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2.8 31 Reviews

Alienware Complaints Summary

14 Resolved
17 Unresolved
Our verdict: Dealing with Alienware, which has an average resolution rate, requires some diligence. Research their service in depth and read a variety of customer reviews for a balanced view. Approach any customer service interactions with detailed and well-prepared queries to facilitate a better resolution process.
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Alienware reviews & complaints 31

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ComplaintsBoard
V
5:42 am EDT
Resolved
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Alienware online scam

My son, an 18 year old 2008 high school honor graduate, has always wanted an Alienware computer since one of his friends got one. He spent ALL of his graduation money by paying us so he could use our credit card, though we were very hesitant for him to pay so much for a computer... 'extreme performance' or not. He ordered it at the end of July before we went to North Carolina for a week.

We got back home late the night of August 6, and the computer was delivered on August 7. The lightup keyboard worked for a few minutes, then flashed on and off for a few days. He called technical support several times, then had to visit friends with wireless connections to take the advice of technical support several other times.

To make a long story short, on August 13 or 14 Alienware told him to send the keyboard back and it would cost $300 to fix it. (Now, keep in mind these people were paid $5, 751.35 via OUR CREDIT CARD and he only had the 'faulty' keyboard and computer for ONE WEEK.) I was extremely dissatisfied about that, but I let my husband and son handle it. My husband ended up calling Discover, told them the story, canceled payment and found out that only around $4, 900 would be refunded on the credit card for returning the whole computer. Naturally, I was furious when I found that AFTER ONE WEEK of the keyboard NOT ever doing what it was supposed to do that HE would have to take the loss for it!

The next thing I know, we're waiting around until August 22 for them to send us a return authorization #. These people had our email addresses, but said they would call our home phone to give it to us. So, I had to call, wait, fuss, etc. to get it. We mailed the computer back on August 22 via United States Post Office and paid $70 for 2 day, certified mail delivery with insurance on it.

Besides the obvious... Alienware not standing by their product for ONE WEEK!..., I have several other potential problems that could end up helping us. Brent used our credit card #, yet they recorded it as 'Sell To and Bill To: Brent A. Walker'... the name on the credit card, Joseph Walker, should have been the billed name, in my opinion.

I understand that our son agreed to the 15% restocking fee and could possibly understand that exorbitant amount after a few MONTHS of use, or preferably YEARS of use... at that price! However, whatever happened to the 'lemon law'?! What has happened in the state of Florida, in the great United States of America, when a business doesn't have to stand by their product for ONE WEEK?!?!?! Personally, we will NEVER buy ANYTHING on line again!

Shame on Alienware for taking an honor graduate's graduation money and teaching him his first lesson in dishonest businesses, crooks and thieves! I think the ENTIRE AMOUNT should be refunded... any honest business WOULD realize that.

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THISSPARTA
, US
Mar 14, 2013 7:51 pm EDT

i have m15x doesnt have Ati AMD READEON HD 7970M. IHAVE MOBILITY RADEON HD 5850 DOESNT WORK WITH CRYSIS 3
DELL WONT GIVE REFUND BACK. I HATE DELL
LISTEN EVERYONE THE BEST WAY IS CYBERPOWERPC NEW MODEL IS CALLED FANGBOOK X7 100, 200, AND 300
ONE MORE THING DO NOT BUY DELL OR ALIENWARE IS A SCAM.

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Anonymoose
Garland, US
Jun 08, 2009 8:52 pm EDT

alienware was the best company around BEFORE they got bought out by ### ### Dell.

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Asym
,
Sep 19, 2008 9:34 pm EDT

Isn't it a shame that a great company like Dell, owns Alienware; has to be a major embarrassment.

I ordered a system on Monday 09.08.08 with the assumption that it would be sent to me as per their advertising. I was wrong.
The deal was if you ordered a m15x they would send it to you within 48 hours with no shipping charge; a back to school special.
On Friday 09.12.08 I called to check on the status of the order only to find out that they hadn't even shipped it yet, and it was labeled as "still in production". I cancelled the order and politely requested a refund. They agreed.

Now its Friday 09.19.08 and my credit card has still not been refunded, and no one at Alienware has any explanation. I spoke with a supervisor (who sounded like he was eating potato chips at the time), that the refund should be credited on Monday 09.22.08. I'm not holding my breath.

So I called my bank and they placed the balance in "dispute".

Shame on you Alienware.

ComplaintsBoard
M
10:21 pm EDT

Alienware ripoff

This computer was the worst purchase I have ever made, I wanted an Alienware laptop for several years after seeing them on display when Best Buy used to sale them. I started DJing my sophomore year of college and needed a computer that was powerful enough to run the software that my mixer uses. I took out a 3000 dollar loan to by what I thought would be a very nice laptop. I read reviews about alienware which were mostly negative and but figured like anything else, the people that have bad experiences are the ones that write reviews so I chose to ignore the reviews. I ordered my Mj12 7700i loaded with a 3.2 gig Pentium 4 processor with HT technology, 3 gig of RAM, and dual 80 gig processors in raid 0 format. (at the time this was very impressive) the computer ran great for about 8 months. When I hooked any type of audio device up to my laptop I heard a lot of background noise. Alienware said I could send it back to them and they could fix it, but I decided to just clean it up by adjusting my mixer. After the first 8 months I started having problems with my laptop cutting off after about 5 minutes. I worked with Aleinware trying to reinstall different things and get it working. It was eventually determined that I needed to send the computer back to alienware and pay 500 dollars to have it fixed. After receiving it back 2 months later I tried to use the Laptop and it did not work, I was told the motherboard had to be replaced. To make a long story short after sending the computer back and forth with alienware 4 more times I finally complained to the BBB and was contacted and told I could send the laptop to their VIP repairs at my own expense since I originally sent the laptop to them over a month ago, after pointing out that I have also sent it back 4 other times I was told I could send it to them and they would repair it for free. I sent the computer to them and got it back. It worked great! For 1 month, then the same thing happened. I opened the computer up and got a first hand look at their repairs, the original motherboard was still in there and wires had been taped to the motherboard with Electrical tape. So I now have a 3500 dollar paperweight, that is out of date and I got a total of 8 months of use out of. I would never recommend anyone buy a computer from this company, you will be better off buying a 300 dollar e-machine computer from Walmart.

