Acer support service: major problem

Hi everyone,

I just want to post this so people are fully aware of what they are getting into.

I simply wanted to increase the RAM on an acer 3000 and wanted to known what it could support. I did the first part, using cpu-z and speccy to get what was already in there. Then I tried to look on the website to find it by myself. I saw a spec page but was very vague. Then a second page seemed to have the info but I just needed a confirmation before buying the RAM.

You can see bellow how many emails it took to get actually nowhere (and how much energy was wasted). They kept getting back at the warranty issue when I just wanted some clarification regarding a website document !

Now you're aware.

MtlCA

Subject
---------------------------------------------------------------
Ram Upgrade


Discussion Thread
---------------------------------------------------------------
Response (Prinson Thomas) - 12/30/2009 05:22 PM
Dear L,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you with this issue

As per our records your system is out of warranty

Sorry to inform that Acer do not support configuration changes ,We will not support any changes that you have made in factory configuration

You can change configuration in your own responsibilities ,However Acer does offer a fee-based support over the phone for its Out of Warranty products.

You may call Answers By Acer in 1-800-237-6483 . However, it's a fee based support. Calling cards are available for 30 minutes ($59.99), 90 minutes ($129.99), or 15 issues ($199.99) and the validity will be 1 year.

Another option is that you can approach a local technician.

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site http://support.acer.com/

Have a great day!

Respectfully,
Acer America
Online Technical Support

Customer () - 12/30/2009 01:25 PM
Ok, I guess I will try one last time and make myself as clear as possible since your previous message ignored COMPLETLY once AGAIN my question.

1) my question has NOTHING to do with any particular system.
2) it has to do with a document, posted on your website, available to EVERYONE to see (even if they never bought a computer from your company), so irrespective an any warranty issue.
3) on the said page (see hyperlink above) there is a line regarding RAM (random access memory) where one can read "/ 2GB".
4) again, this is valid for EVERY computer for which these specs are applicable, independant from the fact that one might have bought one of the said computers.

Could you confirm that "/ 2GB" means in plain English: "can support up to, a maximum of 2GB total (max 1GB x 2 sodimm).

I hope we can clear that last part once and for all.

In fact, I feel that my question was fair and simple, that it could have been easily answered clearly a LONG time ago and that would have saved you and me a lot of time and energy.

Should you not answer appropriatly this time, I will post this chain of messages on different forums on the web to show how unreasonable, slow, painful and useless your service can be. I warned you about that before so this is not a surprise. I gave you multiple chances to help me out but was met with partial answers at best. And this is NOT and isolated event since multiple persons wrote on your part.

Hoping to close this topic ASAP.

Thanks

L.

Response (Riyas) - 12/30/2009 11:16 AM
Dear L.,

Thank you for contacting Acer America.

I have verified your serial number and found that your computer is out of warranty.

I understand that the issue is related to RAM upgrade.

As per the Acer policy we are unable to provide support for out of warranty products.

However, Acer does offer a fee-based support over the phone for its Out of Warranty products.

You may call Answer By Acer ( ABA) 1.800-237-6483. Calling cards are available for 30 minutes ($59.99), 90 minutes ($129.99), or 15 issues ($199.99) and the validity will be 1 year.

I hope that you find this response informative.

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site: http://support.acer.com/

Thank you for contacting Acer,

Have a great day!

Respectfully,
Acer America
Online Technical Support

Customer (L) - 12/30/2009 09:30 AM
Well, if you read the first email, you can see that I already knew it came with 256 x 2! Anyone using CPU-z or Speccy would get that in 2 sec.

Now could you confirm that "/ 2GB" (found on a spec page for RAM) means in clear English, "can support up to 2GB"?

Fairly simple and concise question. Easily answered by yes or no. Not relating to my personal computer but to a clarification of a document you posted on your website (which should have nothing to do with any sort of warranty).

Thanks

L.

Response (Riyas) - 12/29/2009 08:07 AM
Dear L,

Thank you for contacting Acer America.

I have verified your serial number and found that your computer is out of warranty.

I understand that the issue is related to RAM upgrade.

Please be informed that your computer consist of 512 MB RAM ( 2 - 256 slots).

I hope that you find this response informative.

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site: http://support.acer.com/

Thank you for contacting Acer,

Have a great day!

Respectfully,
Acer America
Online Technical Support

Customer (L) - 12/28/2009 01:47 PM
Alright, thanks for confirming that the specs apply to both country. That's half-way there.

Now for the last question (we can all stop wasting time on such a foolish issue), could you confirm that "256 or 512MB / 2GB" (found on a spec page) means in clear English, "It comes with 256 or 512 MB but can support up to 2GB".

