What the hell Dell

I have a problem with my macro key leds ( they are dim ) so I contact Alienware/Dell and the adviser sets up a support ticket to Unisys. So the technician calls me today and as I've spent over £4000 on my M18X-R2 I asked him some questions:

1. Have you ever worked on an Alienware laptop specifically my model?
2. Are you insured?

When I asked him he didn't answer the question and said " I have 5 years certified in fixing computers " I felt that answer was not acceptable for him to work on my premium gaming laptop. After I asked him he said " Do you want me to fix your laptop or what " in a negative response. After that I said that I wanted to cancel the home visit, I was not happy with the way he was with me. Also I am very picky with people touching my pride and joy.

So I get back to Alienware/Dell and tell him what happened so he said that he will call me later to sort of another technician with the specific experience. Just now he calls me and asks me to email him proof of purchase where I bought my laptop. What the hell, I've had my laptop fixed by them before and I've also got warranty until 2017 so that surly is enough proof. I'm not happy with this and I feel that why should I need to prove where I bought my laptop from when my service tag and express number is registered with Dell. They wouldn't allow the user to purchase extended warranty if the laptop wasn't purchased from Dell.

 

I had the same issue. They sent a woman our who had never worked on an 18 before. She spent a half hour trying to find videos on how to open it up, another 20 minutes trying to call for help and then got out her screwdriver. She went to try to pry it open and that's when I stopped her and said I did not want her working on my computer. She ended up reporting that I refused service so Dell tried to get out of fixing my 18.

Finally the following week they sent someone out who was decent. A couple months later I needed home service again and they tried to send the same woman as before who did not know how to work on the 18. Luckily, I had a rep who arranged for someone else. It is pathetic, but so are many things related to Dell/Alienware at this time.

 

Now they are saying my warranty is invalid because the system specs have changed only the cpu and extra gfx which was installed by myself with utmost careful and experience in fixing and upgrading system. I am very careful when I open my laptop and I know that I haven't broken anything but this dell rep is saying that as I've upgraded my own system I have invalidated the warranty.

 

Wow what's going on with Dell they use to be great with people upgrading their own systems and when time needs warranty the parts that haven't been changed. But now " As you have taken apart your laptop to install the new parts you must have broken the other parts therefore your not covered "

 

On a system that is advertised as upgradeable. Pathetic. I keep saying it and the lack of interest on the part of ALMOST everyone proves the point. These companies and others that do this get away with it because no one ever pursues anything that would have them punished for doing these things. In the end, when they need to close down Alienware completely because they lost everyone, they will get what they deserve. Unfortunately they still won't understand why.

 

Just finished with the rep on chat and now I am eligible for repair under warranty after giving him a photo of my bios home screen and telling him that upgrading the cpu and one gfx card does not cause macro key led problems. Omg how bloody dumb do they think I am. Wanna read the transcript lol

Dell Rep o you have a proof of purchase ?

Me: I've never been asked because I have bought extended warranty from you plus I've had a tech fix my laptop the last time so it'll be on your system

Dell: Just a moment.

Me: My laptop was bought from the Dell Outlet

Dell: Ok, but do you have any paper which can prove it ?

Me: I can sign into Dell and it'll tell me my config and what laptop I have and how long warranty I have left. That must be proof if not then I'll get legal advice and take Dell to court for refusing to fix my laptop under warranty

I do not need to prove where I purchased my laptop from because I'm the owner of the laptop and my name is connected to the service tag

Dell: You have changed original configuration back in 2014.

You changed the processor and also the graphic card on your system.

We do not support changed configuration.

Me: Yes but that does not invalidate the warranty

Dell: Yes it does.

 

Cont .....


Me: The problem is with the keyboard not the cpu or gfx

Dell: The warranty is valid only to original bought system configuration.

Dell: The keyboard could be damaged by processor and graphic card replacement.

Dell: Any of your hardware could be damaged by this action.

Me: The keyboard was replaced by one of your tech's so please don't tell me that my laptop warranty is not valid

Dell: When it was done ?

Me: I know that the cpu and one of the graphics cards is not part of the warranty but the rest of the laptop is

Dell: When the repair was done ?

Me: You should have that information

Dell: I have it, just tell mi the date.

Me: It's not up to the customer to prove when the repair was done

Me: I don't remember maybe last year

Dell: I am sorry, but it was not done for you.

Dell: there is different name

Me: What do you mean different name?

Dell: There was one visit last year with different name, there was no keyboard replacement on your system done.

Me: I've had this laptop since 2013

Me: The technician replaced the keyboard I remember that

Dell: Yes I see , when it was bought, but it was not bought by you.

Dell: I cannot see this information at our database.

Me: I can also give you the home address

Dell: ok, please send me your address, so I can compare it.

