Episode 1 : My Acer laptop goes AWOL
If you're thinking of buying an Acer laptop, especially one like the Acer TravelMate 4501 which I bought, then I advise you to read my experience of Acer service and Acer laptops before you buy.
These are the details and the correspondence related to Episode 1 of my Acer experience. You should also read the
Introduction to my Acer laptop experience where there are links to other episodes (yes there's more!).
My Acer laptop (a TravelMate 4501) is less than a year old. In Episode 1, it has been gone for three months and has still not been returned. It's the third attempt by Acer to fix a problem which I believe is with the hard disk. Over the past weeks, I've had various responses, "it's fixed", it's been dispatched", "it's awaiting spares".
Below are copies of some of the correspondence.
Read, enjoy and above all, don't buy an Acer.
Related pages
Correspondence
20 September 2005
Complaints Department
ACER / ESPLEX LTD
Unit M, Eagle Road
Plympton
Plymouth
PL7 5JY
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Dear Sir/Madam
Re: TICKETID – 245351N
I called Acer Support in July regarding an “unmountable boot volume” error. I was told to re-format and reinstall Windows and all my software. This took me half a day to do. And the error returned soon after.
I was then told to send the laptop in for repair (1 August -241491N) for the “unmountable boot volume” error. It was returned a week or so later. The error returned a short while after.
I sent my laptop in for the second time on 18 August. It is now over a month and it hasn’t been fixed and returned.
I have called several times to be told:
o “It’s awaiting parts”.
o “It’s been repaired and is awaiting dispatch”
o By email - “Your mc has been shipped out and should be with you shortly,
I apologise for the length of time the repair has taken.
o “It’s been dispatched.
o By email again, “Just a quick note to say your machine has been fixed and should be with you in a couple of days.”
o “I’ll find out what’s happening, and call you back” (but she never did).
o And today, “It’s awaiting parts”.
I am not amused. In fact, I am well and truly p***** off. I run a medium size business. This laptop is vital to my daily work, and I have spent the best part of two months without a functioning machine.
1. When will I get it back? Why can no one in your organisation give me an idea of whether it’s going to be a day, a month or a year?
2. How do you intend to compensate me? (And don’t give me the standard cop out clause about Acer cannot be held responsible for loss etc etc. You are a business serving customers, and you owe some sort of responsibility to those customers.
Yours faithfully
Keith Pollard
Director
30 September 2005
Complaints Department
ACER / ESPLEX LTD
Unit M, Eagle Road
Plympton
Plymouth
PL7 5JY
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Dear Sir/Madam
Re: TICKETID – 245351N Qpulse : AF05097
Another ten days have passed.
o No one has called me.
o No one has told me when my laptop will be repaired/returned.
o It’s now SIX WEEKS since I sent my laptop in for repair for the same fault.
So much for your “commitment to all of our customers”, “highest standards of service”, “quality serice” etc etc.
Meanwhile, one small business man who bought an Acer laptop thinking it would make life easier has had to spend £1,500 which he can ill afford, to buy a replacement because the one he bought in the first place was from a company which couldn’t give a damn about customers.
Yours faithfully
Keith Pollard
Director
2 October 2005
Complaints Department
ACER / ESPLEX LTD
Unit M, Eagle Road
Plympton
Plymouth
PL7 5JY
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Dear Sir/Madam
Re: TICKETID – 245351N Qpulse : AF05097
Since I have still had no contact from Acer regarding my failed laptop which has now been in your hands for seven weeks or so, it is my intention to pursue an action against the laptop supplier under the Sale of Goods Act for supply of a product which is neither of “satisfactory quality” nor fit for its normal purpose. I will demand a full refund.
Since the supplier is an ACER distributor/dealer, I am sure that they will be delighted by this. But I suppose it is their choice to sell products by manufacturers who don’t keep their promises, and can’t be bothered to pick up the phone and talk to aggrieved customers.
I will also take great pleasure in relating my story and placing my correspondence with ACER on the web. Fortunately, my company owns and manages a web site which has stunning natural visibility on sites such as Google UK, and we are expcluert in search engine optimisation……which means that within a few days of posting my “Acer laptops – reasons not to buy” content, I am pretty confident I can achieve a top ten Google UK position for some Acer related search terms. It’s only fair that potential customers should know how good your customer service is….or is not.
Yours faithfully
Keith Pollard
Director
5 October 2005
Complaints Department
ACER / ESPLEX LTD
Unit M, Eagle Road
Plympton
Plymouth
PL7 5JY
TICKETID – 245351N Qpulse : AF05097
WHERE’S MY LAPTOP?
Yours faithfully
Keith Pollard
Director
5 October 2005
Complaints Department
ACER / ESPLEX LTD
Unit M, Eagle Road
Plympton
Plymouth
PL7 5JY
BY FAX: 2 pages
TICKETID – 245351N Qpulse : AF05097
I find the attached a joke.
You have still not answered the question which I am now asking for the nth time:
WHEN will the machine be repaired and returned?
A day, a week, a month, a year?
A 3 month extension of the warranty is pathetic compensation for the loss of a machine which is vital to my work, and which has been under repair for the last SEVEN WEEKS, in addition to the period spent on the previous failed repair.
“Should you wish to discuss this further etc etc”
I am not spending the rest of my life hanging on the phone for your Customer Services.
It’s about time someone bothered to phone me.
Yours faithfully
Keith Pollard
Director
18 October 2005
Complaints Department
ACER / ESPLEX LTD
Unit M, Eagle Road
Plympton
Plymouth
PL7 5JY
FAO: Nick Williams, Customer Services Escalations
Re: TICKETID – 245351N Qpulse : AF05097
My laptop and your letter (dated 14/10/05) arrived yesterday.
1. The laptop is on its way back to Acer today. I’ve spent another 30 minutes on the phone to Technical Support this morning. This time you have either failed to reconnect the Wireless card or left it out of the machine. Great. How long will I have to wait this time? How much more time will I have to waste dealing with Acer?
2. Your offer of a 3 month extension of my warranty does not compensate me for the inconvenience caused. It’s a joke. The 3 month extension merely covers the period that the laptop has been in your repair department!
3. I called your Customer Services number this morning and was told that they couldn’t put me through to you. Another 15 minutes wasted in the queue.
4. How do you intend to compensate me for the inconvenience caused?
5. I estimate that around 10,000 potential Acer customers will visit my customer story on the web, in the next 12 months. It’s an honest and fair account of my customer experience. I have no intention of removing it until I receive fair compensation.
Yours faithfully
Keith Pollard
Director
