Asus after-sales service - Asus W3J review

Part 1 - Short Briefing: I had had the misfortune to purchase an Asus W3J. It worked fine for about five months and then suddenly it started having serious problems that even the Asus technicians cannot still fix, although Asus denies at the same time my right to be given a new one, despite the fact I was foolish enough to purchase apart from he laptop the "Asus Advantage Programme", i.e., a programme that it seems that offers too many disadvantages.

Part 2 - The pure facts: As an attorney I took care from the very start that my communication with the "prestigious" Asus company was made in written form. so it is interesting for anybody considering to purchase a laptop like W3J, S6F, VX1, W7, A6 or any kind of Asus motherboards or generally hardware to know how do they react and assist their so-called V.I.P. customers like myself! Please keep your laughs until the very end!

Part 3 - The Worldwide Service Asus boasts that "no matter where you go asus accompanies you all the way" --- ha,ha! I have left from Europe, but they are incapable of doing anything for a whole MONTH. If this is the best they can do for their euphimistically called V.I.P. customers, imangine what do they do for others!

Part 4 - The Asus Politeness. Please note that Asus employees were kind enough to change my personal password in order not to be able any more to send them letters they are obliged to answer through their V.I.P. service but luckily for them I found a way around it to access again the Asus V.I.P. area and make comments)

Part 5 - The Hard Core: The Communication with Asus or "So far So Good"!
Please now go to the end and read from there onwards in order to see fully the development of our kind and helpful communication.

[email communication with Asus and serial numbers removed by Admin to protect users identity]

 

feel sorry for you.

as soon as you get the laptop copy all your lawfiles off. then get a new NoteBook. as you will have problems with that computer as long as you own it. esecially to avoid ASUS support.

 

Hey
aside from sounding really mad you are taking the wrong approach. This is a forum that is mostly dominated by north american users. Unfortunately asus overseas has sub par support just like the rest of the giants. It is very different in north america. Perhaps you should revise your thread and remove the stuff nobody here will read and actually describe your problems without going off on a tangent.

 

Did you upgrade video drivers? There is no clear, concise description of what the problem was anywhere in there, but the PowerPlay in the latest ATI drivers has cause a lot of issues similar to what I think you have going on...

I would also recommend not posting your name/email address/phone/system serial number in a public forum...

And you have what basis for that statement, yuoi?

One of my friends has a Thinkpad and has had his motherboard replaced once and LCD replaced once while under warranty. It's off warranty now and the LCD is failing again. I had another classmate with a Dell desktop who spent two months screwing around with Dell getting an issue resolved...

The best way to 'turbo' a problem like this would be to try and get ahold of the next guy up the chain from Mr. Liu.... Harassing him for another month or two won't get you anywhere, neither will threatening him...

 

I think he means that the original poster will never be fully satisfied with the computer after having gone through this ordeal. I also posted about the video drivers in another thread the original poster had written in but got no response.

~ Brett

 

so what was the problem with your w3j?

 

Sorry to hear about problems with your laptop, but I still don't understand the problem...

But I think you're being slightly biased towards Asus now, because of one problematic experience.

By the way, the Asus Global Warranty IS global, but mind you that in some less "important" areas, such as outside North America, Europe or Asia/Australia, the repair will take much longer, or need to be transferred over to other departments.

 

I would like to thank everybody for their helpful comments.

The fact is that Asus tries to establish in the European market as well (they sell many laptops in the UK, Germany, Italy, Greece etc.).

My great disappointment comes out of the fact that:

1) I have been always extremely careful with my very expensive laptop, so it should work fine for many years. The fact that it stopped working can be attributed exclusively to ASUS fault (bad quality of manufacture and product quality control).
Please note that Asus used to be a company I used to respect and admire for its achievements- at least until a few months ago!

