Acer - very poor support
- Thread starter Flakker
- Start date
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nomis said:
Depends what you are buying.
On the whole Acer products are good value for money.
I am satisfied with the monitor I bought, but I was unlucky and had to send it in for repair.
But as you can see I am having problems with Esplex, they are the company that repair all Acer products under warranty.
I think and hope they are going to replace my monitor for a new one, waiting for conformation from Esplex.
My story - 15" LCD.
I have a 15" LCD monitor made by Acer. Around Febuary/March it started flicker and then after a few days it blanked out totally and wouldnt turn on, so I contacted Acer to get it repaired.
4 months later I have not got it back nor have I had any real detail about what is going on.
I wrote then a snotty email today. The whole story is detailed in there, note the dates too...
---------
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am still waiting for a repair on my Acer 15" LCD monitor that I
submitted a support request to you on March 3rd 2006 (# 061-213111).
On March 9th you replied asking me for details of the monitor. I replied
straight away.
Then on March 16th you sent me an email telling me to arrange a CityLink
courier to pick up my monitor. You supplied me with their contact details.
I then spent many weeks trying to get through to CityLink to send the
monitor to you. The number I was given was always engaged or never picked
up. I could only try at specific points in the day due to being at work,
and CityLink not operating over weekends.
I emailed you on 29th March asking for an alternative number and you
replied saying that I could call you to arrange the pickup with CityLink,
however whenever I called there was always a queue and I could not afford
the time nor money to keep on the phone. I emailed you on 19th April to
ask if we could arrange delivery by email but this was denied.
I then tried to call a different Citylink number that I found on a website
and they put me through to another department who told me the number I was
originally given (by you) was wrong. I finally got the monitor picked up.
This was around 1st May. So I spent nearly 2 months trying to get CityLink
to pick this up - this was a waste of my time due solely to your error.
I then heard nothing from you and on May 9th I had to ask for an update. I
finally got a reply on May 12th saying that my monitor was awaiting parts
and you said you "do not expect it to take long".
I heard nothing again and on May 31st I asked for another update, you then
replied on June 8th with exactly the same response as before; awaiting
parts.
I replied the same day asking for some REAL information as to what was
going on, not automated/pre-prepared/scripted answers. I also stressed the
urgency of getting the monitor fixed as soon as possible.
I hadn't heard anything so by 13th June, I sent another email saying that
you had failed to give me satisfactory customer service; long duration in
replying to my emails, no REAL details or information about the fault and
of course, a very long turn around time for the repair. I asked if you
could exchange the monitor for new model of a similar spec as the repair
looked likely to take a very long time and I needed it back urgently.
On 16th June, you replied to both of my mails (8th June and 13th June)
saying there were issues the repair centre were having, and that they were
re-diagnosing the fault. You did not elaborate on this nor did you give
any expected time frame as to when the repair would be completed. You also
said that you could not offer refunds or replacements unless the monitor
could not be repaired.
I then sent one final request for an update on June 29th and have so far
heard nothing.
It is now July 13th. Over 4 months have passed since I logged the repair
request. This is unacceptable. You have failed to provide me adequate
details of what is wrong with the monitor, you have not given me an
expected time frame for repair completion, you have taken a very long time
to reply to my emails sometimes just ignoring them completely and you have
not been adequately keeping me informed of status and making ME ask for
updates. I'm frustrated that you could not offer me a monitor replacement
as an alternative for waiting for the repair.
I'm also very frustrated at how long it took me to get through to
CityLink; your error in giving me the wrong number lost valuable time and
caused considerable unnecessary time and trouble.
I am still expecting an update to my last email but in the mean time I
will be writing a report to PC Pro about the unacceptable level of
customer service you have provided. At work we have bought many devices
from Acer and have received excellent support and turn-around times for
repairs, however I will now be re-considering our suppliers.
