Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
Hi everyone,
This is simply to share experience with this model of notebook and the support in Canada. This is the first time I buy an Asus notebook and I must say that this notebook must be a lemon or I have just no luck at all.
The problems are that the secondary hard drive that has over 2000+ bad sectors and I am unable to play on any external VGA screen without getting the notebook powering off without any blue screen. I am using the VGA output because the HDMI is not able to do 1920x1200 resolution.
Defective hardware is possible and I see it everyday at work but the worst experience appeared with the service. I wanted to try all the support types (online,live and telephone)
-January 11th Filled out the form for the online support with all the details and the list of every tests I did. Received confirmation from Asus by email.
-Waited 14 days without any response...
-January 26th Filled out the form again with the same message. Received confirmation from Asus by email.
-January 27th Received an answer telling me that the delay was due to a system error asking me to fill out the RMA form. This form is really picky. You will see why later. Gived up for this evening.
-January 28th Tried to call them on phone. No French service in Canada... This is not a really big problem for me but for some it could. French support could be really appreciated. Been on the phone with the music for 15minutes decided to try again later.
-February 1st Decided to try the live support. Put in link with the live tech within 5 minutes. Not so bad... Explained everything again and he told the same thing as the online support to fill out the RMA. Tried again to fill out the form and received the same error Server busy!, Please try again later!. Finally find that the problem is in the code of the form and the error that you receive means nothing. This form doesn't accept any punctuation, very log text and errors in the contact information. You will receive this error every time Server busy!, Please try again later! and there is no problem with the server at all. Filled out the form with minimal text and information and for sure without punctuation. Submitted it and finally it worked! Received confirmation from Asus by email.
-February 2th I will call them again later today.
I must say that for the moment and with this particular model, my confidence in this product and the Asus brand is not very high and I am not satisfied at all. I took more time troubleshooting than playing. I would like to play on my 24 inches screen when I am at home and not buy another screen just because the vga output is not working correctly. I will ask them if it is possible for me to pay the needed amount to exchange this model with the new G73JH.
-February 2th I called them in the evening. I was finally able to talk with someone in less than 5 minutes... This person said to me that they were experiencing a high volume of call. The person took my name and phone number with a small description of the problems and said that someone will call me back as soon as possible. Waited over 6 hours before going to sleep. No call returned at all.
-February 3th For the first time, they answered in less than 5 minutes. The person asked me for my case # created when I filled the online form and I exposed the two problems with a list of the tests that have already been done. The only question that the person asked to me was "Have you reinstalled the factory operating system?" and after I said "yes", the person immediately started the RMA process, sent me my RMA # by email and wanted to scheduled the Fedex pickup for Thursday February 4th but I wasn't able to be at home so I needed to call them back Thursday to schedule a pickup for Friday. The person was very polite and professionnal by the way.
-February 4th Called them to schedule the pickup for Friday February 5th. They answered in less than 5 minutes again
Before sending it to ASUS I backed up all my data and reinstalled the factory operating system. I also installed all the tools I used to test/benckmark/stress the components. After testing it a last time to be sure that the notebook is still crashing, the notebook doesn't start anymore. The notebook is stuck at the logo before the BIOS. I am not even able to access the BIOS by pressing ESC. No hdd activity at all. The defective hard drive should have died for real or something else...
-February 5th The Fedex guy arrived at home at 11:38 AM and the only thing that was weird is that he wasn't sure about who is paying for the shipping... Told him that it is the recipient.
-February 7th I just checked the tracking on Fedex and the package should arrive tomorrow February 8th at Ontario's service center.
-February 8th They received the notebook at 10:37 AM.
-February 12th No update about the RMA. No phone call, no email, nothing... Can't access my RMA Status online. I will need to call them... Their warranty says "most of the repairs are done in two business days" seems that this part doesn't apply for my case too.
-February 15th Called them to have some news about the RMA. The person on the phone was having some problems to find information about the RMA... Finally she found it but there wasn't any detail about the progress. She took my phone number and told me that somebody will call me back.
