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Lisa of North Kingston RI (05/14/08)
I purchased two Alienware computers for my sons. One cost roughly 7500.00USD., the other abou 4500.00. This was in October 2005. Within the 30days of money returned in full warranty, the desktop failed to operate correctly. When calling for warranty they (in Miami), refused to reclaim the merchandise. They insisted that we take it apart to search for the problem. (Does one buy a BMW, then dismantle the engine??). Crazy.
Took us 4days, only to determine, we needed to send it back. We returned it. The problem lay in the motherboard. It was returned to us, but now the sound card was not working, again, they suggested we take it aprt, rather than do that we just kept using it, without sound. We then moved it to one of our homes in Europe. It stopped working properly again. This is now in 2006.
We shipped it to the U.K. for repair. They repaired it, and sent it back. It worked for a few weeks. Then it broke down again. Again they insisted we dismantle the whole thing. It now lays in pieces on my sons bedroom floor. Alienware no longer responds to our emails in regards to repair...Sebastien of the U.K. office, never got back to us, Miami just laughed at our concrens, and has a Oh well, too bad attitude, as the computer is in Europe. The warranty expires in October 2008, gues they are just refusing to assist whilst awaiting the warranty expiration. The other Alienware, the laptop, stopped working when the warranty ran out...Oh well...again! just threw 4500. out the window there. Basically have given up hope with these products. Pity. My sons were very saddened and disappointed.
Lost roughly 12,000.00 on Alienware, after purchasing two computers, neither of which were fully functional.
Albert of Parsonsfield ME (03/10/08)
I bought a Laptop pc from this company for business use. It was going to run a network for my machinery. I bought this brand because of its advertised superior performance and quality. I needed the reliability because it cost thousands when our network is down. Well after about three weeks the motherboard went bad. I sent the laptop back to the company and they replaced the motherboard per the warranty.
Now 8 months later another motherboard failed. I called the company and they said its not under warranty and it will cost $600.00 to fix. I have read numerous feedbacks on problems with the Alienware Laptop motherboards not being reliable and failing. The first incident happened before it was even 30 days old. I feel they should at least replace this laptop with something that will work or refund my money. This unit cast me about $4,500.00. That's not counting the down time on my network for my machines would be thousands of dollars. At this point I would be happy to cut my loss and get my money back less the restocking fee. I told the tech support guy, it looks like I have a $4,500.00 door stop. He answered back, Yup, pretty much sir. That's what I call bad service. I am so tired of buying products that are supposed to be superior quality, (In which I paid for) and the product turns out to be JUNK!
Thousands of dollars lost in the network being down. This laptop is used for business.
Steve of Kapolei HI (12/21/07)
I purchased an Alienware laptop in 08/07 for $1628. I have now been officially getting the run around from customer service. Here is my problem. About 4 months after I purchased the computer it started to randomly shut down of its own accord. The battery level made no difference. Unfortunately, I was deployed at the time and had no real way to get in touch with the company, so I let it go until I returned from deployment. I sent an e-mail request for assistance. The response had me changing code in the BIOS which I was uncomfortable with doing. Shortly after the request for help on this matter the computer stopped working entirely. I was told by the technical support representative the computer was out of warranty, and I would have to send it back to be repaired at my own expense. Normally I would understand this and not have much of a problem with it. Sometimes things just happen.
After a little research, however, I discovered that since around the time I purchased my machine other people have been having the same problems--mostly caused by the laptop running too hot and damaging the motherboard or other elements. I feel that if this has been an on-going issue that the company is aware of, a recall should have been issued to fix the problem, or at the very least the manufacturing should have been examined and altered. Quite frankly, it boggles my mind that a mass produced Compaq laptop that I purchased almost ten years ago for half as much as I paid for the Alienware system, has never given me a single hardware issue, while the supposedly high-quality, high performance machine I purchased 16 months ago is now good for nothing more than a doorstop. According to customer service rep I spoke with, I should be perfectly content with that because I can hardly expect a custom built high-performance machine to last as long as a mass-produced factory model. Apparently one tenth as long for double the price should be good enough for me.
Sina of Mission Viejo, CA (11/21/07)
I ordered a new Area 51 7500 desktop computer and from day one it would randomly freeze up. For the past 40 days I have been on their technical support line for following their recommendations, spending maybe 7-10 hours running diagnostics, removing and installing my memory. I ran so many tests that the technical support person said that he could not offer me any more technical support over the phone and I would have to send the computer in.
