1/5

posted Nov-18-2005

i bought a samsung DLP tv via the digital e-tailer web site on october 18th based on c-net's certification. i paid for fed-ex saver 3-5 day shipping.

after placing the order online i received an email stating that the store would be closed for the next several business days and that my order would be processed when they were back in the office. this was disturbing because the office closures weren't disclosed on the web site.

i waited until the offices were open and called a customer service representative to make sure my order was being processed. i was subjected to 15 minutes of disturbingly hard upsell to additional services -- the fact that i declined additional items half a dozen times had no effect on the person i was speaking to, who finally told me that unless i bought 300.00 worth of additional items (including a bulb replacement plan) that he couldn't guarantee my order would be processed until the following week. at this time i terminated my call.

i received a tracking number in email the next day with instructions to use the fedex site to track my shipment. when i attempted to put the number in the fedex site it was returned as invalid -- so i read the bottom of the email i received which said that if i ordered a television that a different shipping company would be used. this was disclosed at the bottom of the mail as a footnote, after the tracking number and clear instructions to use the fedex site. the name of the alternate shipping compay was not provided, so i called digital e-tailer again and was told that the company name was seko.

i tracked my shipment through the seko site but delivery estimated far exceeded any 3-5 day window -- when i called seko, they said they were unaware of a 3-5 day delivery policy and that it was an issue with the retailer for claiming those dates. when i tried to call digital e-tailer back for a refund of the preimium i paid for 3-5 day fedex service i was put on hold indefinitely and did not get my refund.

my experience with this company was very disturbing across the board -- from the numerous office closures that weren't disclosed to the highly aggressive and threatening "customer service" rep who basically said my order would be held hostage unless i bought additional items to the obvious bait-and-switch on shipping, this company has demonstrated a lack of concern for customer service or honest and up-front business at every turn.

This review was modified by krullulon on November 18 2005 03:47:48 PM

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5/5

posted Jan-14-2005

I was seriously disappointed after I placed my order for the 7700 due to some miscommunications:

1. I was sent mail after I saved my shopping cart (but before I purchased) that shipping was free on the 7700. This incentive tipped the scales in AW's favor (I was also thinking about a Sager 9860), so I went back to place my order.

2. I returned to the site to check-out and was charged shipping when I placed my order.

3. I called AW and was told that there was no free shipping on laptops. When I said that I had email clearly stating "free shipping on all laptops" the rep told me to send the mail to sales@alienware.com, but didn't say that they'd honor the discount.

4. I sent the mail to the sales team and didn't receive a response.

5. I called back about a week later and was asked to send the mail again to the customer service alias.

6. I sent the mail to the CS alias and got an auto-response that they'd get back to me in 24 hours or less.

7. A few days later (not 24 hours or less) I had mail from a CS rep saying that although there was no discount when I ordered, they'd give it to me anyway but it would delay my ship date. This was the last straw for me for 2 reasons: first, becuase the rep's statement implied that they were doing me a favor when in fact they were merely fixing their own error, and second that it would impact the ship date for my system (which was nutty).

8. I posted my frustration to a popular third-party Alienware message board, and was quickly contacted by an AW manager. This is when the story turned positive.

9. Over the next few days the AW person ensured that my ship date was not impacted and made certain that everything was taken care of with no more action required from me... the entire process was invisible to me and things were "just fixed" -- which is *exactly* the way it should work. I give you my money, you give me great service and don't make me run around like a headless chicken. Everyone wins.

10. My system is shipping today (with no shipping fee)!

I do want to note that at no time during this process did I get the impression that AW wasn't trying to do the right thing or that they were trying to pull the wool over my eyes. It's obvious from how quickly I was contacted after posting to the forum that AW cares about the customer experience, and it's gone a long way toward restoring my faith in their service.

So, thanks to AW for jumping in and fixing things so quickly.

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