Acer - very poor support

[ExpertAdvisor]

I've read with interest all the comments regarding Acer's customer support... Whilst I agree Acer has has serious issues in the past due to moving their call and repair centres down to Plymouth, the situation now is much, much better... It would seem that 85% of calls are now answered within 3 minutes and the average repair turn-around time in less than 5 days... DWHComputers - 10 weeks for a keyboard???? Speak to your account manager as this crazy...

 

[iznogood]

My adventure part 2

Hi everyone,
I got a couple more e-mails from ACER regarding my faulty DVD+-RW, and since I can't get any madder at them, I now treat it as a joke.
Here they are:

>Dear sirs,
>I guess you people don't communicate with your support. If you did, you would allready know that my >faulty device is in the hands of alman ltd, they kept it and gave me back my laptop without it. So, if you >need it, get it from them.
>And you still haven't received my new DVD device...
>Regards...

>--- support greece <[email protected]> έγραψε:
>> Dear Customer
>>
> >according to your request we inform you that in
>> order to make the replaced
>> our service need the faulty dvd rom device
>> otherwise its not possible to
>> make the replaced.
>>
>> Beast Regards
>> Support Greece

And what about this "Beast Regards" , are they calling me or themselves names or what?

 

[Thoroughly Fed Up]

I have read all your comments with interest and feel that Acer should be the first up against the wall and shot when the revolution comes. I have a really silly story to tell. I bought an Acer N30 GPS bundle from Makro in July last year. In January this year, I managed to snap the end off the stylus. Knowing that this is not covered by warranty, I went on-line to DABS and ordered a replacement pack. After waiting TWO MONTHS, I chased it via e-mail. I was told that I would get it within a couple of days. Another month went by and I chased it again. I was told that Acer no longer produce this unit and spares are scarce.

I then contacted Acer via e-mail. None of the dozen or so e-mails were ever replied to, even though someone had red them. They even refused to acknowledge any letters! Finally, after raising a call with Acer, I got one after waiting three weeks.

During March, I contacted every retailer on their list. Some of them had stopped actively selling Acer kit due to the crappy after-sales support, but here are some of the comments I got when I spoke to them on the phone:

"You've got an Acer? I feel sorry for you."
"My advice is to drop it down the stairs, make an insurance claim and get something decent like an HP or a Palm."
"An Acer you say? Yes I can get them, but you could be waiting up to 12 months for it."
"I've had back-orders for Acer spares going back 2 years."
"Yes I am on their retail list, but that's only so I can try and get something if someone wants it specifically. I would never recommend Acer as their support is non-existant."
"What made you buy an Acer? HP make a much better unit and at least you stand a chance in getting it repaired before you die."

And so it goes on. I spent two hours on their "un-help line" trying to get through as they don't answer e-mails. I don't know about anyone esle, but my next PDA will be a Palm or a HP. At least I can visit my local store and get stupid parts like replacement stylus' over the counter.

 

[misery4626]

Acer 2300

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that here in the US Acer sucks also! I have a 2300 travelmate.And one day i found the LCD screen cracked. No it wasnt dropped or kicked. I got on line ( w my desk top) and went to acers web site. They Said yes i had a warrenty and to send it to them. I paid to have it boxed because they have strict guide lines on how they want to recive it but i thought Hey! this company is GREAT! 2 days later i recive an E mail stating that it would cost $30.00 LESS then what i paid for it ( $680.00).So I called.. After 30 minutes on hold I finally spoke to a real person. She informed me that the LCD screen is not coverd and that i would need to come up with the money. Can she have my credit card number?? Ohhhhhhh no! I said to send it back. i recived it 3 days later.. Now im huniting for a new LCD screen ill fix it myself!! Acer is not great ........Good luck everyone!!

 

[Thoroughly Fed Up]

Misery: Look at one of the responses I got from an Acer supplier: "My advice is to drop it down the stairs, make an insurance claim and get something decent like an HP or a Palm."

