Alienware's PR Nightmare

Hey everyone! So I thought id "share" my story on my recent M11x R1 purchase just to give anyone who thinks of buying one of these a heads up! First off let me give praise where praise should be given. After tons of research for my next gaming rig, I decided on the M11x R1 for 3 reasons! One being the price point, getting $200.00 off is enough to make most people jump the gun! Second was the in depth reviews (I never make an electronic or pc purchase without reading as MANY hands on reviews as possible). And third a recommendation from a close friend who had already had his M11x for quite sometime! So all in all I paid 640.00$ including tax, and was happy that it arrived in about 12 business days! Very nice shipping speed! One thing id like to point out however regarding shipping is that once the order was placed Feb 11, The ONLY change my order made was from Processing to In Production.

Now as HAPPY as I was it arrived early I was thrown away by the fact that out of the 3 times I called or chatted with support in regards to my order status I received conflicting information each time. My estimating delivery date was for Feb 25th. after about a week, I contacted Dell because my order status never change from In Production, yet when I last called they said my order had shipped? It really isn't a question of patience, I was fine with waiting, but when I start to receive conflicting info on my order, and Dell can't even tell me where my laptop I just bought is... we have problems!

That however isn't where this story goes sour! The story goes real bad about 3 weeks into ownership. The machine when I first received it, went through an inspection (deep inspection) and everything seemed alright! Then at the 3 week mark I started noticing popping cracking when I would close the lid. Checking the back of the unit I see a HUGE separation between the two pieces forming the hinge. Ever since the loud popping, I began noticing my LCD getting caught on the inside of the felt alienware bag, after looking closer I see the plastic backing of the lcd separating from the glass... Deciding to take another inspection trip, I also noticed other things such as my keyboard dimming in certain areas such as below the spacebar, and also noticed my keyboard literally starting to DIP into the unit around the tygh buttons! The gap between the glass and the back panel is SO huge now you can slide a credit card between them easily! Take a look at the pics and you can hopefully see what im talking about.

After all this I decided to call Alienware and get a replacement. Called the 800 number, get told that I have to call THIS number, call that number get told this is the wrong department, call another number. Get told I had the right department before and to call back. Called THAT number AGAIN and get transferred around for NO kidding 45 min, then when I get the help I need I get told NO JOKE and I quote "Ohhh! I see that you are NOT a Support Plus member so I have to transfer you back UNLESS you want to buy our support plan." told them NO thanks and got hung up on again... I called back 3 days later to try again, another HOUR on the phone being transferred and then hung up on AGAIN. So I decided to go the chat support being that Dell has "line issues", and this is where it gets REALLY fun.

Mr Augustus was his name (no not making this up) and proceeded to explain my situation. NOW keep in mind! That ON the website it says VERY clearly "chat support" NOT sales chat! I clicked on Alienware Chat Support. After typing in VERY lengthy detail about my situation which by the way this whole affair began at 8pm when I got home! Augustus told me that there was nothing he could do I had reached Dell Sales Support. Now...I have been screwed and lied to from Dell before, had a long day at work and had finally hit my boiling point. I PAID for support, and wasn't getting it for DAYS of trying to get help! I saved the chat log but instead of posting the over 3 hour long chat log "yes THAT long" To sum up what happened, he basically told me he could not help and I told him he WILL help me because this is Alienware support, and if he refused they would not only push me to the point of legal action, but would force me to release the recorded phone calls, the chat logs, and the phone records showing Dell trying to take a customer and sweep them under a rug.

