I Order the Computer. They Fail to Give their Advertised Discount

August 30, 2004

I ordered a Roswell 3150 computer, adding a bunch of options. It came standard with a Matrox card (I got the RTX/100 Extreme Pro), a lot of memory and a big hard disk. I added memory, another two hard disks setting a RAID 1 (redundant storage) for the D: drives, and various other components. [System specs]

The total price: $5460.21.

There are three sections to the rest of this posting:

1. The advertised discount (Part 1)
2. The importance of the promised delivery date
3. The service contract
   

1. The advertised discount (Part 1)

When I ordered the computer, they offered "Free Shipping on An Alienware System Purchased Online". I made the order on the web. There was no obvious statement that I had to do anything other than order on the web to get the discount and no obvious place to enter the web discount. But they charged me shipping anyway.

I actually didn't notice this when I reviewed and approved the order at the website. I was too busy reading the long list of components to make sure the order was correct. I don't know whether they showed a shipping price or not. But when I got the confirming email from them, it showed a shipping charge of $129.

The confirmation came from sales@alienware.com, so I immediately send a message back to sales@alienware.com pointing out that I had ordered on the web, that they had advertised free shipping, and asking why they were charging for shipping.

At the time, I treated the overcharging merely as a nuisance--an annoying mistake of theirs--because I had decided, based on their reviews and their self-description (which usually reflects a company's self-image), to trust them. (Ooops.) In retrospect, having more experience with them, I wonder whether this is merely an instance of a broader deceptive practice:

• A company that did this on purpose wouldn't do it for every advertisement, for every system. That's too predictable, and makes a prosecution for deceptive practices too easy to prove. But a company can make a lot of extra money by doing it some of the time, as long as a low enough percentage of customers catch it and demand a refund.


• I wonder how many people have bought systems from Alienware, over how many different promotions, expecting an advertised discount, but weren't actually credited with the discount.


• I wonder how many people noticed that they were overcharged and complained about it?

2. The importance of the promised delivery date

Alienware gave me an estimated ship date of September 21.

Actually, I needed the machine NOW, to use in a course that I was just starting to teach. But the late order was my fault. I had spent too long reviewing specs and convincing myself that I really was willing to pay such a high premium for the privilege of getting a system from Alienware.

I could still make it work if I got the machine in September. Rather than trying to do the full course this term, I would extend the pilot studies that I had done so far with Final Cut Pro, creating a few new videos and instructional units (lecture slides, review guides, test questions, etc.) and studying student reactions in preparation for the full-blown course replacement in the Spring 2005.

But if the estimated ship date had been much later than this, I would have gone to a different vendor. Timing is important--as the term progresses, I get busier with grading, panicking students, graduate student exams, grant writing, and conference presentations. Eventually, I get swamped--no time for new experiments or new equipment until mid-December and the end of the term. I needed to get this machine well before that zero-bandwidth time.

3. The service contract

As has been my practice for years, I checked to see that Alienware offered onsite service (they do) and, given that they met that requirement, ordered the longest and most expensive onsite service contract that they offered.

Here's how they describe their support contract:
(go to the Warranty Bundle section and click on the "Click here to learn more!" link)

4-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service Bundled with AlienAutopsy and Respawn

Demand no less than the ultimate in protection. With this plan, not only will you receive a specially discounted price, but you’ll also enjoy FOUR full years of:

• Peace of mind, knowing that you have an entire company at your disposal, equipped and ready to ensure that your computer is performing at the superior level you deserve.
• No fees for parts, labor or shipping for any warranty repair, no matter what the cost.
• 24/7 Phone Support. Have a computer problem at 3am in the morning? No problem.
• Onsite Service. If at all possible, you won’t have to come to us for your service needs – we’ll come to you.
• Forced Upgrade Program. If your computer needs a part that is no longer available, we will replace the part with a similar or better replacement.
• AlienAutopsy, a tool that will provide the Alienware® technical support staff with a detailed incident report for quick problem diagnosis.
• Respawn, a CD set, which can bring your computer back to its original factory condition in minutes.
• Personalized Online Support Portal. Chat online with a live agent or peruse our many forums for the length of your warranty. Plus, you can take advantage of the thousands of questions in our FAQ section, learn about computer viruses and download the drivers you need – forever!
• Upgrade at specially reduced prices. If you wish to upgrade, send the computer back to us.
• Service from people who know Alienware computers. Alienware systems are unique, thus we employ expert in-house technicians.
• Replacement Parts: For those experienced with hardware installation, you can simply have Alienware send you a replacement part and install it yourself.

