I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER DELL!!!!! Update on problems with my M17x.

Whats SO FUNNY is that thsi is my 3rd time canceling...

3rd times a charm, or is it that as soon as I called I said by federal law it will be illegal to charge me when I want to cancel after dell/alienware has screwed me over so many times.... And that if they even TRY to send me that laptop, they'd be hearing from my lawyer =)

OWNED

Im telling you man, Dell and Alienware by far are the worst companies. maybe 1 out of 10 people are actually satisfied... For what? An over priced machine. Seriously, It is. All your paying for is a 15 pound carrying special light machine. Which I will give it to them, Their lighting on there machiens are great, only because of there keyboard lighting. All your going to do is recieve it, find numerous problems with it, and dell shrub it off like they do all their other customers.

Sager is going to overrun them, Go look at the new 9850.. Better specs, and bigger screen (18.4 inch compared to Alienwares 17...)  ....... 400$ less.. And even better, You dont have to put up with the horrible service from india and malaysia or whatever country these foriegners are coming from. All American at Sager, And teh quality is FAR superior, Every person I talked to online that has a sager, has never had a problem and its still in great shape.

Wanna know the best part? the sager 9850 has lighting system now (not as much as AW's but still good ligthing)... AND. 2 MORE better parts.

It wont take 2 months... 14 days max... The customer support was so nice to me. Even called me back to say he forgot to thank me for choosing them and he threw in a free shirt. haha.

And the BEST PART. If you arnt satisfied AT ALL with ANYTHING with your sager system, You get a full refund, no questions asked, no "RESHIPPING RESTOCKING FEE" THAT ALIENWARE/DELL CHARGES YOU.. (which is 15% of a alienware machine priced from 2,800 to the max 4,500ish is well over 400+, why pay 400 to ship something back? That you never wanted in the first place because they are worthless and treat you like you should have never picked them in the first place).

Now.. for all that.. imagine how much money dell is racking in... Wow.. Thats all I have to say. Is wow.

So... pay 400+ dollars for an alienware lighting system, all those flaws, horrible service, constant mockery and abuse which youll end up paying for in the end.

Or go with the Sager 9850 and save 400+ dollars, and be treated like a REAL customer.

That choice is yours, but I'm pretty sure you know which one you want to choose...

I had planned on buying the new 9850, but I wasnt sure how long the order would take, but thanks to your insight I am now sold on the 9850. I will call customer service within the week and demand a refund. I am completely dis-satisfied with Dell/Alienware. What happened to the good days when alienware was known for how good their machines were? They must have been absorbed and assimilated into the ever growing competitive computer industry market, no long concerned with the customer but more so with the money.  I am deeply saddened that this is what has come to pass with alienware, but alas im a just an order number to them now.

Thats how dell stays up, If they actually posted REAL reviews of ALL customers.

There business would be rock bottom. If its one business the United States needs to be without, Its Dell.

I got an idea Michael Dell.

How about sense you outsource the customer service to people who dont care, Why dont you take your ENTIRE business over there and leave the United States alone, Were trying to come out of a depression, and with your company gone, It would be much easier as we can dedicate time to fixing the economy, instead of wasting money on your junk computers and having to spend money to OTHER countries for your horrible customer support. I hate you.

Just get your money back.  Its not to late yet.

I tried a week ago to post on the customer satisfaction page of Alienware.  You know reviews.  They sent me a email(Dell) and asked if they could solve the problem????  I just replied to there letter by saying that Dell had fixed the problem and that was why I was posting the problems I had on the customer reviews page for Alienware.  And told the man in India that sent me the email that I doubt Dell will post my negative review on the Alienware page because Dell does not want anything negative said.  How sad.  They at Dell even sensor the posts from customers. 

Who is BBB and AG? I just wanna get my money back. I dont even wanna get it fixed. SHould i just call customer service? I have until the 21st to request a refund.

Striker,

Seriously not joking although a little funny when thinking about it, got an out of office response to one of my emails sent to Dell / Alienware earlier this week after engineer / technician called to confirm the faults (again) with my M17X which am chasing full unconditional refund for.......when I opened the out of office reply at my desk, the first line actually read .......