Sounds like you have a perfect legitimate claim here. The screen is cracked because you knocked it off the table (think about it..). A quick phone call to your insurance company should sort it, then you will have $700 (less your insurance excess) to go out and buy a HP or Toshiba. At least the HP service is 110% and they dont mess about.

Oh, and by the way. I got hold of a copy of the Encyclopedia Galactica that fell through a worm-hole from 100 years in the future. In it, I found an entry stating: "the service department of the Acer group were the first up against the wall when the revolution came." So there is hope for us all....

 

[atech]

Acer Support The Reason

Hi

As a field tech for Dell - (the same contract Co. also deals with ACER Calls) I can tell you why!

They are useless out troubleshooting any problems (Dell are very good on the other hand) and so when
you arrive with the Part (that has taken minimum of six weeks to order & arrive to warehouse) it is the wrong part for the job - 99 times outta 100. An then the process starts it starts all over again !!

I no longer will accept any acer calls on my round. Period. Avoid them like the plague.

atech

 

[Frooty]

Definetely Not Buying Acer Now!

After being advised not to buy an acer by a friend....I thought I'd do some research...

and boy am I glad I found this thread....

I was thinking of buying an acer notebook which on paper seems like excellent specs and very good value for money... but after reading the problems you guys have been having I am definetely not going to buy it.

So Acer can just say bye bye to my £1200... maybe just one drop in the ocean... oh lets not forget about the other people I am going to tell too...

Thank you all very much!

 

[misery4626]

Thoroughly Fed Up
- I took your advice Thank you so much, My insurance coverd 150% the cost i paid for the Acer. Thats minuse the deductable! I will never buy another acer again though! Thank you once again! Good luck everyone!

 

[robodan]

[mucks edit: irrelevant post ]

 

[Majorminor]

Hi All,

I wish I had seen this and other forums on Acer. I'm yet another victim of their shoddy service and false promises having returned a N35GPS PDA for repair. They are the 666 of the computer world !!!

Why can't we all gang up and take out an advert in a national paper or three to say how "in our opinion" crap Acer is at After Sales Support. That should cause some turmoil in it's stock value and get some reaction down the line ?

 

[velas6]

how to get refund

Bought acer1693 fron acer dealer in London,
within 3 days keyboard faulty,
rang the dealer,dealer arranged pickup ,
send it to Acer repair
Acer has changed keyboard,Mainboard, FRUS.
received Laptop back after 6 days.
2 days working,then completely dead!!!
won't boot up, nothing!!!! after powe switch lights up!!!

Rang dealer ,without telling me Dealer arranged a pickup by
initial city Link to Acer repair centre.
10 days gone , No laptop yet.
Frustrated, very upset.
only 4 days i have used this laptop in 30days!!!
Any suggestios how can i get refund?
because i paid through Matercard by Capital One.

or how can i fight to get refund as i have lost all faith in Acer
after reading these forums.

Thanks

 

[mc_freestyler]

Hi. I have run into a lot of problems with Acer as well, so thought I'd let everyone know (jumping on the 'we hate Acer' bandwagon is sooooo fun!)

Anyhow, firstly I have to say their customer support and service have been great, including a quick turnaround. However, the laptop itself has been the problem.

Firstly the speakers stopped working after about 3 months of having it. I ignored this because I used to run it through my hi-fi anyway. Then the catches on the lid broke so it won't stay closed now. Again, not a major problem.

Then a few months after that one of the keys on the keyboard became sticky, so when you booted the computer up, it registered this a sticky key, and tried to reboot. I couldn't clear the problem, even removing the key and cleaning the keyboard didn't help. Unfortunately this launched it into a cycle of booting, running scandisk, then rebooting. Repeat ad infinitum. You couldn't do anything to it to start it up completely.

Emailed Acer and they were prompt in replying, so I arranged citylink to pick it up and send it off. It was repaired within the week, speakers and all (which I didn't even mention), bonus.

