Dell is the worst company ever. BAIT AND SWITCH SCAM

I feel for you, buying a new computer and having the carrier destroy it is frustrating and annoying but that part of your saga isn't a DELL issue. I wonder, did you post about this on the FedEX forum? I am joking of course, FedEX could hardly give a hoot to have a forum.

As for the issues with the damage, this was your mistake. It's a cold truth but it is. Your impatience got the better of you. You should have told DELL right from the jump, issue a return label and A) refund me, I'll place a second order [or] B) replace it with a new system spec'd the same, for the same price, this option would be if your initial purchase benefitted from discounts no longer offered.

It has been discussed on this forum ad nauseum that choosing to allow DELL the opportunity to "repair" it, does NOT stop the 30 day clock for a return. if you allow that time to pass, through your own generosity, then don't count on them being equally as generous by accepting a late return.

At this point, you can only appeal to their linear logical side, that A lead to B that lead to C and none of these were of your doing. 

FYI, your "country mile" happens to be about 1 yard as the two CPUs are much closer than you are alluding to. Like you, I looked at both and found the AMD's edge to be insignificant, even for 3D and gaming that the resale value of an AMD chipped computer vs an Intel one settled my buying conundrum for me. 

I wouldn't fret over that minor difference, you aren't likely to see any statistically significant gain by the AMD that is worth the frustration.

Sorry to hear about this. Not to be the devl's advocate here (I'm not a big Dell fan either), but we do live in a nasty time of computer parts shortage ("thank" you, crypto miners and scalpers  !), which does affect even the supply chain of giants like Dell.

So I get that it's got hard even for them to stock orders. That doesn't excuse the bad customer experience of being bounced from one agent to another forever and not being called back or emailed back within the promised timeframe. If their staff is overwhelmed, they should either temporarily hire a bunch more people to get over this crisis, or at least not make promises they know they can't keep.

If I were in your shoes right now, I would honestly just cancel the machine, get my money back and try my luck elsewhere until I get the components I want in my computer.

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@ZenicaPA wrote:

I feel for you, buying a new computer and having the carrier destroy it is frustrating and annoying but that part of your saga isn't a DELL issue.

 

Indeed, that Fed Ex driver had some mighty big Brass to deliver that package with what looks like a cannon ball had been shot through it.  Very shameful behavior on the part of the delivery person.

I hope the OP can come to some arrangement with Dell that is satisfactory to all concerned.  There was a time when Dell would bend over backward to make a situation right for a customer.  Unfortunately, times change.

RE: "FYI, your "country mile" happens to be about 1 yard as the two CPUs are much closer than you are alluding to. Like you, I looked at both and found the AMD's edge to be insignificant, even for 3D and gaming that the resale value of an AMD chipped computer vs an Intel one settled my buying conundrum for me."

If we were to believe Intel's benchmarks, performance in games is even better on the 11900 than the Ryzen, because of higher IPC. We won't know for sure until it actually releases on March 30th and people put it to the test. The difference in cores doesn't matter in games. But it will matter in all-core software like rendering and other CPU-intensive apps.

Why is it his fault? The new system arrived DOA, was diagnosed as being a bad motherboard, and it should be replaced.

It's an R10 Ryzen 5000 faulty motherboard in a brand new DOA machine. It should be replaced by a brand new R10 Ryzen 5000 motherboard. Not a refurbished one.

Otherwise you might as well just buy a refurbished Alienware pc instead of a new one.

And yes, I realize they likely have it in their fine print somewhere that they have the option to exchange for new or refurbished at their discretion. In this case their discretion should be a new board, as customer satisfaction should be #1 priority.

I would put this on social media, clearly explaining my frustration with this whole experience, if I could not get anywhere with Dell support. Most companies are sensitive to their social media image and tend to do the right thing.

off the top of my head 

7nm vs 14nm

12 cores vs 8 cores 

70mb cache vs 16mb cache 

Far more threads vs far fewer threads

Higher base clock speed

Latest architecture vs old architecture being milked for another go around  

I don’t play games really. I produce content. This is a major issue. 

I did tell Dell to replace it. Twice. No repairs requested.

Fedex I dealt with. I’m not blaming Dell for the delivery. The rest, though...

You’re on point. They just called me again. Said they don’t have the chip at all. 

