Alienware Area 51 by slow boat
Written: Feb 28 '03
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Pros: Attractive and functional case with easy access to components. Reputed to perform well.
Cons: Expensive. Slow to arrive. Poor, unreliable (albeit polite) customer support in the event of problems.
The Bottom Line: If you decide to go with Alienware, always record the name of the Alienware rep., the date, time, and contents of any conversation. You also need great patience.
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| ozcomert's Full Review: Alienware Area-51 Pentim 4 Desktop Computers |
My wife and I decided we needed a new computer at home. My neighbor coincidentally also was getting a new machine. Neighbor ordered from Dell. I ordered from Alienware. neighbor was told his machine (identical specs) would arrive in a week or so. Neighbor got it in four days. I was told it might take as long as 15-20 business days to arrive. Hmmmmm. Well, I ordered it anyway. I noticed that after ordering it, the price on their website went down for the machine by almost $200! I called them and was told no problem, they would credit me the difference. Going from the website that details your order status, it was clear that they were not going to ship it to me on a timely basis so I called to complain (when I called, system had spent one week on the phase that is just installing the operating system and drivers!). After receiving the call from me, they managed to ship it (to avoid having to issue any "compensation" on the 20th business day. A few days later, the machine arrived. I plugged it in, and it did not boot up! Nothing. Nada.
Next, I decided to call the "24 hour technical support". THere is an interesting feature on the technical support line which is that if you hold long enough, it rolls over to "customer service" which is NOT 24 hour. Therefore, you can end up calling multiple times, holding for 30 minutes and then getting cut off. After three of these experiences, I finally got a person on the phone who explained that I could send the thing back to them at their cost and they would fix it. How long will that take? 10-12 business days! I later learned that that does not include shipping time to and from Alienware!
Next, I find out that the person who spoke with me about the price change failed to record it in the system so they cannot honor the price change nor credit my account! I complained loud and often enough for them to agree to send me (they say) some Best Buy coupons in "compensation" for the price difference. Hopefully they will arrive eventually.
In dealing with customer service (many times) I found that the person you speak with will sometimes not record the phone call in the system. This can create headaches. About half the time if they promise to call or email it does not happen. It is vital when dealing with them to get the name of the person to whom you are speaking and record the contents of every conversation. Also, you should know that CUSTOMER SERVICE IS IN COSTA RICA (that explains the Latin names and accent of the customer service agents). When you know this, you can really get a kick when the agent tells you he cannot get through to the depot (where your machine is for repairs) and that he will WALK over to find out what is happening with your machine and call you back. Must be that the reason he did not call is because he drowned.;) They also promised me that because of the difficulties they would expedite shipping back to me (two day rather than three) and I was told the system shipped back to me three days ago. Well, according to Fed Ex, it shipped yesterday and was shipped "express saver" (three business days not two). Par for the course. My experience has been that customer service cannot touch something without messing it up. It is now about SEVEN WEEKS since I ordered the machine and I still have not received a working machine. Hopefully, it will come in a few days and work this time!
Perhaps my experience is anomalous. However, if I had it to do over again, I would order from another company. For me, the pretty case and (reputedly) few extra FPS are not worth the high price and aggravation and TIME it has cost me.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 2895
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
ozcomert
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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