Question:
A Good Alienware Story
documented on NBF, now on NBR
AN ALIENWARE STORY
A lot of you may know from posts here and there, around late January I was
experiencing problems with my Area-51m, 2.4 Ghz, P4, 512 MB RAM
It took a turn for the worse in late June when my laptop just didn’t turn
on. . I purchased this PC in September of 02 so it was coming up on 2
years old. I pushed the power button and I could hear the fans running, but
nothing else booted. I did some troubleshooting tasks, removed the
battery, used the AC power…nothing. At this point I joined Notebookforums.
Finally I removed the case, pulled out the CPU and this is what I saw.
A brown CPU, with melted components around the edges. Yes, I purchased the regular P4 instead of
getting the P4m, but at the time I purchased this machine, the P4ms maxed
out around 1.7 Ghz and it would have cost $400 more. So I opted for the
regular P4. Also in my haste at buying an alienware laptop, I did not
purchase the extended warranty…BIG mistake.
I called Alienware and told them my problem(s). I begged them to look at it
from my view: “Yes I did not purchase the extended warranty but I didn’t
think this machine would fail after less than 2 years! Have some good faith
from a company standpoint!” But they wouldn’t budge. They said the best
they could do was give me 10% off parts. They told me it would be $60 to
ship, $250 for parts and $100/hour for labor (minimum two hours). So I’m
already down $485 and I agree to ship it in. If I don’t, then It would
have been like I just gave Alienware $3485 and they give me a giant
paperweight.
I package it up, get it ready for shipping and 1 day before I was about to
ship it. I write an E-mail to a rep at Alienware. I said:
(not exact)
Dear Sirs,
I am writing to let you know my disappointment in Alienware as a company. I
purchased my Area-51m in Sept of 02’, without the extended warranty. This
January I was having problems running UT2k4. The game would shudder and
the fans would come on high, like the laptop was struggling to run it. I
have been playing the demo on my laptop for months and now that won’t even
run. Finally, last week, my laptop didn’t even turn on. I opened it up and
saw that the CPU had overheated, melting several components inside. I
called customer support and explained to them what had happened and told me
the best they could do was 10% off parts.
This is an outrage! I didn’t expect my PC to just stop...I can honestly say I will never buy an Alienware again after this experience."
I get a response about an hour later. They said they were looking into the
matter and would get back to me. Another hour later and I got another
response. They said they would agree to give me 10% off parts as well as
free labor. At this I said “hell yes”. This dropped the price tag way down
to $225. ( I already paid for shipping) So FedEx came to pick it up later
that week after I got my RMA numbers and stuff and 1 week went by.
I contacted Alienware and asked them if they received my package. They
said no. I looked up the tracking number and it said it was still in
transit. Another week went by. Then another. So three weeks have gone by
and Alienware still has not received my package. It is the beginning of
August now and the people I was in contact with got in touch with FedEx,
and they said due to hurricane Charlie, they were experiencing delays. But
another week went by. Still nothing.
Finally my contacts at Alienware and I decide that FedEx lost it. (which
they did) Apparently there is a warehouse in Florida where they take
packages that have unreadable labels, labels that fell off, etc…so my rep
called them to check and see if my laptop was there. I get a response:
“FedEx reported finding a blue Alienware laptop in a brown box at their
over goods facility.
We have officials getting clearance to obtain the serial number and thus
verify ownership.
I shall keep you informed.” -8/30/4
Then
“FedEx is in the process of releasing the package. The facility is
apparently in Florida, and they are experiencing delays because of the
weather service.
Please be advised that I am on top of this situation. ” -9/10/4
Then
“We have not yet received a reply from FedEx Over goods.” -9/14/4
This meant that someone had to pay for my lost laptop. But who would it be?
FedEx? Alienware? Turns out Alienware does not insure their packages with
FedEx because they have their own insurance company. I don’t really
understand why or how this works…but I got a new laptop out of it.
I asked if it were possible to upgrade the motherboard so I could put in a
mobile P4
“Upgrading the motherboard will run you approximately $1200.” -9/15/4
Then I asked if I could upgrade the to the new case with glowing eyes.
“As for the case, the case is the same style. The case with the glowing
eyes is a newer model board.” -9/16/4
So I just said to hell with it… I’ll go with the desktop P4 again… But the
next e-mail I got, was disappointing, but understandable.