-February 16th I didn't receive any call since yesterday.
-February 17th Sent an email directly to [email protected] about quality of service. Didn't receive any answer from them at all.
-February 18th Received an email from [email protected] with my tracking number for the returned package. To only information that was in the email was the serial number and this is exactly the same notebook that is coming back.
-February 19th Fedex tried to make the delivery and I was at work. They are supposed to ship it express both ways by the way... Called them to change the delivery address or transfer it at another Fedex depot but they can't do that because Fedex Ground and Fedex Express and two different enterprises as they are saying. They shipped it ground so I need to make a 40km ride in car to pick it up at Fedex Ground depot. If they had shipped it express as stated in their Asus 360 Warranty , I would only have driven 5km for the express depot near my house. I opened the package that was exactly the same that I shipped to them. They replaced the defective hard drive, the video card, the motherboard and updated the BIOS to the latest 207.T10.
-February 21th Started to make some tests this morning... First of all, they replaced the motherboard and the video card but they didn't give me a new Windows 7 license so when I started it the first time, my Windows is not genuine anymore. The back light of the keyboard isn't working anymore. Tested the hard drive in first. They really replaced it and there is no bad sectors at all on both drives. Closed the lid, connected my external screen and started Prime 95 + FurMark to stress test the notebook. The problem is still there.
-February 22th Called them to explain the two new problems and that the old problem is still there. They asked me if I made the recovery again. Told them that they did not test the notebook because they should have seen the "Windows is not genuine" window at logon. Asked them to be reimbursed or to change the model but they do not want. They sent me a new RMA number. I put everything back in the box and replaced all the last RMA stickers on the box with new ones. I will ship it back until I receive a working notebook or a new model.
-February 24th Fedex picked up the package in the afternoon.
-February 25th Ontario's service center received it at 10:24 AM.
-March 13th Didn't receive any news since they received it for a second time.ASUS 360 Notebook Service Program - "In most cases, ASUS will repair your defective notebook within two business days..." I will need to call each day again.
-March 16th Called to have some news... The person had problems to find the information about the RMA again... Told me that the priority of my case number is now higher and transfered to the manager...
-March 22th I just called them and they told me that a technician in Markham should contact me in 24-48hours because I asked for a swap. I asked them if it will be a real 24-48hours or 10, 20 days like everytime I contacted the support. I also told them that if they do not move fast, I will do and put Asus Canada in default.
-March 24th 2 days later... No phone call again. Called them again and the last update they have is that a technician from Markham will call me. They will do a follow up and if I do not receive a call tomorrow, I will call again. I also confirmed the phones numbers and email address and everything was perfect.
-March 25th They didn't call today. Called them again and there is no update.
A Customer Care agent asked me trough this post to send him my RAM number so that their California Office might be able to help me get this issue resolved. I sent him a PM with all the information required. I also took this opportunity to express myself about all this experience. I also told him that I would really like to get this problem in a good way. I asked again for the possibility of swapping model (in my opinion, I had too many problems with this unit to want it back again). To show them my good will and proof that I want to help solving it, I told them that I will pay the difference between the models.
-March 26th 01:33PM Received a private message from the Customer Care agent. Here is the message:
"Dear ***,
I have already made my inquiries to the Canadian office and also made my superiors here in California aware of your situation. I am also transferring contact to Asus Product Support for your convenience. The agent's name is ***, he will be contacting you directly as soon as we get a reply from Canada, the email will be from ***. Thank you."
I replied that I really appreciated this fast response time.
05:27PM Received another private message from the Customer Care agent. Here is the message:
"Dear ***,
I just received information regarding the delay with the return of your unit.
Our Canada facility is awaiting the release of the BIOS that resolves the thermal policy on your unit, specifically the temperature changes when the unit is used with the lid closed. This particular shutdown feature was enabled for the safety reasons, our HQ had some reports of notebooks being placed in bags while still completely powered on, thus causing thermal damage.
The activation issue was triggered when the OS was booted and MAC Address and Hardware ID HASH was incorrect. This can be resolved by dialing the Microsoft Activation center or by doing a system recovery.
