ACER Warranty, basically, there isn't one.

This has got to be the worst purchase I have ever made, ACER TravelMate 5320 (UK Spec)

Wss supplied with Vista Premium, which ran like it was being powered by steam created by a bowl or water and a couple of candles.

So I upgraded the RAM to 2gig, no difference, you couldn't open more than 4 I.E. tabs, anymore would just fail to open, including new pages or links.

It has to be rebooted at least once an hr as it basically comes to a standstill.

Tried to create recovery discs, always failed to finalise, gave up after 5 attempts, got plenty of coasters out of it.

So, installed XP, and the performance is just as it was with Vista, so clearly it's down tp the laptop not the OS.

Now to get to the warrenty:

Failure to create recovery discs, not covered, software excluded

USB broke off MOBO, not covered, wear and tear

Won't charge, not covered, wear and tear

When pushed they said the only items covered are the HDD, the RAM and the motherboard, all other items are excluded.

If you feel the laptop should be covered by warranty, there is a £69 charge to return to ACER, refunded if they feel it is a warranty issue, if not, labour and parts are "on top" of the £69!

Call that a warranty?

 

The warranty they give in the US is much better, if still not a top player.

I've owned three Acer products and all have had to have been shipped back to get fixed. With my laptops they were fixed easily and relatively quickly, my problems were with the hard drive, mouse, graphics card and some other more minor things like the system not turning on in anyway, not even off of USB or SD.

Compared to HP or Gateway (other brands I've delt with), Acer is the worst. You experience beats out mine by miles though. I do not like that Acer charges you to ship your computer to them, Gateway (owned by Acer) will send me a box to ship to them in, HP did the same. Gateway was the best for me.

 

I have to agree, you can't beat HP warranties, if for example the HDD fails, they will send a replacement including recovery discs, ACER wanted just under £50 for the recovery discs, never ever again will I buy an ACER and I will make sure that I post in as many places as possible how poor they are.

The "e" should have rang alarm bells, as they are clearly something to do with those terrible "eMachines".

 

If I were you i'd take the warranty issue up further. If your USB broke, and the battery stopped charging, these should be covered by the warranty (as long as it's not your fault, certainly the battery issue).

If I were to buy a product that was faulty I would certainly demand repair or refund, and wouldn't stop until the issue was sorted.

 

I got fed up arguing with them on the phone, they would only agree to accept it returned to them if I paid £69 up front, they said all connections are excluded from the warranty, power connecter included, it's a joke, the £50 for recovery discs is outrageous as the laptop won't produce them and they said again, not covered, it's the worst customer support I've ever experienced in any field, ISP's included!

I'm just going to sell it and cut my losses before I bounce it off the floor.

It's only 8 mths old, and clearly a pile of crap, you have to restart it every 45 mins or so as IE fails to load, works ok for about 20 mins then slows down before stopping again, and that is with both Vista and XP, and it's not my connection as my desktop works just fine, MSN fails to connect too after a while, the repair won't even complete, yet a restart fixes it.

So time to get rid and avoid ACER like the plague.

 

If it was me I'd take it further, when you buy a product, everything should be included in the warranty, faulty connectors included, and I'm pretty sure, according to UK law, you get a 1 year warranty period on electrical items. Just found this on another forum, Acer are at fault:

Maybe send them this in an email, or point them towards it somewhere official on the web and see what they say. You are well within your rights to demand repair or refund for a faulty product.

 

Not meaning to sound arsey here, but I'm aware of the Sale Of Goods act 1979 (as ammended) and my rights, I actually have a qualification in consumer law, and I put all this to ACER, who basically said, "do your worst", trading standards are generally a waste of time unless it's high profile (and makes them look good) or they don't need to put any effort in to get a result.

I have a link to the SoGA on my website www.coupe-club.org.uk (ebay help section)

 

Fair enough (wasn't trying to be a know all or anything lol)!!!! So basically, there's a law that they don't give a monkeys about, and know one is willing to do anything about it and your screwed, thats so wrong.

 

I know you weren't trying to be a know all lol, I was also trying to not sound like I was, but basically, yes, that is their attitude.

 

Doesn't the sale of goods act refer to your contract with the seller? Where did you purchase the machine? Do they not have a customer relations department?

 

It was bought from T Mobile (package) and the warranties are handled by ACER direct as they aren't a retailer as such (of the laptops), under normal circumstances yes, your contract is with the retailer.