Greetings From Dell, etc etc...........however it appeard to look and read for me as

Greetings From Hell !!!! my fault due to being rushed and doing several things at one time.....

I really had to turn my head to double check if it was me, my eyes or if it really was, as I had glanced and read quickly LOLOL made me smirk a little thinking woah this experiance really has been more than bad, I am actually put off buying anything pre-made to order without seeing it ever again in my life. Its going to be the good old shops again, back to good old try, test, touch something on a shelf or counter ensure what your getting built or ordered is fully working before you take it away. Far better, far safer, far less risk, far less headache, much more satisfaction and performance, far less cost, far less wasted time, far more time to enjoy ones money and enjoy life.

I've decided what I am doing next, as soon as the promised refund is back, should never have fallen for the hype with Alienware in the first place, but hey I am human followed a few links and look where it got me, its a bad bad world, lesson learnt, anyhow onto the new choice........ Its very easily going to be a true "All Powerfull" AW Killer (at least I will be able to claim that title), none of there current or immediate future desktops or laptops will be able to approach or come near to a fraction of the performance I am going for, at least for a good few years to come.

Alienware set out on a mission to grab customers just like me who due to time restraints wanted the hard work done for them, were willing to pay the premium, follow the brand, follow the hype, were even prepared to wait and be patient to get something that yes we knew was overpriced but could be called and thought of as "you cant get this everywhere, is only the best, ready to switch on and run material".........what an absolute failure with just one product only and it also being my first ever too!!?.........actually willing to spend a little more now, once the refund is back but no way with Dell / Alienware.

They have seriously underestimated people like me, gamers, top end heavy users that really need true power and reliability. They know this already, We like to put our money on something that really works, and more importantly yes we are enthusiasts, like to push boundaries but not with half working test bed prototypes, conflicting problematic machines, we like to be enthusiastic with fully fledged working products with the tweaks if any to push the known limits not tweaks to try to get the thing to work as advertised, if that, let alone get past the advertised hype. I think they missed a major OBVIOUS here. I have spent decent money on varying and countless software titles / addons, keyboards, large triple & quad monitor setups, gaming headphones, gaming mice etc to have the best of the best, sadly the M17X was not enough to join the club. I think most gamers and top end users are realising it and in my opinion should return something that is simply not what it was made out to be rather than waste time with it. Only after having all the problems I have had and airing them, I am now coming across so many real people like me always a little hungry for new tech that advise me to have stayed well away from Alienware, wish I had bumped into them earlier.

I have to admit I still like the external design of the M17X, credit due where deserved but its nothing wow in reality compared to some of the Coolermaster or Antec desktop cases out there, one can easily see where the design ideaology came from, who knows, one day in the future I might pick up a clean used fully loaded M17X if they ever get it working properly or I just might (dare he say it) go for a potential new future model if they ever get their act together from the shambles I have been through, but for now my money is going on a well deserved ultimate i7 Qd.Core 4.2ghz & possibly beyond, extreme dream "mean" machine that should be in the top 0.001% elite of the 3D Mark Vantage top scorers, not wishy washy dreams anymore. This Dell / Alienware business has been one of those lifes bad phase moments we all go through and tend never to go through ever again.

Freestylaruk

Hi fenrir responding to email sent to me,

I have today clarified my position with Dell / Alienware, wrote to all including the escalations team, tech support and varying individuals giving them 7 days for a full no nonsense refund as promised to me many weeks ago. If they dont meet the 7 days after nearly three months of back and forth time wasting, then they fully acknowledge my full loss and costs as well as the full refund via legal means. I bought my M17X via credit card, if you did the same, they advised me that as long as you can prove i.e. emails, letters, phonecalls that the machine you were sent was faulty from day one then as long as you are within the first year of purchase and within warranty period irregardless of 7, 14 or 21 days and in accordance with UK consumer law you are entitled to a full refund with no charges applicable what so ever. If the manufacturer has delayed you for whatever reason and you are at 21 days plus makes no difference. If it doesnt work as advertised and you can prove it (I have kept and confirmed every discussion over the phone under emails and ensured I sent minidump files and kept taking screenshots and other pics which have been forwarded) then you can ask for a full refund no questions asked.