As you can see, that is not a direct question but merely a demand for clarification of existing information that could have been written a bit more clearly. I also looked for a legend to explain the lingo but couldn't find one.

I hope we can settle that last question so we can avoid the waste of energy of me posting on forums and you having to deal with that.

Thanks

L.

Response (Ancymol KA) - 12/27/2009 07:18 PM
Dear L,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you with the issue of upgradation of RAM.

As per our records your system is out of warranty.

The system specification apply for both USA and Canada.

We regret to inform you that since you are Out Of warranty we do not have lot many options in front of you.

Please be informed that,"Answers by Acer" is a convenient and affordable fee based technical support service that is great for answering "how to" questions or technical issues once the product warranty has expired. With your purchase of the service you would have instant access to our Highly Trained agents.

You may call Answers By Acer in 800-237-6483. However, it's a fee based support. Calling cards are available for 30 minutes ($59.99), 90 minutes ($129.99), or 15 issues ($199.99) and the validity will be 1 year.

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site http://support.acer.com/

Thank you for contacting Acer,

Have a great day!

Respectfully,
Acer America
Online Technical Support

Customer (L) - 12/27/2009 03:51 PM
Wow, you TOTALLY ignored the last message!

Maybe you have difficulty to understand the English language, in which case, I'd like you to forward this to someone that has at least a working knowledge or English.

I don't want you to update the memory, I want precise information on what I actually bought.

1) How much RAM can this computer support total and per dimm
2) What is the highest frequency it can support (e.g. PC 2700/DDR 333)

These are NOT related to any warranty, just simple information. If I was to buy a computer and wanted to know it, EVERY company (other than yours it seems) would just tell me the information.

And even if you consider it part of any warranty (which I certainly don't think), I live in Quebec and I am covered by the "Legal Warranty" under the laws of Quebec (please see hyperlink in previous message) which state that I am entitled to a reasonable warranty, which can't be arbitrarily limited to any given number of years by Acer.

So, last try, could you please answer simply the 2 questions above.

If not, the next step will be to post this chain of message in my regular forums so that people are aware of Acer's inability to provide simple questions which CLEARLY should be available on your website in a concise and precise manner (which is NOT the case).

Up to know, it's nothing more than a way to tell your customer to use the fee-based service.

Thanks

L

Response (Dhinil UnniP) - 12/27/2009 01:27 PM
Dear L,

Thank you for contacting Acer America.

Having reviewed your email, I understand that you are facing issue Ram Upgrade.

As per our database your system is out of warranty.

For our records, It will consider as this issue is resolved. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to contact us again by using our Web submission page.

For further support, please contact Answer by Acer to resolve the issue.You may call Answers By Acer in 1-800-237-6483. However, it's a fee based support.

Calling cards are available for 30 minutes ($59.99), 90 minutes ($129.99), or 15 issues ($199.99) and the validity will be 1 year.

You could visit these website's to purchase the parts for your computer. The website addresses are http://store.acer.com/accessorylocator.asp or http://acer.shopbysystem.com/

For further clarifications, please feel free to visit our web site http://support.acer.com/

Have a great day !

Respectfully,
Acer America
Online Technical Support

Customer (L) - 12/27/2009 10:41 AM
Hi, thanks for the link to the webpage...but it is the specs for the United States. I bought mine in Canada. To these specs apply to both USA and Canada.

Secondly, it kind of answers one of the question (DDR 333...although it just says what is in there, not what is the maximum frequency).

But, just to be sure I understand well, could you confirm that "256 or 512MB / 2GB" means in clear English, "It comes with 256 or 512 MB but can support up to 2GB". If that's the case, it will answer 1.5 out of 2 and I guess that will be good enough.

Thanks

 

So, by the looks of it you never got an answer to your question. Frustrating I bet.

Looks like they want more money out of you, for the telephone helpline, and because your system was out of warranty they won't help full stop. I guess it's policy not to help if it's out of warranty, even though if they'd have answered your question first time round it would have saved a lot of their time answering your other emails.

 

Acer email support is incredibly frustrating, and this pushing of pay-for support for out of warranty machines is a little disconcerting. I stopped using it altogether.

That is standard specification parlance, however. They always specify what the machine is sold with, then the maximum it can be upgraded to. Your system should be able to run 2 GB.

EDIT: OK, this more or less confirms it: Kingston, Crucial, and Corsair all agree that 2GB is the maximum for your system. Also note that faster RAM (PC-3200/DDR-400) will automatically downclock to the maximum that the chipset supports (PC-2700/DDR-333) without any problems or damage.

