Maximum PC

I got one of the first M17X computers they made thinking it was going to be awesome... big sound, big graphics... some pretty big hardware included. Best 4k I ever spent- granted this is about 3 years ago and before I received the computer. Turned out to be one of the biggest pieces of crap I could have ever purchased... At least until I found another place to download drivers for the hardware. HARDWARE was great! Driver support- then and now- was atrocious. Not sure about Dell- but the Alienware side was laughable. They were selling 32 bit computer with 4 gigs of RAM plus 2 video cards (?)... the one guy doing sales for me didn't know what Vista was and I can say in no uncertain terms their driver support for their comps then was and remains attrocious!.

Fast forward 3 years and my computer warranty (I got extended 3 year warranty) was nearing expiration. Conveniently my monitor stopped working and I needed to file an RMA claim. That and all my fans were grinding like all get out:. This went through okay, much to my surprise:. Maybe they'd turned a new leaf?

So I get their package label to ship it back to the US. Of course this came with its share of challenges... It got held up at customs and I needed to file some extra paperwork- and there were delays with that. I tried to contact the RMA people and there was no luck with that. The RMA number they gave to me was bringing a blank to anyone I talked to and they had no information about me. Customs tried to contact alienware directly on my behalf to tell them the package was held up and to figured out what they wanted to do. The lady told me that nobody returned their calls. I then tried an email to the person who sent me the original package label (for the fedex package) - to which there was no reply. We finally got things figured out between customs and myself and the package made it there- I guess. From the first week in May until a week ago I didn't hear anything from them. No confirmation that they received it... again, no response to my emails insisting on an update, no record of my RMA number when I called to get updates. Basically I sent the computer into an abyss and I had pretty much written it off because nobody could tell me that they had any record that I'd even sent it to them.

So finally I get word back from some guy from their RMA department saying he had good news. When I finally got a hold of him (being put on hold on and off for about 30 minutes so they could figure out who he was) he told me that I had two options: They were going to try and fix it but they were unable to so I could get a refund for the computer or order a new one for the same value from them. I said in NO uncertain terms that I wanted to have nothing to do with Alienware (or Dell for that matter) and I'd take the refund. All I wanted at this point was to get that computer out of my life as it had been nothing but a PITA since the very beginning.

Oh, but wait! If they give me the refund there is a restocking fee of 15% because I'm cancelling my contract. Hold on a second... you just told me you can't fix my computer and gave me two options... one of which was a refund- not me cancelling. So how can you charge me $600 to put it back on a shelf and sell it to someone else. Well, they said, they could possibly use it to fix someone else's computer.

Then... shouldn't you be paying ME the additional 600 so that you can prevent others from having an opportunity to get a refund?

At that point he said "well, we CAN fix your computer, but we can't guaranty when it will be finished... so these are your two options. Either cancel your contract or buy another computer from us where we'll conveniently waive the restocking fee."

Okay- but then how is my computer any less valuable to you if I buy your stuff?

Anyway, then he said he couldn't continue outside of those parameters because the computer system he was working off of wouldn't let him. It just wouldn't work.

So, I'm still getting my refund- 3200 bucks which is a lot of money. Now it's a matter of principal... 600 bucks is ALSO a lot of money to hand over to a company like this so they can armwrestle me into buying more of their crap. From the beginning it's been crap customer service where they wouldn't let you into their forums to check things out unless you'd already committed to a computer. when you wanted to back out because you saw the state of affairs- it was 15% restocking fee... often with their computers being about 600 bucks or more. Throughout the ENTIRE process where I made it clear that I wanted to have nothing more to do with them, the guy STILL ends up repeatedly trying to sell me into another Alienware product.

Anyway, to those of you thinking you like gaming... I NEVER gamed on that POS because of the problems I had with EVERYTHING To do with it. It actually dampened all of my enthusiasm for gaming and I seldom game anymore.

Weird. The newer ones are much better, though. Dell usually has good drivers, though. They released a set for my dell laptop on Linux, when Linux never was an option.