At the very least, having waited 4 months, I expect to receive my monitor
back repaired within 7 days, or a new monitor of comparable type/value,
and some recompense for the inconvenience I have been put through due to
your companies ineptitude and inability to deal with a simple repair. You
have totally failed to meet your obligations under the Sale of Goods Acts.
I expect a response from you within 48 hours giving a delivery date when I
will receive my monitor or a replacement.
Tim Wakeham
I have a 15" LCD monitor made by Acer. Around Febuary/March it started flicker and then after a few days it blanked out totally and wouldnt turn on, so I contacted Acer to get it repaired.
4 months later I have not got it back nor have I had any real detail about what is going on.
I wrote then a snotty email today. The whole story is detailed in there, note the dates too...
---------
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am still waiting for a repair on my Acer 15" LCD monitor that I
submitted a support request to you on March 3rd 2006 (# 061-213111).
On March 9th you replied asking me for details of the monitor. I replied
straight away.
Then on March 16th you sent me an email telling me to arrange a CityLink
courier to pick up my monitor. You supplied me with their contact details.
I then spent many weeks trying to get through to CityLink to send the
monitor to you. The number I was given was always engaged or never picked
up. I could only try at specific points in the day due to being at work,
and CityLink not operating over weekends.
I emailed you on 29th March asking for an alternative number and you
replied saying that I could call you to arrange the pickup with CityLink,
however whenever I called there was always a queue and I could not afford
the time nor money to keep on the phone. I emailed you on 19th April to
ask if we could arrange delivery by email but this was denied.
I then tried to call a different Citylink number that I found on a website
and they put me through to another department who told me the number I was
originally given (by you) was wrong. I finally got the monitor picked up.
This was around 1st May. So I spent nearly 2 months trying to get CityLink
to pick this up - this was a waste of my time due solely to your error.
I then heard nothing from you and on May 9th I had to ask for an update. I
finally got a reply on May 12th saying that my monitor was awaiting parts
and you said you "do not expect it to take long".
I heard nothing again and on May 31st I asked for another update, you then
replied on June 8th with exactly the same response as before; awaiting
parts.
I replied the same day asking for some REAL information as to what was
going on, not automated/pre-prepared/scripted answers. I also stressed the
urgency of getting the monitor fixed as soon as possible.
I hadn't heard anything so by 13th June, I sent another email saying that
you had failed to give me satisfactory customer service; long duration in
replying to my emails, no REAL details or information about the fault and
of course, a very long turn around time for the repair. I asked if you
could exchange the monitor for new model of a similar spec as the repair
looked likely to take a very long time and I needed it back urgently.
On 16th June, you replied to both of my mails (8th June and 13th June)
saying there were issues the repair centre were having, and that they were
re-diagnosing the fault. You did not elaborate on this nor did you give
any expected time frame as to when the repair would be completed. You also
said that you could not offer refunds or replacements unless the monitor
could not be repaired.
I then sent one final request for an update on June 29th and have so far
heard nothing.
It is now July 13th. Over 4 months have passed since I logged the repair
request. This is unacceptable. You have failed to provide me adequate
details of what is wrong with the monitor, you have not given me an
expected time frame for repair completion, you have taken a very long time
to reply to my emails sometimes just ignoring them completely and you have
not been adequately keeping me informed of status and making ME ask for
updates. I'm frustrated that you could not offer me a monitor replacement
as an alternative for waiting for the repair.
I'm also very frustrated at how long it took me to get through to
CityLink; your error in giving me the wrong number lost valuable time and
caused considerable unnecessary time and trouble.
I am still expecting an update to my last email but in the mean time I
will be writing a report to PC Pro about the unacceptable level of
customer service you have provided. At work we have bought many devices
from Acer and have received excellent support and turn-around times for
repairs, however I will now be re-considering our suppliers.
At the very least, having waited 4 months, I expect to receive my monitor
back repaired within 7 days, or a new monitor of comparable type/value,
and some recompense for the inconvenience I have been put through due to
your companies ineptitude and inability to deal with a simple repair. You
have totally failed to meet your obligations under the Sale of Goods Acts.
