I had a stupid idiot back in '98 bring his laptop in and it had the tell tell smells of burnt boards. So he tells me it was off sitting in his car front passenger seat when rear ended another car and the laptop went thru the window bounced off the back window of the first car and submerged in a puddle and then he proceeded to explain that he got it out of the puddle half an hour later (because he was arguing with the person he hit), and he took it home plugged it into the wall socket and you know the rest. He pleaded with me to save his data on his hard drive because if he couldn't get it he would loose his job. So I told him you better put some feelers out there.
DA
Laptops and Water
Moderator: RLG MGMT Team
Hudson,
Do they have your laptop then?
You need to write/call them again and demand that they repair your laptop or send you a new one. Failure to do so will result in you filing with the better business bureau. You have legal proof that they received your laptop and they have no right to keep it. It would seem to me that they should do so for free given the circumstances; nevertheless, if they don't have your laptop back to you by the end of this month, fully operational, they can expect to hear from authorities. Furthermore, you'll be sure to tell everyone you know how terrible their service is. As for me, having seen what you've been through, I will never buy alienware. I'm really suprised and disappointed by their lack of professionalism.
Do they have your laptop then?
You need to write/call them again and demand that they repair your laptop or send you a new one. Failure to do so will result in you filing with the better business bureau. You have legal proof that they received your laptop and they have no right to keep it. It would seem to me that they should do so for free given the circumstances; nevertheless, if they don't have your laptop back to you by the end of this month, fully operational, they can expect to hear from authorities. Furthermore, you'll be sure to tell everyone you know how terrible their service is. As for me, having seen what you've been through, I will never buy alienware. I'm really suprised and disappointed by their lack of professionalism.
They have it...
...still going to make me pay for the repairs no doubt... but the laptop is found, as I said. It will cost me no more to be repaired than the damage I actually caused...
Response
This was Alienwares response to my letter. All I have to say, is if you intend to get involved with this company, buyer beware. They obviously are in no way concerned with their customers needs. And when a customer does call up irrate, or upset, it is obvious they will do nothing more than they must by law to help. They flat out state that they are insensitive to their customers. This is no way to run a business.
I have had problems with computers in the past, called tech support, and though dismayed at the situation, been won over by their kind, curtious, and competent service. In this case I must truly say that I will never ever ever ever buy another Alienware product, based solely on the customer service.
Here's the letter:
Dear Mr. Monteleon,
Thank you for contacting Alienware Feedback.
I want to express my apologies for all the inconveniences you may have experienced. We truly understand your position, and we definitely appreciate you as one of our customers.
It is true that you should not have been exposed to that kind of treatment. The problem is that when you spend so much time on the telephone taking care of customers who are rude, irate or non cooperative, we tend to desensitize from their problem and assume that all problems must be handled the same way.
Here at Alienware we always strive to have the best Customer Care Center there is, unfortunately, sometimes errors are commited.
Please accept our deepest apolgies for what happened.
Rest assured that our Service Center Staff will do their best to service your computer and ship it back to you as fast as possible.
Kind regards,
Alienware Feedback
I have had problems with computers in the past, called tech support, and though dismayed at the situation, been won over by their kind, curtious, and competent service. In this case I must truly say that I will never ever ever ever buy another Alienware product, based solely on the customer service.
Here's the letter:
Dear Mr. Monteleon,
Thank you for contacting Alienware Feedback.
I want to express my apologies for all the inconveniences you may have experienced. We truly understand your position, and we definitely appreciate you as one of our customers.
It is true that you should not have been exposed to that kind of treatment. The problem is that when you spend so much time on the telephone taking care of customers who are rude, irate or non cooperative, we tend to desensitize from their problem and assume that all problems must be handled the same way.
Here at Alienware we always strive to have the best Customer Care Center there is, unfortunately, sometimes errors are commited.
Please accept our deepest apolgies for what happened.
Rest assured that our Service Center Staff will do their best to service your computer and ship it back to you as fast as possible.
Kind regards,
Alienware Feedback
Steel's right...neutral letter. No one is at fault...so effectively they insulted you again by claiming you are just as much at fault as they are....bottom line is these guys don't know how to handle irrate customers with LEGITIMATE claims. I can see them treating boneheads this way...but you have the tracking number.
So, do they have your compy, and will they fix and return it? If so, after this harassment, do they expect you to pay for it? [/img]
So, do they have your compy, and will they fix and return it? If so, after this harassment, do they expect you to pay for it? [/img]
laptop
They do have it, they will fix it, they do expect me to pay for it, because afterall I did damage it. The fact that they lost the system for two weeks, and their customer service treated me like a thieving liar means nothing to them.
