Complaint to BBB:
I have had extensive problems with this PC, for which I paid $6,800, including several hundred dollars for the warranty. I now have both a failed optical drive and sound card, and I'm getting a runaround from the company about replacement parts. I'm getting a different story from every tech I speak with.
I first spoke with Adrian, on July 15th. He remoted into my computer and checked everything, then agreed that the parts needed to be replaced. I explained to him that I've been in the computer field for 15 years and I can replace them, but he said they had to be shipped to an onsite tech and that was two day shipping, and the tech would call me to make an appointment.
When I hadn't heard anything by Monday, July 21, I called back and spoke with Edgar, who said that the parts hadn't been shipped and he didn't know why. He said they never ship parts to a tech, and they're always shipped to the warranty holder, who is allowed to install the parts if they know how. He had no idea why Adrian told me I had to use a tech, because they "never tell people that." He would put a rush on the shipping.
I hadn't heard anything by Wednesday, so I called again and spoke with Morgan. The parts still hadn't been shipped. I explained that I was going to be forced to file a complaint with the BBB if this didn't get resolved by Friday, and he said he would expedite the case.
As of now (Saturday), I still have no parts. I have an e-mail from Thursday saying the drive "could ship out tomorrow" (the 25th). It also said the sound card is not in stock, but they could send me a lower-end sound card and reimburse the difference.
I called again just now and forgot to get the name of the tech. He says there is still no record of my drive being shipped. I explained that I didn't want a lower-end sound card, and that I wanted the sound card I ordered or a comparable model. He said they weren't in stock and he had no idea when they'd have any of them.
This is extremely poor customer service and not what I would expect from a company owned by Dell, which I've found to have excellent support for the years I've been in the computer field. After searching, I now find that there are numerous complaints on the Internet about similar Alienware issues, including 43 reports on the usacomplaints.com web site alone. I had not checked this before I bought the PC because I have bought nothing but Alienware and Dell PCs for both myself and my company over the past many years and had no reason to believe I'd run into this sort of thing. I'm now having serious reservations about the new Dell notebook that I had planned to buy in August.
Thank you for any help you can offer. Being a computer consultant who works from home most of the time, it is critical that both my desktop and laptop computers work flawlessly, and that I can very quickly get replacements in the (hopefully) rare occasions they don't. When I have a computer problem, I lose time, meaning I lose money. This is why I buy only high-end computers. It seems that the old adage, "You get what you pay for, " doesn't apply to Alienware.
Resolution requested on BBB complaint:
I would like them to honor the warranty I paid for and send me either the exact same components or upgraded components they have in stock, which would be preferable after all the time I've spent on this and the aggravation I've had to endure. I need these parts IMMEDIATELY. I do training videos and have for the past two weeks had to use my husband's lower-end PC to create DVDs and get audio playback, and their lack of concern about my hardware failures is interfering with my livelihood.
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