I am still waiting for the rest of the details, so far this is what was provided to me. Thank you."
First, this is what we can call a good and professional service. Sincerely thank you to this agent for showing me that a company of this size can demonstrates real respect to their customers. He gave me real answers in fast delays.
Regarding the lid, in my opinion, the safety reason is a good point but there should be a setting that can be enabled in the BIOS for users like me that are using the notebook with lid closed with plenty of airflow. It is logical that anybody power off the notebook before putting it in a bag without any airflow.
Regarding the activation of Windows 7, I already tried both solutions but without any success. I am receiving the same « Windows is not genuine » error after recovery and when I call Microsoft's activation center, the system tells me that this license cannot be activated again on this system.
-March 27th I replied to Customer Care agent. I asked if he could have have information about the backlight of the keyboard that wasn't working after repair. I also told him that I already tried the two solutions about the Windows 7 activation and that if the process is so simple, if a technician of Canada facility could do it for me. I expressed the fact that I paid over 1640$ for a notebook that I didn't enjoyed since over 75 days and asked him what will be the compensation for this. I simply didn't enjoyed what I paid for. In my opinion, I am not interested at all in receiving a model that is only bringing problems, that is so noisy when you are playing a game, that seems to have overheating problems most of the time and will surely have more problems in a near future. So if Asus plans to send the exact same unit back to me, I just want to be reimbursed and stop loosing my time with this unit filled out with problems. In my opinion again, this is simply not an acceptable solution after all this time waited and the time I lost. You can also be sure that it will be my last Asus product. I also told him that all this experience will not stay under silence because people have the right to know.
As everyone can see, things are moving and it was about time. Many thanks again to the Customer Care agent in this forum. I can write about what isn't working as it should be but I can also write when good employees are really trying to find a solution.
-March 29th A person from the head office of Asus in California called me about the problem. I was very surprised and happy that this person was talking french. Talked with him about all the problems with the RMA and the notebook and asked him to get a replacement to finally get a perfectly working notebook. He wasn't against the idea and told me that he will send me an email very soon after our conversation. Didn't received anything from him since this day.
Received an email during the evening from the service center in Canada. They sent me the same notebook again according the serial number in the email. They sent it ground again instead of air but this time, I shipped it from work so I wasn't obligated to drive 40km just to pick-up the package.
-March 31th Received the notebook in the after-noon and brought it at home to test it. As soon as I arrived at home, I powered on the notebook... The backlight of the keyboard is repaired and the license of Windows 7 is activated correctly. 2/3 problems are solved... Now, I need to test the main problem... I found that they left all the tools they used to test my notebook on the desktop of Windows 7. I set all the power management settings to maximum performance and verified all the settings concerning the lid before testing. I started Prime 95 and Furmark and you know what ????? The notebook crashed in less than 6 minutes. Here is a video as a proof YouTube - ASUS G51J-A1 Power Off Problem (sorry about the sound quality). You can see what is happening at around 5:50 in the video. This is happening everytime I try to play a game.
Sent a private message to the only person from Asus that is really trying to help you... The Customer Care Agent in this forum.
Here is the message:
"Hi again,
Everything moved fast since you helped me getting problem solved. I just received the notebook and the problem is still there. Were they supposed to wait for a bios that was solving this problem ? Are they laughing at me ? You can even know how I am pissed off. The notebook crashed in less than 10 minutes again with the tools that tech guys used in Canada facility. They left it on the desktop. What am I supposed to do with it?
Thank you!"
Received this response:
"Dear Sir,
I was not informed on what they did with the unit prior to shipping out, they just informed me that is was being shipped out. I sincerely apologize for this issue. I will look into it and update you. Thank you."
I sent another message with the link for the video:
"Thank you for this fast response again. Here is a video to proof that the problem is still there. YouTube - ASUS G51J-A1 Power Off Problem. If I call to this number ***-***-**** do you know if I can ask to talk to the same person that called me to resolve this issue? His name was **** (I am really not sure about the spelling) and he was talking french."