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Matt
,
Aug 06, 2008 11:18 am EDT

Let me start off by saying this is more help then a review/complaint

I own 2 of these and the early ones were prone to problems, and i do agree that alienware support is substandard. however now that you own it lets look at it this way:

Its very easy to fix these your self, (the right way...) make sure to take your time and remove every screw, as you will break the plastics if you don't.

the v5.2 mobo is notorious for burning the vrms (for no reason)
v5.3 (i cant think of any problems with this mobo other then it lacks support for the 7800 and 7950)
v6.1 - you want either this or 6.2/6.2n they have all the defects worked out of them and support the geforce 7950 video card (6.1 and up require the 11a power brick, the 9a will not work, you will end up burning/wasting a $50 power brick it if you try)
v6.2 - same as the other but it seems the higher the revision the less problems so i would go for v6.2n

the rev number is clearly marked on the lower sodimm banks on a white sticker.

Trouble shooting:

When you plug the laptop into the wall is the led on the power brick on? (if not you have a bad video card, and it burned your power brick too)
when you turn it on do you only get a black screen, leds and fans? (most likely a mobo problem, ive fixed a few of these boards before, but they never seem to work 100% after that)

Parts sources:
www.rjtech.com - has d900t and d900k mobos and video cards
www.ebay.com - has mobos and video cards (avoid buying from z*tronics at all costs, he will send you a dead mobo, happened to me and had to take paypal action against him after he never replyed to my emails)

You can ask us on the support area of http://www.notebookforums.com/ or on www.thenextbench.com (I'm more active on thenextbench) if you ask there i will definitely help you troubleshoot it and get it up and running (should you wish).

ComplaintsBoard
V
12:00 am EST
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Alienware Alienware laptop = $1600 doorstop

I purchased an Alienware Area-51 M5500 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. When turned on all the power lights would come on but nothing would come up on the screen. Thinking that it might be a problem with the screen I attached the laptop to an external monitor. The image that came up was of Windows trying to start (the image was also interspersed with vertical colored lines making it very difficult to see) then an error message saying something to the effect of "Windows has encountered a problem and has to shut down." I am unable to be any more specific on the message due to the fact that many of the characters had been replaced by white boxes and the screen was still covered with lines. A local computer repair shop thinks the screen and mother board have been fried from over heating.

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.

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Freddy
Staten Island, US
Mar 22, 2009 1:07 am EDT

Im so upset I bought a M17 Laptop for $6, 000. Touch pad has been showing hairline cracks (3 cracks ) call Customer service and they say I have to pay for shipping and handling and for it to be fixed. WTF ? I never dropped it and treated it with such care because it was expensived, Im so shocked they saying I broke my own laptop? Its less than 6 months old! an they never added the Alienware name plate that was promissed. I hate this company I'll Never buy Alienware again

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Justin
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May 14, 2008 9:14 am EDT

I have the same issue and was deployed to Iraq when I bought mine in 2006, right out of the box I had sound issues and now it just shuts down. My Compaq/HP I bought back in 2004 has been to Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar with me twice over and has shown me no issues at all. The Alienware customer service guys want me to send it in but its out of warranty now. I will NEVER buy another Alienware. Nor will I say anything positive about there products or crappy customer service. Over-priced hammered crap is hwat my opinion is about Alienware!

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Lilith
,
May 06, 2008 1:48 am EDT

I understand you so well... i got my alienware laptop and it was working fine, it was used laptop to start with but in good condition so i thought its better to buy hi spec used laptop than new hp (how wrong was i :/) so now, for no particualr reason it gives a white solid line on the monitor and it doesn not go away :/ i dont know what could be the reason, as it has never been damaged physically..

ComplaintsBoard
P
12:00 am EDT

Alienware do not buy from alienware you will regret it!

I bought an Alienware computer. I paid $3400 for it and an extended warrantee. The computer crashed every time I tried to play a modern game on it. I started working with the support people to fix this problem.

The support literally knows nothing about computers. After several times sending parts back and forth I eventually gave up on them fixing it. Sadly it meant that I had to just eat the $3400 and buy another computer. I was sickened, but felt that this was my only recourse.

The insult to injury came 2 days after I returned my last part. To facilitate warrantee exchanges, Alienware requires a credit card number before they will send a part. The last part I sent then, I called to confirm that they had received the part (something I always do when shipping items). They confirmed that they did. 2 Days later, they charged my card for the part.

I called them and they again confirmed they had received the part, and that they owed me the money. Almost 4 months later they still have not returned the money to me. I call almost daily now and keep getting told that they will have an answer as to how they plan on getting me this money in 24 hours. This has been going on since March 1, 2007.

I have been keeping logs now every time I call them, in the event that I may file a lawsuit against them. I have also found out that Alienware makes this route very difficult in that they refuse to give out any contact information as to the proper place to send legal documents.

I strongly urge anyone thinking of buying a computer: DO NOT BUY FROM ALIENWARE YOU WILL REGRET IT!

