Alienware Australia Gone - Hopefully temporarily!

Well the company that was reselling Alienware here in Australia has gone belly-up. See:

http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php/id;225100948

I am in the unfortunate position of having my beastie in for warranty repair at the time of this occurrence. I hope one day to get it back.

I'm sure Alienware are in the midst of securing a new distributor to bring its Australian operation back online.. let's hope it happens sooner rather than later, and they find a half decent operator this time. Heck, I'd take it on board and do a far better job of running the distribution outlet than Jackar/Evolve ever did.

Thanks for the update Laura - to the Alienware rep that replied, then why is it impossible to get a hold of anyone at the Australian operation, and why has this been the case for the past 2 weeks? Phones ring out, email goes unanswered... surely if the statement above is true, then none of this would be occurring.

Please note I'm not trying to be inflammatory, I am just tired of the ongoing issues with my $6000 paperweight of a notebook (currently under repair for the 6th time in 2 years, I've only actually had the notebook in my possession for 18 months of that 2 years if I'm lucky), I am tired of the promises of people ringing me to resolve my situation (and no one has to this day), and now that this has happened, and no one can tell me when/if I'll be getting it back, I am somewhat (and rightfully I believe) concerned.

Thanks for your time.

Still not heard from anyone. Left my contact details with some guy at the new 1300 number from Alienware's website (yes they are correct, and I've received plenty of other calls on my mobile over the last few days.)

This is a joke, it really is.

Contacted them again today, left my details with a lady that was quite approachable. Still have yet to get a return call though.

Sigh.

Called again today, spoke to a guy named Anthony. When I asked why none of my previous calls had been returned, he told me that he didn't have that information and was only answering calls on behalf of Alienware.

Does anyone know how to contact any of the upper management in the head office? Even just an email address would be great. I'm a very patient person, so I'm not going to hurl abuse at them or anything.. I simply want to explain my situation and hopefully get something done. Right now, I am an extremely disgruntled customer that wishes he had spent $6000 on anything BUT an Alienware laptop.

Thanks

I got a response to my letter to the US organisation and guess what.. after outlining in minute detail every single repair etc and the current issues, I get a note back effectively saying (although very nicely) that they can't help as the Australian office is a franchise, and that I should just keep trying to contact them.

What the heck else am I supposed to do. Two months now without my main machine - this is more than an inconvenience, this is just disgusting. I for one will not be spending money with Alienware ever again, especially considering I spent $6000 for this sort of treatment.

Here's hoping I eventually get my laptop back.

Yours in disgust....

My workplace has a corporate account with Dell as we use ~1600 laptops, ~400 workstations, 30 odd servers etc etc. Service is never an issue.

As an example, we had a D610 laptop that had a fault they couldn't fix.. basically the modem in it would constantly retrain. I organised for multiple service calls - after the third one and the third part replaced (modem was tried first, then motherboard, then something else I can't recall), they decided it was getting a bit silly. Next day, our Account Manager calls me and says there's a replacement laptop on its way.

We received it 4 days later, and it was a D620. Not just a standard one either - 2Gb RAM, the Nvidia mobile workstation chip (all of ours just use intel integrated graphics, no need for any more) and the 1440x900 screen, along with a letter of apology for the issues.

Now that's what I call service!

At this stage, I'm wishing I bought from Dell as well

Don't get me wrong, maybe Alienware will turn around and help me out here, restoring my faith. I really do hope they will, 'cos when that laptop of mine was working (not so much now as it's 2yr old tech, but definitely when I first got it), it was a fast, well-specced piece of hardware; and I felt more than justified in my purchase.

Here's hoping - I'm an optimist most of the time after all

Well I actually spoke to someone at the company that's taken over Alienware Australia - it looks like my notebook might be on its way back to me again towards the end of the week.

No mention of any of the promised 'call backs' or other assistance with the ongoing issues I've had, and frankly I didn't want to repeat myself for the 10 thousandth time.

I wonder how long it'll last this time around before dying again - guess I'll be buying a Dell next October when the 7700's warranty is finally up (and it dies for the 10th time :P)

So... two weeks later and still no notebook. The Australian phone number now reports itself as an invalid number (this is the 1300 794 003 number advertised on the Australian website.)

If an Alienware rep does happen to see this - please drop in and explain just what the heck is going on. This is atrocious, it really is.

Ok I called the number again, and it's been redirected to the answering service of a few weeks back.. sigh.

Well I've gone ahead and ordered a fully kitted out Dell XPS M1730, 'cos I am sick of this crap. I will never buy another Alienware, and I will be recommending other brands to those that ask me from now on. Way to write off $6000 eh.

Even requests to the US arm of the company to assist in locating/fixing/returning my laptop or other alternatives have gone unanswered/unaddressed (bar one, see below). I believe I have been quite patient and supportive up until now, but everyone has a limit and I've just hit mine.

Here's hoping I eventually get the bloody thing back so I can make a quick sale on Ebay for the parts (I wouldn't sell the whole unit to anyone in good conscience, the thing is a complete lemon.)

To the US arm of the company - stop giving excuses regarding the Australian arm being a 'franchise', therefore you cannot assist (this is what I received in the single response I have actually got back from the US support area). The fact is that they sell under the Alienware name and brand.. if they were just resellers I could understand.

The US support line was my only recourse as I have been unable to get onto the Australian operation, and to get an answer like this and no further assistance is quite simply crap.

To the Australian arm - get your act together. Even if you're not fully operational right now, you shouldn't have an answering service that takes messages, with the promise of a prompt reply, that you never reply to for weeks on end.

I'm sure this thread will disappear into obscurity now, along with the rest of the ones I have posted, along with any possible resolutions. I mean, why not just sweep it under the rug... the customer has to give up at some stage eh?