"I figure it best to write a good review since I will write one when I am not satisfied. I bought a alienware during the Black Friday weekend, it worked great up until my usb 2.0 went out. I called them and the gentleman did all he could do to help me fix it (that's one point). After we could not fix it over the phone, he set up a service call. The guy came out two days later but said he could not fix it because the screws would not come out (one point against them). I was disappointed but was not upset. He called them to let them know what happened and they sent a box the next day so I could send it back for repairs. Now here is the thing that impressed me, I sent it back that Thursday and they got it back of course the next day but surprisingly, they fixed it that day. I have heard horror stories how it took people weeks to get their computer back. I know I may be in the minority but I was very impressed with their service. I actually had the blue screen of death happen to me last year when I bought my Aspire 7741G and was impressed to get back within six days but man I never thought any company would fix anything that quick and send it back. Dell/Alienware gets two thumbs up from me"

"Have wanted an alienware my entire life. My one year old MBP just crashed and decided to finally buy one. I received the computer in three weeks and having purchased expedited shipping. After having unpackaged everything, I noticed my keyboard and sound weren't working properly, so I called dell support. They said, "not to point fingers, but sounds like you downloaded a virus." Enraged, I hung up and called a day later for another rep. He was polite and said he would have a tech out the very next day. Three days later one steps through my front door equipped only to fix my keyboard; I asked him about the speakers and he had no recollection about that particular problem in the order. He fixed the keyboard but my resentment for alienware is only increasing.

In summation, my computer has thus far performed quite well under strenuous conditions, other than the keyboard and speaker issues. However, the support team blows ass and I'm getting angrier as I type this; be very careful when purchasing an alienware product, even if you purchase a warranty."

"-The Sale- Sep. 24th
Purchased a new m17x r4 from a rude sales person who asked "do you want to buy a computer or not!" When asking the differences between some of the units. When it came time to purchase the unit the man was forceful about doing it with Dell Credit. I asked what the interest rate was and he responded "I will tell you when I get to it!" I have a corporate purchase program with them that grants me quick shipment of products purchased. Something they also lacked in doing... received my m17x long after.

-The arrival-

When the unit arrived I opened the box to put the laptop to charge. Hours later I came back to boot into windows too install all of my software only to find out that the keyboard was not functional. I plugged in an external keyboard and updated all firmware, software, and drivers. With no success I contacted Alienware (still day 1) and told them about what had happened. They told me that they would send a technician out to repair it. (didn't give me the option to send unit back for an even exchange.)

-The repair-
Days after the initial call, the service tech arrived at my home only to find out that Alienware/Dell had sent him the wrong part number. He called his dispatch center to inform them of what had happened notifying them that they had sent a Dell laptop keyboard and not an M17X R4 keyboard. The tech left saying that they would send the proper replacement. Nothing was resolved.

-The repair day 2-
Few days went by and received a new call from the service tech. He came to my home and when opening the box he noticed that once again they had sent him the wrong part. He informed them again only to find out that there was an error in how the warehouse tags its parts for the m17x. He thought that it might be an issue with the pins on the motherboard so he replaced the mother board and left. ( again... a "new" unit less than a week old getting repairs...)

-The tech support call(s)-
Frustrated with the wait time and unresolved issue I personally called the tech support line to inform them of what was happening. I was able to get them to agree to credit me 75$ for the trouble and for still having an unusable computer. The person confirms that the issue happening had to do with the warehouse and informed me that the time frame to resolve the issue was unknown. I was told to wait a few days and that a rep would call me back.

-the call-

A rep calls me back days later only to notify me that I only had the option to send the unit in and that it would take 2-3 weeks for it to be sent back in working condition. I told him that it was unacceptable because I use the computer for business purposing (graphic design/ Motion Graphics) and that I was working on a clients project and any delays would put me in a position where I would be at a loss. (7k contract) I notified him that I went out to a retail store to buy a wireless keyboard/ mouse kit to which he responded by saying that he was very sorry and that he would personally get the approval to ship an alienware USB keyboard to use in the mean time. The keyboard arrived.

