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customer service

Customer Service Saves the Day!

July 24, 2018 by Elizabeth Drake

How often do you hear that? I know, right? But honestly, Alienware’s customer service was amazing!

As I mentioned here, my computer has been acting up since I downloaded the April Windows 10 update. Yeah, I didn’t do it until June, but I wanted them to work out all of the bugs first.

Stop laughing.

laughingkitten.jpg
I know. I’m so optimistic it hurts.

After the Microsoft Help Desk told me it was a hardware issue, and a trip to Geek Squad confirmed it was a hardware issue, we decided to call Alienware and see if they’d stand behind their product.

The computer is just over a year old, so technically out of the warranty period, but it’s one of their better models. I had opted for an Alienware as they’re known for quality. The laptop has never left my house, never been dropped, and I don’t eat near it.

I’ve also never come close to taxing the abilities of this machine as I’d bought it because I thought we’d start gaming again now that our kids were a little older.

Yeah, I know. You’re laughing again, aren’t you?

laughingwoman
Still not funny.

 Anyway, my husband called them. Yes, it’s my machine. But he’s also the one that took it to Geek Squad. For better or worse, help desks treat men differently than they do women. As we both wanted this solved as quickly as possible, he agreed to take the lead on it.

So, he called Alienware and told them what’s going on, then gave them all of the details of the computer. They said, yes, they’ve seen this before, and it was the Windows 10 update. The update broke the Tobii eye tracking software on my model of Alienware. This is what’s causing the issue, not a broken keyboard.

Uninstalling the Windows 10 update, which we had done, was not enough to “unbreak” what the update had done to my computer.

Because of course it wasn’t. Thanks Windows!

Windows10ruined
At least the update had. No joke. It was unusable.

As it’s a software issue, they could walk him through how to fix it.

At first, I thought it was too good to be true, but Alienware customer support walked him through how to deactivate the software even though he couldn’t really type anything. He then uninstalled the software completely as he now had control of my computer, and Alienware then directed him to where to get the fixed version.

At the end of the call, my computer worked beautifully.

I will not need to be without it for a month.

I did lose a weekend, but I think I can make that up and still be on track.

If I ever buy a Windows machine again, it will be an Alienware.

 

 

Filed Under: Computer Tagged With: Alienware, customer service, Gaming, Geek Squad, hardware, software, warranty, Windows 10

Technology is Awesome. Except When It Isn’t.

March 7, 2018 by Elizabeth Drake

I have been struggling with technology lately. I told you about new laptop frustrations. And my ongoing saga with my “easy to use” website developer. And Windows 10.

techwoman
The future!

Then, there’s my Fitbit.

I was dealing with health issues this past fall, and the doctor wanted me to get a heart rate monitor that I could use while exercising. He wanted me to track my heart rate and make sure I didn’t exceed a certain level, so I bought a Fitbit Charge 2.

 About a month ago, the Fitbit just stopped resetting each day. At one point, it thought I’d taken 95,000 steps in a single day. Yeah, about that.

 I tried rebooting it. I tried letting the battery run down to nothing. Not only wouldn’t it restart each day, it stopped syncing to my phone or computer, even if I directly connected it. So it wasn’t a Bluetooth issue.

 Yes, the heart rate monitor still works. And yes, I can put together an Excel spreadsheet to see what my steps were. For $150 and less than six months of use, I shouldn’t have to do that.

 So, I chatted with Fitbit support. They tried everything I’d tried, and several more things. After over an hour, they diagnosed it as a firmware issue, but the Fitbit would NOT accept a firmware update. And we tried. Both through my phone, and through a direct dongle connection to the computer. For an hour.

ITHelpDesk
It was probably more than three.

Finally, the support technician was out of ideas, and he checked to see if the Fitbit was still under warranty. He offered to have Fitbit send me another one, and I agreed.

 It’s currently on its way to me. I was pleasantly surprised that they stood by their product.

 Still, I’m leery now. I haven’t tried to format my book into an ebook yet. I haven’t tried to load it to Createspace.

 I feel like there’s this vortex of bad tech energy surrounding me, and anything I touch is going to go wrong.

Vortex
This looks too calm.

Clearly, I have to get over myself. But I’m still nervous.

How about you? Ever fell like technology has turned against you? Or maybe this is the law of threes and my three bad things have happened?

Filed Under: Computer, Uncategorized Tagged With: customer service, fitbit, laptop, Romance Writer, technology, Website

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