-April 1st I received this response from the customer care agent :
"Dear Sir,
The phone number is for our California office only. I am requesting for a new RMA to be created to have your unit shipped directly to our US headquarters. An agent will be assigned to your case. Once the RMA number has been generated, you will get an email and the contact information for the agent handling your case. Thank you."
April 7th - An agent from the Californian office sent me an email explaining how the replacement process works and he also created a new RMA but this time, the notebook will go directly to him in California. I answered all his question, explained how to make it crash with the link of the video , I listed my usage habits and what I really need with my notebook. In the case that no model is really fitting my needs or interesting me, I asked if I could pay for an higher end model and an additional power supply.
April 9th - Fedex picked up the notebook at 1:55PM. The agent should receive it Monday April 12th.
April 12th - The package is stuck at customs. Fedex needs some customs paper that I do not have and that not have been sent by Asus when they scheduled a pickup for me. I gave them the contact information of the agent in California and I also personally sent an email to have more information. Fedex will keep the package 5 business days before sending it back to me and charge me the shipping cost. I will not be very happy if this really happen...
April 13th - No reply at all from my direct contact in California. The package is still stuck at customs. I called Fedex to know the forms they need and asked if I can fill them out by myself. They faxed me everything and I did my best to fill them out. I faxed everything back to Fedex.
April 14th - Fedex released the package and delivered it at 9:58 AM. Still no return for the mail I sent to the agent in California. Again, Asus didn't help in any way.
April 15th MODIFIED - Received a reply during after-noon from the agent in California. Details below.
April 16th - Received a reply from both the agent in California and today from Customer Care person in this forum. They had problems with emails systems and this is why I wasn't receiving any return. They are working on duplicating the issues on my notebook and I will have an update soon.
April 20th MODIFIED - I sent an email to the agent to know what is happening after this 5 business days (counting the day they received the unit at 9:58 AM). Received a very fast response from him explaining that the issue can be duplicated and they are now verifying to know if this problem is isolated or not. They want to be sure that the replacement models do not have the same issue and will function according my needs. This is a good thing to know at this point
April 26th - 4 business days passed and still nothing. They received it 9 business days ago, they have confirmed the issue and I am still waiting... What is the problem with this company? This is really unacceptable and I need a working notebook ASAP. So pissed off!
April 28th - Sent an email to the agent because first, I didn't received any news after another 5 business days again and second, I really need a working unit before may 7th. I received a out of office reply... He will only be back on May 3rd. This surely means that nobody else will work on this case until this date and that I will need to find a solution by myself again.
May 4th - Received a response to my last email from the agent in California. This issue is a safety feature preventing the notebook to be damaged by overheating in the case that someone put it in his bag without powering it off correctly. This cannot be resolved on this model. I simply can't use it this way at all. The agent asked for the replacement and should receive a reply by the end of the day.
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May 7th - Received an email from Asus that is confirming the shipping of a G51J 720QM/5AG7/6G/US (G51JX-A). No more details. I was supposed to choose between up to 3 models... Didn't receive any email about it.
May 8th - Sent an mail to the agent in California to ask those questions about the shipped model:
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Weren't you supposed to offer me more than one model for the replacement?
Is this a G51JX-A1 model ?
Is it new or refurbished ?
Has the unit been tested before shipping as you stated in the first email ?
What is happening about the warranty period that I lost with those 3 RMA ?
Do the customs papers have been filled to avoid problems like last time ?
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May 11th - Received the package this morning. The box was looking like it has been beaten but the content was in perfect condition. The agent didn't answered my questions yet. The notebook is REFURBISHED... I verified the notebook and it is in perfect condition without any scratches. The cover under the notebook wasn't installed correctly. I need to remove some screws to be sure that I will not break the plastic clip and replaced it correctly.
What's next? After 120 days for closing this case, I experienced what Asus is offering to their customers when they need help and I will sell this notebook and give a try to a Sager notebook that I will buy from a local dealer. I know that it will cost me more but now I can saw that being confident about service doesn't have price.