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12:00 am EDT

Alienware poor / no customer service and runarounds

One year, and one crap laptop later, and I have learned about Alienware first hand.

I was extremely excited to get my new duel core processor Alienware, with a nearly state of the art nVidia video card. I didn't even endure any real delays while my machine was being built. My first indication that something was wrong was when I loaded my favorite game, Rome: Total War and discovered some rather terrible graphic fracturing during the battle scenes.

I figured perhaps some problems had occurred loading the graphics drivers, or my game install was bad, so I reloaded the graphics drivers, and loaded a different game, but with the same result. This type of problem is really out of my league, so I called Alienware tech support for the first time. I eventually spoke with a tech representative that gave me a huge laundry list of things to try. He really didn't try to trouble shoot my system at all.

After reloading graphics drivers again, reloading my games, flashing my BIOS, and about step 10, reformatting my hardrive, reloading everything bit on my computer, they decided I should open up my laptop, and manually reset my video card. Having done this, with no results, they referred me to another tech, who had me load some diagnostic software from their website. The software ran correctly, with no errors, but still every time I tried to play a game with 3D rendered screens, I still had terrible graphic fractures.

This process took nearly eight months. At several points I tried to talk the tech rep into letting me return the computer for diagnosis, to no avail. Eventually, I even asked if I could just buy another video card, but they told me that model of video card is no longer available for my motherboard. ? In fact, no other options for video cards are still available for my video card.

By the time I finished their laundry list of check items, my year warranty was up with the company. Instead of paying them now to ship my computer, I have resigned myself that I am stuck with a $3,500 pong box.

From the looks of other complaints on the internet regarding Alienware, I'm not alone. Don't let the glitzy cover fool you, these high end machines are consumer traps. A friend of mine has a great Alienware machine and hasn't had any problems with it, but it's a real dice roll if you pay top dollar for a nice gaming machine and have to settle with a PC that really won't do what you want. It's a risk I'll never take again, and would advise anyone else the same.

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12:00 am EDT

Alienware how about theft?

In January I was authorized by Alienware Customer Service to exchange an optical drive in my Alienware computer. An arrangement was made to have Alienware send me a new optical drive and a return authorized FedEx shipping label so that I could return the defective drive to Alienware. The agreement included a pending charge to my credit card which would be removed when the defective drive was received by Alienware. I received the new drive and shipping label and returned the defective drive near the end of January. The pending charge was removed from my credit card account.

At the end of February, a new charge for the amount of the optical drive was entered into my account. I spoke with Alienware with the RMA number and they told me they had not received my returned defective drive. After a couple more telephone conversations I was told that nothing could be done without a FedEx tracking number. I do not know why Alienware cannot find this package knowing the RMA number and/or my account number but I cannot physically prove that the defective drive was returned. A sufficient excuse of tracking numbers being automatically generated by FedEx so they do not have it was provided.

At any rate, this is certainly not an isolated incident. The system is less than a year and a half old and it has been in Florida more than it has been in my home. Now what it appears to me is that Alienware is accusing me of stealing a hundred bucks from them to put in my $5000 piece of crap they sold me.

As hard as I look, I cannot find anything good that anyone has said about Alienware.

Joe

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12:00 am EST

Alienware poor products and service quality, no onsite repair even though paid for!

I initiated my purchase of an ALX on 08/18/06 at which time I was given a 60 day projection for delivery due to the two nvidia 7950gtx cards (liquid cooled) which were to be installed. About 1 month later, it was the case, later the power supply. By this time I probably should have cancelled but decided to tough it out for this $10,000+ system with all the whistles. Finally arrived after 70+ days.

Result: Wrong video cards, wrong backup cd for OS, and Alienware refusing to correct problem saying that the specs on the 7900's were the same as the 7950's. Now I was informed that a 15% restock fee was also an issue when I stated that I would just return the whole system, in other words, pay them $1500 for not building the system correctly, what a farce.

They finally agreed to change out the video cards for the correct ones. Lo and behold, they didn't even have an approved cooling system for the 7950's (after I was told they were in testing and should be approved any day), which means if anyone ordered a system with the 7950's they probably unknowingly have 7900's after paying for the more expensive cards. Filed complaint with Attorney General's Office (Florida). Now Alienware (which received notice from Attorney General) agreed to install two new nvidia 8800 air cooled cards (which I wasn't told would be aircooled) and a 1000 watt power supply, which they charged to my card (later resolved and credited back). New power supply and video cards were shipped directly to me even though the computer was at Alienware in Miami, contacted Alienware and was thanked for my honesty in reporting this, return authorization received but it was for the complete entire system, not just the parts. Another sign that the administration side of Alienware is askew. 12/22/06 received computer with new cards and supply, and most importantly a damaged/scratched case. Only software uninstalled was 3dmark06, reinstalled and benchmark score of only 5000, less than half of the 11,300 which Alienware support says it should be, and a popping noise coming periodically from the case, Alienware customer service even asked if I would be comfortable checking out and working on the cooling system, the very thing of which they refuse to do onsite service for. 12/23/06 Called tech support, Answer from Alienware, send it back again as it seems there has to be a bad video card, this was after testing all four 8800 video cards at their direction, even though onsite support was paid for and these video cards are not water cooled, I suspect motherboard is bad but they don't want to admit it. The saga continues...Attorney General is probably next once again...And I will never recommend them even if the issues are finally resolved. Current owners beware, check if you got what you paid for.