 

I don't see how T-Mobile are not the seller. It may well be a deal that pretends something else but, if you are paying them money, it's them I would go after at this stage.

I certainly think you should look into this a bit more, especially if you have an agreement with T-Mobile that has regular payments and you are even vaguely thinking of selling the laptop that is part of the ongoing contract.

The important thing is to approach it calmly and keep full records.

 

I'm gunna give up on it, but maybe others will get to read just how poor the service is and what disregard the company have for their customers.

 

If i try to defend ACER in this thread , I would possibly get a rock on my head .

Still , if the consumer , buys items by not having knowledge for its company s policy s , its his crime against him self .


Every brand has deferent policy s , and often enough , the consumers got trapped in them .

For example , Toshiba asks 400$ for a laptop battery ....
Other brands ask 200 $ for a replacement DVD R drive .

Thanks God , about ACER laptops , eBAY are full of replacement parts,
at very low prices .

And even the software glitch , could be resolved , by some search about it.

Personally , got a laptop as used ( 2006 model ) , no warranty at all ,
but still i managed to keep it healthy , by handling it with some care .

The careless people , never ever got covered by warranty , from any brand.
And i am saying this , because i know that the angels who uses laptops, are few.

 

I dont know why your having a problem getting them to look at it as the usb is solded to the motherboard so there for a motherboard problem also if your battery is not charging that will also be a motherboard problem

I have a Acer 8930g that had a power plug problem the pin was broke of in side so was hard to get it to charge anyway i just poped back to my branch of comet not the comet i bought if from and they did all the phone calling for me and sent it of for me and it was sent back to my door instead of them well you cant ask for more that that

So insead of calling Acer just take it back to the shop you bought it from with you receipt

 

Not to sound like a _ but...

Your battery issue: Did you leave it on the charger all the time without removing the battery? Or were you charging often before the battery was almost dead (before it hit 20%)? Sorry, but that likely killed it. To keep a battery strong, you need to run it threw full cycles otherwise it loses its ablility to hold a charge or take a charge.

USB: How & what exactly were you doing to pull a usb port out? Without knowing the situation, I would think wear & tare (or abuse), expecially after owning it for 8months, stuff like this usually breaks within days or weeks of purchase.

And you're issue of it being slow as f*ck? No offence, its a celeron... That should tell you everything you need to know right there.... And celerons are also notorious for eatting your battery life...

And to sum it all up, I think you answered your own question in your first post.

"If you feel the laptop should be covered by warranty, there is a £69 charge to return to ACER, refunded if they feel it is a warranty issue, if not, labour and parts are "on top" of the £69!"

The reason they want to charge you is simple both your major issues relate 99% of the time to customer abuse (aka wear & tare) & the fact that its 8months old, again stuff like this usually fails in the first month. If indeed there was a soldering problem with the usb port & the battery is defective then it will get replaced. If the board internally is broken like someone yanked on it then no, it wont get replaced. IDK how they would test the battery, but you'll just have to convince them you were putting it threw proper cycles.

Have you taken it to a local repair guy just to have it looked at? Maybe if you find someone who's nice enough, you can explain your situation to them, tell em you just want a 2nd oppinion & have them write a short (even hand written) letter explaining his/her findings to acer.

 

It's not the battery, it's the power point, the USB fell off after 3 weeks and it isn't "out" it's rattling about inside, and the recovery discs failing to finalize is a nice little scam.

Also, you can only open a couple of IE windows at a time, any more and they just won't load, this was the same in Vista and XP

And the laptop is only used occasionally as I prefer my desktop

 

In the United States you have to pay to ship the laptop to them but they will pay to ship it back to you.

I don't know anything about recovery disc I replace the hdd and installed a fresh copy of Vista right when I got it. I didn't know about recovery disc at the time.

My screen got damage in a crash and was fix under warrenty which is 1 year from date you buy it. I can buy an additional 2 years from their website.

 

I've given up on Acer as a company, I'll just be sure to never ever purchase anything that is remotely connected with them again.

 

DarkCobra you said it all ....

The people who abuse their devices , will never find satisfaction at consumers products .

The only products designed for abuse , are the military ones .

 

I really dont get it... If the usb "rattled" after 3 weekes, why didnt you send it in then? Have you been trying to dispute the fee since then? If its broken at the solder points they`ll know that its a defect.

