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6 Posts
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January 6th, 2025 21:03
M18 r2 battery DoA
I purchased a new m18 r2 while starting to set up and doing windows updates. (I plugged the cord in a day ahead to make sure my battery was fully charge before beginning.) I saw a error "bios flash failure make sure battery is charged before updating" or something like that. It made me curious so I unplugged the power cord and sure nought nothing works unless it is plugged in.
I contacted tech support via the chat app on dells site explained best that I could with a tech. he said he was going to email me steps to test and reply to the email and he was advise once I had results.
from his testing instructions i found in the bios battery health showed communication error, and on the boot menu it showed no battery was connected. but oddly I noticed with the cord plugged in within windows it showed battery was 100% fully charged. so I replied to the email he sent but never got a reply.
after a few hours I called the tech support number and again explained and gave the new information I had learned from the testing. I was put on hold and when he came back said he was transferring me to someone else. after explaining and being transferred over and over wasting hours of my time. the final person tells me i have to return my laptop or he will have to transfer me to someone else.
What gives here I paid for a working computer, I paid for tech support, was supposed to get on site repair and now I have all my time and effort wasted and I get my money back and I am in the position where I started having to find a place to purchase a new laptop.
Why is this acceptable to anyone, why am I expected to accept this behavior I spent good money waited for the laptop spent my time trying to set it up and then trouble shoot the issue only to be forced to box it all up and send it back in order to receive back the money I spent to get a working laptop why does no one at dell understand my time and effort have value. Not sure why I am being forced to return the laptop to make it easier on the tech support people.
Should I Not be able to go to a reputable website and make a purchase of a laptop and it work and be what it says it is. or is everything just a scam now this is not customer support or warranty or onsite repair i just feel like they drag everything out transferring you around instead of helping resolve. now I am $2kplus down 3 weeks later hours of my time invested and frustration of having to explain the same thing over and over to 6 or 7 people and hope I get my money back.
Why? Just why it it like this!!
mattyb3
5 Practitioner
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1.6K Posts
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January 7th, 2025 23:22
They will always try to remedy a situation over the phone first, just to make sure that it isn't an easy software glitch that can be fixed easily.
Once they work out that this cannot be done, they should have offered you an onsite repair to replace the battery or possibly motherboard.
Having to explain your issue to so many people is not acceptable and I know that the Alienware team are working on improving support assistance to their range of products but this hasn't quite happened yet.
Honestly, I would feel more comfortable sending the machine back to Dell rather than have an onsite repair. The repairs techs that they send out are only from local PC repair stores and usually have very little experience with AW systems. They can often do more damage, if they don't know what their doing.
Unfortunately, sometimes things go wrong with electronics even when they are brand new but you should at least have a decent experience trying to get any issues resolved.
Never purchase from dell again
1 Rookie
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6 Posts
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January 8th, 2025 18:46
@mattyb3 Thanks for your information, since i was getting nowhere with the support, I opened the case unplugged the batter plug and reconnected and that solved my issue at least for now the better health now shows correctly and boot menu shows connected. but in doing so I realized that my video card is not what I ordered. on Dells website when you order a off the shelp (not custom build) they show 3 options i7 with rtx 4070 at the lowest price and then i9 rtx 4080 mid price and then i9 rtx4090 high end. I ordered the mid selection it showed the rtx 4080 video card at every point through the purchase process and payment. But when I noticed my laptop had the 4070 card I went back to the receipt that they sent me after the payment even the receipt shows 4070. so they did this on purpose and have cheated me these are bad people with the intention of cheating there customers.
Never purchase from dell again
1 Rookie
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6 Posts
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January 8th, 2025 22:03
<Violations removed as per the Forum Code of Conduct to which you agreed to when joining. DELL-Admin>
I was truly excited to buy a new laptop previously I never had a new laptop always refurb or hand me down from a friend. I have enjoyed my old 17 R2 that I got 2nd hand and decided I would buy a new Alienware model. I had trouble with the new laptop and while trying to get it updated and working, I realized that my video card is not what I ordered. On Dells website when you order a off the shelf (not custom build) they show 3 options i7 with rtx 4070 at the lowest price and then i9 rtx 4080 mid price and then i9 rtx4090 high end. I ordered the mid selection it showed the rtx 4080 video card at every point through the purchase process and payment. But when I had to do testing and go into set up I noticed my laptop had the 4070 card I went back to the receipt that they sent me after the payment even the receipt shows 4070. So they did this on purpose. I have tried repeatedly to call, chat, msg, send support tickets but no one is willing to address this I am guessing this is standard procedure and most do not know they didn’t get what they paid for. I have tried every way to contact and ask for help but they do not wish to address this with me. I have filed a complaint with Better Business Bureau trying to resolve I guess I have to see this through. I feel cheated and I feel it was intentional.
(edited)