It was officially the last Asus product that I was buying. I would not recommend Asus products anymore.
CASE CLOSED!
Time played with my first ASUS notebook... 2 hours
Time passed trying to get an ASUS notebook that is not crashing... 120 days and finally it is done...
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The 207 BIOS from Gentech ARE from Asus. They were testing those BIOS to see if they would work, and since GentechPC was the reseller that kept insisting on the case for us, he was able to get the beta of the BIOS to see how stable it was with the BSOD, with permission to Asus and in order to inform them what he found.
Now that the BSOD was reported "fixed" they are working on making them official.
For the other issues: You do need to get that hard drive exchanged no matter what. It is a hardware problem and the laptop is still basically new.
As for external video output, I don't know, or maybe no one knows yet, why it shuts down when closed, but it just does. Hardware or software issue, who knows maybe it was designed that way: To be used with the lid open. I never noticed the shutdown thing until some users reported.
Perhaps try to not close the lid all the way and just partially? It could be a temporary solution.
I am not sure how Asus would respond to that particular detail as I don't think the machine was advertised to be able to output video while closed so maybe they indeed designed it that way
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This is a big detail about Gentech BIOS that I didn't know! Thx!
For external video output, I also find that it is a very strange problem. I used a lot of notebooks of other brands in a same way and never had any similar issues. With the configuration of my desk, I am not able to keep it partially open enough without hiding the bottom of the screen and I am also not able to put the screen higher. I hope they did not designed it that way because if they did, I would like to know it because you can be sure that I would have never bought it. I will wait to see what is happening with the RMA process. I told them that I was not satisfied at all with the product.I also asked them to replace it with the G73JH-A1 if it is possible and told them that I will pay the needed amount to do it.
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Without reading back in Thread...I'm curious, seems like an aweful lot of back n forth, have you:
1. Updated your BIOS to the newest G60J207 - EDIT: Ok, read that you did.
2. After updating BIOS - Re-installed Windows 7 from your Asus Recovery Disc (ensuring to remove one of the HD's prior to)
3. Properly installed all Drivers and only necessary Utilities
4. If the above all still results in the Notebook being "Borked", think I would purchase a "clean OEM Copy of W7" and try that out, for the $100 or so likely be cheaper in the long run than back n forth with the Notebook.
Really, I'm up to about my forth "clean install" of W7 on this Notebook testing SSD's...No issues really.
sorry just reading back in your Thread
- I would have simply pulled the Second HD, 1st ensuring that thier was no OS Files on it, if thier was, keep it pulled and Re-install W7 on the Primary Drive. If all is good, the physically install the 2 Secondary Drive > Boot up > My Computer > Manage > Manage Discs > Select 2nd Drive > Quick Format and assign Drive Letter.
Have your tried "clean installing" all ATKxxx Drivers?
As far as your Lid Closing and shutting down the Notebook, mine "auto" goes to sleep when I close the Lid, thier is an option in Windows to "control" what the Notebook does when you close the Lid...I'm sure you've probably already changed these options though..correct?
Perhaps you tried all of this.....
Seems odd that Asus would replace your entire Mobo because of a HD Failure ?! -
I removed the defective hard drive at the beginning because the notebook wasn't booting and was freezing at the ROG logo before being able to enter the BIOS. All my tests were done without this hard drive.
I tried with my Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit and a perfectly clean install (full licensed one, not oem or upgrade).
Already have a full Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit that I paid 350$CAN .
You can't even know how much I would like to have your luck .
Already did this process before testing everything after I found that one hard drive was full of bad sectors.
Yes, when I made a clean install with my Windows 7 Ultimate .
All power management settings that are linked with the lid have been changed to do nothing when I close it on the AC and on the battery.
I think they replaced it because the notebook is crashing and not only for the bad hd. They also changed the video card (I just edited my post with that information because it was missing).
Thank you for helping!
