Always Back Up Your Data Before Sending it in for Service

This just hit the front page of Digg. http://digg.com/d1osEh. I'll give you a minute...

...ok, back? I'm all for a good rant, but this rant provokes one of my own. A few points to address:

1. Always back up your data before you send it into service. Everyone knows this, in fact, the blogger even knew this - so new lesson: make sure your data is actually backed up before sending your laptop to service. Make sure the disk validates, open it up and browse a few folders, give it a good lick, and see if it tastes data-y. Point is, make sure you back up your data before you send it to service.

Now why is this necessary? Because it WILL get wiped. Even if it doesn't get wiped, just assume that it will. Why would a company do this even though it risks losing dozens of precious blogger customers? Because a clean install is easier and faster than diagnosing a problem with your computer. Why waste time tracking down an issue when you can eliminate almost all software issues in a clean sweep that only takes an hour? But...but...what about "customer service"? Well, a $500 Acer doesn't come with much of that.

2. Don't admit that you fried your laptop. Don't admit it publicly. Online. To the world. Warranties don't cover user stupidity. That includes static shock from your attempt to clean out the fans. Luckily though, because Acer isn't actually going to diagnose the problem, they aren't ever going to find out what caused it. So guess what? Lack of customer service just saved you $500.

3. Yeah, sorry to the blogger, but chances are, you're not even close to halfway through. A bad hard drive normally doesn't cause a laptop to not POST. So guess what? You'll most likely have to send it off again. They'll probably replace the RAM next, which also might not do it, and then they'll randomly replace another part. Again, this is what $500 gets you in terms of service.

So yeah, good luck with that. Just a word to the wise - if you don't break your computer in the first place, you don't have to deal with the crappy service. Even if you do break a computer, try your darndest to avoid having to send it in anyways. Or a the very least have some blood pressure pills at the ready.

So let's make this a learning experience. And in big bold letters too.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE

First, a warranty does not cover:
You breaking your laptop in an attempt to fix it/make it better/alter it/lick it.
Anything that even looks like you broke, even though you didn't actually do it.
The data on your hard drive that you didn't back up.
The data on your hard drive that you thought you backed up but didn't actually back up.
Software in general.

And second, this is what to expect from a warranty repair (in multiple choice form):

You send in your laptop. They take a look and...

a) they immediately send it back to you due to a logistics error.
b) they immediately send it back to you claiming that whatever is broken isn't covered under warranty.
c) they immediately send it back to you claiming that whatever is broken voided the warranty.
d) any of the above, but after a 2 week wait, so that they had enough time to wipe your hard drive.
e) they randomly replace a part.
f) they randomly replace a part, lose a screw in the process.
g) they randomly replace a part, lose a screw in the process, scratch your touchpad/screen.
h) they randomly replace a part, lose a screw in the process, scratch your touchpad/screen, and hold on to your laptop for no reason for the next 3 weeks.

And there you have it. Take that, rinse and repeat a few times, and maybe you'll come out with a working computer. But no data. Remember that part.

So what'd we learn?

TAKEAWAY
Lower your expectations. Even lower. Lower... Little more... good.

And P.S> The "hard to find" contact us is at the bottom of every single page. All of them. In the footer. Where they normally are.

 

This maybe true for consumer grade laptops, which most of them are less than $1000. However, for a $3000 business class laptop like mine, customer service is a completely different story. I had my screen and touchpad replaced as I wished in less than a week with no hassle.

 

Holy hell, isn't this some truth. A $500 laptop is not going to warrant service that costs more than twice that amount after everything is said and done. It's all about cost effectiveness. For example, a 1987 Toyota Corolla which requires an engine replacement will most likely cost more to replace the engine than what the entire car is worth.

Same thing with laptops. It's much cheaper to just wipe data off a HDD to solve an issue than have a tech spend hours trying to figure it out. It costs the company both time and resources troubleshooting software issues where in an hour, they can have the problem "fixed" by simply reformatting/reinstalling.

 

Cheap laptop,

anyways, Id still have to say LG Support is worse, at least from my experience.

R500 = Laptop to $1599 Paperweight in a tad over a year.

 

If a computer is sold with a warranty,and it fails while under warranty,then they should fix or replace the broken part. regardless of the costs. my point 'if they are gonna find a way to avoid repairing it then don't build it so "cheap"
another good thing for tha tblogger is obtain the "accidental damage protection" then you are covered no matter what

 

I think what Acer was doing is just throwing in parts. Not taking time to diagnose it.

I would wipe the hard drive before sending it in for warranty work anyway. I wouldn't want people snooping through my hard drive.

 

FYI, Acer and Gateway are the same company in terms of support. I recently had to deal with them in trying to obtain a service manual for a monitor. I never did get the service manual (which is basically their loss, they could have sold me one for a substantial price compared to what the grey market was selling for). I wound up finding some random person on the internet that guided me through fixing the problem (apparently most monitors are very, very similar in regard to how they're repaired).