Alienware also offers smaller extended warranties, including a four and three year plan without AlienAutopsy and Respawn.

They didn't offer the 4 year warranty when I bought my computer. Back then, the premier support plan was the three year warranty, with AlienAutopsy and Respawn. And that's what I got.

Let me repeat one of the key aspects of this description:

Onsite Service. If at all possible, you won’t have to come to us for your service needs – we’ll come to you.

That's what they said, and what I never got, despite numerous pleas for it. But that comes later in the story.

An Optimistic Beginning for an Online Course in Software Testing

I bought the Alienware computer to accomplish a project that I had been planning over the last five years--development of a free-to-the-public web-based course in software testing with video lectures and demonstrations.

From the hardware side, I did my needs analysis through 2004. I did pilot projects with a Macintosh (I am a happy owner of a 17" PowerBook G4) running Final Cut Pro. FCP is very cool, but I preferred Adobe's Premiere Pro, available on Windows machines.

Matrox made a video coprocessor, specially tailored for Premiere. There seemed to be challenges configuring systems to work well with this card. Lots of configuration and support hassles discussed on the Net. A few companies seemed to specialize in creating carefully configured video production powerhouse machines. Alienware was one of them.

The Alienware system that I bought seemed overpriced compared to its competition--it even made the dual-processor Power Mac G5's look inexpensive. High prices were the biggest complaint about Alienware on the web.

On the other hand,

• Alienware was well known for its video processing systems, and they featured several machines with the Matrox RTX 10 and RTX 100 boards supplied as standard equipment.
• Alienware had great reviews for manufacturing quality and tech support. They made a big deal of this on their website:

"When you demand high performance, superior build quality, innovative style, and award-winning support, turn to Alienware to deliver the definitive solution. Alienware delivers the peace of mind that can only come from an unparalleled tradition of excellence and an impeccable reputation for creating systems powered by the most advanced, non-proprietary technology. With the addition of Alienware’s award-winning support team, your critical needs for performance, dependability, and service are not only met, they are surpassed. That’s the Alienware difference."

I appreciate good quality. I cherish good quality. I understand that quality costs money, and so I accept the fact that if I want something really good, I'll have to pay for it.

In 2001, the National Science Foundation awarded my lab a $470,000 research grant for Improving the Education of Software Testers. Earlier in 2004, I was promoted to Director of the Center for Software Testing Education & Research at Florida Tech. I had some research money, but no more money in the budget for expensive new equipment. So, after long discussions, Becky (my wife) and I decided to pay for this out of our own funds.

It was going to be expensive--with hardware, software, some additional video equipment, we would spend $10,000. Becky's a full-time doctoral student (she went back for her Ph.D. in Education after teaching for 20 years) and most of my current income is from my salary at Florida Tech--so $10,000 is a big chunk for us. But we decided that the project made it worth it.

And we decided that it was really, really important to get a reliable computer that was really fast (because video development is so computer intensive) and really well supported (just in case).

For that, we went to Alienware. (Ooops.)

Introduction

Hi.

My name's Cem Kaner. I'm a Computer Science professor.

Sometimes I also do consumer protection work for people with computer-related problems. One of the things I ask frustrated consumers to do is to report their problems to the public, so the rest of us can learn from them. This is my report.

This blog is about a year (almost) of frustration with the Alienware company and a $5000 Roswell 3150 computer that I bought from them.

There's too much to write in one entry--and too much to read--so I'll write this saga over a series of posts.

The problems are not resolved. Well, in one sense they are. After repeated failing efforts to make this lemon more reliable, today I finally ordered a Dell XPS Gen 5 to replace it. I don't know what will happen to my investment in the Alienware machine, but it has been down so much, lost so much data, and cost so much troubleshooting time and fruitless discussions with Alienware tech support that as an engine for getting work done, I've concluded that the machine is a lost cause, that Alienware's willingness/ability to provide reasonable support for the machine is insufficient, and that if I am going to get work done, I need to do the work with a more reliable computer, from a more responsible vendor.

So I'll use some of the time to write this blog that I would have wasted playing let's-try-to-fix-the-Alienware-computer-again. The rest, I'll spend getting real work done.

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A Preliminary Note

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