Finally I get fed up with the situation, so I called to return it. They told me it had been over 30 days since I bought it and that I can not return it for a refund. It wasn't my fault that their tech support couldn't figure out the issue within 30 days and that I had every right to return the defective computer.
These guys refused to take back the computer.
Susan of West Seneca NY (09/04/07)
My son purchased an Alienware Area 51-M laptop in March of 2005. The motherboard has been replaced 3 times, the last one lasted two months. The DVD drive broke within 1 week of delivery. The last motherboard was replaced just one month before the end of the warranty. We could not purchase another warranty and now are the proud owners of a $2640.00 doorstop. In total I have spent 3 entire 24 hour days of my life on the phone with support. I have been inside this piece of junk more times than I care to count. I have run an extra laptop next to this junky machine while trying to download fixes, and rewriting computer code.
Billy of Now, VT (07/07/07)
Haven't had much problems, other than paying $5,000 for a piece of junk - loud as a race car, hot as a sauna, big as a monster truck, unstable as linux, computer.
Every port on this computer could be in a better spot (they are spaced out so I have cords running from my laptop out of every side, audio, ethernet, power, etc) , usb ports are upside down, my computer's resolution does not go as high as advertised, there is no camera on the monitor, just a spot where one should be. I haven't found a pair of speakers that plays out of the internal sound card's audio output jack properly, the audio play controls on the front never worked, even on the date I opened the box. The scroll pad on my touchpad never worked. And now it's overheating.
Joshua of Sunnyside WA (06/27/07)
I bought an Aurora from them, with a bunch of accessories, for about $3000.00. They promised me free shipping and had a projected ship date within the next couple weeks. They didn't even start building my computer until after I'd called customer support four times, and it wasn't shipped until over a month after I'd ordered. Then I was charged for shipping, because the shipping is only free if you don't order accessories.
I went over the relevant details, my needs, and my reasons with him several times and every time he assured me that Alienware did, indeed, come with a genuine non-OEM Windows install CD. It does not. The only thing it came with is a CD that *without prompting*, *unless action is taken* will upon boot reformat your hard drive and install a clean version of Windows.
James of New Market MD (06/05/07)
I purchased an Alienware laptop as a birthday gift for my son. First, it took nearly a month to deliver. There were immediate problems with the power supply. It never fully charged, nor held a charge very long. Within a week, the AC power adapter fell apart. I contacted Alienware and let them know. It took them three days to respond to my inquiry, and their response was a generic list of trouble-shooting tips. Two days later, they requested a photograph of the damaged power adapter. I took a photo with my cell phone and attached it to a message.
They then told me I would have to return the adapter and they would replace it. I sent it back to them. Three weeks later, they sent a replacement adapter, a generic AC adapter from a cheap-o Chinese company. The laptop worked for two days, then no longer held a charge.
William of Sayville NY (06/03/07)
I bought my Alienware Area51 M-7700 in November of 2005. It had its issues, but I took them in stride; tech support tried to help. I expect very little from any tech support service, expectation breeds disappointment. I prefer to be happily suprised when someone actually knows what they are doing.
So 4 nights ago I was playing Battlefield: 2, and thick back smoke began to pour out of the back of my alienware. Smoke alarms went off and I had to frantically dismount the fire alarm from the wall and promptly smack it outside on the road. Fire alarms out here send out masses of Civilian Firemen, Military Firemen, etc. It had to be silenced!
10 seconds later I walked back into my office and there was my alienware, silent; with the last of the smoke coming out of the back. You can view a photo of the damage at:
http://www.bouncethebox.com/itworkedfineyesterday.jpg
My warranty has already expired, so I took off the cover from the heatsink area from which the smoke originated. I was horrified to see the damage, a motherboard replacement is definately required. Going through Tech Support is out of the question, they obviously do not have any Quality Control measures in place. The last time I called about an issue, I was told my notebook warranty had expired. When I said to the technician So I guess I've got a $4,000 paperweight? he responded, Pretty much.