“We had to special order the CPU, so the manufacturing process was delayed
a bit.
As far as the replacement itself, we were not able to obtain a Conspiracy
blue case, so the replacement will be built as a Standard Grey. I do
apologize for this.
In any case, I will keep you informed on the progress of the order.” 9/24/4
Now my Alienware doesn’t match my car anymore… :(
When I asked about the hurricanes affecting everything and how they were
doing down there…
“It's been a little hectic.. We practically have to wrap the whole place in
tarp every time a hurricane threatens (not to mention boarding up, moving
our workstations....). Fortunately, Miami has not been heavily affected.
As for your replacement machine, it has been running UT2K4 since yesterday.
The tech will be sending it to integration in a few minutes, and we will be
burning it in overnight.
We are looking at shipping it out to you tomorrow:” -9/28/4
I couldn’t be happier.
“The moment of truth (drum roll)..
Your machine looks and runs beautifully!
It will be shipping out to you today via FedEx tracking
number-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX
Thank you for your patience!
My Best!” -9/29/4
So my new silver laptop will be arriving next Thursday October 4th. I am
very happy after going almost 4 ½ months without a laptop. I am very happy
with the way Alienware has taken control of this situation and I posted
this so people could understand why they have award winning service.
Granted, I ran into some extenuating circumstances, and I’ll never really
know what really happened to my laptop (maybe someone saw the aleinware box
and nabbed it off the truck, maybe a hurricane swept it away) Alienware
handled it to my satisfaction and very professionally. Before this summer I
vowed never to buy from Alienware again, but my entire opinion has changed.
Take care
-Dukefrukem
EDIT: It came today 10/1/4
check it out
Answer:
Re: A Good Alienware Story
Great to hear a happy ending. :)
Can't imagine how anxious you must have been to get it back! Of course, waiting 4.5 months to get it back [not due to A-W] will make you patient.
Thanks for posting!
Chaz
Answer:
Re: A Good Alienware Story
No wonder you take issue with the negative posts, Duke. Good story.
Answer:
Re: A Good Alienware Story
No wonder you take issue with the negative posts, Duke. Good story.
all comin' together now huh?
Answer:
Re: A Good Alienware Story
Glad to hear it worked out for you, really. We have to remember just because we had a good experience doesn't mean we should hush up those that did not. I've had a great experience with the Apple powerbook but i certainly don't attack those that dont like Apple or have had bad experiences with them and complain about them.
Answer:
Re: A Good Alienware Story
all comin' together now huh?
I understand, Duke, yes, but still think all the arguing is pointless. Nobody's mind will be changed, and the conversations about AW, when not one-sided, seem to always end up in flames.
Remember the Kimble flap over there? Well, I owned Voodoos at the time, and was posting in that thread while it was still in the AW forums. :D I understand how sometimes, you've just got to make a point and not let biased, ignorant remarks go without comment.
Answer:
Re: A Good Alienware Story
I understand, Duke, yes, but still think all the arguing is pointless. Nobody's mind will be changed, and the conversations about AW, when not one-sided, seem to always end up in flames.
Remember the Kimble flap over there? Well, I owned Voodoos at the time, and was posting in that thread while it was still in the AW forums. :D I understand how sometimes, you've just got to make a point and not let biased, ignorant remarks go without comment.
I've said it before, I'm only here to denounce all these untrue facts that are flying around like its on CNN......
Glad to hear it worked out for you, really. We have to remember just because we had a good experience doesn't mean we should hush up those that did not. I've had a great experience with the Apple powerbook but i certainly don't attack those that dont like Apple or have had bad experiences with them and complain about them.
I attack people?
Answer:
Re: A Good Alienware Story
I've said it before, I'm only here to denounce all these untrue facts that are flying around like its on CNN......
I attack people?
Punch to the face for that question! :D
Answer:
Re: A Good Alienware Story
Thats a much happier ending than my own Bestbuy/Toshiba story regaurding the company caring. Nice Story. =)
I am reminded of the summer when Charlie and the other two came threw now. Oh what fun... <<;
Answer:
Re: A Good Alienware Story
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kudos to you bud still look at the world from my point of view...
and i was still paying it off...