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Snow
,
Feb 21, 2007 12:31 pm EST

I purchased a laptop from Alienware, had high hopes reading about their best performance, the customer supports and the 9point phase check. problem started right as the laptop arrived. the monitor had weird lines(not a scratch, the internal was damaged) which gradually faded off as the laptop warmed up ...i guess...but left dead pixels. the sound was jacked which after talking to customer support for more than 2hours, they said they'll send a new sound card but we have to install it even we had onsite support. they also told us to reinstall vista, which didn't make sense since he told us to send the laptop back. I don't know what's this phase check is all about...they told us it'll take at least 2weeks more to repair... we decided to cancel as they started to be a pain and giving bad attitude. now we are trying to get our money back and the 15% restocking fee. hopefully my Amex can help dispute these charges.

but this is a website I found, how this guy went through the problem with Alienware.
http://www.badsoftware.com/alienwaresucks/

I think we'll get continuous headache till this solves...

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Juliet Stopak
,
Feb 12, 2007 6:03 am EST

An Alienware laptop computer I bought one year ago has had two major breakdowns and part of the keyboard which has come apart. Alienware's customer service is awful: they claim "there's nothing we can do, since you are out of the 90 day warranty period." In addition, they sent me a software disc for software repair; I returned it, but they charged me anyway for it. I was too fed up and tired of the situation to argue for the refund for the software disc. This company is AWFUL! I have dealt with Dell, Apple, and others, but NEVER with this kind of terrible customer support. They don't seem to care a whit about customer retention, service, etc, once they have made the sale.

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Allen Winnett
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Jan 05, 2007 10:31 am EST

In November 2006 I ordered a very expensive Area-51 7500-R4 system. Part of my order included an expensive set of Logitech Z-5450 Digital 5.1 system speakers.

When my system arrived, 2-weeks late, I was busy with Christmas and dealing with an illness requiring surgery. Customers are allowed two weeks to complain about incorrect shipping. When I finally examined my shipment, 1-day after the above grace period, I discovered that the box that should have contained the system speakers was instead a Logitech Cordless Laser mouse. I never ordered this mouse. I immediately called to seek correction and was told that because I was one day late in contacting Alienware, they were not going to do anything about it regardless of my personal circumstances. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was put in contact with Jake, agent ID 18187. Jake agreed that something may have happened in shipping since the mouse and speakers were both Logitech products. Further, he stated he would launch an investigation and if I didn’t hear back from them by January 5, 2007, that I should call him back. I was not contacted by the 5th, so I called and Jake would not speak to me. Instead he had a subordinate restate the grace period policy to me. I then asked to speak to Jake’s boss, a woman named Michel. All she did was restate policy to me.

My opinions are as follows:
1. Alienware’s concern for their customer ceases after they receive payment.
2. Alienware does not value their customers.
3. Alienware does not value your return business.
4. Alienware has stolen $410, the price of the speakers, from me.
5. Never use Alienware credit because you can’t place the charge into dispute.
6. It is likely that they discovered the shipping error and elected not to correct it.

All they needed to do is acknowledge that bad things happen to their customers sometimes, and that they care and will resolve the issue.

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Steve Lopez
,
Dec 26, 2006 8:11 am EST

Good afternoon,

Let me introduce myself. My name is Steve and I am the forums Administrator for Alienware. I came across your post and I have to say I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you have been having with our service. It is not typical of the Alienware experience and I would like to do what I can to make this right. Please E-mail your account information to my address at Steve_lopez@alienware.com and I will see what I can do to help you out.

Best Regards,

Steve Lopez
Support Forums Administrator
Alienware Corporation

ComplaintsBoard
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12:00 am EST

Alienware Numerous problems! Defective laptop!

For starters, I just finished reading pages upon pages of fellow AW owners complaints. I truly feel embarrassed to be writing these complaints from my AW Area-51m 7700, of which I spent $2832 on. Assuming my computer will work throughout this post, I have a few things I'd like to say.

1. Like other Area-51 owners, less than three (3) months after receiving my laptop/desktop replacement (this thing is hardly a laptop) I began experiencing problems. First of which I noticed was my optical drive. It, too, as in other cases makes a loud whining noise when reading discs. I figured this was normal. That's not my complaint, though. My complaint is that it won't burn information on to CD's. If I try to put songs or pictures on a disc, it doesn't work. So here I sit with a useless optical drive. To be honest, I thought it would break in over time...not the case. 15 months it's been and it still doesn't work.

2. I've had this computer sent in twice for mother-board replacement due to the "OS not found" screen of death. It took a month and a half for my computer to be properly diagnosed and fixed. Being a college student, I depend on my computer! The story: After numerous hours spent on the phone with AW support staff, and downloading random drivers from the webpage on friends computers, they determined it was my hard-drive and sent me a new one. After finishing installing it myself, we concluded this was indeed not the problem. So then, at my expense, I was told to ship the computer to it's Florida based repair depot. Three or so weeks went by and I finally got my computer back...only to have the same thing happen again less than a month later. This time, I called and said, "no tests, just fix it." So at my expense, again, I paid to ship it to there depot, which was apparently moved to Memphis, TN. I got it back, another three or so weeks later, and this time at least I still had all over my old information still stored on the hd. Also, I know what caused both of these crashes. Both times, I would have a program running (i.e. iTunes, or solitaire, or a webpage) and put the machine on Standby mode. Then, a couple hours later, returning from class, I would open my computer and...uh-oh...NO OPERATING SYSTEM FOUND. To date, I have never used Standby mode in fear it will happen again. And, seeing as though my warranty is completely gone, it's not worth the chance. IMPORTANT: Upon receiving my computer back the second time, it was missing the card-slot cover piece and the rubber S-Video/CATV port cover. I tried calling several times to inquire about this, but gave up after around 2 hours of waiting for an available rep.

