Acer Customer Support Not exactly the best in the world

[rvalkass 5]

My laptop has recently started to develop cracks along the hinges connecting the screen to the base of the laptop. I decided to phone Acer Customer Support to ask them about getting it repaired or replaced. I have had the laptop for roughly a year and it was still in warranty when I first attempted to phone Acer support. Firstly, getting through to Acer is not easy. I have been calling for a few days, each time being on hold for around half an hour before giving up. The number is not an 09 premium rate number, but its not free either

 

Today, I finally got through to a real person, and I explained my problem to the representative. According to his all-knowing computer, however, my serial number reports the laptop was bought in March '06. This is just plain wrong. Not only is the date roughly 4 months early, but how can a serial number possibly reveal when I bought the machine? When it was made, possibly, but they have no idea how long it was sat on a warehouse shelf before I received it (I didn't buy directly from Acer).

 

Magically, the guy on the phone also claims to know exactly how long delivery takes for every company. I informed him the invoice showed the date of purchase, and he simply stated that "delivery would have taken 2 days, max". This is also wrong, yet he refused to listen to reason. After much repeating of the facts, I finally got fed up of hearing the price of repair (?41.13 to have the laptop "inspected", and anything from ?80 to ?160 for the repair, plus VAT and postage) and slammed the phone down.

 

Three things really annoy me about Acer support:

The call should be an 0800 number, not 0870 - a warranty should be free support

The amount of time hanging on the phone is ridiculous (and the music was awful )

The representative flatly refused to listen to me, simply repeating the price over and over again

Including postage the total cost comes to?anywhere?between??165?and??260.?For?that?money?I?could?buy?myself?a?brand?new?22"?screen! Anyway, since today's call I have found an online conversation log with a friend revealing the date when I received the laptop. These conversation logs have stood up in court, but do you think it would be possible to get a support representative to accept one as proof my laptop was within warranty when I first started calling?

 

For future reference - do not buy from Acer if you expect customer support. My laptop has broken right before the end of the warranty, so the build quality actually seems to be pretty poor and made just to last the one year warranty.

Edited July 18, 2007 by rvalkass (see edit history)

[Plenoptic 0]

Wow! Now I'm really glad I didn't purchase from Acer when I bought my laptop back in March. They were my first choice because they were so cheap but I never really knew much about them so I went over to Gateway. I'll make sure to let people to know that Acer's Customer Support isn't that great. My old computer also had the same problem as you with the hinges being broken. Although I decided just to buy a new one because the other one was slowing down some anyway and wasn't really capable of doing much on it. That was with my old Dell.

[rvalkass 5]

A little follow-up: Acer finally agreed to repair my laptop for me, and even provided a DHL courier to collect it from my house. This was on the 23rd of July. Despite the floods affecting the routes between my home and Acer's repair centre, my laptop was returned at 10:30am this morning, with the screen replaced with a brand new one. A few scratches from the laptop also seem to have disappeared, and the keyboard looks like it has been cleaned. It seems that their repair service is actually top notch, its just difficult to gain access to it.My previous comments about getting through and the attitude of some representatives still stand, but the guy who agreed to have the work carried out for me was a completely different character all togehter. It really seems to depend on who you speak to as to what you can get done. Hats off to Acer for the quality of their repairs, but their call centre and the attitudes of a few of their staff could certainly do with improvement.

[Soby 0]

Like I said that these companies are big and since they have to take care of the customers as one bad reputation would render 2 or more not purchanse laptops. Glad you got through with them. It mostly depends on the customer service person you're talking to. one person doesn't really setup the complete image of the whole company.

[Atthack 0]

Well Acer support sounds like any other support i've called, always excusing themselves and pointing in another direction, though the thing is simple.

 

Too bad anyways. I don't really use much support, as i'm not expecting it. However I certainly would if I bought a laptop (expensive type), then it's more of a must.

