!!!!!! Acer Recalling Some Aspire Notebooks !!!!!!

Not good. As the title says Acer is recalling some notebooks. The affected modules are:

Acer Aspire Timeline:

• AS3410
• AS3810T
• AS3810TG
• AS3810TZ
• AS3810TZG

All manufactured BEFORE September 15th.

More info+links here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=424774

UPDATED (kudos to TeeJay 44 for sniffing this one out!)
Acer has announced a second round of recalls.

Acer Aspire:

• AS5738G
• AS5738ZG

All manufactured between April 2009 and June 2009.

For more information on this second round, click here.

 

I have one TZ model seems to be working fine don't know what is the fuss I rather not have incompetent Acer Technicians in my country messing with it.

 

It's your call. Hope you won't regret it.

 

I mean seriously I opened up laptops before.
It is impossible for Microphone Cable to overheat.
For Timeline Laptops the area is just above the harddisk and how hot can harddisk go?
Only times harddisk start overheating is when it is about to fail.
Most likely the issue started because some idiot's harddisk was about to fail hence the harddisk started overheating and melted the Microphone cable as a result.
The Microphone cable (Black,red cable) is very thin and looks like it can't within intense temperatures.
Then they started recalling.

Yep opened it up it is pretty much a non issue if your harddisk doesn't start failing.
The harddisk idles at 30 degrees does 30 degrees seem like it can melt anything?

 

You did not engineer this laptop, you don't know the specifics of the cable. Obviously Acer has seen some with problems, and as long as you don't apply lots of pressure on the left palm rest for a long time, you should be fine.

 

Though I don't doubt our experience with laptops, I highly doubt Acer would go out of their way to recall these laptops if there was not something serious, I don't think they have anything to gain from doing this

 

Hope so the last time I sent in a laptop it came out with missing dummy cards, Wrong screws position, warp casing and big scratches hence it became the last time I sent in a laptop to them.

 

Major ouch sorry to hear that, completely understand your distaste then

 

Does this mean you don't return repaired units yet?

How long does it take to get your unit back?

 

Marquant, thanks for the update, I too have one of the afflicted 3810T`s and this may go some way to explain why Acer "Middle East" has so far not responded.

Personally I am screwed, I need the Notebook on a daily basis, if I send it back to Acer I will need to buy a replacement for the duration, or if I roll the dice I will no doubt still replace the unit for peace of mind. As mine was less than 10 days old when the service notice was released I am going to ask for a replacement, although have little expectation of this happening

Q-6

 

Can you elaborate what the software problems is with the Aspire 4810T and 5810T

thanks.

 

My guess is the Hybrid Graphics issues with the GS45 Chipset.
The Timeline Series were among the first to use GS45 chipset.

 

The 4810T and 5810T dont have hybrid graphics only the intergrated 4500MHD

 

I hope the recall notice mentions that customers may be without their notebook for a significant amount of time. Pretty crappy situation to be in, if you ask me, for both customer and retailer.

 

Oh no! :-( I just sent mine back with another issue (and put a note that they might as well do the recall fix at the same time). Can't be without my lappy for too long ffs.

It'll be a PR disaster for the company if they don't do something positive quickly. As soon as disgruntled customers take their complaints to the Press the negative vibes will spread like wildfire!

I accept that things aren't always perfect but once it gets over a week or so then people will become much more inconvenienced especially (like me) people who only bought them in the past month.

If the models are seriously flawed and there's no easy fix will we get a new replacement laptop? Or at least some compensation for the inconvenience? Assuming they want to retain confidence in the brand of course....

 

I was guessing the TG series.

 

I intend on asking for a direct replacement, if I was still in the UK this would be the case, out here in the Middle East I dont have high hopes. If Acer ME dont accept that a two week machine should be replaced with one new from stock, due to design/production errors, I will pursue it as far as reasonably possible, if it`s negative, Acer will loose a customer.

I too accept issues do arise in design & manufacturing, however I dont accept poor customer service, especially in this case; if I return the 3810T I still need to replace it for the duration, which means a new purchase. If I keep it as is I will still need to make provision in the event of a failure...

Q-6

 

Last Saturday I got a message from Acer telling me that they will contact me in the "next two business days" to schedule the recall of my as3810t. a week has passed and nobody contact me in any way.

 

Me too, I signed up for the email in 2 business days last week and they haven't contacted me either.

