How do I get Alienware support to do their job?

Hi, Looking for some advice. I'm frustrated by the slowness and incompetence of Alienware support. I spent a lot of money on a non-working product and I am frustrated that it is taking so long to get the issue resolved. I need help finding someone who can actually solve this issue.

I purchased a Alienware 15R3 (7820k-1080) at the end of December. It blue-screened the first time I opened the lid. It continues to blue-screen all day long. I've reinstalled Windows 10 three times and no changes. Updated all drivers/BIOS/software. I've opened minidumps in Windbg and its always something different that causes the BSOD. All signs point to hardware issues not drivers or software.

I opened a support case with Dell on 2 JAN. They told me that a technician would come to replace the motherboard, RAM, and SSD. Every day, they said it would be tomorrow. This went on for two weeks. They finally admitted that the parts were unavailable so I asked for a complete replacement.

Ten days ago, I received an email stating "As discussed over the phone, we have reviewed and approved your replacement computer request as: [New System Exchange]". I never spoke to anyone on the phone. The email said to look on my Order Status page and it would have detail about the replacement. There is nothing on that page but my original December order. I've called the Alienware support number for an update. They told me that they can't help me and only to use email.

Now see two canceled exchanges on the Support Request Details page. I called and was told that the support personnel didn’t follow the exchange process correctly so the exchanges were canceled? You’ve got to be kidding me!!! Dell doesn’t train their staff to follow their own processes so I get screwed!!! He told me that I need to wait another 5 to 7 days for the next update. That is total BS!

If you read this far, then thank you. I’m looking for advice on how to actually get my issue fixed. How do I get this exchange completed? Is there someone who can actually give me the real truth on what is happening?

v/r,
Trey

 

which country are you in?
what support do you have? These never happens with pro support.
you MUST call them, they not always respond too well in email.
Alternatively , you can tweet Frank Azor.

Frank Azor

 

Pallab,

Thanks for the reply.

1) I live in the US.
2) I have "1 Year Hardware Service with Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis".
I purchased directly from Dell.

I have been doing both (calling and email) every 48 hrs. I'm attempting to be reasonable but firm with them on the phone. I finally got them to send the exchange but they sent the wrong model. I purchased the 120Hz/400-nits display. They sent the laptop with the 60Hz/300-nits display. Now they are telling me that I don't have the 120Hz display and the engineering team says I am wrong.

Thank you for your patience during the process, we have received a response from our engineering team who after comparing the order details between the 2 orders find out they have both the same configuration, they are GSYNC 60 HZ, which means there is no error on the configuration, you can check this out by going to our website and comparing both service tags.

previous svctag: xxxxxxx
HPJGK LCD Panel LCD, 15.6 FHD,AG,AUO 400 nits.

new svctag: xxxxxxx
HPJGK LCD Panel LCD, 15.6 FHD,AG,AUO 400 nits.
​

I'm really frustrated that the "engineering team" is so clueless that they don't even know that the 400-nits display IS the 120Hz one.

So almost two months of calling, I still haven't made much progress toward getting a working laptop nor do I have confidence that it will ever get resolved. I've been in the IT business for 16 yrs. I've spent many millions on IT equipment over those years. Never have I received such a poor level of support.

 

So they claim that they have sent you: HPJGK LCD Panel LCD, 15.6 FHD,AG,AUO 400 nits
This is quite good actually:
The one that they sent you is 60hz/300 nits so it must have a different part number. So you can throw it straight in their face.
Just dont email the same person. Since you have their official statement of being sent a 400 nits display instead of the 300 they actually did, it becomes much easier to deal with.

 

Did they sent u a 60hz IPS display?

 

Yes. Their records say that the one they sent is HPJGK which is the 120Hz display but the one I received contains a 60Hz display. They even validated that it would not support 120Hz even when forced. The original does 120Hz without problem.

 

Hello tr3y, please send me your Service Tag via Private Message. I'll look into your complaint.

 

Ok. Will do.

 

Looking up the service tag will help you in pin pointing exact hardware that was shipped to you excluding SSD,RAM and HDD, since Dell changes them according to Inventory shortage.

 

also please have a look into INTEL ME SA0086 issue, there is no firmware update for alienware 15 r2 / 17 r3 models, we are still stuck with a 2 year old ME firmware 11.0 instead of 11.8 or newer. please inform to ur team about this, why only 15 r3 got newer firmware update though package installer, and not for us.. our BIOS is also kinda broken..

 

@VICKYGAMEBOY Unless you use FWUpdLcl64.exe -f FW.bin -forcereset MEFW will cause one or more issues.

 

That has already been escalated. We're still working with Intel and Microsoft to make sure we can provide our customers with a proper BIOS update.

 

thanks for the input, but any ETA.. so that we can prepare for systems for new ME firmware / BIOS.. fresh install OS as well..

 

No ETA given by engineering yet. We're still testing it out. We launched a BIOS last week, but it hasn't been behaving the way we wanted it to behave. So we're back into testing phase.

 

Cool we have Aliens on board