Standard Operating Procedures for ASUS USA?

I started writing a response to another G73JH thread, and 2400 words later, I decided to just make a thread. I don't want this to get buried. Hopefully, some of you can use the below information to make informed decisions about where you purchase you next notebook, who to buy it from and how to understand what happens when you send your ASUS notebook back to ASUS for repair or replacement. Obviously, my experience is not how everyone is treated, but is is representative of the culture within ASUS USA. read on, if you dare....


Below is an excerpt from the letter that I wrote to the ASUS Repair Facility. It accompanied my G73JH-A2 I RMA’d back to ASUS.

After only having this G73JH-A2 for 6 days, I turned it on the morning of the 7th day, February 12, 2010, to find the screen not functioning properly. The left half of the screen is white, with colored digital lines that flicker throughout. The right side of the screen shows many colors, in an almost psychedelic pattern. Nothing is visible on the left side of the screen, while some things can be read on the right. After a call with Asus CS, I pulled the battery, removed the power cable, and drained the computer’s internal memory by holding the power button for 10 to 15 seconds. After that, I pushed in the master reset on the bottom of the machine. None of it fixed the screen problem. After that, I downloaded the newest VGA driver on your download site. That also did not work.

Finally, I reinstalled a fresh windows 7 from the hidden drive on the computer. That did not change the screen either. Of interest would be the fact that I hooked the computer up to an external monitor, and I was able to see everything perfectly. This is what I saw on my 6th day of ownership...

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My G73JH-A2 was shipped out on Saturday, 13 February, and was delivered and signed for at 9:36AM on February 16th. The Email I received from support staff stated that if the repair facility received the machine by 3PM local time, the turn-around time would be same business day. Between 9:36am February 16, to about 6pm EST February 17, I checked the ASUS RMA site for updates to my RMA. Not one single update. In fact, I would get an error each time I entered my RMA, Serial#, or phone number. It’s as if my RMA doesn’t even exist.
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Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Called ASUS Notebook Support (1-888-678-3688) option 2, then option 2 again. Spoke with a Customer Service Rep ( CSR) who said that my G73JH was inspected and a DOA Replacement was granted on the 16th, and pulling from inventory. I reminded the CSR about the email that stated same-day service for notebooks received before 3pm. The CSR had no comment, so I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was connected with Sue, the supervisor in charge of the CSR I was speaking with. Sue apologizes for the problem, and says she will escalate the matter to the highest priority. She promises to call me back the following day without fail, to give me the update. No one calls me back the next day.
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Thursday, February 18, 2010
The repair facility closes at 6pm PST, so I wait until about 10PM EST before I call back. I speak to another CSR, who reads from her script, and spits out the same verbiage the first CSR said. Notebook approved for replacement, pulling from inventory. After explaining to the CSR that I needed a laptop for my online class at University of Phoenix, she regurgitates what she just told me, and tells me she’ll escalate the matter. Like that’s going to work, right? So, I ask to speak with her supervisor, because she won’t be able to help me, clearly.

I am connected to Sol, my new CSR’s supervisor. Sol apologizes for the problem, and says that she has to wait for an update from the repair facility. Based on the fact that my status has not changed from “pulling from inventory”, Sol believes that the repair facility does not have the item in stock. I asked Sol when ASUS expected replacement stock to arrive, and she did not know. I asked her to find out from the repair facility when they were expecting G73JH stock to come in. Sol did not understand how the repair facility would know such a thing. As a logistics/warehouse supervisor for over 15 years, I explained to Sol that there are bills of lading, customs docs and Purchase Orders that accompany shipments from other countries, like Taiwan. I told her that there is at least one person between ASUS HQ in Fremont, CA and the repair facility that knows when a shipment of G73JH’s are expected inbound. She said she’d send the escalated request and call me first thing the next day. Oh geeze, not again!
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Friday, 19 February, 2010
Again, I was NEVER called by Sol, or any other person from ASUS. I waited until after the repair facility was closed and called Notebook Support. I asked the CSR for the newest update on my case. She indicated that the only update from the repair facility was on the 16th, when they originally approved the replacement. I informed the CSR that two different supervisors had already escalated my case to the highest level, and the repair facility has yet to respond. The CSR apologized, and read from her script again, saying virtually the exact same thing. It should be noted here that the CSR’s are not in the same building as the repair facility, and their only means of communication is through an automated request system.