 

Great, Thank TehSuigi. You would think that since they have access to a whole lot more info than you do, it'd be very easy to give me a straight forward answer.

I was pretty sure that DDR 333 and 2Gb were the answers (CPU-z and Speccy plus a google search on the chipset were in agreement) but before spendin $$, I wanted to be certain.

Thanks again

Cheers

 

Just goes to show how important it is to do your own research. Even a few cursory Google searches can turn up the information you need!

 

ACER Support sucks!

I had heard and read it from a lot of people, but now I experienced it myself.

I had a problem with a failed BIOS update with is described Here

I wrote to ACER America (I was naive enough to think they might be more resourceful) and ACER Portugal (where the PC was originally bought, I got it 2nd hand).

- First, when I wrote to ACER America, I explained to them the Serial Number was worn out on the sticker under the unit, and could not be read properly. I mistakenly got the SNID nr as though it was the SN, since I could barely see the two last letters in "SNID". And I explained to them (in detail) that my problem was a failed BIOS update, so I wanted guidance with Crisis Recovery.

- ACER replied telling me that my SN was wrong, that a SN has 22 digits. If I couldn't get it at all, I could find it:
i) On the side of my desktop case
ii) Pressing F2 to access the BIOS
iii) Or clicking the Empowering Technology button
iv) Or, I could supply them with the SNID, a 11 digits number.

It must have been a stupid () machine who answered, I thought, because:
i) It was not a desktop, I had told them what notebook model it was.
ii) How the bloody hell could I get to the BIOS if I was writing them about a dead BIOS episode?
iii) Much less, how could I launch Empowering Technology if the PC does not even boot?
iv) Having told them I was not sure of my SN because the sticker was worn out, and having given them a 11 digit character, and being that SNs are 22 digit, but SNIDs are 11 digit, could they not have hinted that the 11 digit number I supplied was in fact the SNID?

So I replied to them with what I could make out with a lighted magnifying glass as the probable SN, and explained to them that the previous number I had sent was in fact the SNID (the thing they had not been smart enough to infer). I also added the best scan (200DPI) I could do of the sticker, in order to show them how illegible it was.

They then replied to me:
- That the SN was wrong (I later found out it had 4 misspelled digits out of the 22)
- Having said that, they ignored for the 2nd time the SNID nr.
- They "explained" to me that the SN was unreadable on the scan image I sent (that had been exactly what I wanted to show to them...)
- Once again they told me to enter the BIOS and get the SN from there.

So, I quit on them and turned to the Portuguese site.

There, I found out that by typing the SNID, I could retrieve info from the PC (that's where I got the correct SN from). So, I explained to them all the story again, and reopened the case at ACER America with the right SN.

Now, ACER America replied telling me that since the PC was bought not in America or Canada (what they got from the SN) they cared not about this PC and could do nothing to help me.

So, I waited for the answer from ACER Portugal.

When I finally got it, it was a most insulting and ridiculous piece of art. They said:

i) We remind all our customers to have caution upon doing BIOS upgrades; it is very clearly stated that if not properly done, it may damage the system.

ii) My problem was not covered by warranty

iii) Final solution, I had to turn in the machine, but it would cost me.

So,

i) Do they mean that if the BIOS gets () it is necessarily by a user misuse of the program, just because of the caution they provide? Don't they really understand how crappy and buggy software in general can be, and that even when the user follows to the letter their instructions, sometimes, a lot of times, things go wrong?

ii) Who the heck asked that guy to do things in warranty, or even if it was in warranty? I had asked a technical question, asking for technical assistance, the stuff we do here in forums, but which they get paid to do.

iii) So, this is where ACER support ends. If it is not a very stupid where-do-I-press-to-boot question, they can just say "send it to us".
Is it because they don't know the answer, or because they just want to get more money?


ACER computers are agressively priced, they have been more and more offering very nice machines, but please, if you shop for an ACER again, beware you will be on your own in case any problems should arise.

 

In the UK I have found Acer email support poor.
On the few occasions I have asked something the answer was always... "we can supply restore discs for £xxxx or you have a hardware problem". I was only asking if a better driver was available for graphics and Vista at the the time.

This has been my experience though, and is something ACER MUST ADDRESS. Poor reports like this would put me off buying another even though this one has been ACE

 

Quoted for the truth.
If you are under warranty you can still sent it it and they will replace the motherboard.
Otherwise buying a new Motherboard is too expensive & you are better off buying a new one.

 

Computers whilst in warranty are one story. I think that a company that really respects its customers should offer post warranty online support.

That does not mean they will have to do free hardware work if something gets phisically bad, and the unit has to be taken to their workshop.