Needless to say he finally after 3 hours got off his and contacted someone to call me, HOWEVER this person told me SHE couldn't help me "wrong people" but told me she JUSt spoke to the MANAGER of ALIENWARE and said he would personally call me in 5 min! Gave her the RIGHt number to call had her REPEAT it back to me clearly, and waited ANOTHER hour in chat with Mr Augustus untill I got the call which as you can guess NEVER came and still hasn't for 2 days. I did call back again myself and get help from some other guy "this whole process took 2 hours as well" who after hearing my story demanded PICTURES for PROOF of my situation.... Ya I know, I flipped too. So I sent them, and he never got them so he took remote control of my laptop where I saved them and had to "approve" these for another 30 min. Then came back on the phone and told me "so we can send a technician out to your house to replace the lcd panel" to which I asked "will these be new or refurbished parts" his answer was of COURSE refurbished. Ya.. I flipped again and told him this is a NEW machine, he ACTUALLY argued with me for a few minutes and said "No sir you purchased a refurbished machine" and I whipped out my reciept on my machine so HE could see it say NEW and he replied "ohhhh ok it is new". After being on hold ANOTHER 15 min he comes back to tell me "we can have you send back the machine for a refund and repurchase" Then I REALLY lost it, I proceeded to tell him I want a NEW machine sent NOW and I will return this POS once I get the replacement and I am HAPPY with it, and that THIS is clearly stated in the return and exchange information as the way it SHOULD be done. Another *#*%&ing 15 min and he finally says ok we will send you a unit in 3 weeks..... I gotta stop because its already making me mad again, but I think you GET the idea. Dell are scamming pieces of s&#* and NEED to be put in their place! If you DO buy this thing do NOT let the CSR's take advantage of you, tell them LIKE it is and stand up for yourself. You can BET I am taking this whole experience AS PUBLIC as I can (with proof chat logs AND video and audio recordings PROVING them guilty of disconnecting the phone calls) via news sites, PC Blog sites the works this is unacceptable from ANY company let alone a "High End Gaming Company" where high dollar gives you sh*$ service.

PS also note that I called back the next day with the "dispatch" id I was given and Alienware has no record of any replacement being sent out!

Alienware get ready for the PR Nightmare of you're dreams

I also made up some copies of this to leave sitting out at local sellers such as Best Buy and to throw into Magazines that advertise Alienware products!

 

So you did 'tons' of research, yet you didn't find anything re: tjhe M11x's hinge issue beforehand, nor bothered to google to contact for said issue once it arises?

If you read through accounts of other people's experiences and how they resolved them you could've saved yourself a lot of headache and frustration. It sucks to hear that support gave you the runaround though.

 

K you can use this as well. They admitted to me on the phone that the EST of 7.5 hours battery life was a marketing ploy. Thats false advertising aka. FRAUD (REAL EST: 3.5 hours).

 

I get 7+ hours of battery when not using the 335 card.

 

I'm guessing 7+ shouldn't be too difficult to obtain on an R1 running integrated with everything set to low. Of course it's going to be less on an overclocked R2. :laugh:

 

I can believe it. This is solely a support issue though, and it's REALLY gone to hell since Dell bought them out.

 

Good luck! Whatever kicks the merry hingemakers in the teeth is a force of justice to be praised and supported.

On the other hand, it is somewhat strange that you say you did tons of research and missed one of the most widely known facts about your prospective purchase. I'd say the m11x hinge issue might as well be considered one of the model's technical specs - it is strange that it evaded your attention.

Also, in all fairness, I don't think that the service you had received (however unprofessional, stupid and frustrating the situation was) might qualify as a reason for Dell's nightmares.

Good job making them give you the new replacement in spite of their resistance, though.

 

I have seen to members post today that appear to be plants from another manufacturer giving garbage info.

This is one example of it.

Disregard this post folks its a waste of time.

Btw, this is my best laptop ever. I have probably owned 30 even the old gray scale lcds and also the liquid plasma displays.

My wife owned a Apple laptop when we met. That was garbage.

This m11x is awesome.

The other garbage thread is the Lenovo thread.

 

I did indeed do research, and was in fact aware of some having the "hinge issue" and made my purchase only in the fact that Dell had said they would be replacing hinges regardless of warranty status as WELL as they are working on the issue, not to mention not ALL users have the hinge issue. But keep in mind that was the ONLY complaint I had seen or heard of I had not come across anyone with the other issues I had, nor EXPECTED these issues buying a "new" laptop that had so many minor scrapes and scratches it looked refurbished.

 

I think only someone who hasn't dealt with Dell Support can say that, anthonykit, lol.

Dell makes bad eggs. My original Dell XPS 1210 produced a similar scenario which spanned over the course of about two-three hours a day on the phone for 2 months with Dell (all I needed was a new hard drive). I can post a rant about that, but I won't.

