Unbelieveable statement by Asus Technical Support/RMA

I just recently got off the phone with Asus technical support to setup an RMA for my Asus K42JC Notebook, and after the conversation I just had with their “support representative”… I had to post my experience here.

Firstly I think it’s important for me to give a little background on myself – I am a 15 year IT veteran. I am a technical project leader for a very, very large IT service provider (think blue) and I have been doing system builds on the side for 15 years now, frequently sourcing Asus components since the 486 era. Now I am not trying to come off as arrogant, and I am not saying I know everything… I learn new things every day… but I am probably more on my game than the guy that answered my call at Asus. I try to keep as current as possible on hardware releases and reviews, and I am an avid gamer. I own two Asus laptops, this K42JC and a G73JH, as well as several Asus motherboards. I have been a fan of the brand for years, although after my experience today I think my faith in Asus is being brought into question.

Since day one my K42JC laptop has been a bit of a trouble maker, random blue screens doing really pretty much anything, browsing the net, watching 720p content, playing World of Warcraft, it didn’t matter what was going on – at least once a day the system would randomly freeze or bluescreen. I replaced the memory with some spare sticks I had lying around and it did not improve the issue. I tried updating drivers, reinstalling the OS to no avail. To me this was a clear indication of a hardware issue, and it reached the point where I finally decided to get off my and call Asus “technical support” to setup the RMA.

After I explained to the representative what the issue was he told me, straight out, “The computer will blue screen in World of Warcraft”. I had to pause for a second. He expected me to believe this was NORMAL behavior. I asked him why, and he explained that because the system was not designed to run such an “intense” game. He explained that the system did not have the ability to cool itself sufficiently for this “intense” game. I was expected to believe a laptop designed and built in 2010 on i5 technology was not capable of running a game released in 2004 which will run on even the lamest laptops of today. I explained the system was clearly intended for moderate gaming, which is why it features a standalone Nvidia GPU with 1GB of standalone graphics memory. At this point he actually wanted me to look at pictures of the asus gaming series of notebooks to point out the differences in cooling. I was downright infuriated and I snapped, I ended up telling him I was not having this ridiculous discussion with him and to set up the RMA.

Is this REALLY a statement Asus wants to make? That this laptop is not capable of running games without overheating and faulting out?? SERIOUSLY. NO, REALLY. SERIOUSLY? If that’s something Asus really expects the user base to believe there better be some warnings on their advertisements for most of their notebooks. The idea that they designed a notebook that is incapable of cooling itself at 100% system load just makes me sick. I, and any person with an IQ over 40 knows this is not the reason this system locks up but the fact that they are willing to pass off my issues as “normal” completely removes my faith in the brand. This experience is such an unbelievable crock that I am left (almost) speechless.

I am actually hesitant to even send the system in at this point, fearing that it will just be sent back with issues unresolved.

Frustrated,

-Dave.

 

Dave welcome to the forums.. I feel your pain. I have had battery issues since I bought my G73, (Discharges rapidy wether in the machine while turned off or out of the machine). Got a replacement battery that died when it reached 15%... and to add insult to injury had to pay to ship back the bad battery. Now they want me to RMA the entire unit - No way Jose!


I get the feeling they are looking to be bought out by a larger player (the way dell & Alienware hooked up) and are not concerned at all about repeat business at this point.
Do you have an authorized service center near your home?
Also have you followed up with the vendor you purchased from to see if they can intervene on your behalf? Good luck with ASUS, and thank God for these forums!

 

My G73JH was also a pain, had the Grey screen of death all the time until I updated the vbios, it has been pretty good since then though. They are expecting me to pay to ship this also. I may get in touch with NCIX (where I ordered it) to see what they do for me.

 

ASUS technical support is a headache -- no doubt. In situations like this it's better to just hang up and call again.

 

Yeah, they have decent personnel as well as terrible one. It seems things have gotten worse recently. A few years back i didn't have any problems with their tech support. I would go to an ASP if you can.

I also don't understand why they want you to pay for shipment, i never had to and it's only natural that they pay for a defective product.

 

@tijo, I absolutely agree. Definitely go to an ASP if you can. Here's the list: ASUS Notebook Authorized Service Provider

 

I know there is a known issue with the NVidia cards and Deepholme with WOW, but that is a simple fix just by editing a simple line of code (we've actually had someone here that experienced that issue and now has the fix). He may have been referring to that when he made that statement but it still doesn't explain the blanket statement of it overheating and not being able to handle the games.

In situations like this, I always recommend contacting whoever sold you the unit to see if there is anything they can do to help you with ASUS and getting a RMA setup. They may also be able to direct you to a more local option if it is available. Let us know how everything turns out!

 

Wow that's a pretty short list of authorized service providers... I'm in Canada and there is literally only one in my province, and it's over 3 hours drive from here. Doesn't look like it's a realistic option for me. I never did receive a confirmation e-mail on the RMA, I'm guessing he never set it up... which is probably a good thing.