2) I followed ASUS Expert's advice and hence I sent it to Italy. They have been
keeping it there for month so far and it's possible they will keep it for another week/month or so,
because they claim that ASUS has not provided them with the sufficient spare parts (another motherboard and a new battery or at least is what the ASUS technicians/ contractors endorse). So, if what they say it's true we have another failure because of ASUS policy. I purchased the laptop six months ago and ASUS should have made sure that sufficent number of spare parts should always exist in Europe even for old models (and not new ones like mine), irrespectively of how rare or not these models are since they are all "ASUS children". --Even in the case they did not have the spare parts in Europe they could arrange to be send from them in a few days via DHL, UPS or another courrier service.

3) Consequently, I have almost been accused from Asus employees for having purchased "such an expensive and rare Asus model"!

Finally, I do not think it is a matter of territory but a matter of Asus policy. Asus boasts that cares about its customers but the truth is very different and everybody should be aware of this fact.

Before buying my laptop I was between Asus W3J and a Sony Vaio model. Eventually, I decided to purchase the Asus model for various reasons, the extended warranty and Asus Advantage programme being one of them. I could never imagine that it does no good to have an extended warranty if the company keeps iot for repair for months (I wonder will Asus expand my warranty for the time I did not manage to use my laptop)?

Currently, I have left other cases in order to look into how I could bring Asus in the Greek courts according to the European laws on Consumers' Protection.

 

Keep asking for supervisors and work your way up the chain of command 'till you get satisfaction.

~ Brett

 

I'd still be interested in if the problem has anything to do with video card drivers... But I guess I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you used the restore disks before you sent it anywhere....

I honestly believe that lemons/bad support experiences happen with any company. I don't know if *actually* suing them is the right thing to do - I think what you need to do is keep asking for supervisors until you find something who can make it right, remembering to be firm yet polite the whole way up the chain.

 

What exactly is the problem? Hardware failure or a software issue? Because if it is a software issue and if it worked fine for 5 months then the problem may not be Asus…

 

I do not appreciate the fact that the communications we're removed it looks like some sort of big cover up if the author could email me what was posted that would be great thanks.

 

The communications were removed due to forum rules. The OP had his full name, email, phone number, and system serial number (enough to steal the ops identity when communicating with Asus), along with communications with Asus that could reasonably be expected to be private.

 

Good afternoon guys and girls!

Well it seems that my personal story with Asus is getting everyday even better.

The letter I just sent to Taiwan I think that clarifies everything.


Dear Deco,

I would like to inform you that I just received the laptop today but guess What?

The laptop continues to have the same hardware malfunctions it did when I sent it to Italy ONE MONTH AGO.

I would kindly like to enquire whether Asus has still a person responsible and logical on board somewhere around the world (Italy, Greece, U.K., U.S.A., Taiwan or Mars) who can really and plainly explain to me "what the hell is going on"?

Is that a kind of punishment for customers who have invested in some of your expensive technology?

Is the quality and timeliness of service close ot what a serious non-fraudulent company would like to have?

Do you really care for your customers?

Last but not least, I would like to formally inform you (please note that I have orally informed your prestigious department in Italy about this as well) that I am still waiting some formal and serious I hope response to my queries before: 1) publishing the story to the forthcoming issue of Intellectum magazine (please send me an address if you would like a copy, I know it's in Greek but you will be certainly able to discern Asus logo in it!) 2) contacting all the relevant consumer protection departments, associations and societies based primarily in Greece but elsewhere in Europe as well 3) setting up websites about my story in order to find out whether there are other happy Asus customers like myself 4) informing all the TV shows interested in hearing about such customers' complaints in Greece 4)investigating how I could legally protect myself from your unprofessional conduct and the loss of time, energy and peace of mind etc. that your aforementioned constant conduct has caused me.

I had already suggested -and as a last effort to appear sensible- that if you think you are unable to fix it you should seriously consider giving me a new Asus W3J (since mine is now only six months old and it has a three-year guarantee) or ---if this was impossible because it is such a rare model any more (for very good reasons as this seems to be)--- consider giving me another model close to it even if I had to pay some money difference (i.e. VX1 or W7J). Alternatively, if none of these options is possible you might wish to consider for a full refund.