I expect a response from you within 48 hours giving a delivery date when I
will receive my monitor or a replacement.
Tim Wakeham
Tim
I know exactly how frustrated you are. I am currently going through the same painful process of obtaining my monitor back. 11 weeks now!
I received a letter on the 11th of July telling me that Esplex will replace my monitor as soon as they can ( whatever )
I will just have to sit and wait. I have got past angry, now gone into disgusted mode.
I know exactly how frustrated you are. I am currently going through the same painful process of obtaining my monitor back. 11 weeks now!
I received a letter on the 11th of July telling me that Esplex will replace my monitor as soon as they can ( whatever )
I will just have to sit and wait. I have got past angry, now gone into disgusted mode.
timmypup said:
I assumed that you sent your Acer monitor back to Acer/Esplex for repair? as far as I know Esplex are the only company that are authorised to repair Acer products.
If you was given a case No then you can go online to check your repair status.
repair status Link
Or perhaps you sent your Monitor to some other company!!
Or perhaps I misunderstood
Or phone Esplex on 08708531000 select option 2 for customer services
Hope this helps.
Last edited:
I was told to send it to "Acer Repair Centre" like I do with the stuff we return from work.
I found a repair status on the website, really helpful info....
http://www.acer.co.uk/acereuro/page...aram=UK&LanguageISOCtxParam=en&crc=1121641857
I found a repair status on the website, really helpful info....
http://www.acer.co.uk/acereuro/page...aram=UK&LanguageISOCtxParam=en&crc=1121641857
This is really taking the p*** now!
3 working days after my email and still no response. I also found this little gem on their site. A repair status checker. "Great" I though, "maybe this might tell me whats going on."
http://www.acer.co.uk/acereuro/page...nguageISOCtxParam=en&crc=1121641857#topofpage
Really helpful information there....
I'm so going to call them up tomorrow after work, I don't care how long I wait, I want answers!
3 working days after my email and still no response. I also found this little gem on their site. A repair status checker. "Great" I though, "maybe this might tell me whats going on."
http://www.acer.co.uk/acereuro/page...nguageISOCtxParam=en&crc=1121641857#topofpage
Really helpful information there....
I'm so going to call them up tomorrow after work, I don't care how long I wait, I want answers!
Well....
I called them. Didn't take too long either. Anyway, she said there was a week-long backlog on their emails hence why I havent had a reply. She also looked on the system for information about my monitor fault and found very little (surprise surprise!) - "Oh we've had it for a long time haven't we? *nervous laugh*".
She said she will investigate and get back to me on Friday (maybe I should have got firm with her and asked for tomorrow, but I guess it's not really her fault and I've worked in retail, I know what its like when people blame you for things that arn't your fault).
I have her name too so if she doesnt call, I can call her (i've read cases where they say they'll call but never do).
I'm so tired of waiting.
I called them. Didn't take too long either. Anyway, she said there was a week-long backlog on their emails hence why I havent had a reply. She also looked on the system for information about my monitor fault and found very little (surprise surprise!) - "Oh we've had it for a long time haven't we? *nervous laugh*".
She said she will investigate and get back to me on Friday (maybe I should have got firm with her and asked for tomorrow, but I guess it's not really her fault and I've worked in retail, I know what its like when people blame you for things that arn't your fault).
I have her name too so if she doesnt call, I can call her (i've read cases where they say they'll call but never do).
I'm so tired of waiting.
Thanks for that!
In response to your other reply abotu the repair center address, i was never given one. I was told simply to write "Acer Repair Center" on the fron talong with my case ID and some CITY LINK account number. City link know where to send it and blah.
But anyway, I bet she doesnt call back!
In response to your other reply abotu the repair center address, i was never given one. I was told simply to write "Acer Repair Center" on the fron talong with my case ID and some CITY LINK account number. City link know where to send it and blah.