[ASR 0]

I had a similar original issue but I let it go 'cause I didn't have the time to get the repairs done and it kept getting worse(to the point where the right hinge broke along with the top closure clasp). I have an Acer Travelmate 4150LCi and so now I'm trying to get it fixed. But here's the biggest pain. Every time I call into Acer support, they want the serial #. Well that'd be fine and dandy IF the sticker THEY put it on wasn't paper and hadn't rubbed into illegibility. So they tell me it's in the BIOS. But when I got the laptop (brand new and in the case, still sealed directly from Taiwan) it had a BIOS password. So I called in again. This guy tells me it's either six zeros (which it's not, I tried.) or I can get my tech to flash the BIOS to get rid of it. So I flash it and it upgraded my 1.8 version to the new 2.30 version, great, but not what I needed; the password's still there. So I call in, convince them I had a technician do it and this rep says that flashing it won't remove a BIOS password. So she tells me to send it in. I tell her I don't have the serial # and she then tells me to take it to the tech again to get the CMOS battery taken off the motherboard. So I take it in after the shop tells me they won't charge b/c Acer placed the password on. They call me over a week later telling me my computer doesn't have a CMOS battery. Turns out I've bought a computer in one of the series where they decided (for the pure fun of it no doubt) to place all the BIOS info on an EEPOM chip instead which they can't fix for some reason. So I take my laptop home and decide that since I can't get the serial #, I'll get my brother to TIG weld the hinge and we'll place on some Velcro to keep it closed. But when I try to turn it on, it's whines and has a blank screen, it won't even post. So I take it back in to the shop. Apparently the CPU is overheating. They take it apart and say that the heat sync spacers got broken off when I "Dropped it." (which I never have) So they throw the hard drive into an external enclosure and give my laptop back. So I'm like well that sucks, I'll fix it my self. So my two brother's and I take it apart and it's apparent that the heat sync was originally designed to be screwed in with screws twice if not three times the length then the ones they pulled out. Not only that, but I found the Serial # under the battery (D'oh!) Yea it's a Work in progress but I'll let y'all know how it's going.

[Atthack 0]

I had a similar original issue but I let it go 'cause I didn't have the time to get the repairs done and it kept getting worse(to the point where the right hinge broke along with the top closure clasp). I have an Acer Travelmate 4150LCi and so now I'm trying to get it fixed. But here's the biggest pain. Every time I call into Acer support, they want the serial #. Well that'd be fine and dandy IF the sticker THEY put it on wasn't paper and hadn't rubbed into illegibility. So they tell me it's in the BIOS. But when I got the laptop (brand new and in the case, still sealed directly from Taiwan) it had a BIOS password. So I called in again. This guy tells me it's either six zeros (which it's not, I tried.) or I can get my tech to flash the BIOS to get rid of it. So I flash it and it upgraded my 1.8 version to the new 2.30 version, great, but not what I needed; the password's still there. So I call in, convince them I had a technician do it and this rep says that flashing it won't remove a BIOS password. So she tells me to send it in. I tell her I don't have the serial # and she then tells me to take it to the tech again to get the CMOS battery taken off the motherboard. So I take it in after the shop tells me they won't charge b/c Acer placed the password on. They call me over a week later telling me my computer doesn't have a CMOS battery. Turns out I've bought a computer in one of the series where they decided (for the pure fun of it no doubt) to place all the BIOS info on an EEPOM chip instead which they can't fix for some reason. So I take my laptop home and decide that since I can't get the serial #, I'll get my brother to TIG weld the hinge and we'll place on some Velcro to keep it closed. But when I try to turn it on, it's whines and has a blank screen, it won't even post. So I take it back in to the shop. Apparently the CPU is overheating. They take it apart and say that the heat sync spacers got broken off when I "Dropped it." (which I never have) So they throw the hard drive into an external enclosure and give my laptop back. So I'm like well that sucks, I'll fix it my self. So my two brother's and I take it apart and it's apparent that the heat sync was originally designed to be screwed in with screws twice if not three times the length then the ones they pulled out. Not only that, but I found the Serial # under the battery (D'oh!) Yea it's a Work in progress but I'll let y'all know how it's going.