The CSR’s have supervisors, and those supervisors also do not have direct contact to supervisors or techs at the repair facility (or so they say). Apparently, all the supervisors get together for a meeting, to provide incoming and outgoing supervisors pass-down of information from the previous day, among other things. Rajah, the third supervisor I spoke with, indicated that she would bring up my issue during that meeting, and that her supervisor would then discuss my issue with the supervisor at the repair facility. Finally, it seems like I am getting somewhere. I knew that there had to be some kind of communication other than email, to connect Notebook Support and the repair facility. Awesome news I thought, and I slept good that night knowing that my problem would be discussed with the repair center supervisor.
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Saturday, 20 February, 2010
Let me just tell you now, I didn’t get a response all day Saturday either. So, AGAIN, I called and spoke to a CSR. By now, I am tired of explain my story to the CSR, so I ask him to just review the notes in my file. Now, I can’t fault the guy for trying to de-escalate the situation, but all he could do was read from his script, and tell me he would escalate the issue and they would call me or I would get an email when there was an update. “I don’t think so sir, I’ll need to speak to another supervisor. Hey, is Sue, Sol, or Rajah there? We’re old friends.” I am left on hold for about 25 minutes, and then disconnected. Darn, I guess I’ll have to start over. So, I call back, and tell the CSR I was just disconnected, and wanted to speak directly with a supervisor. She transfers me to Jazz, her supervisor for that night.

Up until now, I haven’t really explained to any of them why I need a computer so bad. I explain to Jazz that I am a Senior at the University of Phoenix, and my class is entirely online. I inform her that I live in the sticks, and have no other way to attend my classes other than with my laptop. I had a backup laptop, but it was out of commission and out of warranty, so I really needed my laptop back ASAP. I asked Jazz why the repair facility has not responded to any of the requests over the past 5 days. I asked her if that was standard operating procedures to ignore the highest priority requests from customers. Jazz said that the customer was important, and she did not know why there has not been one single response from the repair facility. I asked her how long a customer must wait, when there are no replacement laptops in stock. She had no clue. I asked her if customers were offered different notebooks, if their notebook was out of production. Jazz says that if the repair facility knows a notebook is out of production, or parts are not available, they will offer a comparable notebook to the customer via email. The customer can agree to the swap, or deny it. I stopped Jazz there and joyfully said “see, there is a way for the repair techs to find out if new or replacement parts are on the way.” Jazz said she would find out when inventory was expected, and return my call, or have another supervisor return my call.

I also told Jazz that I knew of at least 4 customers like me who have the exact machine in the repair facility awaiting replacement. I told her I know of one that only had a keyboard problem, and why the repair facility wouldn’t just cannibalize another unit to at least produce one fixed unit for a customer. Jazz said that since the notebook is only a couple weeks old, we figure the customer should just have a new notebook. I said that that was a very noble and respectable thing to do, but ONLY when there is actual stock for the replacement. She asked me if I would accept my laptop back if it was fixed, instead of replaced, and I had to laugh a little. I asked her to review my notes, and reminded her about my online classes. Of course I would take my two week old laptop back if they could fix the screen! Jazz said she made the note, and would pass it on to the repair facility. Jazz tells me I would get a call the next day.
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Monday, 22 February, 2010
At this point, I anticipated that the repair facility would, again, snub me and not respond to my requests. So, I called the reseller whom I purchased the notebook from. I explained my issues, and how I am unable to go to class, and the run around I was getting at ASUS. In an amazing display of generosity, the reseller agrees to accept the broken notebook, and give me a full refund, less shipping. In addition, the reseller indicates that the next shipment of G73JH notebooks will not arrive at ASUS HQ in Fremont until March 2, 2010. Armed with that knowledge, I waited for the call from ASUS I knew would never come.

I did not receive an email from the repair facility indicating that my G73JH was repaired or replaced. I called Notebook Support again, and played the song & dance with the CSR. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and I was put on hold for about 20 minutes. The CSR (Archer) comes back on and says that all the managers are in a meeting, and the meeting could take 8 hours. Haha, really? I see. I think I am starting to ruffle some feathers, don’t you? But damn, I can’t get any answers at all!
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Tuesday, 23 February, 2010
I see from one of the ASUS resellers that visits Notebookreview.com regularly, has posted that the March 2nd shipment will only include G73JH-A1 models (with Blu-Ray drives) and NO A2 models at all. Further, he indicates that the A2’s should be in the March 11th shipment. Oh I am definitely not waiting until March 11th for a replacement to be sent, finally arriving to me somewhere around the 15th or 16th of March. So, I call Notebook Support back, and ask one last time for an updated status to my case. The CSR said that there has been no activity on my case since the 16th of February when I was approved for a replacement. She reads her script and says they will call when there is inventory. I told her I am all done with that song and dance, and I wanted my notebook immediately shipped back to the reseller. I told her that I had a copy of the receipt with the reseller’s address on it, and that I authorized them to ship it straight there, since the reseller is located literally 3 miles ASUS. The CSR AGAIN read from her script, regurgitating her last statement, and I asked to speak to a supervisor. Hey, a new supervisor!