I've read countless postings about people packing their alienware for shipment, only to find that they did not meet the criteria and had their claim rejected. Even when following the instructions to the letter, it's amazing how Alienware seems to use that as their excuse when they cannot fix something or just want to elect not to. My concern is that if people are experiencing this when shipping from the states, how am I going to fair shipping from US Base in Iraq? There's just no way, I could see them now using that as an excuse.
No, I will attempt to fix it with a motherboard from an another alienware off of ebay; god knows there are plenty of them out there from unhappy customers looking to cut their losses.
I will never again purchase an Alienware, I've learned my lesson. going even further, I will not even purchase a Dell for that matter considering they now own Alienware. I've got another 4 or 5 thousand I can spend on a notebook, but it sure won't be an Alienware or a Dell.
Bruce of Aliso Viejo CA (06/01/07)
My computer was shipped to me not working, customer service agreed to ship it back 2nd day. The label they gave me was for ground (something I did not realize until after the machine had been given to FedEx). One week later, they shipped the machine back to me and after all the promises and assurances to send it second day they shipped it Ground once again - another 5 days gone.
A month after my order, I still do not have a computer that works, and Alienware has broken their promises to me, twice - costing me real time and inconvenience. Jake agrees that I should be compensated, but won't say what or how until after I receive the computer and tell him it works. I remind him about our compensation (Jake had specifically mentioned extending my warranty - and I was ok with this) and Jake tells me he will have to call me back next week to let me know what they can do.
They are effectively extending my warranty 5 days. I told Jake that a 5-day warranty extension is really not going to cut it and Jake tells me that, that is the offer and if I do not take it right then, I get nothing. This is customer service?
Bruce of Gordonsville, VA (05/11/07)
Bought an Alienware Area-51 m7700 laptop with lots of memory, very fast processor, etc. Aside from the fact that a fully charged battery, which itself weighs more than a Sony Vaio, only holds an hour of charge if the computer is doing anything but sleeping, and it will burn your lap if you use it as a true laptop, the machine seemed to run well and had great graphics.
But then, all of a sudden, the battery stopped holding a charge. Made the mistake of buying a new battery. Then sent it to PCLaptopRepair back in January. They had the machine on their bench for four months. They tried swapping out every part of the motherboard to get the charging circuit to work well enough to charge the battery. As everyone knows, Alienware doesn't supply motherboards or motherboard parts to anyone who doesn't work for them, so replacing the entire motherboard wasn't an option.
This resulted not only in a loss for me (I'm out $2K) but also for the company that tried to repair it. They finally sent me back the computer at no charge (no pun intended) unfixed. They told me to buy a Mac.
Ricardo of Fairfield OH (03/31/07)
I purchased an area 51 Pc and after a year and some months the Pc has had a number of serious errors. I called to get some tech support and was told my warranty expired. Therefore no help could be given to me with their product. I'm on my own and have tried multiple resource to fix my system. Apparently the graphics card I received has stopped working. Apparently they don't think it's their problem that their PC's don't last long after warranty.
I'm dissapointed because my brothers Alienware had a bad motherboard and doesn't work at all. I think they build lemons and promise state of the art machines. They guilty of false advertising for customer service and quality. Their machines are no reliable and there accountability is zero. A very dissapointing experience.
Edward of La Crescenta, CA (03/04/07)
I purchased the Area 51m 7700 laptop in August of 2005. Laptop failed 3 months later. I sent it back to have the motherboard replaced; was covered by warranty. Another 5 months passed, and then failed again.
Unit was sent to Alienware again to have the motherboard replaced for the 2nd time (will have been the third motherboard in the computer). Was charged $160 for repairs (warranty had expired after first repair). Another 4 months passed, and computer failed again. Alienware recommend a local technician who told me repairs were impossible since the parts were specific and Alienware does not sell parts to technicians!
So I again sent the unit to Alienware and tell me that it is the motherboard that needed to be replaced (will have been the 4th motherboard in the machine IF I had proceeded with the repair). This time, they wanted me to pay $260 JUST so they could diagnose it and $345 for a new motherboard.
Despite the fact that the machine is a lemon, Alienware refuses to refund my money, or even repair the unit for free.