3. Lastly, my computer has troubles starting up frequently. It will freeze in the loading phase of Windows XP Home Edition. This scares me every time. I've spent almost $3000 on a machine I was so proud to own, and now I start it everyday in fear it will crash. In my personal opinion, this computer is a glorified 12 pound hunk of junk.
4. AW support staff seems to pride in delegating questions to other representatives. I have probably talked to at least seven (7) reps in my days of owning this so called "high performance machine" Also, it's almost impossible to talk to supervisors. They take your phone number and promise a call the next day, which needless to say, never happened.

Overall, I regret purchasing this machine. Don't get me wrong, when it runs well, it's the Ferarri among Ford Taurus's, and they take more time to fix and receive, but the service and quality is lacking. The only advice I offer: Don't Purchase From Alienware Corporation. The machine is consistently unreliable and embedded with problems from the get-go. Sorry AW, you've lost a valued customer. I'm waiting for the day I have to purchase a new computer.

Timeline: Fall '05 through Spring '06
Note: During diagnostic of the first "OS not found" issue, the original USB floppy drive I received for free during purchase of my Alienware Area-51m 7700, which was required for testing, was defective. Before I could prove it, even if I had a chance, my room-mate bumped off my desk and it broke. I was told by AW support staff that I needed to have an Alienware specific floppy drive for diagnostic and was required to purchase it from AW for approximately $34 plus shipping.

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theman
Sacramento, US
Mar 09, 2009 7:16 pm EDT

I know its a few years later, but im in the same boat. Its to much money for a laptop with to many problems. I have been through 2 alienware laptops the first was ok but ran so hot you couldn't set it on your lap. It went in for only 2 repairs. The second alienware I purchased has had multiple problems. Video replaced twice along with the no operating system found. Now they want over $600 to have the board replaced. I would rather invest that into a laptop that I can depend on. Maybe I can't play the newest game, but at least it will boot and not melt my pants to my leg.

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12:00 am EST

Alienware Alienware's warranty is total crap!

I recently purchased a Alienware Sentia 3450 Laptop computer. Before purchasing the computer I spoke with their sales representatives asking them to about their warranty. I was told that the computer had a On Site Warranty service. When I received my Invoice from Alienware it also said, “ON Site Svc” and 1-YR 24/7 WARRANTY (NO CHARGE) WARRANTY and ON-SITE WARRANTY WARRANTY .

After using the computer for a few weeks I noticed that the connection from the power supply to the computer was getting hot soon it stopped working on A/C power and I could only use it on battery.

I called Alienware and explained the problem. I was told that I would have to send the computer to Miami to technical service to get repaired. I told them that I had on-site Svc and a ON-SITE Warranty. I was told that the ON-SITE warranty only covered items that could be easily fixed such as bad memory or a bad hard drive, but if the system had a larger problem then it would have to be sent to their repair facilities in Miami. It would take at least 12 days to be repaired plus the shipping time from Los Angeles to Miami and then to Return.

I spoke with JAKE in Customer Service at extension 6115, SONIA the Technical Service Supervisor, HENRY the Technician and ERNEST another Technician.

The call was made from 8:30am to 10:30am on Monday, Oct 23, 2006.

I strongly suggest that you are very careful before purchasing any product from Alienware and completely understand their warranty. If you can’t afford do without your computer for a few weeks or more if something goes wrong or you believe an On Site Svc or On-Site Warranty means that they will fix your computer on site. Don’t purchase from Alienware.

Sincerely
Tony
Long Beach, California

ALIENWARE CORP
Attn: CUSTOMER SERVICE
6269 East Shelby Drive
Memphis, TN 38141
[protected]

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Bill Astin
White Lake, US
Sep 16, 2009 3:29 pm EDT

Anyone else having this same issue with their alienware sentia 3450 power jack on laptop overheating and getting way too hot, did you get your dc jack replaced and if so did that fix the problem?

I see the companies on the web that offer this service but am not 100% sure if this will fix the issue or not.

Thanks for any help on this,

Bill Austin
billaustin11@gmail.com

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Bill Astin
White Lake, US
Sep 16, 2009 3:21 pm EDT

THOUGHT I WAS GOING NUTS my sentia 3450 has maybe 50 total hours on it so far, yet when i plug the power adaptor in while using the unit the dc jack area gets BURNING HOT!

When I contacted alienware about it telling them how I have barely used the unit they said we will send you a new power adaptor, I fgured they knew what they were talking about and went thru the process, sending mine in getting their replacement, when it came in I charged the unit up for use but didn't use it while charging.

Sat in closet for almost a yr actually till i recently pulled it out to start using it again (work issued laptop was returned due to me leaving that company), so back to my personal laptop.

Anyways plugged it in sat down with cooling pad on lap (fans usb cooler) plugged in turned on and within about 20 mins it was so hot (only in that dc jack plug in area) that it MELTED the end of the power adaptor!

I am SO ticked about this, partially my own fault after getting the replacement power brick not putting the unit thru regular use to immediately know it was still messed up, but also for Alienware saying oh its the power brick no problem let us replace that for you at no charge.

Seems the more i search google for M3450 and dc jack I am finding more and more of these kinds of posts about other users having the same issues, if I replace this power jack (most places online do it for under $100) will this fix my problem?

Thanks for any input,

First and Last Alienware for me,

Bill Austin
billaustin11@gmail.com
White Lake, MI 48383

Even spent lots of time asking around about this issue without much input really...
http://www.notebookforums.com/post3082842.html

Wish we could band together for a recall demand as this thing cost me a good Grand+ and has seen such little use and has been babied so much it's insane that anything is even wrong with it...