But anyway, I bet she doesnt call back!
bapiow said:
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- Dec 26, 2005
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Thats Esplex General Manager - Martin Rigby (Newly appointed only a couple of months ago by Acer)
And Repair Centre Manager - Michael Trainor ( Been there since day 1 and has never picked up a screwdriver in his life - Was a call centre person )
Dont be forgetting Sarita Banyard - the new Customer Service Manager.
I worked in the Repair Centre itself for over 12 months, its very interesting to see forum posts like this, sounds really bad this replacement system, sounds like the trick is to have Acer Advantage Warranty cover - They are the priority jobs given to people to deal with first.
All the other warranty types have longer time spans to deal with and are not put as the priority. Legally also the Repair Centre can take upto something like 3 months without getting into trouble as I understand it. But not with Acer Advantage, its written into its coverage lots of strict rules on speedy repair & replacement if not done. Doing some background reading on your legal standing then actually beginning the process of legal proceedings is the way to really get Esplex moving.
Before I left they froze pay rises for the staff, setup a new staff bonus system where employees bonuses are now 80% dependant on other people doing their job, shifted half the managers job titles to get them hidden pay rises and to top it all started using unskilled labour with the basic of 1 day training by an unqualified trainer (albeit the most experienced repair person in the centre) to repair things.
You can imagine how happy the staff are to be seeing the company pay twice as much money to a temporary recruitement agency and 3rd party company to have unskilled, inexperienced, non-english speaking workers on site who do not have to be declared on the books as employees so statistics can be maintained to show how well things are working.
When in reality the repair jobs are sub standard !
When I left the staffs morale in the Repair Centre was at rock bottom, management had promised for two years in a row to install an air conditioner for the Repair Centre, they still dont have it. Try maintaining your concentration in a tin can building breathing triple used air in 30 degrees C day in day out during the summer !
Seriously, the only way to make things move in Esplex is to start legal proceedings
And Repair Centre Manager - Michael Trainor ( Been there since day 1 and has never picked up a screwdriver in his life - Was a call centre person )
Dont be forgetting Sarita Banyard - the new Customer Service Manager.
I worked in the Repair Centre itself for over 12 months, its very interesting to see forum posts like this, sounds really bad this replacement system, sounds like the trick is to have Acer Advantage Warranty cover - They are the priority jobs given to people to deal with first.
All the other warranty types have longer time spans to deal with and are not put as the priority. Legally also the Repair Centre can take upto something like 3 months without getting into trouble as I understand it. But not with Acer Advantage, its written into its coverage lots of strict rules on speedy repair & replacement if not done. Doing some background reading on your legal standing then actually beginning the process of legal proceedings is the way to really get Esplex moving.
Before I left they froze pay rises for the staff, setup a new staff bonus system where employees bonuses are now 80% dependant on other people doing their job, shifted half the managers job titles to get them hidden pay rises and to top it all started using unskilled labour with the basic of 1 day training by an unqualified trainer (albeit the most experienced repair person in the centre) to repair things.
You can imagine how happy the staff are to be seeing the company pay twice as much money to a temporary recruitement agency and 3rd party company to have unskilled, inexperienced, non-english speaking workers on site who do not have to be declared on the books as employees so statistics can be maintained to show how well things are working.
When in reality the repair jobs are sub standard !
When I left the staffs morale in the Repair Centre was at rock bottom, management had promised for two years in a row to install an air conditioner for the Repair Centre, they still dont have it. Try maintaining your concentration in a tin can building breathing triple used air in 30 degrees C day in day out during the summer !
Seriously, the only way to make things move in Esplex is to start legal proceedings
Last edited:
They caved
I received a letter on Friday morning regarding my monitor.
Dear Sir,
It has been brought to my attention that you have experienced as issue relating to the repair of your Acer monitor. Firstly, please accept my sincere apologies for the situation and I hope that I can restore faith in Acers (sic) support in the UK.