And what do you mean by power point? Like the prong that it plugs into on the laptop? The connection inside the laptop? Or the psu (the plug & brick to the wall) itself? I've had power supplies die on my acer laptop (this is my 4th acer), and had them all replaced free of charge & didnt even have to send my old one in.

I'm also confused to your issue of paying to send it in. If repairing the laptop actually means so much to you, you`d pay the fee and send it in & you`ll get your money back; that is of couse you honestly haven`t done anything to damage the laptop.

And remember, the people you speak with on the phones are not techs, their not even close... They`ll tell you what ever the script on the screen infront of them tells them to. When you actually send it in its another story, cuz its up to a real tech to deside what happened & if its warrenty`d. They also should call you if its not covered by warrenty, and you can deside at that point to go threw with the repairs.

I had a problem too with the recovery disks & missing drivers on acer`s site (speciffically the bluetooth) on the panam site & euro was a-- slow. So I call em and they sent the disks free, mind you it was in the 1st week that I called them and I made a big stink about not being able to make a working system from the drivers they provide from their site.

Its just sounding to me like you'e got some reason for not wanting to send it in.

 

I will do the explanatory with simple broken English .

Its all about love

I got my laptop as second hand , the preview owner , had messed up the laptop in a software level , but the hidden partition was still there.

I liked the laptop allot , and I decide to become to it , friend and protector.

With some helping tips from this forum , found the basics about it.

In one attempt of my, to call ACER , they was friendly and asked as minimum payment about 70€ (to restore the software ) .

I decide to cure my problem by my self ... it was not about the money ... its about love , for something that you do care about , you do get personally involved , so to keep it healthy , and keep it safe.

Not all people, show or have the same patience .

If i like to destroy the ACER power plug , i know how to do it .
If i like to destroy the ACER USB plug , i also know how to do it .


If i ever made a mistake and injure something on it .... well i will pay for it .
Its my mistake , on my laptop .

 

You really are a coouple of self righteous idiots eh, POWER POINT, were the power supply plugs INTO THE LAPTOP, this is not a soldered connection, but a socket with a cable to the motherboard, RECOVERY DISCS FAILING TO FINALIZE, explain how that is down to me?

Why should I pay to have an item assessd for warranty? This is the worst customer service and warranty back up I have EVER had, it's disgraceful.

Now I would appreciate it if neither of you EVER respond to ANY posts I make in future, as your condescending attitudes are GRATING!!!

 

sparkybhoy I understand your frustration but posting basically the same thing(in several threads) over and over again is getting irritating. Acer Support sucks, ok. Acer laptops suck, ok. We got it. But when you're posting this in the Acer section you can see why some of the members react this way, don't you?

If you don't want to see kiriakost(or any other member for that matter) post(s) that's what the ignore system is for.

 

My comments when posted on other threads are due to them being relavent to the subject matter.

And when all said and done, I just wanted to try to restore to factory settings as Acer have deliberately "IMO" made recovery disc creation impossible for financial gain.

 

Maybe the money were for recovery discs? They do sell them. I just use a reg copy or windows I then install the drivers etc needed which I have downloaded and burn on a CD.

 

You must not drive eh? If a car is under warrenty and you hear a squeel from the right front and take it into the stealership and tell them you think wheel bearing is shot, they (sometimes depending on manufacture & who you're warrenty is with) will charge you just to look at it, cuz you're not a mechanic, so how can they take your word? Its called a diagnostics fee. Now, if they find out a wheel bearing has gone before its time, they will replace it and credit the diagnostics fee back to you. Very simple. Its the same with your laptop.

Whoooaaaa there partiner, no need to get all pms. By saying "Power Point" not every one knows exactly to which part of the laptop you're refering to. I only wanted to be clear that its the "internal connection" and not the Power Supply its self.

And I never said the disks failing to burn is your fault, and as I said in my past post, I called Acer in the 1st week of owning it, after the disks had failed, and b!tched at them and they sent out a copy free.

I'm sorry, what have I done? I was simply pointing out facts for you. If you don't like em, don't listen. This is a free public bbs and if I feel I have input to a topic, I don't think I should be restricted from reply because of you.

As I've said in the past, if you've honestly done nothing to damage the laptop, you really have nothing to worrie about. You'll get your money back and all will be good. The only reason why someone would have such a problem is if they know they've somehow damaged the laptop and are scared that it wont be covered.