Me: *********************************************************

Me: My Name

Dell: I am sorry, but it doesn`t match with original order name and address, listed in our database.

Dell: OK I found the service for the keyboard.

Dell: This service was done before you changed the configuration.

Me: Right also my laptop can be upgraded by the customer without affecting the warranty but the parts that was upgraded won't be warranted. I was told that

Me: The rest of the parts are warranted

Dell: But not the main hardware as processor and graphic card.

Dell: Who told you this ?

Me: I know that the cpu and one graphics card is not included but the rest are

Me: I've never had this problem before and I'm not a stupid inexperienced pc user. I've built and fixed computers so I know what I'm doing

Dell: ok but how do you prove that you didn`t damage other hardware by this action ?

Dell: the keyboard in this case.

Me: I read the dell's manual how to upgrade the m18x r2

Me: I didn't pay £500 extra for nothing for warranty and now I cannot use it

Dell: Just a moment I need consult your issue with superior.

Me: I'm not asking for dell to fix the bloody cpu or one gfx card am I

Me: The leds on the macro keys are dim which I cannot damage

Me: If I cannot use my warranty then I want my £500 back then

Me: Someone on a forum posted this

Solved , i called AW tech support told them i have installed the 3920xm and the temps are extremely high which they was pushing 95 degrees on the single pipe heatsink and they are sending a tech out with a new 3 pipe heatsink for me for free !!

Me: So that customer also upgraded their cpu and alienware sent out a tech which shows that their warranty was not invalid

Me: This problem with my macro keys leds are a common problem on the m18x r2 so I couldn't have caused any damage when I was upgrading

Dell: Just a moment I am still consulting your issue.

Dell: Do you have your system with you ?

Dell: Can you send me a photo of your keyboard problem ?

Dell: OK, no problem I found it.

Dell: Can you send me a photo from your first BIOS MAIN windows ?

Me: I sent photos to one of your tech team at ************** showing the dim macro keys

Dell: To get into the windows , please press more times F2 key after you press the power button.

Me: May I ask why do you need a photo of the bios page?

Me: My laptop just needs a macro keys replacement nothing wrong with the laptop apart from that

Dell: yes , we need to confirm the system configuration.

Me: The cpu and one of the graphics cards have been installed as you already know

Me: That's all that's been upgraded

Dell: Can you send me a first BIOS Main window, please ?

 

Keep it up Dell. Digging your own grave and shoveling the dirt back in on yourself at the same time. At least we know they can multitask. Glad you got them to finally honor it though.

 

Cont .......


Dell: Ok your other hardware can be covered by the service.

Dell: I can see that you have changed also the hard drive.

Dell: What else did you change on your system ?

Me: I know that my cpu is and the secondary graphics card is not but the rest are

Me: The hard drive is easy to change just remove the back plate and no need to disassemble simple click and install

Dell: ok so you just add the 3 rd hard drive into the system.

Me: Yes

Me: Well second hdd the msata came with the system

Dell: OK so we will replace the keyboard.

Dell: I can see that you requested to cancel the previous service.

Me: Yes due to the tech from Unisys not experienced in fixing Alienware laptops especially my model

Dell: so the service was canceled.

Dell: ok, but how do you know it ?

Me: He was also rude on the telephone, I asked him and he didn't answer just said " I have 5 years certified in computer repair "

Dell: ok so he confirmed you that he is certified.

Me: Yes but he didn't answer if he had worked on alienware laptops before

Dell: They are certified on all systems.

Dell: There should be no problem with the keyboard replacement.

Dell: The technicians do the job everyday.

Me: My laptop cost me ****** total I have to be sure that the tech has experience repairing that model

Me: Clearly he didn't

Dell: I am sorry, but your system costs totally different price.

Me: I take great care of my computers

Dell: We can replace the keyboard by onsite technician only.

Dell: So I am not sure how to manage it in your case, as you refuse it.

Dell: This is our solution.

Me: Please just send me someone who has worked on an alienware m18x r2 then I'll be happy

Dell: ok, but I am not sure who will be sent to you, but if you will be watching his work, you can see everything ho does with the system.

Dell: All technicians are certified and should have no problem with the keyboard replacement.

Me: The last tech you sent dinged my laptop on the top near the keyboard he also left in a screw and still tried to open the housing

Me: I will be an eagle when the tech arrives and If I see anything wrong I'll be taking photos of damage

Dell: ok, no problem, I hope that it will be done correctly this time

Me: Please make sure that the tech has their own anti static wrist strap. Just don't send the same tech who called me today because I will cancel the visit

Dell: I wrote you that I cannot guarantee you any technician. I even do not know the name of your mentioned technician, so I cannot wrote to our service partner about it.