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Javier Castro
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Jan 27, 2007 6:50 pm EST

I'm having the same problem,... d c power jack burned up and the idiots wanted to keep sending me useless ac power bricks at a $ 20 security deposit a piece ?! I can't believe they'd ruin their rep over an $8.99 piece ... dell is totally cutting these people up... alienware's service used to be incredible.

ComplaintsBoard
J
12:00 am EDT

Alienware crap customer service and no computer

This is about the poor customer service at Alienware, I have left the sales reps names as their real names, because it was their lies and lack of responsibility that ruined what should have been by now 2.5 months later a PC.

As many people who are about to purchase an Alienware computer, I was excited! Yes, excited, im 21 work as a professional accountant, yet I was excited about the what I believed to be imminent receipt of my Alienware machine.

What I didn’t realise was that my excitement was about to turn from disappointment in to out right anger and remorse!

Back in August, after some time saving, I had finally raised enough funds to purchase a computer, not just any computer a gaming monster! I search around, weighing up my options and comparing prices, and most importantly customer service policies. I decided to go for the Alienware ALX computer, which had a price tag of £3,500 about $6,400. This was substantially more than every other site, but I knew (at least I thought I knew) that they had brilliant customer service, and since they had just been taken over by giants corporate muscle DELL, I assumed customer service would be brilliant.

Sadly I was wrong, after ordering in August, I heard nothing, the Alienware website sat at stage 3, payment processed. Alienware has a 10 stage system, which depicts at what stage of readiness the computer is at.

In around mid August it moved to say I was in Stage 5 production, at that point it stayed. After a few weeks of non movement, I send an email to customer services, asking why my computer, which as the website said would be read at the latest of 30 days. A week later, a reply email was returned, stating a part was missing and was on back order. The email did not state the part, or when I could expect it. I replied to this email, asking politely what part was missing, I never received a response.

In mid September, I was still sitting at stage 5, production, I decided this was not good enough, I picked up the phone and spoke to a women called Rachel, she told me it was a delay with the case, but it would arrive on the following Monday, and so I only had two weeks to wait.

The following week decided to add a sound card to my order, I telephoned Alienware and a German sales rep answered the phone, he was extremely rude and spoke poor English at best. He had no knowledge of the stock at Alienware and took nearly 30 minutes to tell me could not sort out adding a sound card. He said he would phone me on Monday, to confirm that a sound card would be added. The rep never phoned me back. In the end I spoke to Rachel once more, she told me that adding a sound card would put me right back to the start of the production queue, I hastily decided I no longer wanted a sound card. While I was on the phone to her, I asked her to confirm the status of my computer, she informed me she would have to speak to someone in production, and would phone me back later that evening. She never phoned me back.

I phoned again a few days to find out why Rachel had not phoned me, a women called Laura answered the phone, she said it was the water cooling that was actually missing, and they did not know when it would be received, she told me to phone them the following week to find out when it would be in, I said that was unacceptable, but this was barraged with false appologise and patronising “I understand sir” comments.

On Thursday of that week, I was reading numerous complaints about Alienware on the internet, just google Alienware complaints and you will see what I mean!

I was appalled by the sheer volume of complains and decided enough was a enough, and I phone up to cancel my order. I spoke to a woman called Kate, not wanting me to cancel my order Kate made up a whole list of lies on the spot, claiming my system was ready, she said it was ready to ship the following morning. I asked her to confirm this with me the following morning.

Kate did not phone me the following morning, so extremely angry now I phoned up Alienware and spoke to Laura again. Laura told me my system was not even in production and they had not even started to build it. In disgust I cancelled my order, I am in the process of complaining to the corporate ombusdsperson about the sales rep called Kate, as she blatantly lied to me.

At no point did Alienware inform me a part was missing, by email phone or otherwise.

No one at Alienware knew why my system was late.

The Alienware customer service reps, are liars, they are happy to make up stories to keep your money in the Alienware account, earning interest until you demand a refund.

There is no one at Alienware who specifically handles cases, which would make more sense.

Apparently at Alienware the “case”, “water cooling system” and “ready to ship” are all synonyms!

Also 30 days apparently means “when we damn well feel like it”!

The only thing Alienware did manage to do was refund me, but even that was not on time. I am very unimpressed with Alienware, I will never shop with them again, and I will advise anyone who is looking for a computer not to waste their time and money with Alienware, they are very good at taking money, but very poor at delievering goods or customer service.

So in conclusion, unless you are happy to received crap customer service and no computer, phone Alienware.

Aside from empty appologies, nobody ever contacted me to appologise for the crap they gave me...

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Fortinbras
, US
May 02, 2011 3:06 pm EDT

Bought 3k worth of computer in Feb-2010. Started having intermittent problems where it wouldnt start about 8 months later. Spent countless hours on the phone with foreign CS reps that were hard to understand and they tried all kinds of troubleshooting, ignoring my requests to have a tech actually look at it and service it. Then when the 1 yr warranty ran out they insisted it was hardware problem and needed a tech to fix it. They graciously offered to do this for a mere $400 extended warranty fee. Despite the fact that the problem was ongoing for several months and they previously refused to fix it, insisting it was not a hardware problem.

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nenette
, US
Jun 08, 2009 9:05 am EDT

I having the same problem with them right now I ordered the computer 2 weeks ago and theres no computer. I tried to call costumer service all they do is transfered me to india who barely speak English so I give up talking to them I send them an e-mail no response . I want to cancel it but its 6:00 in the morning they said they are closed .so I dont what kind a crop they are doing . For sure alienware is a scam. Beware

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RippedofCustomer
sumter, US
Apr 20, 2009 10:31 am EDT

I am currently fighting Alienware over a true LEMON computer they have sent me. I purchased there top of the line ALX computer with everything I could add. It was broken from day 1 and I have spent a year and a half putting replacement parts in the computer Alienware sent to me. Nothing they have done has worked. I have sent it to them twice now and each time the computer came back even worse then when I sent it off. I have had to buy another computer so that I can take my time to fight Alienware and get something in return for all the money I have spent with their company. I will be taking every course of action I can in or to get justice.