- The final straw - Today Nov 1, 2012

I called Alienware to inform them about how I was very upset that nothing had been done yet and that even the service tech (that lives near by) has gotten annoyed at the lack of response on behalf of the company and their associates. From day one to today the time past has already nearly been a month with no action. I asked for a manager and was transferred to a person who I stressed the story to. The "manager" was silent and when I asked if he was still there he responded... "is that it...?" Which I responded "NO! I am tired of being looped around to different tech support agents and not answered to." He again stressed that there were two options having the unit shipped to them for 2-3 weeks or continuing to wait for the warehouse to figure out its error to then shop out a replacement keyboard. I asked if there was a claims department or a superior to him and he said I am the highest you will talk to because there is no other person.


After the call.... nothing has been resolved...

Something that companies like Apple would never have happen. I have owned Apple computers since 2001 and have always had my issues resolved in a day or less... Dell... A month has gone by and still no resolution.

Save your money. Don't buy dell or alienware.

PS: The person that recommended me to Alienware also order a computer that upon arrival he was made aware that the Screen was dead. And again... only option given was to have it serviced....

Something is truly wrong with their QA and Support Departments...."

"bought mx51, 1 month later it suddeenly shuts itself down and can no longer boot to windows.

spent over 10 hours on phone with tech support, they sent tech, replaced hard drive and motherboards, could not get system to boot windows. They said that case would be escalated and get off phone. NOthing happens, computer still doesnt work.

Many calls, days, and failed transfers later... 2-3 more hours on phone with language impaired tech support that accidentally mistransfers calls on multiple occasions after long waits I am told my problem is software related, case was never escalated, and they will not replace, would I like to start over from the beginning with tech support help? No, I would like my computer replaced with no further tech support troubleshooting on my behalf. No, they will not replace. No they will not send tech support agent. No there is no where I can deliver the computer to. However, I am free to speak to the 14th english 2nd language nontechnically skilled person who has no idea about what efforts I have made over many hours with the preceding 13 nonenglish nontechnically skilled people. I take it to best buy instead, pay for geek squad $100 to tell me the problem is definitely hardware which they dont do. They refuse to speak to alienware tech support who they know wastes their time. They give computer back and refuse to refund my money. I call alienware again, they fail to address any of the issues, remain confused, continue ridiculous transfers, pointless repeated testing requests (they keep terrible records of previous tech support issues). I realize that I am throwing good money after bad, decide to just buy a different computer, never alienware or dell again, just write the review, lose the money, and hopefully save some others.

Never in my life has a company mismanaged the warranty honoring of a clearly defective product like this. I have no idea how such a company can stay in business, my prediction is not long if they have done others this way."

"Well, from the looks of it people's experiences with Alienware hardware and Support is a mixed bag.

I bought a beast of a computer that I really love. I got two hundred dollars off of what was already a competitive price. Also, I recieved a free multi-function printer and a $365 Dell gift card which I used to buy a Dell monitor and PC TV card.

I had two support issues (probably my fault) sales and tech support were excellent!!! They stay on the line for as long as it takes to walk you through fixing the problem.

It's too bad though that Alienware is not participating in this forum, while a lot of computer/electronics companies are.

I gave some four stars below when I could have put five stars, mainly because no company is perfect.

So far so good!"

"So after a while of saving up my money, I decided to use it on an Alienware laptop. The online process of customizing your laptop was easy and even had explanations of all your different options. At that time, Dell had a special going on and I got the laptop $700 off! I even found an online coupon for $50 off. Checking out was easy and I quickly had my order placed. My order arrived 2 days before the delivery date and with no problems. I would recommend anyone to consider their Alienware computers when deciding which computer to buy."