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Sorry, but for me, this is simply not a solution. I bought a notebook to save some place on my desk when I am at home and to bring it with me when it is needed. Is it written in the user guide or on the website describing the G51J-A1 ? So the need of using it with lid open isn't a solution THEY SHOULD have thought about it before releasing it or just reimburse me or change for another model. This is Asus's fault anyway so they just have to resolve it. I offered to pay the difference to exchange it for another model but they seem to close their ears when you talk about those subjects lol...
I tested it in BIOS to be sure that it wasn't a driver or a software problem. I also made a full recovery before testing it again. No luck.
I was running a clean Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit without any software that wasn't needed.
Thx for this confirmation.
Thank you for the help! Very appreciated
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I am happy to see that somebody else experienced the Canada service center. They seem to skip testing after repair as I see with with both of our cases...
My confident in Asus is now a thing of the past. It's a pity that they normally build solid and reliable products but their support doesn't meet this reputation at all.
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As I see, I am the only one that receive this quality of service... I am happy to see that this type of service doesn't apply to everyone.
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Bought it from CanadaComputers.com and they have a very short period for the refund policy so at the moment you discover that you have a problem, it is too late.
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Even if I didn't buy it from us, you think there is a possibility that they will try to help ? I will try to solve this problem with the customer care person that answered me in this thread but if you are right about bestbuy, this is what you can call a good service.
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Thank you for this information. I will never see their back room because I am living in Montreal and I think I will not buy from them after all this problems. I also learnt from this experience that it was a really bad idea to buy a notebook from an online store that has a so short period to return any product. I wrote them a feedback about the experience that I am having with Asus on March 23th but I think that I will never receive any return on this message.
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Hehe lol! The barrel is also rotten after all this time lol... But the fact that I bought this lemon is not the worst part in this case, the worst part is the way how a big company like Asus is handling the case. In my experience with the Canada service center, they are not testing the stuff prior the shipping because anybody can see that a big window is saying that the Windows license isn't genuine, that there is no light at all on the keyboard and worst that the main problem is still there... I offered to pay the difference for a replacement , solve the problem at same time and forget about this story but this seems to be too simple and logical to solve a problem in a fast way and keep a customer forever that will want to by their products again... I hope this time will be the good one... For your G51 the only thing I can say to you is ENJOY your correctly working unit and play some game for me
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I seriously do not want any G51 model after this. I also been very patient with them so they SHOULD really compensate me after all this. As you said the notebook will be already outdated and I only played like 2 hours with it and if I sell it, I will loose some hundreds $. The only model that will compensate for all this will be a G73JH-A1 in my opinion. It will surely helps me to forget a little bit about this horror story
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I prevented it to happen! I did the job of Asus and I filled out all the customs papers. It worked and the notebook is delivered. You can be sure that they would have paid this fees. I do not want to know how much cost an overnight shipment from Montreal to Calofornia lol...
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Taking legal action against them will cost money that I prefer to invest in a something else like a good ssd. If I have no choice, you can be sure that I will do. I seem composed but you can't even know how I am pissed off about this case and how I am angry against Asus after loosing all my fate in this company. The only thing that I do not want to do is missing respect like they are doing with customers. It will surely make the process slower even if it seems to be impossible to be slower than this. I will fight until I receive a satisfying solution and at least a compensation for all that. I think and I hope that this 3rd RMA will be the good one with the replacement process.
You can be sure this was the last time I am buying a notebook online. Next time, I will buy this in a store where I can knock at the door to have some help and simply not deal with the manufacturer. Did you have any problem with your Toshiba and the support? We have many of them at work and they are very reliable and the service is #1. I would like that Dell or Toshiba build notebooks with these specs and around this price. I would also like that Xotic Pc and some other US retailers that have very good reviews for their support and prices be registered in Canada or simply find a way to avoid all those customs fees or brokerages fees that simply make it nearly impossible to buy from them when you live in Canada
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Excellent! I just read it thank you. I was really fearing that my emails didn't reach him. Thank you for the update by the way. I will update this thread now.
G51J Problems and support in Canada
Discussion in 'Asus' started by Haeson, Feb 2, 2010.