Dell Customer Service can be great, and can be terrible. It is very inconsistent.

(Knowing all this, I still bought the M11x, lol)

 

Anthony I hope you are NOT implying I am from another company trying to BASH Alienware, because if you are why don't you call out the other few HUNDREDS of others who are having similar issues.

@Minnus, My GF had a previous experience with Dell support over a Studio that was SUCH a bad experience +5 months of being hung up on lied to etc. and after calling on a daily basis telling them to fix the situation or ALL documented info would be brought to our attorney and after that they send her a NEW XPS 15. As great as it was to get a new machine she would have rather of had a WORKING laptop for the 5 months. Dell is pushing customers around not to mention the bull they make up over the phone like "Oh you got a new laptop 2 weeks ago ill send out some refurbished parts and some second rate tech to replace it". I don't think so Dell

My Attorney is actually in talks with me now about getting a class action lawsuit for this situation. More info to come for those who are interested, also any others with info pictures etc and a similar situation please feel free to message me and I would be happy to start building a case against them. This is a situation that needs to be fixed now, not over a year later. I will also be going after Alienware for refusing me service, and trust me I got enough video audio and chat logs to prove it

Alienware this is your last warning. You don't want to go down this road.

Oh! to make things easier

[email protected]

I unfortunately can't join you, lol. I actually just noticed there are two things wrong with my screen atm ~ it is tilted, and it creeks when it closes. I called Dell support, and after about 20 ish mins on the phone, they are sending a technician for Monday.

Though I bet this treatment ends after my 21 day return period, lol.

 

I have a very different story. I have a R1 and after 2 months i had the exact same problems with the hinge. I emailed Dell with my problem and a technician was out 2 days later and he replaced the screen. He was at the house for 30 minutes. Now i am fairly lucky. I bought the laptop from eBay, it was brand new and i think i got a great deal £550 probably about $700. It came with a 2 year next day business service.

I have to say that Dell in the Uk were very helpful, couldn't do enough for me and the tech was great. Its like any company you have good experiences and bad ones. All my stuff was done online and i didn't have to ring once. There is hope for us all!!

 

Sounds like exactly the same story to me, the only difference being that your m11x took two months to break down, while the m11x belonging to Livevicarious broke down in three weeks.

 

Wow, yeah now i've read it back its exactley the same story......... apart from the 2 paragraphs of livevacarious complaining about the service. the point i was trying to make was that whilst the product has a problem, Dell dealt with my problem really well!! Thats how it differs, so not the same story!!

 

Its a known fact that Dell makes more money off selling high priced computers with bad parts and having service plans that replaces the defective parts with more defective parts hence why people almost ALWAYS (unless your an idiot or very smart and know how to repair parts yourself) get an extended warranty because you are told they are high end parts and ware more out more easily (and realistically a service plan should help save money in the long run but actually buying the notebook or pc in the first place was wrong)... Hmm I wonder why "high end" parts always malfunction, doesn't the meaning of "high end" mean there shouldn't be any problems (same concept when buying Nike shoes made in China versus shoes made in US or Canada). They are defective and Dell doesn't mind constantly repairing crap parts with crappier parts. Im guessing this is why AW was bought out by Dell. There approach at giving customers the highest quality parts wasnt very effective at maximizing profit.

 

Fair enough, but what I am trying to say is that the quality of the service is of secondary importance here, no matter if it was acceptable or not. What is of uttermost importance here is that both of you have had exactly the same problem because the equipment you had bought has exactly the same major flaw. That is the problem here. One should not be expected to be totally happy when the problem that should not be there in the first place is being taken care of.

Nevertheless, I am glad to hear that you had a positive experience with Dell fixing their own epic mistake in a prompt and orderly manner this time.

 

These big companies get away with murder. Everything gets swept under the rug until people like US. Get them to make it RIGHT. If you "side" with them you are only furthering there ability to neglect these issues. Regardless if you have a particular issue or not you want to make sure your product is top quality right? I dont know how many times I looked on these forums before and was SURE my hinge would be fine. Sure enough after enough use mine broke as well. It just goes to show that you could NOW have no issues but shortly down the road you may, and let me say, it happens Oh-so-quick an I cant say the same about tech support .