The one annoyance I found with them though is their disclaimer saying they may wipe the hard drive, so to back everything up before it is sent off. Of course in my case I couldn't boot the computer up so couldn't back anything up! As a result they had to wipe my hard drive and reinstall windows, so I lost a years worth (about 15gb) of uni work, pictures, music etc. Luckily I had finished my dissertation a few weeks before, but it is still annoying.

So, done and dusted I thought, all repaired fine. However, last week it decided it wouldn't power up at all. The battery was fully charged, and the AC adaptor working because I tried it on my old laptop. It was working the night before, but not the next day. However no lights came on, and pressing the 'power on' button did nothing. Quick call to Acer, again fast service and arranged collection. However it's out of warranty now, so it's going to cost me £35 just for them to look at it, then they'll quote me for the repair on top of that. I'm hoping it's not a hard drive problem because again I can't back anything up since I can't start the computer up! They've had it a couple of days and I haven't heard anything, so I hope it's not too expensive and it's done quickly (and that it's not a hard drive problem!)

So the message here kids is not to buy an Acer product, and to back up your hard drive!

 

[PeeJay]

In case you need to back up a laptop that is not working (i.e. switching on)
You can get a cable to connect a laptop hard drive (2.5") to a desktop computer (3.5") and then back up the data onto the desktop's hard drive. This info is a bit late for mc_freestyler but useful to know just oin case

 

[velas6]

How to backup

Hi
That's good,how can we back up with cable when laptop won't bootup and is dead!!
Is it a special cable? what is it called.
Thanks for ur guidance.

 

[itsme]

Flakker and the rest of you, read this thread!



https://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-1881463.php

 

[TeamBlakey]

Hi All,

I wish I had seen this and other forums on Acer. I'm yet another victim of their shoddy service and false promises having returned a N35GPS PDA for repair. They are the 666 of the computer world !!!

Why can't we all gang up and take out an advert in a national paper or three to say how "in our opinion" crap Acer is at After Sales Support. That should cause some turmoil in it's stock value and get some reaction down the line ?

I too have an N35 in for repair (speaker volume dropped so much that I couldn't hear the GPS voice in the car). After waiting 4 weeks I e-mailed to chase things a bit, NO REPLY. 2 weeks later I decided to give them a call. They couln't even find me on their system. The reference number I had been supplied with via e-mail prior to sending the item in actually refers to someone else on their system. Eventually told they would check it out and call me back the next day. I got the guys name and confirmed with him I would definately get a reply the next day.

It got to 4:30 the next day so I called back and actually got the same guy on the phone. No, sorry - he assured me that there are a few people with the same name and he was definately not who I had spoken with the previous day (sounded just like him though). Anyway had to go through the story again. Was promised he would call back next day before 10:00 am as nothing had been done yet! I got his surname this time though. He did call back a little after 10:00 to tell me he was checking with the courier who collected the item from me and he would get back to me. I had already checked the courier (City Link) web site and could see that it had been delivered the day after it had been collected from me!

I got the call back and was told that the courier confirmed that they had indeed collected a package from me. However Acer say they have not got it so it must have got lost in transit so Acer are going to claim for it (apparently) and so Acer will send me out a new one in the next few days. A week on and I still have nothing. I called again today to be told that the guy I spoke with isn't in and they can't find any details of the case. I am mow waiting for a call from the customer services manager. Its now 8 weeks since I last saw my PDA and I'd only had it a month then.

I have come across some useless organisations and seveley sub-standard after sales service (after all we expect nothing less in the UK) in my time but Acer are certainly up there amongst the top contenders.

 

[matthewinuk]

Tips for UK Sufferers

I got an Acer laptop reduced from £799 GBP to £599, which I chose over a HP laptop of slightly lower spec and lower price. After about a week, the optical drive stopped playing any audio CD or CD rom with the slightest of scratches. After testing various discs on it, it carried on at me by deciding not to play ANY CD Roms or anything but the Newest of DVD's.