Argh, that's SO annoying...

Sometimes I actually wish Support Teams KNEW what they were talking about, wouldn't the world be a better place by then?

[iGuest 3]

Keyboard operationAcer Customer SupportI have a new Acer Aspire One Netbook. It has a keyboard with up to five (5) characters engaved on the keys, but nowhare can I find an instruction on how to use it! Help pages and - or manuals do not help, and good few necessary characters are inaccessible to a non-tech user like me! Pointers anyone? (the last charater comes with punching a question mark!)-reply by Kris

[chrismiller3404 0]

Bought an LCD monitor from them not too long ago. It had 7 dead pixels in a small space near the center of the screen. Because it wasn't 8, the wouldn't replace it...

[iGuest 3]

What is NTLDR?Acer Customer SupportWhen I started my ACER Laptop, It gives message " NTLDR is missing press any key to restart "This message is keep on coming and nothing else after pressing key and I am unable to work on it. Pl tell me what is the problem. Pl note that initially it was working properly.Regards.Aurangzeb

[iGuest 3]

Hello, I purchased an acer laptop 6 weeks ago and I am going through hell. (aspire 5920, Window vista).The problem that I am having is that my alphabet keys U, I, o, p, [, ] ,j,k, l, ;, ', #, m, , ., / ( the keys on the left side of my keyboard) change on thier own to numbers. But when I punch the " function key" it changes. Right now it has gone terrible, even when I punch the function key it never returns back to normal as in "alphabet".As I type this mail to you , its the must horrible experience trying to type holding the "function" key. I would like your kind assistance ASAP.George abu-reply by Abu George

[iGuest 3]

Upgrading BIOSAcer Customer Support

Hi sir, I ve acer aspire 5600, it's BIOS version is 3122, I found a new version 3128, I want to know is it better to upgrade it or it will be danger for the device, post me please. Thanx a lot. 

-reply by Naim George

[iGuest 3]

ComplaintAcer Customer SupportTrying to find a phone number for customer services is like looking for a needle in a hay stack,Is this a closely guarded secret, are customers not allowed to know, I purchased a Acer desktop in August and now I can,t get the free Window 7 upgrade due to the fact I have a debit card and not a credit card. Why should I have the awkward task of ask someone else to pay the P & P for me with a credit card.The service is poor and will make me think again about buying Acer products.It is time to buck you idea's up.Trevor Shore MBE-feedback by Trevor Shore

[iGuest 3]

My Acer Pc went faulty within 6 months took it upto the repair centre which is a 10 min walk from where I live. I'm told it will be fixed in 10 days. 6 weeks on and serveral calls now being diverted Offshore I'm told that they cannot fix my pc and have offered to refund me. Ok I think I'll be up in 5 days on my day off. I take my reciept with me thinking they would write the cheque then and there but NO it has to be scanned and the request sent off to God knows where. Nice chap say's it will be with me the refund that is within 10 days. 16th of November I went to get my money back it's now the 3rd december more than 2 weeks on and I go back to them today to see why it hasn't arrived yet and the guy who initally offered the refund has no idea where it is. No record on his pc or ability to check to progress. Meaning it hasn't yet been dealt with. I should have known there'd be problems as it was me chasing them for 6 weeks and another customer being dealt with was told they'd couldn't find her pc in the warehouse. Great I was looking at replacing my pc with another Acer but I think I'll switch back to HP or save up for a iMac

-reply by mdoyle

[iGuest 3]

Actual Acer customer service transcriptAcer Customer Support

My Acer Support experience

Title: Locating an Acer repair center

Customer 11/29/2009 09:10 PM

Greetings! I have an Acer Aspire One netbook (D150-1165) that I have had for about 4 months. I just recently tried using an external monitor (lcd) and the picture at any resolution (tried native for the monitor and all other options) is fuzzy. I tried 3 different monitors (different brands) and different cables, and even tried a fresh driver, but I still get ghosting that makes the external monitor unusable for me. My other old acer laptop looks great on the same external screens. Help! Should I send the unit in for repairs? If so, where? Running XP. Thanks!

