To Whom It May Concern:
In the summer of 2005, I purchased an Acer Ferrari 4005wlmi notebook for $2,250 to use for college. While at first it performed admirably, it soon began to break down. I unfortunately cannot give a detailed account of each instance of repair, as Acer’s computer network that keeps track of such things has been down for at least a week at the time of this letter. However, between June of 2005 and December of 2008, I had to send the notebook to Acer’s repair facility in Texas a total of 10 times, including twice when I had already shipped it in, and it came back either still in disrepair, or broken in some new way. Needless to say, this all came at significant personal expense; both in terms of time spent and also in what it cost me to repeatedly ship the computer back to Acer. Furthermore, my studies were significantly hindered as a result of not having a computer, resulting in lasting negative consequences on both my academic and professional careers.
In January of 2008, I was told by Acer that I was eligible to receive a refurbished model in exchange for the one I had purchased in 2005. I received this model that month, and within a few weeks, it too had to be shipped in to Acer for repair. Upon getting it back, it worked until June of 2008, when I had to ship it back to Acer. I received it back a few weeks later, and was told that they had to replace the ram modules. However, within a few hours of using it, it crashed again. I shipped it in a second time (the third instance of which I had received back a faulty machine), and upon getting it back, saw that they had replaced the entire motherboard. However, the computer still does not work, as the touchpad is now either damaged or not connected.
I called Acer about this issue, and after waiting on hold for an hour and ten minutes, was told that my only option was to ship the computer back to them for a third straight time. Needless to say, I am loath to do this, as this will now be the 14th time in three years that I have had to ship this computer in. With each repair taking roughly two weeks (from sending it in to receiving it back), I have been without this computer for around six months of the three years I have owned it. I have also spent hours upon hours on hold or speaking with Acer technicians, whose sole advice has usually been to either send it in for repair, or to wipe my hard drive. For certain maladies, the former option has proven the only route; however, there have been virtually innumerous quandaries that I have personally been able to fix without the technicians advice. The 13, going on 14 times that I have had to send this machine in do not even take into account the multitude of instances that the computer has crashed or had software issues. Being fairly knowledgeable about laptops (although apparently not enough to know not to buy a computer from Acer), I was able to solve these problems without wiping my entire hard drive, a supposed panacea solution from a majority of the Acer technicians I have spoken with.
Overall, my complaints with Acer are the following:
-I was shipped a clearly defunct computer initially, and was then issued an equally problematic refurbished unit. While I cannot provide a precise list of the problems I have had with the two computers (since the Acer network is apparently down), they have ranged from superficial issues (such as broken keyboards, optical drive covers, and headphone jacks) to integral computer problems (such as hard drive failure, screen failure, and motherboard failure). More often than not, there would be multiple problems that had to be fixed on each of the 13 repair orders, frequently including an eclectic mix of the superficial and integral problems.
-I have spent tens if not hundreds of hours dealing with this problem, and have spent easily in the hundreds of dollars on the phone calls and for shipping costs.
-The support I have received from Acer has been below average at best, bordering on incompetence. This pertains to not only the attitude by technicians on the phone, but by the continued returning of units that were still in disrepair. I believe I am qualified to make this egregious claim due to the large sample size upon which I am drawing.
I would very much like to find an equitable solution to this ongoing problem, but can no longer afford to rely upon such a mercurial process. I am starting my first year of law school in a week, and dealing with this problem during such a stressful time is something I very much want to avoid. Furthermore, I will be relying on my computer extensively during law school, and simply could not afford another failure (which, given the laptop’s history, seems rather likely).
At this point I am seeking a full or significant refund of my initial purchase. I understand that I did not purchase the unit directly from Acer; however, the refurbished unit was sent from them, and I have a manufacturer’s warranty on it. In requesting such a solution, I am taking into account not only the failure of the company to deliver a machine of the quality promised, but also the extensive effort and resources I have put into attempting to ameliorate the issue. While I again cannot provide an exact estimate of the amount of money spent on attempting to solve these problems, a conservative guess would be around $300. Thank you for any consideration this letter may garner, and I am eager to continue this discussion.
Sincerely,
xxxxx x. xxxxxxx
xxxxxxxx Law Class of xxxx
Acer Serial #s
LXFR4060355xxxxxxxxxxx (June ’05 – January ’08)
LXFR4060355xxxxxxxxxxx (January ’08 – present)
Click to expand...
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