So the thing is, tommorow I go back to Comet. Having read these threads, I am not in the slightest bit interested in playing the 'Acer customer support lottery' and will ask for a full refund under the UK Sale of Goods Act of 1979 (As ammended). When I have the refund, I'll get my dad (who bought it for me) to buy me the HP laptop instead, since our old PC was from them and worked like a dream. Also, he should be happy, because he will get 20% off the shelf price because he works for their domestic appliance servicing department. This will save him some money.

Comet is great, and my ONLY complaint about them, is that they supply Acer laptops in the first place!

IMPORTANT INFO FOR UK CUSTOMERS.

1. If you buy faulty goods which you didn't know were faulty, you are entitled to a full refund or replacement under the sale of goods act of 1979. For a summary see http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/salegoodsact.htm

2. If you paid more than £100 GBP for your computer on a credit card you are automatically insured by your credit card company, and will be able to claim your money back should anything go wrong. (I think for up to 100 days, but check with your credit card company)

Good luck to all of you.

God Bless,

Matt

PS- Email me if you think I am wrong to get my money back. I will be surprised to receive even one email!

 

[shane_warne]

Acer is crap all over the world

I am based in Australia and bought an Acer flat panel monitor for my Dell PC. Big mistake. It broke down and then the comedy of errors and terrible support started. Dell has the best support in the world so I should have stuck with them. Acer are a joke and well worth staying clear of.

 

[jonspen]

How can any company be this bad

The only good thing that has happened to me since buying an Acer TravelMate C110 is finding this forum and finding out that I am not alone in getting the most appalling service!

3 weeks after I bought my laptop, the Hard drive failed catastrophically and I had to send it back to Acer for repair. This in itself was quite easy, they picked up the same day and I was told it would be back in 14 days.....5 weeks later and after calling the 'Support' line day after day and being what can only be described as 'lied to' I eventually got the laptop back. Bearing in mind the laptop had been purchased as a tool to be used while setting up my own business this was more than an inconvenience.

When I got the laptop out of the box and lifted the screen, the case was cracked in 2 places. They obviously couldnt get it to go back on so have forced it and used a bit of glue to hold it in place. The bit where the glue is has held in place very nicely, but the cover around this area has cracked and lifted off due to the bad fit. So, I call Acer and get told to send the laptop back and it would take 14 days at which point I less than calmly refused on the basis that they had damaged it and it would take a damn sight longer than 14 days from past experience. But, the robot on the end of the line could do nothing but say 'send it back', so I tried writing to Acer.

I got a letter back quite quickly telling me they would deal with my complaint in 10 days....after 25 days with no reply I gave in and called Acer only to be told they hadnt dealt with my complaint because I hadnt sent the machine back .....even though not sending it back was part of the complaint and the letter didnt ask me to send it back!! I asked to speak to a manager and was told they would call back the same day. Guess what...

This rant doesnt really give half of the picture of how badly they treat people. Im not sure what to do now but I am not giving in...I will write again and if I get no response I will drive down to Acer from Manchester with the laptop and wait until I see someone who will take this piece of c**p off me and give me some money back. As said many times before, if you are thinking of buying Acer products, DONT THEY ARE POOR PRODUCTS WITH THE WORST SERVICE I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED.

 

[Gizzo]

Another example of Acer's crap after sales service

To cut a long story short;

I sent my cracked TFT laptop back to Acer. After countless phone calls ( a lot were cut off or they were at lunch or swamped by the volume of calls ) they 'lost it' then found it, quoted me, then I faxed an authorisation for repair back to them then they emailed me to say it had been repaired and was being shipped back to me. However when it was returned with a covering note saying parts replaced, the smashed TFT was exactly in the same state as when I sent it. No repairs were done as they had lost my repair authorisation. When I complained they said they would just refund one courier charge. I found this unacceptable and do not tust them to do the repair. Will never buy Acer again.