Dell: If you cancel the service, the service cannot be done. You will refuse our solution and therefore the keyboard cannot be replaced then.

Sorry about the long transcript but you can clearly see how Dell treats their customers aye

 

And Dell tells you that their techs are certified on all systems yeah right lol I'm sorry that you had a bad experience and I would also not let her near my pride and joy.

 

Man, how badly are they trying to shirk their responsibilities.. Absolutely criminal. I loath this guilty till proven innocent game they tried to play. - 10 rep Dell. Not cool.

 

I laugh at this thread. Cause I don't get where this thread is going.

You was able to change out your CPU , GPU and add HDD ....

but you call Dell to replace the macro keys .... that cost no more than $10

Knowing that it can be done yourself , you decided to give Dell hell instead.

Getting to the core of the laptop is harder than changing out the macro key module, but of course you already knew that.

 

Then you've missed the point completely. Blossom is covered under warranty for the Macro keys and any other non user upgraded parts. Why should she have to pay for the part out of her own pocket when a comprehensive* and expensive warranty is already in place?
It's principally unacceptable.

 

What @TBoneSan said is true why should I have to pay extra for a part if I'm under warranty? Also this shows just how bad Dell has got with their customers. The rep even told me that my warranty is invalid because I disassembled my gaming laptop which Dell has how to disassemble the M18X R2 service manuals on their website lol. I never give in to these Dell bullies and you shouldn't either. I asked for them to send me the macro key part and they won't allow it so what choice did I have aye.

@TBoneSan Thanks huni for your support and hope your enjoying your lappy x

 

I know warranty is warranty. I do agree to some extent. But if you paid for " X " amount of dollars for the laptop, I wouldn't want anyone to mess up. But knowingly first hand that the technician will destroy your laptop , why sit back and put yourself through hell in the first place. I would try to avoid it at all cost, especially for something like this. Also refusing service for replacing something that is this easy, i think it's better off the user do it himself/herself since the user knows better than the tech.

In some case , many post in this forum regarding dell tech services , consumer sit back and watch the tech destroy their laptop , when at " any time " he/she could have " help " the technician along the way during the process to do a tear down on their laptop. This is for the " I could have done it myself " , type of consumer.

If there are no choice , you should take the initiative to install the macro key when the tech brings it over to do the replacement. Don't sit back and let the tech fiddle on your laptop.

I usually ask the tech if I could install it myself , even if it make the service tech uneasy.

 

The reason why I cancelled the visit was that the tech was obviously not experienced in handling Alienware branded laptops. Also I do agree with you about the user should be allowed to install parts with the tech watching but I don't have confidence in my work even though I'm good at what I do. My anxiety comes into play so I watch the tech's work on my laptop and if they break anything I'm covered. The tech would probably say no anyway because I'm not certified lol.

 

@Rengsey R. H. Jr. Ok I see where you're coming from. Yeah, ideally they'd send out the parts and we can install it ourselves. Or even better, they didn't have goofers working on our expensive machines - We'd save time ourselves (time is money after all) and actually have confidence they wouldn't damage anything.

@Blossom81 Hey no worries I think we all really want the best for your machine. No one likes the thought of R2 abuse. I'm laptopless now by the way. On X99 but hoping we see something cool in the laptop (DTR) space soon.

 

@TBoneSan Sorry to hear that your laptopless but that x99 system sounds like a beast. I'm building a VR system for when the Oculus Rift and Valve/HTC Vive comes out. The case might be the Fractal Design Define R5 not sure about graphics card but it'll be in sli and dx12.

 

Honestly the tech you spoke to probably was gruff because he deals with so many people a day, I know this because I talk to TV techs on a daily basis right now, it's a hard job and the being able to handle all kind of personalities is really what makes it difficult. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience though and hope you are able to get it working again.

 

Thanks for your comment and I agree that people are human and have bad days but he should have left that attitude at home not with the customer. Would he talk to his boss like that? customers who have paid a lot for their products are the ones who are keeping them in business lol.

 

Unisys is useless big company. They use to hire small backyard firm that works for them at a cheap price. Look at what they did with my Heat Sink. They cleaned the heatsink with a screwdriver. Unbelievable that this is possible. I complained to Dell for this job immediately. Got a new heatsink that I installed with Dell's approval and further warranty and I applied my loved(Liquid ultra ). After this I use Dell's warranty to get the parts free but are allowed to fix my laptop completely self, while the technician watching. Such as this have I been allowed now three times without problem. No techniques from Dell hired home service team is allowed to touch my AW laptop. Never...