Case in point the situation with my ACER 5520: Let's suppose it was not so bad as it is and it could have been recovered by a Crisis Recovery Disk.

Since it is not in warranty anymore, how sacrificial would it have been to ACER to have given that information? But they will not. They will tell you (as they told me) "We warned it was dangerous to do BIOS upgrade". So what? It is dangerous, it was attempted, now there is a problem, let's try to solve it.

If the customer is computer savvy enough to be asking that level of support is probably because he is capable, of for instance, preparing a Crisis Recovery Disk, and using it. Your old granny will simply send the PC for repair instead. So let's respect the user and try to be helpful.

Look at HP site.

OK, I have tried their online support, their live chat, and their phone support. I do not even want to go into detail of how unprepared their people are. But at least they have a HP hosted users forum, which is a very useful and friendly meeting place and where real solutions are commonly found even to problems of high level of complexity.

The support disease is a widespread multifaced big problem of our days, with third party robots giving disinterested cooked answers all over the place, but still the complete neglect and even ignorance of ACER America and Portugal really astonished me.

 

There's this website called replacedirect.com
When you select you acer model (there are also other brands and models availble) you get a list of available hardware. You can order it there, or might try to find out what specific hardware they offer and find it somewhere else. I used that site to order my ram aswell, eventhough I didn't receive ram made by hyundai electronics like the original parts, but some unknown manufacturer, it works perfectly.
Besides, i think you don't need any specific kind of info about ram, just need to know if its for a laptop for desktop, and it needs to have the same amount of mhz as the one used in your laptop.

 

Almost 15% of Acer Notebooks will fail by the two year point and 23.3% projected by the three year point...

I am looking a desktop replacement, and I rated Acer highly, however after hardware issues with both an Aspire One Netbook, and potentially the 3810T Timeline, combined with extremely poor customer service Acer is simply no longer a consideration;

1. Far too much hassle dealing with Acer customer support, they only have their own opinion and the customer is simply secondly. The excuses I was given not to replace a machine less than two weeks old, that has a known design/manufacturing "safety issue" were laughable, comparisons to the aircraft industry for recalls, etc. In the EU you have much stronger consumer rights and a replacement would be mandatory, however outside of this protection you have no chance as Acer simply does not care.

2. The risk of failure is far too high and indicative of poor design and or poor quality components, had I been aware of the Square Trade (primary business is selling extended warranties) analysis of Notebook reliability, well I wouldn't have to worry about the reliability of the 3810T, and steered clear of poor performers like Acer.


nb Gateway is owned by Acer

The above simply speaks volumes, if you want to buy Acer more power to you, just be aware of the pitfalls. I am sure equally some other vendor`s are not a great deal better, although some PC manufacturers same as Apple still pride themselves in offering reasonable quality & fair customer service.

The only way this trend will change is if people stop buying Acer`s poor quality products. It is very clear across numerous forum`s, threads and posts that Acer is not interested in providing their customers (the end user) with quality or a fair level of support. Acer`s primary concern is to maximize profits and sell as many units as possible to venders, and the end user is simply an inconvenience.

Anyone still think Acer offer good value for money?

 

I will jump in the boat too, and say that Acer's support SUCKS. Everytime you email with them, you will feel af machine answered you, not a human being! And once I sent my laptop in for repair, and then I got it back, and it wasn't fixed... -.-

I will never buy a computer from them again - because of their sucky support.

 

I like the idea that there is somewhere - no matter how you get to it - a level 2, cause the one level that gets user's emails has got to be level 0 (as in "zero")!

It is at least fortunate that we have this channel to vent our frustration with what above all I call disrespect to the client.

I think the warranty should be mostly focused towards physical failure. The technical support should be for as long as you own a piece manufactured for that company. If in forums all over the place people get together to help each other for free, why not provide it for your customer? That on top of plainly being fair to him/her would clearly be a way of having be buying back with you.

So, on top of being disrespectful, it amounts to be just plain stupidity to act the way ACER "support" does.

Another little detail: I have one other ACER Aspire 2420, bought in Brazil. The funny thing, since they are so specific about only providing support for the countries where you bought the computer, is there is no ACER support in Brazil. When you get to their page you find out it you have to to Argentina for that.

Also I, in my ingenuity, cannot understand why a tech guy from ACER America refuses to say a word to a client in need of help about a machine bought in Portugal, for instance. You don't see a similar stuff in forums: People just try to help! As long as the machines, the components and the problems are basically the same, why refuse the aid?

 

I still think Acer offer good value for money mainly because when something goes wrong lest component failure (GFX, Mainboard) I can fix it easily.
Therefore there is still good value in the part specification offered.
The statistic only holds true for people unable to fix their own systems.

