I am attempting to buy an Alienware 17 (r5) and discovering that this is impossible.
Why not? Dell.
I first placed my order on the 3rd of November (E.D.D. 19th November) and that failed because I used a credit card from a country different to the delivery address. Dell: 1, Me: 0
On the 4th, when they emailed me saying that it failed, I placed a new order for the piece using my UK credit card. A little later in the day, I checked my order status page and discovered that they had only accepted half my order. I had ordered the laptop and a neoprene sleeve and the order acknowledgement only listed the sleeve. I phoned them and they confirmed that only the sleeve had been ordered, despite what the internal receipt said. Dell: 2, Me: 0
... so I tried a third time, this time ordering ONLY the laptop. This order was accepted and the E.D.D. was the 19th, again.
The order for the sleeve was not cancelled and that was delivered, this Monday.
This morning, I checked the status of my laptop order and it was still in pre-production. At lunch time, I checked again and discovered that the order had been cancelled! I hadn't received any phone calls or emails so I decided to phone Dell and ask why.
After phoning Dell, I learned that the payment details were fine; the order was cancelled due to some issue involving incorrect 'power leads' - they were incredibly vague about it. They said that it was not my fault, it was their fault, and that they would reinstate the order but it would now take THREE WEEKS more to be delivered. Dell: 3, Me: 0
They said that the new order would have to be shipped to London from China and that they would expedite it but that they couldn't promise that it would take less than 14 working days: three weeks, even though it was their fault.
When I asked them why I had to phone them to find out why order was surprisingly cancelled, they said that they did not have systems in place to notify people promptly.
I pointed out that someone from Dell had assured me that there was no problem with my order (and that the E.D.D. was, in fact, the 19th) when I phoned and asked about this order, last Friday, because I thought the order had stuck in pre-production for an inexplicably long time. They did not comment on this.
Right now, I am waiting to see if my order will be reinstate, how much they will charge me for that (there were discount coupons linked to the one that was cancelled) and whether they will get the specification right.
My conclusion is this: Alienware laptops are, essentially, off the market. Don't even think about buying one - it is impossible.
Why not? Dell.
I first placed my order on the 3rd of November (E.D.D. 19th November) and that failed because I used a credit card from a country different to the delivery address. Dell: 1, Me: 0
On the 4th, when they emailed me saying that it failed, I placed a new order for the piece using my UK credit card. A little later in the day, I checked my order status page and discovered that they had only accepted half my order. I had ordered the laptop and a neoprene sleeve and the order acknowledgement only listed the sleeve. I phoned them and they confirmed that only the sleeve had been ordered, despite what the internal receipt said. Dell: 2, Me: 0
... so I tried a third time, this time ordering ONLY the laptop. This order was accepted and the E.D.D. was the 19th, again.
The order for the sleeve was not cancelled and that was delivered, this Monday.
This morning, I checked the status of my laptop order and it was still in pre-production. At lunch time, I checked again and discovered that the order had been cancelled! I hadn't received any phone calls or emails so I decided to phone Dell and ask why.
After phoning Dell, I learned that the payment details were fine; the order was cancelled due to some issue involving incorrect 'power leads' - they were incredibly vague about it. They said that it was not my fault, it was their fault, and that they would reinstate the order but it would now take THREE WEEKS more to be delivered. Dell: 3, Me: 0
They said that the new order would have to be shipped to London from China and that they would expedite it but that they couldn't promise that it would take less than 14 working days: three weeks, even though it was their fault.
When I asked them why I had to phone them to find out why order was surprisingly cancelled, they said that they did not have systems in place to notify people promptly.
I pointed out that someone from Dell had assured me that there was no problem with my order (and that the E.D.D. was, in fact, the 19th) when I phoned and asked about this order, last Friday, because I thought the order had stuck in pre-production for an inexplicably long time. They did not comment on this.
Right now, I am waiting to see if my order will be reinstate, how much they will charge me for that (there were discount coupons linked to the one that was cancelled) and whether they will get the specification right.
My conclusion is this: Alienware laptops are, essentially, off the market. Don't even think about buying one - it is impossible.