 

Bloody hell what a right mess they did on your heat sink. Am so sorry that you went through that huni. I will ask the tech when he or she arrives if I can fit the part myself and they can watch how its meant to be done properly lol. I just don't want to lose my warranty as I've paid £450 for 3 years till 2017 so that's why I use their services to get my monies worth but if they cannot take good care of my laptop then I'll refuse the service and get my warranty money back due to carelessness of customers laptop.

 

It is only if the motherboard/processor/heat sink or gpu breaks it is worthwhile to use Dell support... Everything else is normally cheap to obtain itself if this can be obtained. No point to use Dell support on minor things.

 

By the way, don't tell them if you've upgraded any components yourself. The techs won't usually notice anyway (I have yet to see an on-site tech look at the inscription on the CPU, GPU, etc..
However, if you still have the original parts, it's probably a good idea to install those before a service attempt, too, so the techs don't kill any parts that aren't under Dell warranty by mistake (although they'd likely still have to replace the parts, you'd have to prove it was them and jump through other hoops).
I myself had Unisys techs break things before (it was mostly plastic clips or broken screwholes on the plastic, but got the parts replaced the next day. From my experience 2 out of 5 techs Unisys sent out to me for Dell sadly are rather clueless and/or reckless.
If you know what you're doing and really don't want them to touch your system, then you could also ask the tech to supervise you and allow you to perform the repairs yourself under their supervision, ensuring you don't do anything wrong. From my experience, most will be happy that they don't have to get their hands dirty. At the very least, it's a good idea to stay with them during the repair and keep a watchful eye on them stopping them before they do something stupid and instructing them on how to do their job properly if needed.

 

That's what is so nice with Dell home support. You will see what is being done with your Aw pc. If the technician does a a mistake on your computer, then you can complain to Dell o get a new part and fix your pc self. You are usually allowed to repair the pc itself if you ask the technician. It is impossible to know what is done of mistakes on your pc if you delivering it to a Dell workshop or their subcontractors.

 

Too late they knew I upgraded and installed the cpu, secondary gpu, hdd by seeing my laptop specs from alienware software which calls home to Dell. I feel that software is spying and illegal. Anyway I've told them that my cpu, 2nd gpu is not covered but the rest is still under warranty until 2017. I will ask the tech if I can replace the keyboard macro keys under their supervision if not then I'll be watching them very closely and If they start pulling at any wires then they are out.

 

Update: Well Dell totally ignored my advice to not send the same technician who got offended when I asked him if he was insured and if he has fixed Alienware laptops before. The same guy arrived and weeks after the phone call. He even brought up the telephone conversation that he was offended ( that was weeks ago ) he held this grudge for weeks so I felt the atmosphere very negative when mentioned it. He did replace the macro keys sister board but when he put the battery back in he forced it in. After he left I wanted to check to make sure he hasn't left out any screws so when I tried to push the battery eject switch it wouldn't budge ( bloody brilliant ) so I had to force the battery out by prying and that took time too. Luckily I managed to get the battery out without any damage to the pins. Next time I'll do the bloody work and never again will I be buying from Dell again.

 

Update 2: Dell calls me after I filled out the survey about my last tech visit and the damage caused to the bottom case due to trying to get the battery out from when the tech forced it in. They have contacted Unisys and I had a call from them which they have suspended the tech. They are replacing my laptop case with a new tech home visit. I shall keep you informed. I didn't want the tech suspended please don't hate me for that, I was completely surprised and I feel bad.

 

not your fault. These are expensive, premium products and only people with experience specific to these models should be allowed to touch them. My 18 is in 100% brand new condition, you could box it up and sell it as if it was brand freakin new. I am anal about how I treat my toys and that's why I refuse to send mine anywhere. I would feel better sending it to certain people on this site, than I would feel sending it into Dell or allowing some of the technicians they have to touch it. You deserve to have it replaced with a NEW case.

 

Thanks for your reply and support trouble is I also upgraded some parts which isn't covered under warranty but they are working fine. Lets say the technician accidentally breaks the part that isn't covered will that be covered due to misuse by the technician who is insured? Under UK law there must be something to help me if you understand.

Edit: Just spoke to Alienware and nope they won't help me out if the technician breaks any parts that I installed. So I'll be keeping an eye on what this new technician does when he touches the parts not covered by warranty. Bloody stupid this even though I have enough hardware and software experience they still have a problem with me. I can't even remove my own components in case I accidentally break the parts that are under warranty. I would also let you guys remove the non warranted parts because I trust you. Top it all off I asked about compensation due to my stress levels and damage to my expensive laptop and the reply was " We are giving you a new case and sending you a technician so that's your compensation " Well I had to pay for that privilege for 3 extra warranty years at the cost of £500 so they think they are doing this as a goodwill gesture even though by law they have to replace parts that have been damaged by their technicians. Does that sound fair?