M17xR4 issue. (New purchase with ore owned parts)

[Niblic3rd]

Hi there I'm new to the forum but i have a problem I need advice on.

I bought a Alienware m17xR4 in February bought it new for £1650 all paid for in 1 go. My problem arose last week when it just stopped running for no reason. So as u do I went ahead and contacted dell support we identified the problem as the motherboard failed. So arranged a next working day technician which was today.

The guy arrive and although a bit arrogant did the business and changed the motherboard once complete this solved nothing he then identified the problem as the graphics card failed. One gtx 675. So we sorted to get this replaced, which was fine. He then asked me if the laptop was a refurb to which I said of course not, to which he says the graphics card is definitely a used part. More so the pad on the to which absorbs heat or something was supposed to be one big piece but was in fact lots of little bit and just put on in any old way and the heat sink was missing a screw and not attached correctly which caused the failure.

I'm now sitting here wondering if i should bother waiting out for the further repair. As it stands I don't know what my rights are in this matter as I feel being sold I assumed was new and built for me is now just a slap dash assembly with possibly more per-owned parts inside. Do I have the right to demand a new laptop or refund?

Has anyone had something like this before? Any help would be great.

Thanks Kev.

 

[MattyB]

That's pretty bad if true. I would assume that the technician is not a Dell employee but instead just from a company that contracts to Dell. I would definitely contact Dell and tell them what you have been told. I'm sure they will deny it though.
I think you are referring to the thermal pads which are placed in different areas around the GPU. If so, these are usually made up of a number of different sized pieces which go onto the components on the GPU. I have never seen it as one big piece. There should definitely be 2 screws holding it down properly though. Just having one may cause a small gap to form so the heat isn't transferred to the heatsink properly.
I would love to hear what Dell say. I would ask for a GTX 680M upgrade.
Good luck!

 

[Niblic3rd]

I plan to give them a call tomorrow and thrash something out I will be asking for some reimbursement as if true this isn't right at all. As for the technician he just turned up in a car with the motherboard. To be honest he couldn't wait to get away.

 

[yikes81]

If the machine was advertised as a new pc, then I would be making a lot of noise until the prove to me that everything is new. And if not, then replacing the parts with working parts with either a free upgrade or extended warranty would be a minimum.

Tapatalk'n

 

[Niblic3rd]

Sounds like a plan will ring them in the morning as its late in the UK.

Will tell them what their technician has told me and demand some sort of deal.

 

[shankc]

Sounds like the prick who upgraded my graphics card he kept checking his watch and left before installing the drivers,told me if I had any problems with the card try reseating it,the cheek of its own

 

[Niblic3rd]

Well they are coming tomorrow to replace the gfx card and heat sink. Dell say they are investigating the issue with the preowned gfx card, I have taken pictures but iPad won't let me upload them here.

 

[yikes81]

That is good news. At least your are getting service.

Tapatalk'n

 

[Niblic3rd]

Well today was very testing to say the least.

The same guy arrived with a brand new gfx card and heat sink. Set about installing them into the machine all done and assembled and tadaa... 7 beeps from the motherboard and the thing still don't work. So now they are ordering another motherboard and another gfx card. The only saving grace is I never got a call to say I needed to wait so when I rang the tech line they said they going to push it to try and get it fixed tomorrow.

Possibly had something to do with if I had to wait another weekend then I was going to demand a partial refund or full for my troubles.

 

[MattyB]

Well 7 beeps usually refers to a CPU problem. I hope this guy knows what he's doing.

 

[Niblic3rd]

I thought the same thing but they claim it can be the gfx card too.

Plus when the gfx card is removed the machine runs fine from the on board gfx. Problem now is I don't know what's going on as all communication has stopped. Rang them earlier and got told that parts were available but they aren't sure why I haven't been rang by their service partners. So the fella is chasing it up atm.

Guess I need to wait some more.