 

after aber 2 weeks of waiting i just got it back from acer service because the keyboard came out. these clamps above the F keys didnt hold it right. also the hdmi connection was loose...
seems for me that acer wantet a cheap product on all cost.
i often get the feeling that this product hasn't been thought through till the end.

 

Same here with my as3810t.

 

Hey guys,

I hate to see bad reviews on a laptop I just purchased. I have been a Sony/Dell notebook guy for the past 10 years. Now I kind of regret buying an Acer, everyone around me has warned me about the low quality parts they use, horrible customer service (I submitted for a recall order, but its been 2 weeks and no one has called), NO TECHNICAL SUPPORT DIRECT PHONE NUMBER. God.... I knew I shouldn't have been cheap and should spend 100$ more and gotten a Dell and be relieved of this stress.

I am in grad school so obviously my notebook will be my second hand. I am currently on my 2nd 3810TZ as the first one crapped out after 2 reboots. Since I contacted Acer technical support for warranty via their stupid online request submission, 2 weeks no response even though they guaranteed 3 business days.

Anyone share my agony? =(

 

Everyone, looking at this post My 3810T is fine and I have decided not to return the system, until it has a problem, the microphone cable doesn't look to be hard and fast, needing repeated extreme pressure to trigger the overheating, so it may never happen for some of us.

Weighing all this up, versus the Notebook being shipped for repair in a different country (Middle East), and very likely generating far more problems, as these things rarely seem to go smoothly. A direct replacement is the real solution for the customer, however this is Acer and the pricing is great as the likes of customer service is weak.

Acer`s customer service seems pretty much non existent, I too have been waiting several days for a response, really no surprise. Errors in design & manufacturing do happen, and can be fixed; ignoring you customers is entirely something else...

Pity Acer did a really good job with the Timeline`s, with great performance & stamina and no glossy plastic. Why do manufacturers persist to use high gloss bezels and shell`s I don't know of one person who actually likes this style, the bezels are distracting and fingerprints end up everywhere. Asus`s UL30 is marred by the use of a glossy bezel on an otherwise matt Notebook, do the people that design the Notebook`s actually use them for any length of time?

 

That is why I find the "Problem" they deemed serious practically non-existent.
How in the world can the Microphone cable melt when the next closest heat generating device the harddisk runs at 30 degrees idle?
I can only say "Incompetent Fools" to them.

 

Has anyone actually got their repaired machine back? And how long did it take? I was quoted 5 working days, should be back by the middle of the week so I'm not panicking yet!

 

it might be an active microphone. so one of the wires might carry an undefined voltage. giving pressure on it can cause an electrical breakdown to some kind of ground. the problem could be solved by just unplugging the mic. who is using it anyway?

 

Think of it that way. Acer is a "budget" company, most of its success is based on the lower prices. Generally provides poor customer support, means less expenses in that direction. Now why would a "budget" company spend A LOT of money on recalling notebooks if there isn't a serious reason to do so?

 

i bought 3810t a week ago and i m so pleased by the overall performance even with vista battery life the temperature and the silence at operation. i use it as my media center due to the lack of noise compared to the asrock ion nettop. so im in a dillema. get it back for a refund and get the asus ul30 or keep it and forget the recall issue. i dont intend to give it for service. plz answer

 

Poor Customer Support may not always be Less Expensive
Poor Customer Support <= Idiots employed as technicians and HelpDesk Officers.
Idiots employed => Stupid Recalls
A recall is only warranted if there is common incidents that it caused some kind of major hiccup.
But I haven't seen or hear Timeline fail (on forums) because of something as silly Microphone cable burn up.

Your kind of generalization is like saying expensive computers are always good computers.

 

However you look at, you will be rolling the dice. At the end of the day Acer will still repair the system if it fails within the warrantee period regardless of being sent in for the microphone cable fix. If the Notebook has an issue in the future I will just ship it off to Acer at that point in time.

I agree with both sides here; Acer is noted for poor customer support, and paying a premium for a Notebook is no guarantee of good service. & support. The fact that Acer released the voluntary recall and then fails to contact those that signed up in the prescribed two working days hardly enthuses, that the process of repair/replacement will be seamless.

 

You got that from what I said? Wow...

What I meant was that recalling a bunch of machines is usually a "last resource" thing. A company would've never done it unless it's 200% necessary. For a "budget company" like Acer I'd double this percentage.



...

 

The point I was making is that if customers are without their almost new notebooks for a significant amount of time it will become a serious PR disaster for the company because of the negative publicity. It won't exactly endear itself to retailers either.