And I would still like to know why if the USB broke in the first 3 weeks of ownership, why only now in your 8th month are you trying to make a claim? I can actually kinda see where Acer is coming from on this one, you got a broken USB & a battery that wont charge cuz the connection inside the laptop (power point) is broken. The majority of the time when a connection breaks internally its because of abuse (ie broken/bent pins or a damaged slot from something being forced into the socket). In your case you say its not, so swallow your damn pride and pay the fee, send it in, and they will repair it and refund the fee!

I fully & completely agree with you, the fee is stupid and I wouldn't want to pay it ether, but knowing that I baby my laptop, for the most part, and never force anything into ports, or drop it, or anything along those lines, I would suck it up and pay the fee only to get it back and have a working laptop again.

 

DarkCobra I do not know why you have wasted all this ink

All this months as member , i have see this to happen , over and over again.
As explosions of unjustified anger burst .

I believe that we need a new sticky Thread , with the title ... What to not do on your Acer .
This could be help more , than us , acting as fire distinguisher s , at every anger burst .

 

The members of this Acer forum are here to help you. If you have made a mistake or have done a foolish thing to your lappie......simply admit it.

We will then try and guide you to make all good again to the best of our collective ability.

But to simply bash Acer for something you have done wrong does not sit well here on the Acer forum.

Old Acer owners are generally a very loyal bunch. We have seen it all. Product is good. Depends how you treat and understand it though.

Still very best bang for buck.

Cheers,
Theo

 

off topic, sorry ATG.
but the sticky idea made me laugh.
some of the anger bursters we have tried out hardest to help but some people just need to have a moan,when they have fineshed moaning then we should all see what we can do.
but please don't upset the moanie

 

What ever your think best Boss

 

but some times the moanie can get you seeing red.
I will deffend acer because i have got(all working)4 acer laptops.
and i have seen them get better over the last few years.
but you are still going to get a bad one, and its the bad ones you hear about on here.

but we are here to help if posters want it.

 

From my point of view ( correct or not )

Laptops are not desktops .
The truth is that portable devices , are all bonded with the manufactures.
There is a need for that , so to be some reinsurance about safety over the user data ( backing them up, easy and with password ) and some safety rules ( anti theft tactics).
And thats about the software level , thats why I do not defend the ACER bloat haters.

About hardware level , never seen a device to get damaged by it self ,
other than a motherboard damage , that is always covered by warranty.
So no one can throw blames to ACER for that.

The healthy long lasting laptop its a shared responsibility , the user and the maker are bonded to do their parts .

The user must get informed , of what " not to do " .

About user nags , i believe that since the time that laptops started doing gaming, more and more young ones will get involved with those , and generally, more and more careless young ones , will do fill our topics with moaning

I believe that when laptops was used exclusively as business tool , the nags was less ,
in all the forums .

 

thats it, treat it right, learn its weak points and it will last a long time

 

Another food for thought: usually with every bad experience, there are multiple good experiences. There will always be lemons and there will always be abusive users

Haven't had any problems with my Acer so my customer service experience with them isn't much outside of them transferring the registration to my name. Warranty already expired so i'm on my own anyhow

 

You are not alone

All that you need to do, is a HDD disk cloning , in to another, newer larger hard drive.

And keep the original , in a 2.5' USB external box , as spare , with out deleting it ... or else its not a spare any more .

 

Sparky has got a point. £69 to send the laptop away does seem a bit over the top, carriage i reckon would be around £10 at the most (royal mail/ citylink). Broken usb I think should be covered by warranty. They are there to be used, you would really have to do something stupid to break one. There must be a weak spot for it to break. in the motor trade we do not charge to look at vehicles if they are under warranty, if it is a payable repair customers are told first. Acer quoted me £300 for new 15.4 screen, ebay £80!!

 

Hey play the game fair ... Acer will not throw the screen at your door , it will install it too .

And , it will be a genuine Samsung , and not a fancy knockoff .

Plus ... it will test it , and at the end of the day , you will have a fully working laptop.
And warranty extension , because of the new screen.

 

I just read over you shound posts some picture i had few acer they any issues them have always be resloved under warrenty

also did this happen after you upgrade ram ? you say it slow it celeron but bad memory can cause alot issues too lot free free program to test that

recovery disk not burn diffent media type

power plug and usb port post picutres other we we will be able to tell if show sign of abuse or just broke