Jordan of Boise ID (03/03/07)
When I purchased this computer 3 years ago, the computer was sent to me quickly and was I amazed once I loaded all of my new games on to the system. Until the optical Drive broke. I had to wait a month until I received the unit again. The drive still didn't work, and now the IR port for my remote was broken, looks like I have to send it in again. I've sent this computer in about 4 times, unfortunately the sad thing is, I had to wait to send it in each time, because I knew it would take a month until I'd get it back again
3,500 Dollars down the drain because I fell for their advertisement and great service when I was ordering the computer, just lack there of when I had problems.
Ron of Fort Worth TX (09/30/06)
Purchased an Alienware Area51-m7700 along with the premium 3 year onsite warranty (about $3500 total) in March of 2005. After many delays, the 14 day turnaround turned into a month and I finally received at the end of April. Towards the end of summer I started calling tech support about my screen occasionally fading in and out and flickering. After answering questions over the phone I was told to download new drivers and it would fix the problem. I tried that, but the problem still happened randomly, I decided I just had to live with it.
This year it started getting worse, instead of happening occassionally, it started happening every time I used the computer. I decided to try tech support again. More questions over the phone, more of me trying to self diagnose the laptop and still no physical support from Alienware (even though I had the premium warranty)and I this time I was told that my video card was overheating. They sent out some thermal paste that I was to apply and that would fix the problem. Unfortunately, that did not work either.
Now the computer has started shutting off on its own and is not recharging (this on top of the original issue) unless I wiggle the AC adaptor cord where it plugs into the laptop. Another call to tech support, more of me trying to diagnose the problem over the phone with tech support and now I am told that the AC adaptor is bad, and that will fix all the issues I have been reporting. I am also now told that the AC adaptor is only covered for 1 year and it is now out of warranty! I tried explaining that this is the same issue that I had been reporting for a year, that it was not my fault that they had not diagnosed it correctly. I get a flat NO and if I want my laptop to work, I have to buy a new power supply. All buyers need to BEWARE! I bought teh premium warranty wanting protection, and they seem to be doing all they can not to honor the warranty. I have sinc bought two desktop gaming systems from Digital Storm and have had great luck with these. Too bad they do not make laptops as well! I will never buy another thing from Alienware or Dell if this is their level of customer service.
Vince of Irvine CA (09/08/06)
Bought system in May 06, many problems and replacment of motherboard, system still won't see memory as advertised. Alienware strung along so long with repairs and shipment of goods they failed to deliver that they no longer will honor a refund. The system still does not work properly.
$5500.00 wasted, 50+ hours of my time troubleshooting, wasted productivity, rebuilt system needlessly 3 times, cannot buy another system because I don't have the cash (all tied up in this LEMON.)
H. of New York NY (08/09/06)
Alienware sent me a S6K paper weight. The new system arrived to me defective--I had to send the system back two times within the first sixty-days. The matter simply exaccerbated to the point where everyone I dealt with on the phone chose to be duplicitous with me. Got stuck with a over $6K black paper weight.
Timothy of Hayward CA (08/03/06)
Sentia Laptops shipping with a battery they know to be defective. When i called in to try to resolve this i was informed that the Alienware Laptops have a 90 day warranty only and even thought they knew the batteries to be defective they have no responsibility to notify the users of these laptops that the batteries are defective
within less than 120 days this laptop has zero battery life. Even when brand new battery life was never what they claim it to be and from day one it just went downhill. While the battery was totally dead before the warranty expired i did not contact them before the 90 days was up. I find it insane that what they pitch as the best laptop money can by has the worlds shortest warranty. Nice to know they have that much faith in their hardware.
Tim of Richmond, VA (06/28/06)
I purchased an Alienware computer in Dec. 2005. In Feb. 06 the power supply failed and they send me a new one. The new power supply burned up my motherboard. I asked to have the system replaced and was advised they could not replace the system. I sent it back to be repaired.
35 days after the power supply failed I received my computer back. On 06/06/06 my motherboard burned up again. I requested the system be replaced or return. I was advised I could not return the system. They would send me a new motherboard. The new mother board was replaced and the system would not load Windows. This is because the motherbaord that Alienware sent was not the same as my old one.
I again contacted Alienware and requested this time just to return the system and get a refund. I was advised that was not possible. I was told to return the computer to them for repair again, so it is on route to their repair center. I have had the system since 12/12/05 and I have been 65 days without a working computer.