P.S. - I don't think the "He couldn't afford a High End PC" applies to me since I got the best they had and it was a POS.

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chris
Milwaukee, US
Jan 22, 2009 9:20 am EST

I can't believe I've read a post where someone says negative comments are posted by people who can't afford Alienware...Dan Tanquary...you are a ###. If that is even your real name.

Alienware's status page is smoke and mirrors as it was taking way longer than the chart they displayed. When I call them the customer service person with his broken english I can barely understand argues with me to the point he is daring me to cancel my order. So I did and it took over a month for me to get my money back.

Will never do business with this company.

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jamie
,
Jul 10, 2008 8:10 pm EDT

i have to agree alienware is a horrible computer mine broke down after about two months into having it and as i tried to get it fixed the people who i spoke too with the really reALLY ### english that i could not understand told me i had to fix while they walk me through it..now i know how to play civ 3 on my computer and some basics but as for opening it up and messing with the insides i have no clue...so as they try to explain to me what i must do to fix it i do it and do something else and do something else and this goes on for about a month of talking to these people i finally had enough and i guess they did and they let me send it back to get fixed..well this was a mistake because i got it back in worse condition then before and now the only game i can play is civ3 now dont get me wrong i love the game as you can tell becuase i always play it but for a supposedly gaming computer it was shiite and now i cant even watch movies on it.. my friend also has an alienware and it also gives him nothing but trouble so thats 2k wasted for me and 3k wasted for him..these people suck..and its the only laptop or computer i actually looked forward and saved my money to get..

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Doniswrong
,
Mar 19, 2007 5:23 am EDT

To the above poster, we are well aware of Alienware having people on the payroll that go around to sites like this and deplore complainers. So nice try, im sorry but you are fooling no one, your post and Alienware are both lousy.

Envy is an ugly thing, please nice try idiot.

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Don Tanquary
,
Feb 28, 2007 10:56 am EST

I have ordered and received two alienware systems the first was an area 51 m550 which was delivered ahead of schedule. The second was an aurora m9700 which arrived only one day after the estimated delivery date. Both machines work extremely well and are very reliable, unfortunately many people who post these negative comments couldn't afford an alienware and are simply lashing out at those who can (envy is an ugly thing) I have never had a problem with customer service and was very pleased with the entire process. Stop acting like children you know who you are.

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Monica
,
Dec 12, 2006 6:40 pm EST

I have to share my horrific experience that I have had with the Alienware Corporation.

My son, who is in the Navy, bought a computer from on June 5, 2006. He was told that it would ship within two weeks; he received it on July 15th. (The time line is an important factor here since my son was only going to be at his current location until July 30th). When the computer arrived it was not working right. After numerous attempts to fix it over the phone with tech support, he gave up and told them he just wanted to send it back and that he wanted his money back. This is when he finds out that the company would charge him a 15 % restocking fee even though they sent out a defective computer. So, we had no other choice but to send the computer back to them for repairs, but first they would send us out a disk that tech support thought might fix the computer. When the disk arrived, it was the wrong one and useless. So, on August 3rd, after a guarantee from them that they would fix the computer and have it back to us in 20 days, we sent the computer back. (At this point my son was getting ready to be deployed to Bah Rain, so again he needed to get the computer before he left the country and we were guaranteed that he would have it.)

Needless to say the company failed us. So, back on the phone to customer service to give them the new address that they would have to send the computer to, now we are told that once they fix the computer that it will take at least 8 weeks to ship it to him! Dealing with the lies from the people at this company has put me over the edge which has made for some pretty heated conversations and some very ugly words on my part. None of which I am proud of, but I have never had to deal with such an incompetent company before.

And it gets worse about the middle of September I call the company to find out when the computer will be fixed, at this point they tell me that the computer in going thru diagnostics and they will get back to me. As usual they don’t, so I call them about a week later and I am told that nothing has been done on the computer because no one was told what was wrong with it. I am furious because they have lied to me again no one was looking at the computer AND they can’t seem to look up the account to see the notes on what was wrong with it. At any rate I tell them what is wrong with it and ask that they call me when it is fixed. NO CALL.

I call them AGAIN about two weeks later and find out the computer is still not fixed and that they were waiting for parts. Oh, by the way, they admitted that the computer was sent out broken, but guaranteed me that it would be fixed and sent out right this time. We have no confidence in this company. They have sent a BRAND NEW item to us that didn’t work; their tech support sent us the wrong disk to help fix the computer; everything that they have had us do to this thing has not worked; and they are horrible at contacting us back. I don’t feel that we have gotten a lemon; it is just that the company is incapable of producing a quality product. I feel that we are stuck with something that will have constant problems.

This still isn’t thru on October 19th the computer is delivered not to my son in Bah Rain, but HERE. So, back on the phone to Customer service to let them know that they screwed up and to have them send me, via email a FedEx return label, which they do. The computer gets back to them a week later (Oct. 26) and I get a phone call from them wanting to know what address to send it to, which I give to them AGAIN. Now here it is November 28th and I call to find out the tracking number of the package so that I could track it and let my son know when to expect it. And what am I told by customer service not only have they not sent the computer, BUT they don’t have it or any record of it. Now I am panicking, because I don’t even have the original tracking number from when I sent it back to them because I tossed it when they called me to say that they had it and needed the address to send it out. I’m thinking we have just been had and we are out $5600.