Regards
Victor Tsilonis

 

you are wasting your time with emails. Like all big giants they dont care. Call and talk to a person. Stop emailing them and try to restrain your self from showing your agrevation on the forums. Nobody from asus comes here. People will not read your antics if you write an essay per every post. Get to the point and DESCRIBE YOUR PROBLEM. We still dont understand your problem.....

 

Well, Victor has been asked several times what the problem was and it is apparent he has no interest in telling us. The fact that they are sending it back makes me believe the computer is working fine but you are just unhappy with a certain behavior.

I may have been one of very few that actually read your email posts when they were put up, why did you edit it and only copy some e-mails and not all if you really want people to know about their "service"? Is there something you are trying to hide.

Those two things alone make you loose most credibility in my eyes. I think you are simply wanting to get a new computer out of the deal. As a lawyer I would think you would be familiar with your contract with them and know what you are entitled too (my guess would be a refurbished unit, not a new one as you would like) if they cannot fix the problem.

With that said, to be without a computer is ridiculous, but as many have told you, you are going about it the wrong way, stop talking to the tech help bottom feeders and start asking for supervisors and move up the chain.

The more crap you write without being willing to answer anyone's questions and without providing a full description (that doesn't have to be 12 pages), not editing to what you think makes your case look good, the less likely anyone will care and others (like myself) will start calling BS.

Good luck in your process, I hope you get what you are after and your computer is fixed eventually.

 

Yeah, I just read all 2 pages of this thread and I kept sneezing througout it. I guess I'm allergic to BS.

 

My suggestion would be try a Linux bootable CD, see if it does the same thing. I bet it's Windows.

 

Dear friends,

As I have already described in the forums but apparently it might not have been clear enough at least to some of you, is that my Asus W3J laptop 1) cannot work on battery 2) when you try to boot up from the BATTERY and not the AC adapter the fabulous Asus W3J constantly REBOOTS and reboots.....and reboots......

My story is purely a personal one but indicative of asus service (at least in Europe) and policies (worldwide).

I apologise for not having much time to answer to everyone's fair questions. I have tried more of the things that you have suggested AND I am totally sure it is a hardware problem.

I find it preposterous to send a laptop to a company's certified service centre, to have it kept there for a month and then gettting it back only to find out that the problem has not been fixed...

I will certainly get a new laptop but from a store not from Asus!

Their service is unthinkable!

 

Yes, I have sent non-Asus laptops in for repairs before and gotten them back in the same condition. It really sucks. You're without a computer for a month and nothing's solved...

If this is really the way they are responding to the problem---and I must say that it is a BIG problem for a laptop---then you are better off filing some complaints with your local justice system. Of course I would at least call the customer support number for your fancy service plan a few dozen times first. Your country/province may have some kind of lemon policy. Asus is a reputable ODM, but you do deserve satisfaction if you are among the unlucky few to get a defective unit.

 

Thank you for posting what the problem was Victor. I considered the fact that I had made a mistake and missed you posting it before and I read through your prior posts. Just so you understand why others are having a problem following, this is the first post you have mentioned the actual issue, including the original post that was edited.

It is also difficult to follow you through many different threads, it would be much easier to understand if it was all kept in one (this one is quite appropriate, IMHO).

 

I am 99.98% sure that the problem you described is a video driver issue. I had the exact same problem after playing with my video drivers. Switching them back to a stable state, using the stock driver or using the recovery CD should guarantee a fix. If it doesn't try ATI's Catalyst 6.10 driver which fixed this exact problem for me.

~ Brett

 

well, i cant say anything about your specific problem with your notebook, but regarding the service, i definitely feel you.
i bought a w7j in germany in late june. it broke after 5 days. 100% sure, that its a hw failure.
i've been sending it to the retailer i bought it from which is sending it to asus to fix it. they usually keep it there for 4 weeks and do random unrelated stuff, like exchanging a fully functional harddisk. then it gets back to me in the same condition as before. it's been almost 5 months now, this being the fourth time the laptop is away for service. i've consulted a lawyer, and if the dare to send me the same broken computer i just have to sue (my retailer, since i have the contract with him, which in turn should direct this to asus).
if i get my money back, i probably will just buy the same computer, hoping the one i had was just bad luck.