Allen of San Diego CA (06/09/06)
This is an update to a post I made here a few months ago. It has now been well over 6 months since I paid for my Alienware computer, and I have still not received a working laptop. They finally agreed to completely replace my system after the 2nd time sending it back and nothing being done to it. (even though I was assured all tests would be done, and my overheating would be specifically tested for) However, I had to send mine back and wait three weeks until they could dissamble and inventory the parts. I ordered a new one, and when it came time to build it, the screen was out of stock indefinitely (even though the website said it was in stock when I ordered) It has been two more weeks, and it is still out of stock indefinitely.
Vince of Irvine CA (05/22/06)
Ordered online, and they would only accept my home address. So I asked them once ordered to ship to my business; they refused but said I could pick up. Did that, and found that one of the two displays did not have any power supply, digital video cables, anything that ships with that display. Additionally, once I booted up I realized that they installed the operating system on the wrong pair of drives (supposed to be Windows XP on one fast drive, and the two raid drives as work drives.)
This took all day to fix, and tech support was clueless from the very beginning because they couldn't even get to the bios. The driver CD did not include any of the drivers that were intended for the system I paid for, so I spun a long time trying to break the raid, get the wrong drivers loaded, etc. and then downloaded the proper drivers off the web. I called the customer service and support, emailed them, etc. MANY MANY MANY times. They never acknowledged they made a mistake, that my day long reconfiguration effort was NOT something I should have to do.
They eventually said they'd send me what was missing, but it has been three weeks now and I'm staring at a blank monitor. Today I recieved a power cord (for a pc, not the monitor ) which is useless. Also, 10 days ago the keyboard spacebar has started failing, so now it won't space while typing. So, again I have another component to return but they wanted a credit card deposit before they'd ship the replacement. HORRIBLE SERVICE, SLIP-SHOD QA, claims to have 200+ inspection process by qualified technicians. If anybody knows anyone who has influence there I'd appreciate the information since it seems the indians have no chiefs that can do anything.
Paid $5000 for a system that I had to put $1100 worth of technical effort into configuring, and I still don't have what I paid for.
Heather of Norco CA (05/02/06)
I received the laptop on 4/19/06, upon attempting to start it for the first time 10 mins after opening the box, the laptop wouldn't load Windows. I called Alienware tech support immediately and asked them to exchange the system for a working one. They refused. After 90 minutes on the phone, I finally got to Alex, the Customer Service manager. He spent an additional 60 minutes telling me that to fix it I need to pay shipping to send the unit back to them. I told him I refused to pay $145 shipping plus an additional 15% restocking fee for a system that did not work from the start.
Another 30 minutes later, he finally agreed to waive the restocking fee but I had to wait 48 hours for a call from Alex, the president of the company in order to get an Return Authorization (RA) Number. I waited the 48 hours and never got the call. On 5/1/06, I contacted Alienware again and was told Alex was at lunch for another 10 minutes. After waiting on hold for 20 minutes, I was again told he was at lunch for an additional 10 minutes and was transfered to Rodney, another Customer Service Manager. I was told after a 60 minute conversation that he needed to confirm the restocking fee waiver with Alex and that he'd have Alex call be the next morning.
On 5/2/06, I called Alienware again stating Alex never called me as promised. I was told he was out sick. I asked to speak to Rodney & was told he was at lunch for another 10 minutes. I got transfered to Bernie. 63 minutes later, I was told there was no proof Alex even talked to me on 4/19, since he didn't make notes in their computer. He refused to waiver the restocking fee and refused to send me an RA number. I still have a laptop I paid $3600 for that doesn't work and can't return even though there's a 30-day money-back guarantee. Desired Settlement: Refund Settlement Explanation: At this point, I no longer want a replacement. I want a full refund, so I don't have to deal with such crummy customer service again.
Kenneth of Watertown ,MA (03/31/06)
In December I purchased an Alienware Area 51-m notebook and recieved it on January 7th, 2006. After only 3 weeks of having this computer the motherboard fried and would no longer work.
I called the tech support and they instructed me to send it to Aienware repair facility in Memphis Tenessee. I did and they recieved it on Feb 13th. I was told by a rep that it would take aproximately 2-3 days to diagnose, repair and inspect for quality control, then it would be shipped to me.
It is now April 1st, and Alienware has given me the run around everytime I call. It's a different answer everytime, even if I call in the same day. I finally demanded to speak to a supervisor and 20 minutes later one picked up. He said there was no ETA as to when the motherboards would arrive at the facility and there was no compensation for delays. I paid over $1700 for this machine and got 3 weeks of use from it, yet there is no compensation?
