We don't mind hearing form both sides of the fence ... are you happy with your laptop, I know my nephew is happy with his, once I put some extra ram in it.

Hi Muck
Yes I am happy, its a Aspire 1362WLMi, all good so far.

Last weekend my Aspire 1694 developed a problem: the power socket seemed to have an intermittent connection, so only by pressing and turning the plug would it actually charge. This was already fairly bad (suddenly - it was fine before) and was only likely to get worse. Considering it was okay the previous day and broken the next, I have no idea what caused it to happen, and the cable was not in a position where someone was likely to have tripped over it.

At any rate, I phoned Acer's technical support on Monday at about 4pm. The person there was friendly, though he informed me that the power socket was not covered under the warranty because it was presumed that I had damaged it (poor build quality could surely not be to blame). I resigned myself to paying for it, and he said that someone would ring me back shortly to take £35 carriage payment and tell me how to organise a courier.

Tuesday, 2pm. They've had several hours to phone me and haven't, so I called up to check. They had my phone number woefully wrong, far more wrong than anyone could mishear it. I corrected that, and they checked my email address: also wrong, although within the bounds of plausibility this time. I presumed that was why they'd not contacted me, and that I'd hear soon.

Wednesday, 2pm. Now they've had seven working hours (allowing for their lunch break) since the last time to call me and collect £35. I call them again, and the manager promises that someone will phone me tomorrow. I don't know why they can't manage it in the next three hours, but..

Eventually, I decide that since I'm paying for this, I might as well look elsewhere, and book it in with TestLink. After a bit of confusion over collection times, I hope that I've booked a courier for Friday ('When's the earliest you'd like it collected?' 'Tomorrow at about noon?' 'No, you phoned after 4pm, the earliest is Friday.' 'Okay, Friday at about noon?' 'No, we can't specify times.' 'Friday!'). So no need for Acer any more, but it was almost 5pm, so I wasn't going to phone them then - I thought I might as well tell them when they phone me tomorrow.

Thursday, 2pm. Still no phone call. I'm going to wait, now, and see if they ever manage to get someone to phone me. I doubt it.

[Edit] Friday, 4pm. TestLink took my laptop earlier today. Acer/Esplex still haven't phoned.. I shan't bother to cancel my ticket with them, then, since they can't take five minutes to phone me.

This is the key thing to remember, Acer is not a retailer. They are a manufacturer. By law there is nothing which requires the manufacturer to be required to replace anything outside of what their own warrenty dictates. There is various laws saying what is an acceptable turn around time but on the whole those laws are on the side of the manufacturer not the consumer due to how much time they allow.

Whether Acer considers themselves to be a manufacturer or not is irrelevant when it comes to consumer law. If they sell goods directly to consumers then they are by definition a retailer.

However, if you bought the item in question from a different retail outlet then the law applies to that company rather than Acer. You need to go back to the place where you purchased it and state your case. The product in question will probably still end up going back to Acer, it's just that the middle-man will be involved in the loop as well.

RobbieS - thanx a lot, you opened my eyes on this stuff.
Tal-N - thanx as well.

After I read RobbieS post I did some search on the costumers rights and e-mailed my retailer (that was online shop in the Netherlands, since for a moment I live in Belgium; the customers rights overhere are pretty much the same as in UK). I clearly stated their responsibilities and my rights and asked for replacement or refund (by the Dutch law I can claim for refund if I can prove that my unit is a product of poor workmanship; well, three Dispatch Reposrts from Acer prove that I am having the same problem since the first month of use; so, the law is on my side). I wrote them my bank account number and asked whether they will pick my unit up or I should ship it. The next day they kindly replied: we are sorry, bla, bla, bla, contact Acer, for it is them who have to do replacement/refund. Right after that I replied and said that it is rubbish! Acer doesn't carry any responsibility for exchange, but a retailer. They didn't reply and kept silence. I wrote them third e-mail, and tried to threaten them with a lawyer. They simply ignored me. Now, I will have to do something on Monday, though don't know what. It is weird!!! They are simply ignoring me. Maybe I should visit them? Why do we then have our rights if we have to fight for them?

By accident I met a person who bought the same laptop from the same retailer and who had the same problems. They refunded her, but it took her two weeks of e-mailing and one personal letter with a signature. Yes, they came, picked up her unit and transferred money back. It seems that I am not as lucky...

If I ever get my refund I will never tie my life with Acer and online retailers again. Now I am very discouraged and still didn't figure out how I could fight might rights.

I have just returned my acer notepad bought on 24th Nov 05 as the CD drawer on the unit decided not to work and have been quoted £192.07 for the repair as they have decided that I damaged the unit, infact the notepad has hardly been out of its box as I have been waiting for software for it. The repair is described as a mechanical fault by acer yet I still have to pay to mend a unit under 1 month old. I wish I had read your review before buying an acer product I will never buy acer again and will definately not be recomending them to anyone. Terrible service.

Hi All


Interesting forum.

I just received a Acer aspire 3613 and the case above the keyboard is not cliping in at the left. The clips have snaped.

As ive only had it less than 12 hours im thinking of sending it back but dont want to lose it in an endless cycle of repair.

Does anyone know if you can get spare parts like this?

Ant

6" nails ... or Superglue

I tried that and the hammer is still stuck to my hand!!!!