A pr company last year sent me a top-end Alienware laptop computer for review. As maxed out as the review product was, I was ultimately disappointed by its poor design, heavy weight, and dreadfull DVD playback. A better description might be "compact desktop" rather than "laptop."
My son is enamored, however, by the blue glowing alien on this brand of notebook computer, and so ordered one through Alienware's Web site. Here are some of his experiences:
- the order was repeatedly delayed due to parts shortages of the very common CD/DVD drive.
- because we are located outside the USA, we had to go through the embarrassment (and possible security risk) of an Alienware employee listening in on a conference call with the credit card company to ensure the card was valid.
- US$170 for shipping to Canada. Seems like a rip-off to me.
- The package included a remote control for the Windows Media Center software, but no documentation on how to hook up the remote to the computer. When we enquired, Alienware unhelpfully responded:
In regards to your inquiry, unfortunately, no manual is sent with the controller nor is there one in which you can download from our website. We apologize for the inconvenience that this may represent, however if you have any specific inquiry in regards to the controller, please let us know.
If you have any other questions or technical issues, please do not hesitate to contact us again, or visit our Knowledge Base at http://support.alienware.com.
Thank you for choosing Alienware and have a nice day.
Best regards,
Robert Pemberton
Technical Support
Alienware Corp.
When the box arrived, it was missing the spare battery he had ordered. I spent more than a half-hour on the phone (fortunately it was toll-free) to get the missing part sent. Alienware used these excuses:
- You've called the wrong location (I called the location the initial email told me to call).
- There is no spare power supply listed on your order (I am missing the battery, not the power supply).
- There is no spare battery listed on your order (it is listed on the order confirmation I have in front of me).
- We need to check your order on a second computer system, which might have a different version of the items you ordered (the spare battery was finally located).
- Further waiting while the customer service rep waited in line to contact the order department to order the battery.
I would never order a computer through mail order, and maybe my son won't anymore either.
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