I was outraged and wanted to return the computer. The supervisor said I could not do so. I asked to have it shipped back to me unrepaired and he said they would not do so. I asked him what would Alienware do if months went by and it was not repaired, and he stated that Alienware is not responsible for delays in repairs.
I'm without my computer and have been for nearly two months with no end in sight.
Claudio of Alpine CA (03/24/06)
This is my second complaint. Alienware suposedly "fixed" my PC for a second time. Nope. Same problem. I am done. I want my money back. They will not give me my money back because they said my 30 day trial period is up. How can it be up when I have not had A PC that has worked since day 1 out of the box? Also....How can I return it if they say they are fixing it?
Also, Even if I did return it, They would charge me a 15% RESTOCKING FEE? 15 % OF 3000 IS 450! tHIS COMPANY is part of the BBB? How does this happen with thi kind of business practices? I want my 3000 dollars back. That is what I want!
Allen of San Diego CA (03/06/06)
I purchased a laptop on November 2nd through financing on the website. It wouldn't be shipped until the 19th of December because it's a new model. Soon after, I found out that people who ordered after me would receive the same computer a month earlier. I was told by Alienware that I could cancel and re-order if I wanted, but it was too late by then, and I wouldn't receive it until after Jan 1st. When it was the day it was to ship, I got an email saying the hard drive I wanted was out of stock, so it would be an indefinite amount of time before my order was fulfilled. I called and upgraded so it would go out.
Finally, I got the computer on the 31st of December. On the 21st of January, the video card went out. I called, they sent a fedex label, and I sent the laptop back to be repaired. Three weeks later (and no reply to any emails), I called, and they kept saying it was done, and would be sent to me any moment now. Finally, after 5 weeks, I called and asked to speak to a supervisor. I talked to Victor Ruiz, who promised me that my laptop would be sent no later than Thursday (it was Monday then), and he would personally call me tomorrow and give me an update. He did not call, and I got no tracking email.
I called on Friday, and he was on vacation that day. I spoke to Peter, who said I would have to call back when Victor came back, since Victor was his boss (no attempt to help the customer even though the supervisor had obviously lied to me) Peter promised he would call back, and he finally did later that day. He told me that the screen was on backorder, and they hadn't even looked at the video card. Now, it has been 6 weeks, and they haven't even looked at my computer, and have not done any repairs to it.
When I enquired about getting my money back, they said "we already have our money from the finance company, so we are under no obligation to give you anything". I call every day and ask for Victor, and they say he is in a meeting. They promise to have him call me as soon as he gets out, but he never calls.
Claudioof Alpine CA (02/04/06)
I have had nothing but problems with this company and its product since I first opened up the box. Finally, after MANY MANY hours of TECH supoort with at least 27 DIFFERENT TECHS over a span of 3 TO 5 days, Alieware said to send it back to them. I did..in the ORIGINAL packaging. Upon arrival on JAN 12 at their factory..I then waited OVER 2 WEEKS to have them call me..and tell me the package was damaged upon reciept from them and that to FIX the case.. I had to pay them 186.00 to repair it. I was infuriated that they WAITED 2 WEEKS to tell me of this.
I packed that PC with all of the ORIGINAL packaging. There is NO WAY it was IMPROPERLY packaged as they suggest. I want my PC back In working order and repaired! Jay Miranda STILL has not given me a SATIFACTORY answer as to WHY he waited over 2 weeks to tell me of this damage. The customer service rep named DIANA even said it was very unusual for them to wait so long to tell me of this shipping damage. She followed it up by a phone call to tell me that everything would be taken cared of. I waited a week. Alienware called again....Jay Miranda and said I still owed them the money to have it fixed. I never did recieve another call from DIANA from Customer service.
I feel that I have suffered enough with this company. I have done EVERYTHING they have asked me to do...andnow I am done. I really need some help here as I am just a lowly customer against a company that has the US government as its biggest client. I spent more money on this PC than I ever have in my life...and since day one it has not worked right...or...at all for that matter. I am still making the payments on a PC I do not even have.