I'll call back in and give it another try today.

 

WOW I checked the list he closest one to me is Georgia so I just hope this thing makes it through the warranty period without a problem.....then I'll fix it myself. I too sent an email to Asus Support and it took over a week to get an answer. First paragraph in the email Asus apologized for the delay and blamed it on a faulty email system on their end, and then proceeded not to answer the query I had made. Tried to get a disassembly manual for my X52 and was refused on that item, so I'm still searching for a disassembly manual for an A52, K52, X52 and was willing to buy it from Asus. Do they in their infinite wisdom believe they can repair every laptop they sell themselves with limited RMA facilities and a handful of Authorized Repair Shops??? Unbelievable!!!
I wonder how an ODM company like Asus could possibly put up with a faulty email system, bad links, etc. on their website? Really doesn't instill confidence in the product. I wish you well hoeser.

 

I fell for you, i'm in the same situation, there's one in Quebec City but none in Montreal (the city where if you take into account the surroundings, half the province's population lives there!)

 

Welsome to the wonderful world of Asus RMA. After my multiple experiences with them, when it came time to buy my wife a new laptop, I bought her a 13" macbook air ultimate.
Asus RMA department. Losing one loyal customer at a time.

 

That was amusing.

 

This does not really surprise me after hearing so many horror stories about them although it was mainly UK Asus 'support'. I wonder what they would say if they sold cars ''if you look at how our cars are designed you can see they are not capable of being driven too often''

 

We mostly hear the horror stories here . I'm Canada and aside from one incident where the person on the phone was a total incompetent and that there's no ASP near me (which annoys me to no end), my experience with their customer service has been very good. 90% of the time i had to RMA, they didn't even argue, pickup by fedex was scheduled, they came to pick up the package withing 2 days and i received the repaired product within 5 days usually. Oh and they paid for the shipping every time.

 

ummmmm, perhaps...your engine is dead and parts are on order from Beijing. Arrival date of these parts unknown as we are unable to contact the vendor due to a totally messed up email system. Have a nice day....yours truly Asus Motors Ltd.

 

Or....
"I know you dropped off your car last week, but it takes us a while to get them out of the parking lot and into the shop so we can log them in. Call back next week."

"I know I work for the dealership your car is being worked on, but I have absolutely no way to talk to the tech to find out the status of your car. I can email him, and maybe he will email him back."

"Well, the tech never emailed me back, all I can tell you is that your car is in the shop, we don't know what's wrong with it, and we don't know when you will get it back."

"Sir, I understand it's a tremendous inconvienence to be without a car for a month, but there is nothing I can do about that. Our tech got out the diagnostic dartboard and he hit the spot that says motherboard so we ordered one. No idea when it'll be in though. I know you are having a problem with the dvd drive, but the dartboard is never wrong"

etc....

 

Has anyone had any good experiences with Asus support?

I really wonder how some company's manage to survive when I hear such appalling support.

 

hahahahahah....those are funny

on my Asus Desktop motherboard .......YES!

 

In Poland one support which people don't about is Dell's one. And only this one where you have your laptop repaired at home. Hehe

 

I had to send in my laptop to get the DVD drive replaced and it went smoothly and quickly for me.

 

I sent Asus the same letter I posted originally in this thread, here is the response I got

I am now working with someone in Canada at the RMA depot directly, I think. FedEx still has not come by to pick up the notebook. I will keep you guys up to date on what happens from here.

 

Asus ,sometimes, doesn't respect their customers I once sent my M51sn notebook in order to replace its dead speakers, after two weeks of waiting they had replaced the speakers and didn't assemble it correctly !!!

In addition, I bought a G53 1 month ago and I have to restore the system, however, AI recovery burner doesnt recognize any recovery partition even though there is a recovery partition. and then I contacted local asus service and ordered a recovery dvd for me !!. Also, I sent an email to asus service regarding this problem and they had replied by this :
Dear Valued Customer,

After researching your model further, I do regret to inform you that ASUS eStore cannot provide a recovery disk for the ASUS (G53JW) as there is no software manufactured for this model.



Due to recent changes within ASUS recovery CD’s are no longer provided in the packaging. For your reference you may review the following link: http://support.asus.com/news/news.aspx?no=595&SLanguage=en-us.



By default your system comes pre-installed with a program called AI Recovery that allows the customer to create their own recovery software. In the event you are unable to make these disks or your system is not equipped with the AI Recovery Program you may download the program from ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support-. If you require further assistance you may contact ASUS product support team is available 24/7 at 888-678-3688 or via Live Chat at http://livesupport.asus.com.



Best Regards,

ASUS-eStore Customer Service Representative

812-282-2787 or 510-739-3777 Option 3


In conclusion,

Deal with local stores, and stay AWAY from asus online service.