zotmeister | Smoke

I don't get it. I just got back my WidowPC hunk-of-junk from servicing, and two things were apparent within fifteen minutes, TOPS, of turning it on: It wasn't tested after it was repaired; It still has a problem. Retards, I swear. After plugging it in and powering it on, I was promptly requested to input my Windows Media Center Edition Product Key. You know, the 25-character "Microsoft has my money" code on all their products. If I'm being run through the process of setting up the operating system, then it hasn't been done for me, and that means that THEY HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE WHETHER THE MACHINE RUNS PROPERLY OR NOT. Guess what: IT DOESN'T. ...Well, technically, so far I haven't had any issues RUNNING it, but I have had a 100% failure rate with REBOOTING it. If I tell it to shut down, it shuts down and then shuts off, without issue; it also starts back up again without issue. But if I tell it to restart, it shuts down the OS, but then stays on... just sitting there... monitor black... power LED on... fans quietly humming... not starting back up again. Minor issue, perhaps, but MAJOR annoyance, especially since this is EXACTLY how it was when it LEFT THE REPAIR SHOP. All it would have taken on their part was ONE person actually setting up the machine to readily notice, after installing just ONE operating system update, that the bloody thing still had a problem. That's all it took me. It wasn't doing that before I sent it to them. It was rebooting... it was shutting itself off during the re-startup process, but it did successfully shut down and reboot. This is new. This is something they introduced. And they didn't pay for the shipping to send it to them. Useless, I tell you, they're useless. It was suggested that the office set up a betting pool on how long it lasts before it completely ceases function again. Right now, odds are on two weeks. Did I ever tell you not to buy anything from WidowPC.com? Well, let me be more explicit about that: never buy anything from WidowPC.com. Especially laptops. And to think I paid them for a two-year warranty extension. Now THAT is quite possibly the singular greatest waste of funds I've ever fallen victim to. Hopefully it will be the last. I am NOT happy at the moment. Anyone have any wisdom to share with me regarding any of this? Should I be contacting the BBB or a lawyer or something? This is all truly ridiculous. - ZM EDIT: Get this: I just discovered that I might not have even gotten the thing at all after it was shipped back to me, because THEY DIDN'T PUT MY NAME ON THE SHIPPING LABEL! It's a good thing that the company I work for was able to figure it out and get it to me.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Have you called them and told them that the computer is still not fixed? Start with that and ask them to tell you EXCATLY what they did to in order to fix the problem.

I'm wondering if there is a hardware issue. I have a feeling that they reformated the drive and re-installed windows. This fixes 99.99999999999999% of software issues. If it is a hardware issue (e.g. Motherboard, BIOS, RAM, etc.) this will not solve those problems.

If it is a hardware issue then that should be replaced, esp if it is under warentee.

To give them the benefit of the doubt, they could have reformated/reinstalled/tested then re-installed so that you could do the nifty stuff like enter the Admin pw. *shrug*

I hope that helps.

-di.

Have you called them and told them that the computer is still not fixed?

I'll probably reply to the support ticket once I'm capable of doing it without involving expletives.

I'm wondering if there is a hardware issue. I have a feeling that they reformated the drive and re-installed windows.

They did - the hard drive was wiped.

If it is a hardware issue then that should be replaced, esp if it is under warentee.

Of course it should be... but then again, of course it already should have been. The problem is shipping it back to them at my cost and waiting even longer.

To give them the benefit of the doubt, they could have reformated/reinstalled/tested then re-installed so that you could do the nifty stuff like enter the Admin pw. *shrug*

Nope - the first thing the computer wanted to do when I turned it on was install a driver, which was promptly followed by a reboot request. If the technicians actually tested the system (reformatting the drive again afterward), they would have caught the problem then, just like I did.

- ZM

The cost of your laptop would fall small claims court, but combine that with legal fees and I'm positive it would go over small claims. Keep that in mind.

Sean

There may be some wisdom in contacting the BBB or a law firm, not to file a complaint or a lawsuit, but to get advice about what actions you could take. Then, you could threaten WidowPC with the recommended actions and possibly get them to do something worthwhile without officially taking legal action. And if it doesn't work, you could then consider the merits of actually taking said action.

And there's always the option of asking Ben to look at the laptop. I suspect he'd do a better job of identifying the root problem than WidowPC has, and if he doesn't actually change anything, then the warranty should not be affected. (Assuming you even care about the warranty by this point...)

And there's always the option of asking Ben to look at the laptop.

I've already had a phone conversation with em about that; e gave me something to try, and I have a trick or two up my own sleeve. Assuming no success, e expressed interest in taking a look for emself on Friday.

Which reminds me - MoO2 is apparently still on this week, despite the con. We're assuming you'll be there. There's an LotR CCG thing going on that night, but apparently Cliff and Jake intend to set up camp in or near the same room so that both can be played concurrently (if I understood em correctly - I believe both of them are playing in it). - ZM

I was just about to post that question in the URI Gaming Club community. Looks like my question got answered before I could even ask it. But I do have a second question: Will there be a Shadowfist tournament at the con?

As far as I'm aware, no. It had been assumed I'd run one, but I have had literally zero preparation for such a thing and honestly am not sure I'd be going up to URI at all apart from Friday night. I simply have too many other things to deal with at the moment. My apologies. - ZM

1. If you don't think they gave you the product/service that they promised, and you paid by credit card, contact your credit card company (preferably BEFORE paying the bill that this charge appears on) and explain the situation to them. In the past I've had great success in having my CC company go to war on my behalf.

2. Call Widow's customer service center. Having to wait extra time for them to fix the thing is annoying, but if it's their mistake in the first place then they should really be paying for shipping. Maybe you can convince a customer service rep to have the thing shipped at their expense.

In either case, keep records of everything. Keep your receipt. Keep copies of all correspondence with them. If you call them on the phone, take notes while talking, including the time/date of the call and the name of the person you talked to. This kind of stuff will make things much easier on you if it comes down to an actual fight.

Good luck!

-- Ian / Gannon

Double-plus what he said! Having more than a bit of experience both with credit card companies and with customer service, I can assure you that that's all excellent advice.

Since you really don't have anything to lose at this point, here's a possible technical solution. I don't know any of the history of this laptop, but do you have any/all CDs that originally came with it? Specifically, do you have any drivers that came with this model? As odd as this may seem, often custom Windows drivers will be needed for various chipsets on the motherboard itself in order to take full advantage of them. I know that most full-size motherboards purchased at retail will come with a driver disc. This may be the case with the laptop as well, and if you don't have the original disc you may be able to scour the manufacturer's web site and find them. Once you get that, run the executable, or update the drivers for the appropriate motherboard components through Device Manager.

If nothing else, it won't make things any worse, and it just might fix the problem and hence save you some time and additional $.

Wow, I'm in the process of preparing to send my Alienware laptop in to WidowPC for repair. What's the deal, are these guys just as bad as Alienware? Is there another company I should be looking into for real help?

Smoke

well....

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Two things to try

Re: Two things to try

Re: Two things to try