At this point, I told him to replace the motherboard rather than the entire unit. He arranged one day on site repair for tomorrow. Then told me they were out of stock of the motherboard 🤦‍

Now I wait for a refurbished motherboard for my brand new, insides R10. How can this company not have spare inventory? If I break an iPhone on launch day, I can go to Apple and they have replacements even if they’re sold out. 

I did request an extension of my warranty as it shows it has been running over a month now, and did ask for $ back. That “request” has been “passed on,” and now I wait for more phone calls. 

I now know how I will punish my children: Son, you’re getting a Dell.

"tonight, I receive email saying they no longer have the AMD 5900x chip"

Keep in mind the v2 board that supports the 5900x was just released in January of this year.  Even if you did accept a refurbished one, it would be at most 3 months old.  Plus you have the pro support so if anything went wrong you'd still be covered. 

I know it's not ideal, but aside from third party scalpers, the 5900x is sold out everywhere.  Dell isn't even offering this chip for sale on its website anymore.  I think the issue is not as much bait and switch, but regrettably that they cannot give or sell you what they do not currently have.  Maybe another option is you could ask to wait for it to be restocked. 

The AMD has the potential to be faster, up to 20% but that is predicated on a lot of other factors, the least of which is how efficient the coding is for the applications you run. I use Autodesk and Solidworks. I can monitor the cores and they don't always max them out, quite the opposite really. 

This is moot, you ordered the AMD and as a paying consumer, you should receive that.

The notion they don't keep a set stock of new parts for just such an occurrence seems implausible to the rational mind. 

All told, I'd probably be ok with a refurb because at this early point in the manufacturer of the AMD, it was probably either a return for buyers remorse or new stock designated for repair.

The first post listed two options were offered,

1. Replace board under warranty and keep CPU and everything else. Of course they won't replace working parts under the service contract.  The warranty/repair service may use refurbished parts that's just how a warranty service claim and terms work.  I think it's too late for a return now but can't hurt to ask.

2. Replace the entire pc with a new pc but the 5800x is no longer available. 

But if the board is bad, all you need is a new board. You remove the CPU from the board and put it in the new board.

Or are you saying they will replace the whole board, complete with a new CPU?

Because if they do that I would love to buy all their "bad boards" and make some good cash on the CPU's.

Btw does anyone know where the actual warranty contract itself is? Every link I’ve followed on this website leads me away from actual legal documents and into general overviews. I know Dell is a Texas company and subject to that State’s product liabilities laws. 

Correct. 

1) Replace mobo only with refurbished part. 
2) Replace entire unit, but no more 5900x, so “offered” a lower spec unit in exchange in such a manner like they’re doing me a favor. 

If they hadnt waited until yesterday (two weeks), they may have had the chip available (iirc, it was still available on the website at that time).

I’ve decided I have no choice now but to accept a refurbished motherboard so I can keep the 5900x, and I’ve requested further warranty extension and cash remuneration. But even the motherboard seems to be out of stock so the repair may not happen as scheduled. Another case of wait for our call - except this time that call will be coming between 6-8am on whatever day they get the part and a tech arranged. 

I’m sticking with Apple going forward. This is nonsense.

Bless your heart. Been looking for that.

If Dell determines that your issue is the result of a defect in materials or workmanship but the issue is not able to be resolved remotely, Dell, at its sole discretion, may dispatch a replacement part to you, arrange for you to send your product or defective part back to Dell's repair depot or replace the part or product with a comparable part or product that may be new or refurbished...We use new and refurbished parts made by various manufacturers in performing warranty repairs and in building replacement parts and products. Refurbished parts and products are parts or products that have been returned to Dell, some of which were never used by a customer. All parts and products are inspected and tested for quality. Replacement parts and products are covered for the remaining period of the limited hardware warranty for the product you purchased. Dell owns all parts removed from repaired products and, in most instances, you will be required to return defective parts to Dell.

I generally am ok with refurbished parts, but not in a new computer. That’s just hot garbage and I shouldn’t be charged as if it were new, and my warranty shouldn’t be running from last month. Imagine buying a new car, the engine breaks, and they offer you a used but reconditioned engine in its place not 12 hours after you received it.

At least it will have some QA (one hopes).