In late May of 2007, I purchased an $8300 computer system from Alienware; a Miami based Computer Company who caters to gamers. I run several websites, my life and business revolves around my computer. I found myself frustrated from the beginning- in less than two weeks I was experiencing major technical and physical issues. The case/shell protecting the internal components was warped. The computer system would either not turn on, or would turn on and then immediately shut down. Incredibly, after purchasing an $8000 system, I had to fight to have the system fixed/replaced. They replaced the computer and within a month, I was experiencing the similar problems once again. Their solution was: reinstall Windows. I reinstalled Windows (not to mention all my personal software) and continued to dealing with random system crashing and hard drive failure messages. I knew that the hard drive was defective, but Alienware's solution was always to reinstall windows. Finally in December the system reached a new level of failure. I received the blue screen message that the hard drive had an error and it only sometimes turned on. I called Alienware's technical support to replace the hard drive. He accessed my computer to attempt to induce the same message. My computer never turned on normally again after this phone conversation. Alienware would not replace the drive until I reinstalled Windows (4th time now). I was able to salvage most of my data thanks to Safe Mode and the external hard drives. I reloaded windows and found myself back at square one. At this point Alienware conceded to look at the system. Although I live in New York City, I was told there was no technician in the city to inspect and repair the system, so I had to ship the computer to Alienware in Miami. I was not keen on shipping an $8000 for repair but I had no other option. During a conversation with Victor, Customer Service Supervisor, in late December I expressed my dissatisfaction with the idea of shipping the machine, but he provided a box and shipping label. In our conversation I indicated that I did not want the system returned unless the hard drive(s) were replaced and I was willing to pay to upgrade the system if necessary. I specifically indicated that a technician should contact me before shipping back the computer. In the box with the computer I enclosed two copies of a letter which stated, "If a specific problem cannot be identified and fixed on this machine, I would like to upgrade to a better system. I would appreciate constant communication, a full synopsis of the finding and for someone from Alienware to contact me prior to shipping the computer back." I also added this statement because I knew I would be out of the country and didn't want it shipped back without anyone to receive and inspect the device. I thought it couldn't get any worse, but the drama was only beginning. The computer was shipped back with no phone call or communication indicating that the work was complete. I setup up the computer and, hired a technician to install Windows and all the other programs and components that had been lost. This consumed a day of my time and I paid out $250 for the technicians work. It was only then that he uncovered yet more frustrating information. The computer had been sent back with two (2) 300GB hard drives instead of two (2) 750GB hard drives, and the new drives were not setup as raid drives. At this point I had already paid someone to setup the computer's software. I contacted Alienware who told me they would send two new 750GB hard drives, and I would return the two 300GB hard drives. I told them that this wouldn't work, because the two drives which were to be returned housed Windows and my other software. I explained that I had paid someone to install the software with the assumption that the proper equipment was installed by Alienware. On February 18th, I spoke to Christy in customer service, then Alan and Peter in technical support. Alan apologized for their mistake and connected me with Eddie Ramos, Technical support supervisor. I proposed that I would send back the empty 500GB instead of the two 300GB. I would avoid reloading the software for a 6th time and I would have an extra 100GB storage which I felt compensated for their mistakes and run around. He indicated that it had been 15 days and the return policy was 14 days. I reminded him about my letter and trouble communicating with Alienware. My complaint is twice as long as I can type into Yelp, but the bottom line is their tech support and computers are awful. And for me the bottom line is that I am out $250, and have experienced almost two months of hell trying to reason with the unreasonable folks at Alienware. read more

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