Angie of League City TX (02/03/06)
In Feb 2005 we bought a low-end Alienware desktop for $1300, paid in full. Got the computer in March 2005 & within 2 weeks began to have problems. It was blue-screening (wouldn't even make it to the Windows welcome screen). For approx 2 weeks on/off the phone with Tech Support, they had us perform numerous technical manuevers to locate the problem (unplug/replug hard drive, check BIOS settings, remove/reinstall memory card). We had to open the computer OURSELVES as on-site tech support was not available, according to Alienware. After 2 wks they finally said we had to ship it back to them for repair.
I tell them we want a refund & they agree - minus a 15% restocking fee. BUT...if we send the computer back, they fix it, send it back & if we have further problems w/the computer, we get every penny we paid for it back. I agree & they email us a pre-paid shipping label. We send it back & days after they receive it they call us to say the outer case was broken & we had to pay $150 for a new one, not to mention that the original problem w/blue screening was a defective hard drive. I spoke w/ a manager & let him know how upsetting it was for me to know that we sent them a properly packaged, DEFECTIVE computer for repair & AFTER they fix the problem they decide to let us know the case is broken.
We practically begged for the case to be fixed at no charge, which we got. When we get the computer back, my husband opens the case to check everything out, only to find the CPU fan sitting on the floor of the tower instead of in it's slot. We call Alienware back & they said they would send us some Thermagel & an on-site tech to install it (suddenly they have on-site tech support!). The tech comes out, puts the Thermagel on & the fan in & off he goes. It is May by then, the computer seems to be running fine.
In July the computer goes out again! After more calls to Tech Support it is concluded that the CPU fan is no good & is causing the computer to over-heat & shut off. They send me a new fan & another on-site tech. Tech puts in the new fan & more Thermagel. It is September 2005 by this time. Fast forward to just 2 wks ago - computer suddenly does NOT turn on. More calls to Tech Support. After taking the cover off again, I'm practically a pro & consider taking computer tech classes & make serious money. More technical manuevers.
Alienware concludes it is a bad memory card & we have to ship the computer back to them for repair. I FLIPPED OUT! I brought up the fact that the computer was practically useless for the entire time we owned it (10 mths now) & the previous phone agreement of a full refund due to continued problems. I was told we could still get a refund - minus the 15% restocking fee. I FLIPPED OUT AGAIN! I placed a call to the president & some yahoo calls me back a week later to try to resolve the issue w/customer service. My next step will be sending emails/letters to the president & so the pressure will continue until we, the consumers, are fully satisfied. Good thing we didn't buy one of their higher-end computers/laptops....
Timothy of Breckenridge CO (12/26/05)
I ordered a workstation from Alienware that cost $4,200. Four days after I recieved it there was a software problem with the mup.sys driver that prevented the computer from booting into Windows. I was told that the only way to fix this problem was downloading drivers from their website, and then putting them on a floppy disk. One problem, the computer doesn't have a floppy drive. The tech support person said that I should simply disassemble someone else's computer to get their floppy drive and then intall it into the Alienware machine.
I couldn't belive it. What if I bought a defective car and the dealer said to simply take some parts out of one of my friends cars to fix it. I thought this suggestion was outrageous since I just paid over $4,000 for the computer. After complaining to their customer service department they said I could return it at my expense ($250) plus a $600 restocking fee. They wanted me to pay almost a thousand dollars to return a computer that went defective in only 4 days. After all I had heard about Alienware, I thought I was getting one of the best computers available. However, the level of customer service is horrible.
Sherry of Costa Mesa CA (12/01/05)
I ordered the workstation online on September 16th. We waited almost 3 weeks to receive the machine. We were disappointed to learn once we removed it from the box that it only had a single processor installed. When I ordered online, I had chosen dual Opteron processors, but it was determined with an Alienware sales rep I spoke with on the phone that because of a glitch on the online system (you can not hit any "back" button while ordering), the system was built with only one. After additional phone calls to Alienware I was able to purchase the second processor and have that shipped out to install myself. Another week passed before the second CPU was shipped. In the meantime, the computer sat in our office - it was not even turned on as we needed the dual processing power to run the advanced 3D animation jobs.