I should have a full refund over the next few days, if not then Dell / Alienware will be paying me not only my purchase price, nearly £4k but also my lost days off work and costs that actually amount near enough to the amount paid for the unit in the first place if not more. Its upto them to fight it out, they will loose for sure, I also happen to work in claims and have a legal rep in the family, the longer it goes on, the more they will be responsible to pay out in the end. The ball is in their court. I have already ordered my new system from another today, hence in addition to my lost time, technically and legally they will also be responsible for the second unit, since I would not have made the second purchase elsewhere if the first had worked properly. The only thing working against us is the time it takes and effort to find resolve, where as Dell / Alienware are knowingly facing return of customer funds, having to accept faulty units back to HQ and the risk of further escalated costs if they are not careful, this is not the US, this is the UK.

I dont know what they are playing at but its a risk I wouldnt take If I was in business as they are, would have refunded the customer when he requested it in a fair and proper manner after a fair trial and error process, accept and focus on the issues and problems with the hardware rather than drag it out. I still cannot find anyone or see anyone online or know other users with a similar AW M17X system that are satisfied with the performance, slowly but surely all are beginning to have serious doubts. I am just one of those that has chosen to get out before the masses join in and do the same. Not a single overclocker is managing a stable overclock over 2.53Ghz and are running their machines with settings off here and on there and cant use the system as advertised such as power saving features since the GPU's have conflicts and the whole system has heat issues. Noted Bios has been revised to AO2 updated but from what I can test appears fan speeds have been tweaked to attempt a quick fix, this is the same formula carried out on past machines without any proper resolve. My M17X score on 3D Mark is around P6400-mid 7K pathetic......the new system I have ordered with similar hardware, cheaper and truly all powerfull has been rated to hit P60,000+  ten times the performance with a Core i7 Qaud extreme 975 CPU overclocked to 4.2Ghz and possibly beyond once tested and delivered.

I cant believe the overclockers out there still trying to tweak the M17X if they are true overclockers, some have even taken their Extreme Quad QX9300 out of their M17X's and tested on other platforms and managed to overclock the same CPU to 3.5Ghz with ease, when they put it back into the M17X, the M17X is not getting past the 2.53Ghz at most to 2.93Ghz but with freezes and blue screens or performance issues, what more proof do they need??? appears those still holding on are more in love with the looks and branding and willing to wait for some miracle cure where as technology is moving on, i7's are already in laptops, windows 7 is around the corner and I cant wait for Dell / Alienware to catch up and get their act together. They had, fairly, months to find a resolve with me, I am simple deep down.....I just need true performance not just looks, it earns me money.

Regards

Freestylaruk

An update 10/6/09.

Still working well with new replacement.  No problems with ANYTHING.  No overheating issues.  Games and apps running flawless.  My Oblivion game plays like a dream! 

I see most of my posts have been deleted giving advice on issues.

But still wouldn't buy a Dell ever again.

Hate to say this but I have had a problem.  While I was playing Oblivion last week the whole laptop froze.  Finally was able to restart and put in Alien re-spawn for a recovery.  Not good as this is my new replacement M17x.  Hope this doesn't happen again.  But I'm stuck now.

I recently just received my refund from Dell, there was a $394 re-stocking fee, which i feel is bogus, on account of how it is not my fault that the hard drive decided to burst into flames, also i was offered on multiple occasions by the customer service rep, to keep the laptop; he went as far as to offer me $400 to keep it and keep my mouth shut.  I am happy I got my money back, i just wished this whole fiasco could have been avoided.

 Dell took bk my system free of cost. Btw as far as i knw call centres r in costa rica and nt in India. Maybe they might be but its the xps team tht provides support to alienwares. and no guys im not offended ny the fact tht India has been listed for lack of proper tech support frm dell. After my ordeal im not surprised lol.

Dell has spoilt my experience. they had my system picked up yesterday only to tell me that the replacement would take 4-5 weeks.