And in regards to your statement that their support does not know how to deal with customers who are irrate or upset, it is my opinion that they can take a customer who is calm, cool, and collective, and turn them into a ranting psycho in a matter of seconds.
Grifter, you know me. And you know I can be out of control. I did everything in my power, to keep calm, especially, when I did not have the tracking number handy, and these people had the upper hand. Now once they found the system, and they were still calling me a liar; things started to get ugly.
Inciting customers should not be the role of customer service. If a customer does call up upset, it is probably because they are frustrated at the potential of losing data, or being unable to work. I was not worried about either of these things, because my data is all backed up; I may have to reload my apps, but that is not a bid deal...
And in regards to your statement that their support does not know how to deal with customers who are irrate or upset, it is my opinion that they can take a customer who is calm, cool, and collective, and turn them into a ranting psycho in a matter of seconds.
Grifter, you know me. And you know I can be out of control. I did everything in my power, to keep calm, especially, when I did not have the tracking number handy, and these people had the upper hand. Now once they found the system, and they were still calling me a liar; things started to get ugly.
Inciting customers should not be the role of customer service. If a customer does call up upset, it is probably because they are frustrated at the potential of losing data, or being unable to work. I was not worried about either of these things, because my data is all backed up; I may have to reload my apps, but that is not a bid deal...
Have to say, here in UK I don't think I have ever stumbled across this customer service thing you guys have problems with - it simply doesn't exist!! :lol: :roll:
Having said that though, in the time I spent in Canada, I was fairly impressed at the attitude, in general, shown to the customer.
Having said that though, in the time I spent in Canada, I was fairly impressed at the attitude, in general, shown to the customer.
It is not the technique that wins a fight, but the more furious mind - Kodiak WOF
You are stuck on stupid. I'm not going to answer that question! - Gen Honore, New Orleans Sep 05
You are stuck on stupid. I'm not going to answer that question! - Gen Honore, New Orleans Sep 05
Sorry Hudson, did not mean to imply that you were raving and ranting from the get go, and certainly it is understandable that you're irrate after the way they treated you. I would think that after you get your laptop back that you write them a long letter or make another phone call recounting the situation. At the very least they should give you a discount on the bill or supply you with some freebies/coupons..something to make ammends. If they don't, they are just plain stupid. I know I won't buy from them. Let me know when you get your laptop back; after which, I plan on writing them a letter explaining how I don't ever intend on buying anything from them since they have such poor customer service.
Hudson on a rampage
I was most irrate when the lady told me her manager/supervisor/monkey in charge told her to tell me that this happened because I did not put the RMA number on the package, when I am looking at the copy of the tracking receipt with my RMA number written below the address.
I asked to talk to her supervisor, and for almost 30 minutes she continually told me that he was busy and could not talk to me, at which point I lowered myself to being a complete and total ass. I told her to tell her supervisor to put down the doughnut, come to the phone, and take his ass chewing like a man.
I swear she snickered before recovering her composure, but I did not recover mine. I went on a tangent lecturing her about the fundamentals of good customer service, and how Alienware possessed NONE of them.
On another note, I spent the better part of yesterday writing horrible reviews of Alienware on every tech site, consumer reports type website, and so on that I could find to complain on. Imagine my suprise when I ran into long lines of posts detailing the horrible nature of Alienware customer support. Mass marketing, and a good piece of hardware have given them a great name, unfortunately completely masking their heinous after sale support.
I am seriously considering purchasing www.alienwaresucks.com or .org or whatever they were not smart enough to buy, so that people can write up their Alienware horror stories, and offering links alternate high performance system builders, of which there are at least a few.
Piss off a Marine with exceedingly LARGE amounts of free time and boredom, along with six years of background in network engineering and network security. See what happens. I know how to use Rifles, Grenades, Routers, Firewalls, Switches, Bayonets, and everything in between.
I asked to talk to her supervisor, and for almost 30 minutes she continually told me that he was busy and could not talk to me, at which point I lowered myself to being a complete and total ass. I told her to tell her supervisor to put down the doughnut, come to the phone, and take his ass chewing like a man.
I swear she snickered before recovering her composure, but I did not recover mine. I went on a tangent lecturing her about the fundamentals of good customer service, and how Alienware possessed NONE of them.
On another note, I spent the better part of yesterday writing horrible reviews of Alienware on every tech site, consumer reports type website, and so on that I could find to complain on. Imagine my suprise when I ran into long lines of posts detailing the horrible nature of Alienware customer support. Mass marketing, and a good piece of hardware have given them a great name, unfortunately completely masking their heinous after sale support.