 

Sorry about that, that sucks...

Just to put ASUS EU service into perspective: compared to this the service here in the Netherlands is brilliant, I daresay

I've sent my laptop twice for battery exchange, and if the service guys wanted to be difficult, they could have argued that the battery was losing charge because it was misused (although the truth is there's an ACPI/firmware issue), and not exchange it. Instead, MB+batt were changed every time, without further comments. That didn't solve the issue, but that's another story...

So, I think some people are unlucky in dealing with support, others, lucky, and I suppose the majority receive reasonable service. Perfect Gauss' bell distribution Unless service desks are really different across countries.

 

is this happen in taiwan too?
i'm in taiwan, and i wanna buy my 1st asus laptop..

 

Dear E7fendy,

I think you know the answer already! Avoid W3J by all means, there are so many other Asus models you could experiment with, especially if you become an Asus V.I.P. member, which is a tremendous experience (I hope you read that post as well --- anyway next week I am preparing another intereresting issue: the history of Asus company, pure facts no imagination!)

 

Will you please just get off it already? You have two or three of these topics on the front page, people aren't going around to read them all to see what is really going on, and it's not fair to the people who are new to the forums.

I'm sorry you got a lemon, I really am, but the W3 series has been around for like THREE YEARS, as the W3A, W3V, and W3J, and this has never been a widespread problem.

There has been one widespread issue that I have been around to see, the grainyness of the display with the X1600 models, which happened with several different manufacturers models, not just Asus. It was fixed as soon as the engineers could figure out what was going on and issue a BIOS update. I don't know if the other manufacturers ever even fixed it.

I really think with you making blanket statements like this and people being visibly misled, these topics have served their course and should be closed.

 

Victor, Would you please make a video of the W3j trying to run, and publish it in youtube? To be honest you just look like someone complaining about a product you probably do not even have. perhaps publishing a video would also allow those more experienced in notebook repair, to better assess the problem and help you fix it.

 

Seriously Victor, your smug "I'm your buddy attitude" is very counter productive.

If you are here for help, then do something constructive and help us better help you.

If you are here to drive away people from potentially purchasing the W3j (which I just bought one last night ^.^) then I think you have proved your point.

Help us help you, or move on.

 

The YouTube seems a graet idea and I will see what I can do to please you!

For Kamzu, I can only say "it's a pity you just bought one because I am selling mine"!

To dear Kamzu and Co.: I am doing what I believe is very constructive, namely informing people about the great Asus advantage programme and the fabulous Asus W3J. I will be patient enough to hear your "productive comments" after a few months time since you did not own a W3J one until yesterday (if we can believe that), so you still don't have a clue about it! In the best case you are like somebody bragging after a test drive!

Stay alive and count on Asus support!
"Good night and good luck"!

 

I suppose I won't know until I get it. Until then I'll take the word from 900+ replies in the W3j owner's thread over yours. =D

Have fun my friend with your VIP service in Europe while I enjoy mine in North America!

Good luck selling your W3j and I hope you won't annoy us with your obnoxious posts anymore!

Best wishes and happy selling!

 

Yeah ok "friend", amazing how you have the time to be dumb enough to send emails to Asus, and not actually call them, yet have enough time to rant without just getting to the point and answering the questions that matter.

 

I think I have given my answers already.

I do not know what else can I do apart from informing honest potential Asus customers.

(P.S. I have laso called Asus more than ten times and I have plenty of written communication as well.... in short I find really peculiar how SOME people advocate I have not given proper Answers while some are foolish enough to advocate that I do not own an Asus W3J!!! --- My answers are based on my humble knowledge and I never said I am an expert technician or anything like that, because certainly in this case I would have fixed the serious W3J problems without Asus great help!----Also, I am not amongst the ones who give bad points in the forum to those that criticize Asus just because they criticize Asus --> I don't think this is exactly Soguku's way!

 

This is borderline harassment. Why dont you call the dealer that sold you rights to a program that is not even a product and is not for resale.