was absolutely shocking, the issue was worse. It was now not just a flicker on the screen in Windows but from the POST screen!!!! Including the Alienware logo and everything. I was really upset (angry even) at the time since instead of at least using my laptop with the previous flicker, it was unusable. I was supposed to go to my girlfriend's house so we can play (main reason I bought the laptop). He then told me that he now thinks that it is the video card, which needs to be replaced. I thought, first, the motherboard, then LCD, now the video card? And this all started with a power issue? He said that the earliest would be Monday (today).

He then called me yesterday saying that the case was assigned to him again and is asking for my availability, I said that he can go to the house since my mom is there to assist him. He then called me in the office saying that he again replaced the motherboard, LCD cable, and video card. He then told me that there is still a flicker on the screen (which he said was more "manageable" now), then I thought "that's it?". He said that he called VPS or something and was advised to advise me to re-install Windows. Said that he already done everything and the issue is still there. I understand where is coming from but coming from an IT background and career, a simple power issue became this. I'm writing this right now after I got home, when I first turned on the laptop, I noticed straight up that the lights were not the same, I'm thinking that it might be because of the motherboard, then it won't boot to Windows, just stuck in the loading screen, I then launched startup repair, which made me do a system restore, then, thankfully, my computer booted. Then upon login, the drivers were not re-installed and was on the on-board graphics. The another restart for the video card.

The whole experience has really been an inconvenience for me. This has been going on for almost a month now with no resolution but for me to re-install my OS? It's really frustrating that I don't have any other the laptop that I can use (using my mom's computer for this post because of the drivers installing). This is really not good service. There are times when I ask the technician what might the problem be and they seem to be unaware, meaning they are not really familiar with an Alienware. I'm really close in posting on all forums my experience with your product. I mean I bought this because of the brand and (supposedly) quality, but just a little over a year owned and all of this happens? Unacceptable. I had a desktop running for more than 5 years with no issues, just upgrades and all of them was built from scratch. I really can't express what I'm feeling right now but I feel that I was conned in buying an expensive product with sub-par performance. Right now, I really want to throw all the bad words that I can think of. This is really not good product nor support.

I want to know what you guys will do about this as this is really not a good customer experience on my part. I'll try to squeeze the re-install within the week after I backup my files and will let you know, but this needs to be addressed ASAP.