I am seriously considering purchasing www.alienwaresucks.com or .org or whatever they were not smart enough to buy, so that people can write up their Alienware horror stories, and offering links alternate high performance system builders, of which there are at least a few.
Piss off a Marine with exceedingly LARGE amounts of free time and boredom, along with six years of background in network engineering and network security. See what happens. I know how to use Rifles, Grenades, Routers, Firewalls, Switches, Bayonets, and everything in between.
Latest Score..
Damage tallied to about $550 total. Of that Alienware ate just over $50 to compensate for the horrible service that I experienced. Not stellar, but it is something...
I bet you thought this thread was dead
Alienware told me my laptop was repaired right around Thanksgiving time, and that it was sent out to me early the next week. Of course, that meant it should have been sent back to my wifes mothers house, so she could ship it back to me in Japan early this week; afterall it was only supposed to take 3-5 days to get there.
I started calling Alienware and my wife finally got to the bottom of it with them, as to WHY it has not made it there yet, two full weeks after they shipped it out.
They sent it back to me directly in Okinawa Japan. Now there is a reason that I wanted them to ship it to the address in the states rather than back here to me. Alienware sends stuff overseas on a row boat. It will take 10 more weeks to get here.
They could have shipped it within the states within 5 days. Her mother then could have shipped it to me via USPS Express in about 3, for a grand total of 8 days give or take a couple.
So I sent my laptop in late September. They lose it for 2 weeks on arrival. Take almost 2 months to get a backorder part in and repair it, and then ship it via rowboat to add another 3 months to the tally. I'm thinking 10 weeks from now, I should get it before the end of February.
:roll:
I started calling Alienware and my wife finally got to the bottom of it with them, as to WHY it has not made it there yet, two full weeks after they shipped it out.
They sent it back to me directly in Okinawa Japan. Now there is a reason that I wanted them to ship it to the address in the states rather than back here to me. Alienware sends stuff overseas on a row boat. It will take 10 more weeks to get here.
They could have shipped it within the states within 5 days. Her mother then could have shipped it to me via USPS Express in about 3, for a grand total of 8 days give or take a couple.
So I sent my laptop in late September. They lose it for 2 weeks on arrival. Take almost 2 months to get a backorder part in and repair it, and then ship it via rowboat to add another 3 months to the tally. I'm thinking 10 weeks from now, I should get it before the end of February.
:roll:-
PanzerMeyer
- Posts: 4798
- Joined: 10 Feb 2004, 08:54
- Location: Miami, Florida
BBB
Well, Alienware finally gave a repsonse for my original Better Business Bureau complaint. Of course, it took them until AFTER they shipped it to respond. I have replied with the additional information about how badly they screwed up the shipping and have put me out of a laptop for 3+ unneeded months now with it being lost 2 weeks and 10+ weeks of additional shipping time on the ass end. That doesn't include the two months the motherboard was backordered.
I have asked that
1.) Alienware either refund ALL money I have spent on purchasing and repairing the laptop and IF (to me it is a BIG if) I ever receive it here I will send it back to them, so that I can go get something from a potentially less shitheaded company.
or
2.) If they really do believe they shipped it to me, send a loner to the address in the states so that I have something to use while I am waiting three months for it to arrive here.
I already know that the answer will be NO and NO, but at this point I have the BBB involved to a fair degree. Who knows what pull it will have.
I have asked that
1.) Alienware either refund ALL money I have spent on purchasing and repairing the laptop and IF (to me it is a BIG if) I ever receive it here I will send it back to them, so that I can go get something from a potentially less shitheaded company.
or
2.) If they really do believe they shipped it to me, send a loner to the address in the states so that I have something to use while I am waiting three months for it to arrive here.
I already know that the answer will be NO and NO, but at this point I have the BBB involved to a fair degree. Who knows what pull it will have.
To be honest mate, if i were u, and u managed to get the money out of them, and then the laptop arrived, i'd keep both.....i'd view the money as compensation for all the grief and hassle you've gone through....it's not as if they'd be able to call you immoral is it?
[img]http://www.151recon.org/Mooses%20Sig.gif[/img]
. . .now you're talkin!!if i were u, and u managed to get the money out of them, and then the laptop arrived, i'd keep both
It is not the technique that wins a fight, but the more furious mind - Kodiak WOF
You are stuck on stupid. I'm not going to answer that question! - Gen Honore, New Orleans Sep 05
You are stuck on stupid. I'm not going to answer that question! - Gen Honore, New Orleans Sep 05