“Hi Sable, how are you tonight? Good? Great! Listen, I need you to stop all action with my notebook and send it immediately to the reseller I bought it from”

Sable reads from her script and tells me she will escalate the issue, and request a response tomorrow from the repair center. She says she will call me back tomorrow at 6pm her time. I said no thanks Sable. Sol, Rajah, Sue and Jazz couldn’t get any response, and I have zero faith that you will either. I am all done with ASUS. You and your staff have absolutely no communication with the repair facility, and apparently the repair facility does whatever they wish, and answer to no one. I have been more than patient, and can no longer afford to wait for a response. You are not allowed to touch my notebook again. I want it boxed up with everything I shipped with it, and ship it immediately back to my reseller. You’ll find their address on the receipt in the box. Sable tells me that, for safety reasons, they have to ship it back to me only. Fine, let’s do that. I will expect a call back tomorrow with the tracking number.
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I am all done with such nonsense. I have never seen such an embarrassing display of smoke and mirrors, that is ASUS customer support. The repair facility answers to no one, and CSR’s and their respective supervisors have absolutely no power to do anything either. I urge each and every one of you to purchase your electronic needs through resellers like ExcaliberPC, Gentech and XoticPC. Said resellers act as the middlemen, and take on ASUS so you don’t have to. I should have NEVER sent my machine to ASUS, and should have sent it right back to the reseller. I’ll know better next time. However, ASUS just lost a customer in me, and I hope some of you think twice about buying from a company that affords its customers absolutely no recourse for the inaction of it’s U.S. staff.

Stay tuned, I think this is far from over!

 

reserved for the aftermath

 

waiting for the exciting conclusion to this story.

 

I just received a call from a tech at the repair center. He apologized for the lack of updates, upgraded me to the A1 and overnight shipping. He anticipates delivery of the A1's between March 2nd and 4th, just as the resellers have indicated.

Here is the reason I decided to give the ASUS another try....

1. They could ship my broken one back to me, but only FedEx 3 day. Then I'd have to pay to ship it back to the reseller, and wait a few days for the refund. That's already longer than it would take to have the repair facility ship the A1.

Again, this could be all smoke and mirrors, but the reseller is willing to give me the refund within 14days after the new unit arrives, so I am confident I'll either have a working machine, or my money back shortly.

Edit: The tech also said that his allocations from HQ are not the same as that of the resellers, and there are most likely A1's and A2's in their allocation from HQ. Is it possible that ASUS, hearing of these issues, is diverting this second batch of A2's to the repair facility in anticipation of a bunch or repairs?

 

As you probably already know, I wouldn't count on anything at this point.

 

Indeed




10Char

 

Thank you for sharing this story. I am sorry that you've had to go through such troubles. I had a similar experience trying to get response from Newegg about my X1 RMA. I hope everything works out for you. You should file a complaint with the BBB if possible.

 

^^^^If the Tech supervisor makes good on his promises, I'll simply chalk it up as one of those cases that slipped through the proverbial crack. If not, and things spiral progressively worse, I'll certainly grab on like a pit bull and not let go. Thanks for the well wishes.

 

Also if nothing is fixed correctly, then i would report it to the BBB, and other legal stuff.

 

With Cebit next week, I may just leave the A1 sealed until I have had a chance to see what's new from Germany. May need to sell the thing right away. There seems to be a strong market for the A1 I think.

 

Just out of curiosity, what made you decide to return your defective notebook to ASUS, instead of the reseller whom you bought it from? Or, generally, speaking, is returning to the reseller just for refunds, or will they let you exchange defective products?

 

Wow, and I thought my experience with dell was bad. Compared with that I got first class service.

 

The resellers should ALWAYS be your first line of defense. I bought mine from ExcaliberPC. As soon as the screen died I called them first. They were extremely nice, and apologized that my G73 died on me. they offered to have me send it back to them, but since they had absolutely NO stock, they couldn't replace it. Since I only had it for 6 days, I could have received a refund. I declined the refund, and they said that the repair center would most likely have parts and new systems before they would. They initiated the DOAR, and ASUS handled the FedEx Label for me.

