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Re: Electronic goods perish in my presence; technical support must hate me

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See: Electronic goods perish in my presence, but I learn a few lessons from them before they do; Alienware M11x R2 hinge problem

Wednesday night. No Dell box to send in my Alienware for hardware replacement. “John”, the technical support representative I spoke with last week about my Alienware M11x R2 hinge problem, said my box would arrive on Monday or Tuesday. I just got off the phone with Alienware technical support and they have no record of anything being dispatched in the system. Apparently, when you call in for technical support, they’re supposed to give you a dispatch number if they’re going to send you something. The representative telling me it’s going to arrive on Monday or Tuesday wasn’t enough. Who knew? How was I supposed to know to ask for a dispatch number if he gave me confirmation that it was going to happen? They have these calls recording, don’t they? They just hate me.

I put in the support request again. Now, it’s Wednesday and the box will arrive in “3 days”. I’ll get it on Monday. Walk to Purolator on Tuesday. Take “10 business days” to get back to Dell. Take “5 business days” to replace the LCD. Take an unknown amount of time to send it back to me. ”Award-winning” technical support, indeed. Bunny ears are cool.

Pro tip: Ask for a dispatch number when they say they’re going to send you something, otherwise they won’t give you one and you’ll have to call in again.

It’s only been 5 days since I called in to Alienware and posted my first article on this issue. Since then, the official article that I linked has changed. It no longer mentions that they will replace the hinges out of warranty, no longer gives the reference numbers to the support articles that you should reference when you call in, no longer says anything but “contact us”. Now, I feel as if every time they put me on hold, they’re conspiring and trying to get their story straight before they tell me something. My prediction is that they will replace the display, send it back, charge me and tell me that Dell was no longer offering the replacement for free because the article oh-so-conveniently was erased after I called in. I’ll tell you in 4+ weeks how it goes.

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Electronic goods perish in my presence, but I learn a few lessons from them before they do; Alienware M11x R2 hinge problem

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I appear to have the worst luck with electronic goods; or as my friend puts it, I just work them too hard. But they were made to be used, so I use them!

My first laptop’s video card gets fried three months in. My second laptop has a hinge problem that is their fault. Both problems are (or will be) replaced for free. But why can’t I have a laptop that only has problems caused by me?

I just put in my work order for my Alienware M11x R2 to get the broken hinge problem dealt with. The M11x R1 and M11x R2 both have a problem with “faulty” hinges. At one point, I read it was because Dell tightened the fasteners too much *shrugs*. Whatever it is, your hinge will crack over time. Dell will replace it for free, even if your warranty ran out. My box arrives on Monday. Walk to Purolator, latest by Tuesday. Wait for Dell to receive it in 2 weeks (“approximately 10 business days”). They’ll take “5 business days” to replace the display. And an unknown amount of time to ship it back to me.

Last September, Dell finally published an official article outlining the procedures for getting it replaced. Call 1-800-ALIENWARE for support when you start to see it happen to yours. They won’t replace it if it hasn’t started to crack yet.

Edit (2012-01-18): Since the post just 5 days ago, they have changed the official article. It used to say that they will replace it out of warranty and gives you the support knowledge ID to reference to when speaking with a representative. My prediction is that they will fix my laptop and charge me and tell me they never said they would do it out of warranty. I’ll tell you in 4+ weeks. 

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