Dell tech experience?

[drumn_bass]

Hey everyone. 

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I just got an Alienware M15 R1 about a week ago. It was an open box unit from BestBuy and while it and works brand new, the battery shows almost 16% wear already. I contacted Dell support and after some testing, they offered to replace my battery under warranty. Here is my dilemma. They said they will ship the new battery to their holding facility, then a tech will call me to schedule service. It was stated in the standard terms of service email I got. I also got an email from a tech contractor in the area, advising about C-19 safety measures. Just an automated communication. But then, about an hour later, I get an email from FedEx, letting me know that Dell has mailed a package to my home address (not their holding facility), and it will be arriving here tomorrow. It weights a lb, so I assume it's the battery. So once it comes in, do I just sit and wait for the tech to call me to schedule a visit? Or was their email just a generic one and since they sent the part to me directly I can go ahead and install it myself? I would prefer to do it myself, but I don't want to mess anything up with the warranty process if it's not an expectation. 

 

Does anyone have any similar experience? What would you do guys?

 

Once it's delivered and I can make sure it's the battery, I will probably call or chat with Dell to see if they have a problem with me doing it myself, but I just wanted to ask here too.

[Electronics Wizardy]

I got a dell onsite repair for a server once. Box came in, then a bit later the tech came to replace it. Id just wait for the tech and let them do it. 

[drumn_bass]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

I got a dell onsite repair for a server once. Box came in, then a bit later the tech came to replace it. Id just wait for the tech and let them do it. 

Thanks, that makes sense. I'm ok with it either way. The tech support person mentioned something about the repair tech running some tests to make sure it performs properly, so I guess might as well let them.

[Jtrizzy]

I must say, I deal with Dell a lot for work ( IT manager) and their support is probably one of the best in the industry. When we purchase servers we always get 3 years same day service (servers sometimes need to be brought back online ASAP) and sure enough a tech shows up same day to replace anything. Awesome tech support.

[drumn_bass]

19 hours ago, Jtrizzy said:

I must say, I deal with Dell a lot for work ( IT manager) and their support is probably one of the best in the industry. When we purchase servers we always get 3 years same day service (servers sometimes need to be brought back online ASAP) and sure enough a tech shows up same day to replace anything. Awesome tech support.

@Jtrizzy

 

Thanks for the input man. The tech came out the same day the battery was delivered (within an hour of delivery actually). He was very courteous and professional, and seemed like a great person. Replacing the battery was something I could have done myself, so I talked to him before he came out to see if it was an option, and he didn't mind, but I didn't want to take away any work from him (in case he gets paid by the job or something) and let him come out anyway. It did sound like he wanted to, but still wanted to give me an option to decided. He came by, replaced the battery in less than 10 minutes, tested to make sure everything worked, and that was it. Easy.

 

Unfortunately, this Alienware is going to be returned to the store now. I have discovered a pretty annoying coil whine with this unit, and I just can't deal with it. I'm replacing it with a Razer Blade Steath 13. A little bit less power, but still good enough for me, and I love the small size of it. Plus it feels totally silent compared to the AW (not counting fans, but even they're much quieter in Razer) I have no complaints about the support I got from Dell though.

[Kilrah]

19 hours ago, Jtrizzy said:

I must say, I deal with Dell a lot for work ( IT manager) and their support is probably one of the best in the industry. When we purchase servers we always get 3 years same day service (servers sometimes need to be brought back online ASAP) and sure enough a tech shows up same day to replace anything. Awesome tech support.

Pro support is not quite the same as consumer.

 

I'm still waiting for the delivery of my replacement machine for which the paperwork was signed in January.

 

To be clear I don't care because there was no point in replacing it in the first place, their trash support just ended up initiating that for a problem that's got nothing to do with hardware...

 

When I got my XPS13 2 in 1 it pissed me off because it would wake up every time I plugged or unplugged the power cord. I find that highly stupid since when I plug my laptop while it's closed I just want it to charge as fast as possible and without a fuss, not turn on and start doing background updates, running the fan, playing sounds at night next to my bed etc. When I unplug it while it's closed it's because I'm putting it in my bag so I certainly don't want it turning on.

Made a support ticket, a guy remoted in for 2 hours, spending most of that time closing and reopening the same settings pages that strangely enough always showed the same things, then BSing me that the reason I couldn't configure that was that a certain non-standard and unrelated setting wasn't shown in power plan - bad luck, I know how to enable it, did so, turned it on - and would you know, no change. He ended up setting me up for a replacement machine.

 

After that I did some deeper research and found out that crap is actually intended and standard behavior now so it's "normal".

 

Got the papers for the exchange a couple of weeks later, signed and returned anyway to see what would happen, then nothing anymore, not even a contact. Didn't care because obviously the machine is working as designed even if it's a crap design so a new one would work just the same.

 

Also I had made a 2nd ticket about an unrelated issue (impossible to boot from SD card even if there's specifically a setting in the BIOS to enable/disable it), it was merged with the previous ticket by them, and I never got any answer related to that problem, even though I did a couple of email follow-ups AND asked about it during the remote session.

 

So from my recent experience there's at least a data point that points to "useless, below ground level".

 

I'm considering reminding them about "hey, where's my replacement" 2 months before warranty end or if I end up making a big scratch on it at some point...