Keep in mind that I bought my G73 on February 5th, and had it shipped overnight, arriving on the 6th. Resellers were only getting a few notebooks each at that time. Even now, there are neither parts nor stock at ANY of our reseller to fix or replace the G73. So, everyone will have to send their systems to ASUS right now. I mean, you COULD send it to the reseller, but they are either going to hold onto it until their stock shows up, or send it on to ASUS for you. If Excaliber had stock, I could have returned mine, and they would have shipped me a new G73. Then they would return my damaged G73 for credit. That's the bonus of using the resellers, but they've got to have stock to be able to offer you that service. In addition, the resellers have a rediculous return policy. Even though I bought my G73 from ExcaliberPC 3 weeks ago, they are willing to give me an additional 14 days to decide if I want to return the NEW G73, whenever it arrives. Try getting THAT from NewEgg!

Hope I answered your questions. If not, fire away!

 

Well.... all I can say is Ditto !!!!


I have had almost the exact same story with my RMA. They are really scrambling at ASUS due to their lack of stock.


I have received an e-mail and phone number from a tech / supervisor as well. He was very nice on the phone and very concerned with my issue. I have e-mailed him all of the known problems from these forums and am waiting for him to e-mail me back a response on a few questions I need clarified.

Overnight shipping and the new drivers he told me about

I also requested that they unbox my new unit and fully test and benchmark it for the known issues before they ship it out to me. If I do not get an e-mail back by tomorrow I will be calling him directly.

I will say that it took my persistence with both ASUS and ExCaliberPC to get to the point I am at now. I believe it was the push from ExCaliberPC to ASUS that got me in touch with the tech. I had to get to the point of asking for a refund before the needed action was taken.

0100 1010 0101 0011 - Thanks for sharing..... by the way what is the name of the Tech / Suporvsor that you are know in contact with?

 

For the life of me, I can't think of his name. I was driving when he called, so I wasn't prepared with my notes like for all my other calls to ASUS. However, he did say that there were only two G73's there that were being replaced. I can only assume he meant yours, and so this may be the same guy. I'll PM you the #, and we'll see if it's the same.

 

All I can say is wow. Sad that "customer service" has sunk to this level. It is the same with many industry's.

 

That really sucks. I feel sorry for you. I called them when my X1 died. They were very nice on the phone. The person I spoke with did talk to me and was not reading a script the whole time. I mean, part of it is the script to set up the RMA, but he did seem concerned and talked about what was happening with my unit without just reading from the computer screen.

In the end I sent it back to NewEgg since they did still have some X1 stock at the time. I knew Asus didn't have any stock or parts and that if I sent it to them, it would sit until the shipments came in. Besides, I didn't want the original unit back repaired. I thought if it failed once, it would fail again. I didn't want a "refurb".

 

Well played Jody, well played

 

Note: I moved the thread to the main ASUS forum.

 

I am currently going through the EXACT same thing with ASUS. Practically verbatim. I am happy to know I'm not the only one but at the same time a bit upset about the fact that ASUS is doing this. The promises to call back, the escalation, the changing stories. Funny thing is that when I first called they tried to tell me that my laptop should only have 4 gigs RAM. I wanted to send back to Newegg cause I have the X1 but was worried when I saw the prices going up that I'd only end up getting my money back and having to repurchase the same computer for $170 more just because the first time i purchased it it was broken. I know everyone's in it to make a buck but there are right and wrong ways to do that. All in all this has left a very sour taste in my mouth. Hopefully the new one I get (upgraded just like 0100) will work for years but I won't hold my breath. Hopefully the ASUS rep wasn't just blowing smoke when they said that HQ gets a separate shipment from the resellers. Kind of makes me wonder where that separate shipment was with the first shipment of g73 models? We'll see if blu-ray and two hard drives can soothe the savage beast (assuming I get the A1).

 

Oh there are more than just two being replaced by ASUS directly that much I guarantee. Mine makes 3. My tech's name was Ty. Or something like that.

 

By now, I would imagine there are at least a dozen G73's in one form or another awaiting replacement. Might your Tech supervisor's name be "Hie" or "Hye"? That sounds familiar.

 

Ouch.. And I thought it will be piece of a cake to get a replacement from Asus directly in compare to somewhat difficult response from your reseller.. I never had any single issue with Asus in the Czech Republic where I am from. I guess this could possibly be just country limited issue. No offense.

 

I think my situation is extreme. If ASUS had a replacement G73 in stock, I am confident it would have been shipped by next day. But a lack of stock and poor customer service led to my problem spiraling out of control.