"I first contacted Alienware sales support through the online chat thing. I built my setup, and spoke with James Williams on the chat. This happened on Tuesday, 07/17/2012. I received a quote via email, but told him I had to think about it. On Friday 07/20/2012, I decided I would purchase, so I emailed James directly, and he responded INSTANTLY and said the quote is still good, and would have a financing person contact me in one hour. Got AMAZING deals with the $100 off and the Dell Advantage program with free 2nd day shipping.

Just before an hour passed, I got a call FROM AN AMERICAN SALES person to process my order. I got the confirmation email and my order was already passed the processing stage, and into the production stage THE SAME DAY!

Again, I purchased a customized Alienware M14X R2 on Friday, 07/20/2012 with custom nameplate and everything. It is now Wednesday, 07/25 and my M14X is already halfway here! Fedex estimates it will arrive tomorrow, 07/26. From order date of Friday, 07/20 with a delivery date of 07/26 for a customized M14X with custom nameplate? Alienware/Dell is FINALLY stepping it up!

I still have my M15X, and it is still running STRONG! I can't WAIT to play with my M14X R2 tomorrow after work! I will keep this updated, but with my experience with Alienware/Dell so far, I have never had a down moment yet!"

"I ordered a desktop computer from them, and it arrived with hardware issues- constant bluescreens. After two weeks of calling their tech support, the technician agreed that I had a bad processor, but get this; he was not allowed to mark it as a hardware problem. He literally had to ask permission, and it was denied. I have to dispute the charges with my credit card, as they're trying to charge me over $300 as a restocking fee to return a defective machine. During this process I sent 5 emails to the address they gave me to contact them, and none were acknowledged or responded to. On four separate occasions they set appointments to have techs call me back, and they followed through zero times. I literally have to call 4-5 times per day just to reach my case manager once, and after all that they just refuse to accept their own diagnosis. "

"Purchased an Alienware X51 through Dell. It arrived on Friday. Now it is the following Monday and I am calling Dell for instructions to return it.

The thing is as loud as a lawn mower and the wireless connection is the slowest of any pc in the house. It literally would take days to download something from Steam."

"My Area 51 ALX has been a hardware nightmare since it came 2-years ago. Alienware has replaced the complete PC 3 times and internal part even more times during the first year. It still doesn't run correctly. Tech support is very hard to communicate with (Costa Rica Spanish accents)and not very well trained. The I/O control board (a daughter board that is hard to replace) controls the fans. lights and powered front door. The door fails to function within days of arrival of replacement parts and I no longer use it. The fans and case lights and temperature gauges don't talk to the software application they include. I never have been able to control the door fans or lights for more than a day or two at a time. Right now and for the past 6 months the fans are running at full speed and are so loud I can here them from the next room. At the end of my basic 1-year warranty they now won't talk to me unless I pay $35.00 per incident. The is my last Dell / Alienware PC. "

"I bought an Alienware Aurora R3 or r4 one of their top end pc's two weekends ago. Last Tuesday the system came, installed and setup it up on Saturday thru-out the day it locked up on me twice, and again locked on me Sunday. Yesterday I go to use my new alienware desktop upon booting up the pc, check disk comes up saying there are problems/errors with your hard drive let the scan run and suspossley it fixed the errors. Well had to reboot again due to installing program and it came up again I said that's it I called Alienware dell support, the first technician was not very helpful, kept putting me on hold to talk to someone ask me stupid questions about the programs that I had installed etc instead of resolving the issues. So at one point I lost him on the phone never called me back, and had to call the em back again. The second technician just didn't want to hear about my problems and said "Ok sir I connect you to a dell customer rep". That is when I went off on her explaing the situation and the treatment of the techs towards me. I explained that this is a very new out of box computer and paid about two-three thousands for this system to have these kind of problems. I threaten that I wanted to return the pc, she was trying to keep me calm down by saying sir make sure this is resolved. So sometime today I hear from someone from Dell or Alien ware, depending on how they treat me I might just might keep or send the system back. So their customer service call center is poorable in a sense."

