I have lost faith
Written: Aug 17 '01 (Updated Aug 19 '01)
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Pros: Amazing parts
Cons: Horrific support system
The Bottom Line: Try voodoo.ca or falcon-nw.com STAY AWAY from Alienware. Trust me.
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| thedonga's Full Review: Alienware Area51:Aurora |
I picked up an Alienware AMD 1.4GHz recently.
Here are the specs.
1.4GHz
Dragon Tower
Dual 60GB IBM Deckstars
Promise ATA Controller
Asus Motherboard
Sound Blaster Plat
384MB PC-2100
GeForce 3
Pioneer 16x DVD
Plextor 40x CDRW
Hollywood MPEG Decoder (DTS)
NEC MultiSync FE950+
Intel Pro 10/100 NIC
Now that is what I call a machine! I already had the Klipsch 4.1 speakers(nothing on this earth compares!!)
What I was expecting was a 2-3 week turnaround on my order.
My order was placed on June 6th(or thereabouts).
3 weeks later I had to call to find out what was going on. Why wasn't my $3000.00 kickin machine at my door?
Response? "I don't know"
Well can you find out?
Response? "No"
-Honestly this is basically what I was told on the phone.
After 1 week of calling EVERY day and sitting on hold......
I got the word that the motherboards they were initally using FAILED on all AMD chipsets.
"but sir we will have new ones in tomorrow....."
YEAH right. 1 1/2 weeks later my PC shipped.
Now this does not seem too bad. And if I would have been notified during the times when they were having some "issues" I would have been writing a good review here.
Well maybe not....
I was kept in the dark. I had to hunt for answers...Not what I expected from Alienware.
Next.....
I received the PC. This wonderful looking kickin piece of plastic and silicon. The CD burner didn't work. Not only didn't it work, it wasn't listed in "My Computer". I looked at my post production checklist, seems the CDRW tested fine.....
YEAH RIGHT!
So I called support(this is 5 weeks after I ordered and paid for this machine)....and waited 1 hour and 30 minutes on hold...that is not a typo - 90 minutes!!!!
The support guy sounded about 12 and had NO clue what he was talking about. Every time he asked me to do something I could hear him conferring with his peers. Not a good sign.
So he decided to send me a new drive.
"Please give me your credit card info, so we can charge you for a replacement part."
F YOU!
171.00 is now on my Visa card, until I send the part back.
And you know what, they didn't include a prepaid slip for FEDEX return. Double F You.
So I finally got everything working. After 4 calls to their support line, each time waiting 90+ minutes, and I am NOT joking.
Turns out it was a bad install of Windows ME. The old drive worked after I installed my own version of ME. I thought this PC went through a serious burnout before shipping. NOPE. The restore CD they sent, which I used 4 times, didn't even install correctly. I had to get my own version of ME, $3000.00 and I had to go out and get my own ME CD!!!
I can honestly say this machine KICKS butt. However I set the whole thing up. I installed the CDRW, troubleshot a new pc and reinstalled my OWN operating system.
I will never buy from this company again. And I hope nobody has to wait on hold like I did....
The worst customer service I have EVER found in a company.
I just got my PC working. It is the 18th of August. I pity someone who has no PC experience dealing with a problem that arises with their Alienware PC.
F-
And you know what F stands for...
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 3000.00
Operating System: Windows
Processor: AMD Athlon (K7)
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
thedonga
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Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Reviews written: 85
Trusted by: 57 members
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