Needless to say, I was all over the phone. I called FedEx they couldn’t help. I called customer service at Alienware and tried to find someone competent enough to help, no luck. I called the management department and was told by Bernie that he would look into the matter and get back to me. So, this morning after no call from anyone at Alienware, I got back on the phone. I tried to get a hold of Bernie, but he was unavailable, but I was told that he had noted in my account that they had found the computer and that they would send it out. I asked them to email me with a confirmation that they have the computer and an explanation as to why it hasn’t been sent and a tracking number for the package, but I’m not holding my breath. I will be on the phone everyday until they do!

All my son wanted was a computer that was working right and this has turned into a huge nightmare. There is no guarantee that in two or three months, or whenever he gets this computer back it will be working right or that it will continue to work right. We are afraid that this is going to be a constant problem. I can’t believe that this company is allowed to continue to work like this. I would NOT recommend them to anyone and I hope I can spare someone else the heartache and hassle by posting this complaint.

Sincerely,
Monica

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Mark Craig
,
Oct 27, 2006 2:18 am EDT

The exact same thing happened to me, except my wait was 4 months without receiving a computer, a phone call, or an email explaining the situation.

I could maybe have coped with the delays if Alienware had seen fit to communicate with me in any way, shape or form but apparently I'm not worthy of such small graces.

Every time I spoke to someone they gave me a different answer, ranging from "Your system will ship nex week" to "We haven't even started building it yet" to "Your system is fully built but (and this is the killer, as it was a supposedly tool-free case) we're waiting for the screws that hold your hard drives in place". Awesome.

God only knows why I left it so long before cancelling, but eventually I did, and I've never been happier about a decision in my life.

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Peter
,
Oct 21, 2006 7:36 am EDT

I canceled my order with AW about a week after I made the order. I didn't even get to the point of having issues with them. I just flat out called them and canceled because I didn't want to even TRY to deal with them after all the horror stories, and from the impression I got, this seems like the best thing to do...

I still haven't received the money back yet, and they said it would take 3 to 5 days, but I have yet to see anything. I will give them another week, and if I don't see it, I'm getting my bank involved. At least I have an email from them saying that YES, the order WAS canceled.

I would highly recommend getting email or something in writing in them if ANYONE deals with AW, just to be on the safe side, so you can prove what's been done. Or...record the phone conversations. Use a speaker phone and something to record with. This will help when (not if) you run into issues...

ComplaintsBoard
M
12:00 am EDT

Alienware Problems with the company

I am having on going problems with the computer company ALIENWARE i purchased a $3000 laptop from them back in april of '05 and the problems started as soon as my laptop arrived problem 1 - my doom 3 disc arrived damaged i called them they replaced it free as they should - resolved-then as the weeks go by i noticed my laptop was starting to overheat so i called them they said to clean the fans so i did fixed about 50% of the heat issue i figured heh alienware best computers in the industry laptops must get hot with all that power inside so a few months went by and i started to notice my hand getting very warm while playing on my ultimate gaming machine then slowly a marking on my laptop casing started to show thru and my whole laptop casing on the left side above where my video card is was discolored from the heat. the vent on the side of the computer shoots air out that rivals the heating in my own car.

so i call them back oh well send us some pictures, so i did and no responce
i started using an external fan to clear the air around my computer hoping that poor circulation had been the problem but it got worse the computers performance began to decrease . i had since moved and i called alienware again about the issue they recommended i download a 250 meg application off of a website called 3d Mark 2005 a benchmark test for video cards we ran the test and sure enough my video card was running a 15 FPS then on the other tests it would drop to as low as 0-1 FPS the representative assured me that these were in parameters of my video cards functioning (in my head i thought how is the worlds best gaming machine's perameters 0 FPS?)

he said he would send out a thermal gel to apply to the video card to make sure it would make solid contact to the heat sink.

well a bout a week went by and sure enough a container with a silver liquid marked thermal arrived. i called alienware and guess what i had to open up my laptop and apply the gel my self ? i know a bit about computers but i didnt spend over $3000 to be doing repairs on my computer myself. we reluctantly but eager to solve my video card problems i did it and booted the computer up and began to run the test and guess what 0 fps again so i tell the rep he was like 0 fps that sounds like your video card is deffective we will send you a new one. i asked 0 fps sounds defective your last rep said that was within parameters of my video card "well he was wrong you need a knew one" we wills send you one let me get approval from the manager first minutes go by ok got approval it should be there by tuesday 6/27/06 VIA fed ex now as im am typing this my video card has just arrived VIA FED EX today 7/11/06 ?
well in the mean time he said your computer is fine to run about 3 days later it started to get even more hot than before and now its is turning itself off IE overheating the next day 6/28 or so my laptop monitor is dark apparently my LCD controller that causes the back lite to turn on has burned out (im assuming its because my computer was overheating from the wonderful video card that had been operating within parameters) so today 7/11/06 my video card and LCD controller have arrived i contact Alienware to schedual an appointment like they had instructed me to do so the parts can be replaced and they told me the tech should have already contacted me and to not call them they will call me ? i ask him what else i can do the representative repsonded with "You could call back and complain some more?" i was taken back by his responce and said ok i will do that and hung up the phone now i am sitting here pondering if Alienware really is the maker of the worlds greatest gaming machine or if they are just really good at marketing but either way as of right now i have a $3000 paper wieght in my room and i am wondering if i will ever see it again i dont know how much you can help but if any thing maybe you guys can shed a little light as to what i can do i have been trolling forums and reading other complaints like this some poor people are out $5k and more on these systems this is not right =(

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