Acer Response

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I will be happy to assist you with this external display issue. The Aspire One supports having the display output on the internal LCD screen, an external monitor, or both. Hold the Function (Fn) key down and tap the F5 key to toggle between the different display modes. Note: To switch to an external monitor or have the display output on both an external monitor and the internal LCD screen, an external monitor must be connected and powered on before switching the display mode.

It's been a pleasure assisting you.

My next reply:

Thanks for the quick response. Unfortunately, Your response did not answer my question or solve my problem. I can make the second display function - that is not the issue. The issue is that with this netbook (and only with this netbook) the secondary display is very fuzzy, has bad ghosting, and gives me a headache. As I stated before, I have tried different resolutions (including native resolution), different external monitors, and a fresh driver for the second monitor. Today I borrowed a friend's acer netbook, and the same secondary monitor is crisp and clear with HIS unit, but not with mine. I think there is some RF internally with my unit that is causing the ghosting. Can you address that issue? Again, I know how to make the display appear on the second screen. The primary screen on the netbook work fine, the only problem is with any external screen that I try. Please let me know if you need further clarification, or if you would like me to try to take a photograph showing the ghosting. Thanks!

Acer Response 

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I will be happy to assist you with this external display issue. I apologize for the inconvenience that you have experienced. After verifying your serial no:-xxxxxxxxxxxx, we found that your product is in warranty. I suggest you to update the VGA driver to resolve the issue:- http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/- Download.Acer.Com/GDFiles/(etc.) Your service request id is:- xxxxx

It's been a pleasure assisting you.

My next reply:

Thank you again for your quick response to my question. Unfortunately, downloading and installing the driver you suggested still did not fix my problem. I had already tried an updated driver, but I reloaded the driver from the link you sent and tried it anyway, and it did not improve the situation. The external monitor is still ghosting just as badly as it did before the driver was installed. I cannot stress enough that I really believe I have a hardware problem. I work in Information Systems at my job, and if this issue were happening with one of our units, we would return it under warranty. I really believe this unit is getting interference from inside the case that is causing the VGA port no not function properly. I do not believe that any combination of drivers or video settings will fix this issue (I have tried them all). Please let me know if you can be of assistance. If not, please direct me to a phone number or warranty center that I can call.

Thanks for your help!

Acer Response 12/02/2009 

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I will be happy to assist you with this display issue. After verifying your serial no:-Lxxxxxx01, we found that your product is in warranty.

I suggest you to contact our voice technical support telephone for further assistance. Our voice technical support telephone number is:- 1-800-571-2237, Mon-Fri 7am-9pm CST and Sat-Sun 8am-5pm CST excluding holidays.Your service request id is:- xxxxxxxx

It's been a pleasure assisting you.

My final response:

Hello,

I spoke to a person in the number listed above. That person referred me to a PAY for technical support number. When I asked the person at that number why I was sent to a site that would COST ME MONEY to address a WARRANTY issue with an Acer computer, they told me I should INSIST TO TALK TO AN ACER MANAGER. Please READ ALL of the correspondence in this case. Please understand that I know about computers; I work on them at work, and I am VERY familiar with hardware, software, ports, addresses, and settings. Does Acer really have a warranty department, or is the warranty worthless? I have a physical hardware problem within this unit. If ACER is not going to help with that, please let me know, and I will do business elsewhere forever more, and post reviews containing all of the above text at retail review sites. Note that I would not do this for any reason other than to warn other people, and that I would not state anything other than the contents of this correspondence.

Please just tell me, this time without my having to ask again, if Acer will stand behind their warranty. Yes or no.

I do not expect they will provide any help.