"The computer had one defective graphics card. I didn't get anywhere with alienware and was hung up on 3 times. However I called dell directly and by passed alien ware all together and they sent out a tech guy the next day and fixed the computer at no charge. Dell is a great company, however they need to fire whoever is in charge of their alien ware customer service division."

"The worst service ever! Not only do they overprice their computers, when there's a problem, they take their time and keep you in the dark. They're also very hesitant to help you. If you do send yours back, don't be surprised to see scratches, dents, and scuffs on your brand new two-thousand-dollar machine. One thing I hate to do is to drop over a thousand dollars on one thing and it's broken AND the customer care doesn't exist. The computer took long to build and the shipping was even longer. STAY AWAY! I almost went to court with this incompetent company. I have all the emails saved. If you don't believe me, read all the other reviews or contact me. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!"

"Stay away from Dell or Alienware: I just bought a M14x R2 in early May, 2012, it came about May 28th or so, by June 8, 2012 the hard drive died with over 2K of software I can afford again.
I spent hours on the phone on Friday, when it died, they said new hard drives come in on Monday, (2 of them) and by Tuesday they never showed, I called and have it on tape, that they do not know when the hard drives will ship due to a 'shortage' of hard drives and it could be over two weeks and I can't get my money back because the laptop is now over 21 days old, but hey on that Friday I could, well not even then.
Now, I have tried four times to install windows on this the way it came from Alienware, and I have been working on computers for over ten years and let me say, if you can even talk to these guys, they are wrong. I just spent an hour and half installing Windows 7 on a 32 gig SSD drive because Harold said, oh yes this is how it is done!
AHHH!!!!
Over a week with no action!!!"

"This is a review of Alienware very POOR customer service. I am having a customer service nightmare I'm having with the Alienware Solution Station. My son is 13 and saved up to buy his Alienware M18x. He had a problem and tried to resent to factory settings and made a mistake. His bad...should have looked on line for instructions first. Still, we called Alienware and asked for help. For a fee, they said they would take care of it.

That was five weeks ago. Fourteen phone calls later. Four technician appointments - three of which had NO technician show up. First, they did the basic re-install. However, they couldn't get the wireless card to work and came to the obviously incorrect conclusion there was something wrong with the wireless card (it was working fine before we called them). I waited for a technician a few days later. He showed up, replaced the wireless card and it still didn't work. I called back. They worked on the software some more (remotely) and still couldn't fix the wireless. So, they decided that the replacement wireless card was bad and needed to be replaced again.

I received two confirmation calls from Dell but the technician never showed. When I called, I was told it was because the part was backordered. Nobody ever called to tell me (these are three hour time windows I'm waiting).

Then, two more confirmation calls for a couple days later. The technician never showed and lied about calling me and waiting 20 minutes. At that point I said that I wasn't going to wait again for a wireless card that was unnecessary in the first place. The Alienware support person asked what I wanted him to do - so I said I wanted him to fix the software. After about an hour, he did. He discovered that the technician who did the initial work (a month had passed at this point - and about 10 calls) did it incorrectly and nobody ever went back to check it. Then, however, it turns out we had a problem with graphics that we didn't have before.

He couldn't solve it and instead said that we needed a new graphics card. So, today, I waited again. I got two confirmation calls from Dell and the technician didn't show up. Again, because the part is on backorder, but nobody told me. So now, I've spent countless hours working with my son at times (of course, he has to go to school at some point), taking up time in my working day, and most of it wasted because the support people did the job incorrectly the first time, told me I needed parts I didn't need, and have on-site technicians who lie and don't call customers to tell them they aren't coming.

Today, I asked to talk to someone who might be interested in hearing about this. Tech support transferred me to customer service. They wanted to transfer me to tech support. Finally, I got the woman to understand that I thought they might want to know that their tech support has been terrible and their on-site technicians don't show up. She told me her manager would call me. Who is good for a bet that I don't hear a word?

So...I wait...with my frustrated kid...for the part that is on backorder and the technician who doesn't call and there's nothing I can do, except let other Alienware users know, just as a heads up and just in case someone who cares is looking."