As a realisation of the seriousness of the situation, I am willing to offer you an upgraded 17" LCD monitor as compensation fo royour experience. In order to receive this, please give us a call on (number with-held) and confirm this is acceptable. I have updated this case to reflect that this letter has been sent. Once I receive confirmation, I will ship a unit to you on the address stipulated when you initially contact (sic) us (amend this when you call if required).
Once again, I apologise for any inconvenience/stress caused and can assure you that actions have been taken to prevent this occurring in future. Should you wish to discuss, please do not hesitate to call on the above number and ask the agent to send me a mail to contact you.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Trainor
Acer UK Repair Centre Manager
I then shortly afterwards recieved a phone call from the girl I spoke to the other day. She wanted to confirm with me if this deal was ok. I asked her if it would be brand new or a refurbished model and she said it would be new. I also asked what kind of warrenty it would have and she said it would continue on from my previous monitor (which is kind of pointless as I beleive the other one had expired). I also asked if she could tell me what exactly was wrong with my one and she could not.
I am going to call up this manager guy anyway and see if I can get some answers from him.
But yeah, they caved
I received a letter on Friday morning regarding my monitor.
Dear Sir,
It has been brought to my attention that you have experienced as issue relating to the repair of your Acer monitor. Firstly, please accept my sincere apologies for the situation and I hope that I can restore faith in Acers (sic) support in the UK.
As a realisation of the seriousness of the situation, I am willing to offer you an upgraded 17" LCD monitor as compensation fo royour experience. In order to receive this, please give us a call on (number with-held) and confirm this is acceptable. I have updated this case to reflect that this letter has been sent. Once I receive confirmation, I will ship a unit to you on the address stipulated when you initially contact (sic) us (amend this when you call if required).
Once again, I apologise for any inconvenience/stress caused and can assure you that actions have been taken to prevent this occurring in future. Should you wish to discuss, please do not hesitate to call on the above number and ask the agent to send me a mail to contact you.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Trainor
Acer UK Repair Centre Manager
I then shortly afterwards recieved a phone call from the girl I spoke to the other day. She wanted to confirm with me if this deal was ok. I asked her if it would be brand new or a refurbished model and she said it would be new. I also asked what kind of warrenty it would have and she said it would continue on from my previous monitor (which is kind of pointless as I beleive the other one had expired). I also asked if she could tell me what exactly was wrong with my one and she could not.
I am going to call up this manager guy anyway and see if I can get some answers from him.
But yeah, they caved
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Well done Timmy, thats just a standard letter though, eventually they have to give you a new unit.
Thing is all the lies and BS they tell you, all the misinformation they persistently feed to keep you wondering.
How long had they had your unit, what warranty cover did you have, and how long do you think it will be until your new one turns up ?
Thing is all the lies and BS they tell you, all the misinformation they persistently feed to keep you wondering.
How long had they had your unit, what warranty cover did you have, and how long do you think it will be until your new one turns up ?
Pit-Worker said:
My original post: https://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=8410687&postcount=186
Still going to call the manager guy, really want to know what was wrong with my monitor.
Quote from pit-worker.
Repair Centre can take upto something like 3 months without getting into trouble as I understand it.
Esplex has now had my monitor over 3 months now.
I have had a letter from Lu Cook informing me that I will be getting a replacement monitor, but that was two weeks ago.
I phoned Esplex last Friday and was told that al the paper work had now been done and all was in hand, another fob me thinks.
When and if I ever do get a monitor from acer/esplex I will sell it on, needless to say I will never use Acer again.
Not angry anymore, just digested, and I think Acer would do well to dump Esplex.
Repair Centre can take upto something like 3 months without getting into trouble as I understand it.
Esplex has now had my monitor over 3 months now.
I have had a letter from Lu Cook informing me that I will be getting a replacement monitor, but that was two weeks ago.
I phoned Esplex last Friday and was told that al the paper work had now been done and all was in hand, another fob me thinks.