Has anything on this scale happened before and if so what was the outcome?

 

toshiba dell sony hp faced such problems in the past and for much bigger numbers of models and laptops. hp twice and the second did almost nothing. even apple had problems with problematic nvidia graphics cards and did an unofficial recall of mac books. its the third time i get a laptop and gets recalled. fujitsu for overheating dvd r toshiba for faulty battery and now this. toshiba send me a new battery 3 weeks later. fujitsu siemens changed the dvdr after 15 days and a lot of arguments and now i wait for acer s helpdesk to answer (or i ll get it tomorrow at the shop for a refund as a DOA)

 

Do they ever offer any sort of compensation or a replacement? My guess is no lol

 

of course not. they just replaced the faulty parts. everybody does this. i m sorry for acer. this is not the kind of behaviour for a big company like them. and the worst of all is that they dont clear things up by announcing how severe is this problem for the machine and the users or that is just a precaution movement not to worry about.
i should have stayed with toshiba

 

Hi, I think the word you are actually looking for is 'budget', cheap means something else. Acer are now almost the No 1 company overtaking Dell and soon HP...

goldeneye: at least they are doing something about this, my feeling is that they are just being precautionary.

Chris

 

Well yeah, that's what I meant. I guess I chose the wrong word
Thanks Chris.

 

i can imagine that this container does a very good job because HDD never gets hotter than 45 degrees and the cover of the HDD gets hot when you stress it meaning that it can send away thermal energy which also can melt the cable. today after lots of calls they proposed me to send it via courier and replace the cable. if they have available spare parts i will send it or i will wait till they have them available. the stupid shop i bought it doesnt replace it or gives refund so i m going to take legal action against them.

 

OMG they are not even sure what is the issue.
First they tell us Microphone Cable when it is the harddisk casing.
I will consider sending it back when they have finally make up their mind.

 

We ought to be putting more pressure on them, then more of their problems will show.

 

I bought a 3810T-353 from Amazon.co.uk on the 11th, took delivery on the 14th and got the recall notice on the 16th

Just after I'd finished setting it up as I wanted it as well (grrr Vista)

Acer's website wasn't letting me arrange a pickup and they haven't called me yet so I've arranged a return to Amazon for full refund, rejecting the laptop under the Sale of Goods Act because it's not of reasonable quality.

Not sure what I'm going to do with my £500 now though - 4810T is tempting but I'm not exactly impressed with Acer now

 

timeline rocks, acer sucks
any news for the problem? i ve heard many people that have their laptops fixed ande almost half of them noticed that the mic wasnt working even from the first day of usage of the laptop. does anybody had the same experience?

 

I've sent mine off for a different problem (battery not charging when depleted) and it'll be back with me tomorrow according to the DHL tracking number I've been sent. Praise to Acer staff for keeping me up to date but I have no idea whether they've also implemented the safety recall fix at the same time.

I put a note with the laptop so maybe they did but in my conversation with http://acer-uk.custhelp.com/app/account/questions I got this response (edited for clarity):

I wrote:
"To save sending my notebook away again can you also implement the Acer 3810T timeline product recall safety fix at the same time?"

They replied:
"...I would be more than glad to assist you, however i would request you to be more specific with the query you have ?
Respectfully,
Acer UK
Online Technical Support "

I'm not sure if I could have been more specific to be honest!

 

Maybe that trainee on the hotline didn''t know about the recall. That left hand right hand problem

 

It could be an insufficient knowledge of English. I'm hopeful that the technicians in Plymouth will use their common sense though - the note I included was very clear. Unless they are under strict instructions to only do the repair it was sent in for (maybe a different team in a different building or department does the recall fix).

 

My 3810T was returned today - with a note saying the safety work had been carried out - but it now has a warranty sticker on the base

 

Where is the problem?

 

Well, there wasn't a warranty sticker on before I sent it and I hope to do some modifications (bluetooth and WWAN) in the near future.

 

Then just rip it off. If there wasn't a sticker before, they won't miss it if you have to return it again

 

It's designed to leave a permanent sticky residue underneath so that they can tell if it's been opened - but yes you have a point. Except presumably this has been noted with my serial number where there was no such notification before... do Acer laptops normally have warranty stickers on them?

I think it's a bit of a liberty TBH and maybe the machines are being recalled mainly for this purpose! I know it sounds ridiculous (and it probably is...) but the thought crossed my mind.