NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Alienware Notebook Forums › Alienware General › Getting the run around by Alienware Customer Service
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Getting the run around by Alienware Customer Service

post #1 of 5
Thread Starter 
Well, in the past Alienware has been good to me, fast responce to my problems and quickly getting things fixed for me. Now, since they have been bought by Dell I seem to be getting the same crappy service that I got from Dell when I used to have their computers. Which is the reason why I switched to Alienware. I have been waiting over two weeks for a replacement graphics card for my laptop. It went completely on me, I turn the computer on and I get nothing but funky colors scrolling across my screen or nothing at all. I keep calling and calling Alienware asking when my part is going to be in and they keep saying, call back next week, we should have the part by then. Well, two weeks have gone by and they still don't have anything. I don't think they will ever have anything. They are just going to keep telling me that I have to wait for the part to come in. I highly doubt the part is comming at all. NVidia doesn't even advertise anywhere on their site that they even make the card that I have and I can't find a number anywhere to call them to find out what is taking them so long to get the part to Alienware. Also, I have had several parts of my chassis break. The most annoying and biggest problem is the spring clip that holds the battery in place just fell out one day and I am now using electrical tape to hold the battery in. Also my power brick is falling apart, the wire that attaches to the brick (not the unpluggable cord), the one that is supposed to be perminentaly attached, is falling off. What did Alienware tell me when I called about it, oh, we don't stock those parts anymore, you will have to go and spend a couple hundred dollars yourself and buy the parts else where. They even gave me the site to go to to get the parts and guess what, they don't carry them anymore either. What I want to know is why on earth did I spend in excess of $300 on a 3 year warrenty when Alienware won't even honor that warrenty by keeping the parts in stock for that period of time. What kind of business are they running here? Do they want their customers to go away and tell everyone the meet how horrible a company they have been to them? Really, what are they thinking? The phone tech even told my mother when she called to ask about it that Alienware considers a system that is more than two years old a old system and should be replaced with a newer one! That is just a load of BS. Systems of this supposed greatness should last someone several years before they even have a remote thought of possibly getting a new system sometime down the road. If Alienware systems are so great, they should last a long time. I have had enough with Alienware, and this will most likely be my first and last system from them. The only way I would consider buying from them again is if they get off their butts and actually do something to get my problem fixed, or if they really can't get the parts anymore, own up to it and honor the stinking warrenty and offer me a different option to either get me a new system with comparable specs or an upgrade to my current system to get it working again. Don't just leave me hanging and just get more and more angry about it.
post #2 of 5
You think you're getting the runaround from AW because Dell owns them?? I've been getting the runaround from AW since day one. Now that my warrenty has expired, they refuse to answer ANY questions, including ones that are posted on their customer support board!

Never again will I buy from Alienware.
post #3 of 5
Funny thing, I have an old Dell laptop. Anyway, a few years ago I was having problems with it, and the Dell customer support was very helpful to me, even when they just lead in the right direction to fix it (I ended up finding the solution myself). The laptop's warranty had expired by then...
post #4 of 5
I don't think it's because of Dell. I believe the CS problems are becuase over the last couple of years or so AW grew bigger than it's infrastructure can handle. I think there might even be some serious personel problems where they have some really mad employees (mad enough not to care too much when they are assembling/repairing systems). I hope that Dell is trying to correct these things but I don't know how long that will take. It really does not feel like they are asserting power, I bet the previous owners struck a deal to keep things the same for a set period (hopefully not forever). I have been through quite a bit with my own system and find it very hard to trust them at all, in fact I'm very glad in less 1/2 year my warranty is over and it's mine. But don't get me wrong, I love my system despite it's faults.
post #5 of 5
Most of the Customer Care issues like this are handled by call centers, not by the companies themselves. They are VERY few PC companies today that have "in-house" Customer Care. I'm pretty sure Velocity Micro and FalconNW are the only ones; maybe Voodoo but I not for sure. That's why there is a lack of communication between the big boys at corporate and the call center "laborers". From my little personal experience with AW's support, they have been excellent so far except for the occasional rep who can't pronounce english properly but I also blame that on Verizon Wireless since cellular service can and is shotty at times. Try reasoning with them again and ask nicely. Sometimes being nice can get your further then trying to "own" the situation especially if the rep your talking to has been talking to shitty people on the phone the whole day; it'll give them more "incentive" to help you out if your nicer than the rest.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Alienware General
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Alienware Notebook Forums › Alienware General › Getting the run around by Alienware Customer Service