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General discussion

Alienware Follow-up

Mar 22, 2005 12:37AM PST

Hey all,

I am posting a follow-up concerning my laptop with Alienware.

I received a call from Brian Roberts, who was immensely helpful and the reason I have been silent until now, and he informed me of the following:

That my laptop latch behind the F8 key was not broken but was not a spring-latch and firm pressure was needed to reseal the keyboard. It wasn't snapped off and the tech was able to seal it simply by applying pressure.

So, I have three thoughts.

First, and I do not mean this as harsh criticism especially in light of AW following through, but their current policy of asking people to perform hardware repairs still, in my humble opinion, puts the consumer in a catch-22.

Second, I wasn't willing to apply too much pressure (and hence thought it was broken, because I had pressed several times and couldn't get it to snap into place, nor could I see the latch) since AW wouldn't cover any damage I did if I tried to fix it (which relates to 1 above).

Finally, Mr. Roberts was immensely helpful. And I want to publicly thank him.

Finally, I only posted the original topic after hitting stonewalls with AW - I guess I still think that the customer should be able to send the laptop to depot without having to try any repairs themselves.

So, that is the follow-up. I am thankful for Mr. Roberts and his tracking the issue and help! ANd wanted to post the details since to do otherwise would not be fair to AW.

Peace,

Jason Hickman

Discussion is locked

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A clarification
Mar 22, 2005 12:46AM PST

Mr. Roberts is one of AW vice-presidents. Realized I left that out.

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Ugh, is there any way to edit posts? sigh :) sorry
Mar 22, 2005 12:48AM PST

Okay, I'm confused today....

He is a critical issues agent.

Now it's right. Shockedp

J

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I would wager...
Mar 22, 2005 1:27AM PST

that most of us are convinced that AW only agreed to help you because you made a lot of noise. As far as I'm concerned, Alienware will never get my business--nor will I ever recommend them to anyone I know. I believe that many people who've read CNET forums feel the same way. The "extremely helpful individual" should be the first person you talk to, not the last.

A note to Alienware: I hope you've learned something from what's happened here. You can continue to do what you've been doing to paying customers, or you can change your ways. You can't buy goodwill, and the lack of it will cost you a lot more than you can afford.

(*As a consultant, I'm almost ready to submit a proposal to completely redesign AW's customer-care system. However, I only work for "misguided" companies, not "unethical ones"...and I'm not sure which AW is.)

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The squeaky wheel gets the ... attention.
Mar 22, 2005 9:02AM PST

I responded in the other post and have read along as others posted. It's nice to see that making noise helped get you the proper attention.

Bob

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Bob...
Mar 22, 2005 12:48PM PST

Probably not many people tell you this in so many words, but I think I can speak for everyone in saying that we appreciate your help and support much more than you know. Keep up the "excellent" work! Wink

Sincerely, John MacDonald