 

Queen6, I find issue with that Square Trade study - keep in mind that their business is selling warranties, so they have a vested interest in making these claims. They say that one in three notebooks "malfunctions" within 3 years (and what does "malfunction" entail, a missing key or a full mainboard failure?), so that they can sell more warranties!
Lenovo in particular got its knickers in a twist, and raised some valid points. 30,000 notebooks in a market that sells 142.5 million units worldwide in a year...we're talking a 0.02% sample size. And there are so many variables that can skew such a small sample size.

Secondly, every OEM will have people with bad experiences with customer service. Dell, ASUS, Apple, everyone. I think it's because every OEM (except Apple) outsources their tech support to the same place in India, but that's my crazy thinking.

And as much as I believe that a vent thread is nice to have, I don't think it meshes well with the helpful and cooperative atmosphere here on NBR, and especially the Acer subforum. There are other sites and other venues to use if you want to tear Acer a new one.

 

I agree about the venting although there is a very fine line between venting and presenting evidence of bad service.

You can hear and read a lot of grievance on the web. I think it's valid info but only as long as you provide enough primary/first hand information for people to draw their own conclusion (which I tried to do by providing the entire email track).

Then I think it becomes a matter of trying to decipher if it's an isolated incident (one person once) or repetitive. The best way to find out is to post as often as possible bad AND good experiences. By the same token, you can see from the email chain that multiple people were involved and they all behaved similarly.

As a post-script: I had to threaten them as they were infringing local laws and said I would send a letter of final notice. I actually got someone answer clearly both questions!

Now that's the real frustrating part. Had they done so the first time around...

 

I worked for a notebook company in the support department (the name started with "L" and ended with "ovo"); as soon as anyone mentioned legal action or going to the BBB, we did all we could to capitulate and set things right.
I guess Acer still hasn't caught up yet.

 

I remember one guy said he would type down what I said after we argued that Virtualization was not pre-enabled in Acer Aspire 8930s. He first said they would always try and fix it and act on problems they know about blah blah and then he said they were not aware of the problem. LOL.

 

next time save yourself some time and just check www.crucial.com

that is, unless you like the drama.....

 

To be honest, *most* companies are going to give you the run around if you ask about upgrades. There is rarely information in the database for the "technicians" to access, and most "technicians" couldn't figure out how to get inside out of the rain without instructions, much less advise you on upgrades. Companies don't really want you to upgrade anyway, unless you buy the parts from them; if you are out of warranty, they want you to buy a new one.

The internet is your friend. Nearly ALL of them are like that. The exceptions are when you buy business class laptops, and they are a lot more expensive (you get what you pay for if you need support).

 

Do you feel better now? Now that you threatened ACER support that you'd post your threats to them on every internet forum you could....all because you have no clue what memory to buy?

This isn't a MAJOR PROBLEM, this is just the ramblings of some wackjob/nutjob.
Every population is going to have some, and you are ours.

 

A kind reminder that rudeness and insulting posts are against the NBR rules.

 

That's a very good resource. Thanks for mentioning it. ( http://www.crucial.com/)

On the other hand, I can tell you have no time for drama. Especially since this wasn't even for my own computer.

On the website though, the mention that the max out recommendation is PC 3200. But the chip will not go above PC 2700. Local shop: that's a 20 dollar difference. That's the kind of reason I like to go to the source. But it's definitely a good place to start.

Thanks

 

Wow, that's very helpful. Thanks.

I'm sure you read the entire post, that you saw I was just looking for confirmation of what I had already found.
That maybe I don't like to waste 80$ on ram upgrade if it's not the right one.
Maybe you think that my question was too difficult to be answered by the company that sells the computer.
Maybe you didn't get the part where I used CPU-z and Speccy or searched before asking.
Maybe you think that it is an acceptable service.
Maybe you think that multiple emails asking concisely, kindly before mentioning posting was not enough.
Maybe you think that laws are not meant to be followed.
Maybe you think that citizens (including corporate) do not have to abide by them.
Maybe you think that 19 emails to answer questions that ended up being answered in the last one with about 10 words makes sense.
Maybe you think that all this waste of time makes sense.
Maybe you have a lot of time on your hands and think it's not a big deal. I don't.

So if after reading all of this, you think I'm clueless, a nutjob/wackjob, then our definitions of the above just differ and that's fine.

I do feel better, not about the process but because now people are aware of some dealings with ACER, that I got my answer from them and that I got very good suggestions/help/tips from this forum.

So overall, yes I feel better. Thanks for asking.

Regards,

 

mtlca, same warning to you. Keep the discussion civil and impersonal, please.