Been going back and forth trying to get the Noble registered for legal road use. It has been a struggle. I went to the local DMV who game me a possible list of documents to send to the Richmond DMV. I sent them all off before Thanksgiving with a nice letter and my phone number listed several times, asking them to call me if they needed anything else. Eleven days later I got the documents back with a letter stating that I was missing one document and to write a larger check. No problem, and I would have happily overnighted the additional documents if they had simply called, avoiding another week delay. Also, it appears that they coordinate the entire inspection process. That is different from what the local DMV and Richmond phone rep told me. Anyway, I got the other doc and cashier’s check together in about an hour. Since there appeared to be confusion with the DMV offices, I wanted to meet someone from the Richmond office face-to-face. I drove up on Tuesday and spent about an hour asking the normal teller questions until he asked the real processor to come downstairs and look over my stuff. Success. I spoke with a nice woman who took the documents upstairs and had a supervisor look over them. Everything is there. I asked about the process and next steps. Her answer explained the confusion. The lady that used to process all specially constructed vehicles (for 20 years) recently retired without properly training a replacement. New staff is trying to figure out how it works. Also, a new computer system is making processing difficult.

I asked for the bottom line. She saw my frustration and was nice enough to give me her name and office phone number. I am supposed to call in three weeks if I have not heard from them. In the meantime, a sad Noble M400 sits in the garage.

The motherboard was supposed to be ordered on the 22nd. I haven’t heard from Alienware or an on-site tech. Today is the 30th (9 days later) and no contact from Alienware, so I called back. They requested 48 hours to find out what happened to the motherboard. NO. I transferred to customer service to get a faster answer. The wrong motherboard was ordered. That problem was not fixed; instead nothing was done. I doubt they would have ever noticed or followed up. I have less than two weeks remaining on my 30-day return warranty and they have not been able to make the machine work. I am not confident in their ability to fix it anymore. I asked to return the machine for a full refund. Policy states a 15% restocking fee. I said NO, it was defective on day one. It never worked. Thus far tech support has not been able to fix it. I’ve spent hours upon hours on the phone with tech support. No restocking fee. Get a supervisor. Same 15% restocking fee from the supervisor, no budging. I expressed my extreme disappointment in Alienware. She said she will personally call the on-site staff and order the correct motherboard. I will get a call four days from now about on-site tech support. I shall reserve further thoughts.
-Grouchy Travoli

I’ve spent hours on the phone with Alienware. They are now sending a new motherboard and a tech out to install it. I’m less than happy with the whole experience. The old computer is back up and running. I am typing on it now. The new machine is in the corner of the room collecting dust.

As far as the Noble goes, I got a package from the DMV yesterday. They sent all of my information back with a letter stating that I am missing two pieces of information. Looks like I’ll be driving to Richmond in the morning to straighten that out. I’d really like to be able to legally drive the car before Christmas.

I’d be posting more, but I am currently sitting on my bedroom floor typing from my old computer. The new Alienware is sitting here borken. It did not boot out of the box, and after hours upon hours of tech support, reformats etc, they are sending a replacement hard disk. More soon.