I am very happy with my m11x r2. alienware (Dell's) support is known to be very bad.





Ted

Yeah, if you want real support, go try their forums. Just make sure to tell us your problems, too.

Wait .. so after almost 3 years of use, they're offering you either a NEW PC or cost - $600? Seriously?

You can build a stupidly fun / fast / brilliant new PC for $2k ... and have $1.6k left over ... and you're complaining?

I'm totally lost.

Wait, 4k? I thought they were closer to 1 to 1.5k.

guess we get to take thinking and reading off your resume.

I think you missed the part where I was pretty clear I want nothing to do with them anymore. I'm not going to be lugging anymore alien crap around in any form. My experience with them from beginning to end was terrible.

so what you are saying is you want to use their product for 3 years whether you like it or not, and still get all your money back. you could have sent it back in the first year if it was so bad, but no you kept it for the full warranty period and sent it back just before it ran out. and then bitch at a restocking charge that gets you 3200 dollars back, like jip i am shaking my head as well.

The resume thread is in the studio. Also, I just realized that the prices on Dell were the "Begins At" ones. He obviously must have customized.

its not a dell, it is an alienware.

Dell owns Alienware.

yes but its still an alienware, nothing dell in it.

Dell buys the parts, therefore they are Dell parts. Dell supplies the replacement parts and the sucky service and the software (AlienFX) too.

Regardless of who owns what ... the OP stated in his first post "Best 4k I ever spent" ... which makes it pretty clear how much money he spent.

Yeah.

Okay, GM... I'll nibble here.

When I pay for a warranty to cover costs associated with a broken computer and they tell me they can't fix what it was that was broken... what do you propose they should do for me? Sorry, you pay for your warranty to do what exactly

A new computer? Sure! I'll buy their crap at face value and if I'm lucky I get another 3 years of crap service and ridiculous tech support that I'll undoubtedly need and they - it turns out- have absolutely no resources local to me to actually make it worthwhile... Oh, it's easy for you guys in the US. For us in Canada? Not as good. At least, not in my experience... hence why I'm here complaining about it.

Or... I pay a $600 restocking fee and get a good portion of my money back.

A restocking fee for a computer they can't fix? 600 bucks worth at that? Let's not lose ourselves in the semantics, people. What's pissing me off about this is they say "if you choose to cancel your contract you owe a 15% restocking fee."

Okay- well when you tell me I can either get my money back for the computer or get a new crap computer... that is not me cancelling my contract. It took me 3 months to get my computer as ordered the first time around. You know what? No thanks. I'm never going through that again. As a matter of fact, it took them from MAY until nearly SEPTEMBER to even acknowledge they had my freakin computer!!?? Despite emails, phone calls... nobody had any record of the fact they'd even RMA'd my computer.

Hey, you want to nut hug on Dell / Alienware? All good... You have a comp of theirs that works perfectly? Awesome- Ted, you like yours... hey... I'm really glad because I know you put it to good use. Seriously... not being sarcastic. Fold on hard!

But I was told point blank I had two choices... I could get a new computer (never, EVER going to happen), or I could get my money back. I wanted my money back. Oh, but wait... yeah, and you know the rest.

If they give you as little as a 200 discount on the new laptop, you can sell on eBay and make back what you paid and then some.

have never, will never own a dell product, they have always had crap service. but the point was they offered you a new machine, it is not their fault you don't want it. (well it is) but the point is they offered a new machine. a bad experience with one does not mean the same experience with the next. 3200.00 would buy almost any new machine on the market and it should be much faster and better equipped then your original machine. even if you took a new one, and sold it in the box, you would not get its full value.

no matter what you buy, there is a good chance something will fail. i have been lucky myself, my sony went 8 years (hard drive, failing now), and the HP about 4 years with no problems, but i could replace it with twice the machine at half the price. I would just take a new machine and be happy they made nothing on it. you put the screws to them, 8000 worth of computers they got 4k from you, which means they made nothing and went in the hole doing it.

That's definitely another way of looking at it!