 

You know everyone on here has great points, and arguments etc etc. However the reason im upset, is not the laptop itself. I knew there were some people with hinge issues, again SOME not all or most. The issue I have is that I pay for a product that I was TOLD from Alienware, that id get top notch support. When in fact I am not, I got a laptop that was assembled poorly which is evident, even showed the pictures to Dell and they AGREED. However the level of support I have received has been anything but what it should be which is SUPPORT. Having to call back to these s for 2 weeks, being hung up on, transferred in circles.. I mean common is it THAT difficult to transfer a damn phone call? I bought a BRAND new M11x, not a refurb, if I bought a refurb these little things honestly... I wouldn't even complain about, but when I go down to Best Buy and see the same laptop in store in WAY better shape on the floor. And I look at my "special ordered laptop" my blood boils. No excuse, no bull, nothing. All I got from Dell so far after weeks of asking for support, WEEKS not minutes, not hours, not days WEEKS, is apologies, disconnects, and wrong transfers, and demands! Alienware needs to learn real fast that people are starting to notice.

 

dude sporry to hear about your problems with their support here, but I've noticed it seems to be quite a trend in america. when i had an acer and i was in the acer threads i saw lots of people complaining about simmilar issues. living in europe i think we are a little luckier. from experiance at my compnies they use dell precicely becaue the customer suppoort is one of the best.
When i first got my allienware i decided to contact dell using the number from the company that supplied me for dell customer care. I was pleasantly suprised cause not only did the person speak flawless english but he couldnt have been more helpfull. (i expected either czech or broken english)
I explained i wanted some reasureance about hinge issues after what i read on a lot of threads and he told me that at the first sign of any problems email him and he would make sure that it would be fully sorted with in 24 hours. he took my emal addy and responded within 10 mins after the end of the phone call with an email just stating when and how to contact him rather than going through all the customer care helplines and so on...
There are a lot of good and bad people who work at care and support lines... it sucks the way you were treated but lets home with your help to see that people cant treat each other that way...

sorry again dude and fingers crossed no more problems for you. best wishes R

 

damn that sounds like a pain the to deal with.

I have similar build quality issues with my m11x and all i did was email the warranty department with pictures of the damage and they are sending me out a new one! I suppose the level of service in Oz is better than most places.

keep sticking to your guns and get the service you deserve, customer is king and should be treated as such.

 

So an update for those of you who were keeping along! Apparently someone IS keeping track of these forums through Alienware, I just received an email from Alienware CS, and after providing them my number received a phone call within minutes. I guess it takes threats to get service the way it should be
After explaining and re-emailing the photos they decided to go ahead and not only send a replacement for my R1, but send a NEW R2 i7 fully loaded to make up for the poor customer service. Now as cool as that is, keep in mind what I had to go through just to obtain any service at all, I would have honestly rather of gotten the same unit replaced sooner, than a much nicer one which (I WILL give props to Alienware CS for that) than later. If anything is learned from this I hope people will learn to NOT be pushed around from ANY company, if you don't get what you payed for, do whatever it takes to ensure you do, by ANY means!

 

Be aware,.odds are the new R2 will have the old hinge design....just saying. Glad they are coming through for ya. Its good to hear.

 

Yeah, because that employee was just looking to lose their job. What BS.

 

Glad to hear you are satisfied with AW's response.

TO ALL:
When dealing with a problem with your system, please do try and resolve with tech support first. In the OP's case, he did try to reach out to support. Unfortunately, he encountered a string of issues with response level. This will not always be the case. There are many fine support reps out there within Dell's support department and other companies. Sometimes, you just hit a brick wall or get a bad egg on the line.

Moving on, if you are unable to resolve your issue or feel you are not receiving an appropriate response, you do have options. Please see this post - again, you must first contact support and work with them. Give them a chance to resolve...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/5713924-post1.html

Since the OP's case is resolved, closing thread. OP, feel free to start a new thread if you run into issues with your replacement. Also, keep the rep's contact info handy in the event you run into an issue with the replacement.

-BB