I was dismayed to find that all that was shipped was the CPU itself, in a simple envelope - not even an anti-static bag. Almost all companies I had previous purchased CPUs from included the heatsink and fan with the CPU purchase and also had anti-static protection around the CPU plastic enclosure. Over 4 weeks from first ordering the machine, we attempted to boot it up. What came up instead of the Win XP64 welcome screen was an error message that OS files were missing or corrupt. Unable to get around the error, or even boot to safe mode, I made the decision to reformat the main hard drive as we needed to get the machine into production on the jobs we had.
After formatting the main hard drive and reinstalling the operating system I thought the machine would be free of errors. I loaded it up with our software and we attempted to begin using the machine. Bear in mind that we only installed Win XP64 certified software and external components. We began having problems on day 2 of using the machine. On boot up, the Win XP64 welcome screen would hang, unable to fully boot. I attempted a number of ways to first determine what was causing this and then fix it.
Finally, I instructed one of our designers to call the Alienware tech support and explain the problem. My designer was on the phone for approximately 3 hours, attempting in vain many of the same things I had already attempted to fix the problem. Tests were run on hardware, etc. The last items the tech had asked my designer to perform rendered the computer absolutely useless to us - unable to boot at all. The next day I phoned Alienware again and explained my dissatisfaction with the system in general, and asked that the problem be resolved as quickly as possible. We had already begun to lose money on the jobs that we had planned for this workstation. I was told that the system would have to be shipped back for repair. I was given an RMA # and a FedEx pick up notice.
Four days passed (this was not the fault of Alienware but FedEx) before the computer was picked up. It is now more than 10 days later and we receive the machine back. All that is noted on the Computer Repair-Customer Receipt is that the, "failure was duplicated", "repaired", and "other - O.S. Corrupted". This could have been preformed right here, by myself, without having to ship it back to Alienware. In fact, this is where we started: with missing O.S. files and my formatting of the hard drive and reinstalling the O.S. Obviously this did not fix the problem initially, and if no hardware changes had been made and the same O.S. disk installed, it would leave one to believe the same problems would begin again. In addition, when the system was sent back, I included a detailed letter as to what was happening and what had been done already and specifically asked for a detailed response and to install a fresh O.S. Neither of which happened. All this aside, after receiving the shipment today we removed the computer from the undamaged box to find the metal casing was damaged. The left, bottom of the case side barely fits on the tower as it is smashed in - meaning this machine had been dropped from a height. Obviously, this was not FedEx as the box was our original box and was completely undamaged/smashed.
I can not believe that an Alienware employee would damage a system so obviously and then simply box it back up and ship that same damaged system back to us as "fixed". We did not bother to turn it on - simply took photos of the damage (enclosed) and boxed it right back up again. We are now approximately 10 weeks from the time we originally purchased this machine and have not been able to use it. I spoke with Christopher Warner on the phone today who refused to offer a refund - all he offered was to replace the damaged case. He also mentioned that was our only option. I also attempted to ask for a completely new system, since it was obvious due to the damage of the case that the system was dropped at some point, and we were refused that as well. We simply refuse to continue to do business with Alienware and demand a complete refund of our original purchase price for the computer that never functioned properly and the additional CPU that is currently installed in the computer: An amount of $4603.26.
We have reported Alienware to the Miami Better Business Bureau. Our complaint ID is 2085963, as well as the Attorney General's Consumer Affairs division. This case has also been documented by mailing via FedEx a similar letter and photos of the case damage to Alienware's Agent of Service, Nelson Gonzalez. We have since discovered hundreds of other similar complaints files against this company.
Patty of Vero Beach FL (11/07/05)
My computer required a new hard drive. I called tech support and they had my old address and I was required to call customer support to change my address. On calling, they asked for my Customer ID, phone number, addess, last four digits of my SSN, and email address. More than enough identifying information. Then, I was asked for for validayion information. I was asked three questions of places I lived prior. I asked where this information came from and they said public records. I failed!
I explained that my name is pretty common and that with all the information I provided, changing my address should not be so cumbersome! Changing my address through my credit card is not so difficult! She told me I needed to provide her with my full SSN or my bank information to complete the validation process as a second option. I said NO! That information is CONFIDENTIAL and all I needed was an address change. I find it scary that they are validating me through public records and that the process is this cumbersome. Prior to this, Alienware has been cumbersome to deal with in getting the hard drive ordered and dealing with tech support to find out what the problem is. I plan on selling the machine and washing myself from this company. Horrible customer service and horrible product.
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