*Dell-Alienware & AW Legacy Replacement Systems-Warranty Repair Issues*

[claxdog]

Quick question(s). I have never gotten a replacement before so bare with me.. My R2 replacement has shipped and I took a look at the invoice.. Dell is saying that I am responsible for the full payment unless I return the old system within 10 days.. Now, 1) Am I responsible for paying the return shipping? 2) Are they going to send me a box (I don't have the original) or again, am I going to have to pay to have it properly packed? 3) How will I know where to send it back to? Are they going to send all that information with the replacement system??

P.S. Why does my order say "shipped", but yet there's no tracking number available?

you should get an airbill in the mail. they will tell you to ship it in the box the new one came in.

[jason7731523]

you should get an airbill in the mail. they will tell you to ship it in the box the new one came in.

I wouldn't recommend following those instructions. I would keep the packaging and request a shipping box from Dell, probably the same box they send you when mailing in a laptop for repair. You should keep the packaging in case you sell it. And besides, the box is too nice to give back!

[jason7731523]

A little history on the headache Dell put me through for a replacement laptop:

m17x problem # 1: Bearing went out in right-side GPU fan. I called Dell, they sent someone out to replace it.

m17x problem #2: After investigating further into the audio stutter issue, I realized that I was experiencing the same issue since delivery. I called Dell again, they kept me on the phone with tech support for 3-4 hours. He remotely tapped into the laptop for software changes. They granted me replacement 4870's to take place of my 280's in SLI

m17x problem #3: The same tech came out to my house. Cards were installed, software was not. Had to re-install OS. After tweeking the software, I realized the palmrest was not installed correctly. Because of this, the rubber screen stopper was not in place, resulting in my LCD to scratch.

m17x problem #4: I called Dell again. Spent another 2-3 hours arguing with them. They finally agreed to take the laptop back for repair. I requested that the software be installed and tested by an in house tech, to make sure the audio stutter issue was put to rest. They sent it back to me without any software modification. Instead, they told me I needed a new hard drive. It made no sense. I believe that was their way around having to put effort into the software.

m17x problem #5: Dell decided they wanted another tech to come out for repair. Again, it made no sense. The tech called me, and I explained to him that he would be "chasing his tail" working on this laptop. He informed me that he was an "escalation tech" and that he could call for a replacement. It took him 5 minutes to call and to put a stop to this BS. This call was placed around 3/25. It took them to 4/11 just to start production of the R2.

m17x problem #6: They originally told me that I'd be recieving the SAME laptop, only brand new. After a few hours of calling to speak with different people, a ton of yelling and screaming, I was told I'd be getting an R2 as a replacement.

This is the bulk of the story, but a lot of small nightmare'ish details are missing. I was super excited when I first bought the laptop. But, Dell quickly sucked the fun out the situation by providing me a machine riddled with issues. I will never buy another Dell product unless from a store. At least this way I'll be able to return a crappy product instead of being taken for a ride by Dell.

[Crocs09]

Question for everyone.. I just received my R2 replacement system today.. Beautiful system, but..... I keep getting an error saying my display driver has stopped working and has recovered. It happens every few mins and the comp keeps freezing and recovering. It's VERY annoying. Anyway, I tried everything.. Uninstalled & reinstalled the driver, updated BIOS etc.. I absolutely DREAD having to call Alienware support, but if I have to... Anticipating they can't get it fixed either and they suggest a GPU replacement, would that be acceptable?? I know under their warranty they are "allowed" to attempt a repair, but I don't want any of their tech's hands on this. It's mint and I want to keep it that way. The only reason I have this replacement system is b/c a Dell tech touch it and RUINED it.. I would not be comfortable with a repair on a "BRAND NEW" replacement system.. That's what the testing phase is for.. So components don't fail 2min after booting up.. So, I'm curious, how would you fine folk handle this and what would be a fair expectation????

[Dwarf King]

Kind of scary to know that you have freezing and recoveries.
Anyway my replacement is now shipped and I should soon be able to track it I only hope my replacement will be a stable machine without any nasty issue...

Oh I think the freezing you are talking about is called lock ups, which the R1 system had a lot of issues with(did you allow win 7 to update it self? That would perhaps help or at least I hope that it will help...).

[jabbok]

Question for everyone.. I just received my R2 replacement system today.. Beautiful system, but..... I keep getting an error saying my display driver has stopped working and has recovered. It happens every few mins and the comp keeps freezing and recovering. It's VERY annoying. Anyway, I tried everything.. Uninstalled & reinstalled the driver, updated BIOS etc.. I absolutely DREAD having to call Alienware support, but if I have to... Anticipating they can't get it fixed either and they suggest a GPU replacement, would that be acceptable?? I know under their warranty they are "allowed" to attempt a repair, but I don't want any of their tech's hands on this. It's mint and I want to keep it that way. The only reason I have this replacement system is b/c a Dell tech touch it and RUINED it.. I would not be comfortable with a repair on a "BRAND NEW" replacement system.. That's what the testing phase is for.. So components don't fail 2min after booting up.. So, I'm curious, how would you fine folk handle this and what would be a fair expectation????

When I received my replacement they didn't put in the dual video cards so I had to have a tech come and install them, so you may not have any choice but to let them fix it.

Have you tried doing a fresh install of windows and the drivers?

[danp224]

I received my replacement yesterday. Holy cow, this is the way that it should've run in the beginning.

Finally....

[SOS4DELL]

Do someone ever did a research comparison among the principal manufaturers to know if those kind of absurdities and issues are a common practice among them?
Then a consumer attorney can demand the company for all that worth...
I still remember many years ago a repeting issue with a laptops diskette driver from Toshiba. Finally Toshiba had to pay a lot to the people suffering from Toshiba´s behaviour...

[Dwarf King]

Do someone ever did a research comparison among the principal manufaturers to know if those kind of absurdities and issues are a common practice among them?
Then a consumer attorney can demand the company for all that worth...
I still remember many years ago a repeting issue with a laptops diskette driver from Toshiba. Finally Toshiba had to pay a lot to the people suffering from Toshiba´s behaviour...

Well you better be wrong about this or else I would find myself in a living nightmare by having to go all over this repairing waiting, repairing, waiting and negotiate for refund or replacement once again Besides many peoples machines are working just fine so I am confident that what we are seeing here is just merely a bad incident of statistical cases even though the probability score for that is very low... Man do not even write such a scary thing on a forum like this as that would make all us Alienware fans go psychotic

[danp224]

Crocs,

Either you have the luck of the draw, bad GPU or it could still be a driver issue.

I know that you might be slightly inconvenienced, but have you tried reverting back to the factory image?

Might be easier than a ham fisted tech opening your machine....

Let us know the outcome.