When and if I ever do get a monitor from acer/esplex I will sell it on, needless to say I will never use Acer again.
Not angry anymore, just digested, and I think Acer would do well to dump Esplex.
High jacked this from another forum.
Makes my 3 months nothing, yet!.
3 months is nothing. I gave my brother my broken Acer AL1731m, so he could get Acer to repair it. It was 18 months old when it broke, and Acer gave it a 3 year warranty. Well, 8 months passed, phone calls to Acer revealed they were waiting for a part (for atleast 7 months), and my brother had to get someone from Trading Standards to look into it for him. They did, even though they said they don't deal in civil matters, and suprise suprise a couple of weeks later a replacement turned up out of the blue.
I know where i won't be spending my hard earned in future.
Makes my 3 months nothing, yet!.
3 months is nothing. I gave my brother my broken Acer AL1731m, so he could get Acer to repair it. It was 18 months old when it broke, and Acer gave it a 3 year warranty. Well, 8 months passed, phone calls to Acer revealed they were waiting for a part (for atleast 7 months), and my brother had to get someone from Trading Standards to look into it for him. They did, even though they said they don't deal in civil matters, and suprise suprise a couple of weeks later a replacement turned up out of the blue.
I know where i won't be spending my hard earned in future.
Acer repair at their leisure - days, months, years...
I bought a low cost Acer Aspire SA60 Desktop Intel 2.8GHz for £270 in January 2006.
It's nicely made and quiet, and gave good service until it slowed down, and a couple of days later, died in June 2006.
The Acer Restore disk, that I had burnt when I received the machine, could not restore the system. So on 19/6/2006 I rang the company who do the Acer support, got through to their call centre in under 20 minutes, and they arranged a free CityLink pickup that came two hours later.
So far, so good. Acer Support quote 10 days to repair a PC.
After about 17 days I emailed Acer Support to ask when the PC would return.
On 13/7/2006 they replied "Unfortunately your machine is currently awaiting parts. We do not expect it to take long, but we always stress that repair times are dependant upon the availability of parts. You can be assured that once these parts do arrive, we will repair your machine as quickly as possible and ship it to you immediately."
It is now 28/7/2006 and the repair status on the Acer Support website is still "Open".
Acer Support appear to be very courteous, but apparently do not carry spare parts. They have taken 30 days so far and apparently are under no constraint to repair a PC promptly. It is beyond my understanding why they have to take so long over such a simple matter.
If you want to buy a PC which you can get repaired promptly when it goes wrong - I think that I could have replaced the disk drive myself and got the machine going within a few hours - you should definitely not buy Acer.
I bought a low cost Acer Aspire SA60 Desktop Intel 2.8GHz for £270 in January 2006.
It's nicely made and quiet, and gave good service until it slowed down, and a couple of days later, died in June 2006.
The Acer Restore disk, that I had burnt when I received the machine, could not restore the system. So on 19/6/2006 I rang the company who do the Acer support, got through to their call centre in under 20 minutes, and they arranged a free CityLink pickup that came two hours later.
So far, so good. Acer Support quote 10 days to repair a PC.
After about 17 days I emailed Acer Support to ask when the PC would return.
On 13/7/2006 they replied "Unfortunately your machine is currently awaiting parts. We do not expect it to take long, but we always stress that repair times are dependant upon the availability of parts. You can be assured that once these parts do arrive, we will repair your machine as quickly as possible and ship it to you immediately."
It is now 28/7/2006 and the repair status on the Acer Support website is still "Open".
Acer Support appear to be very courteous, but apparently do not carry spare parts. They have taken 30 days so far and apparently are under no constraint to repair a PC promptly. It is beyond my understanding why they have to take so long over such a simple matter.
If you want to buy a PC which you can get repaired promptly when it goes wrong - I think that I could have replaced the disk drive myself and got the machine going within a few hours - you should definitely not buy Acer.
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