Complain about a product or service

Acer

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Terry of Uhrichsville, OH September 8, 2009

I purchased a new Acer 5515 laptop at Walmart in March 2009. In August of 09, the laptop shut off and never restarted. The power button would light, but no fan or video was present. I sent it to Texas for repair, and it was returned after a motherboard replacement. It runs for about 1.5 minutes and shuts down. I called the "tech support" and was told to return it by Fedex, and they wouild foot the shipping bill.

We don't have a local fedex, so I suggested UPS...nope, just Fedex, so I paid shipping again. No replacement, just repair. They didn't repair it! Has anyone had any luck with the BBB or their state Atty General going back on Acer to stand behind their products. Oh, and I got the same run around when I asked for a supervisor, or even just somebody I could understand.

I own a DJ business, and I probably lost 1,000.00 in business because my laptop has been on vacation in Texas twice already.

marcia of springfield gardens, NY August 26, 2009

I purchased 3 acer mini laptops in october 2008, the next day my husband went back and purchased another, and also in december he then another so that is 5 acer mini laptop that we purchased in 2008, in march of 2009 I took 1 of the laptops back cause the screen cracked I was told that the insurance didn't cover it I went back and fort with radio shack and acer about it. and yes we purchased 5 insurance protection.

not was solved. I am stuck with a broken screen with in 5 months of having lap top. it was plugged in to charge came back and screen was broken. took #2 laptop in april 2009 frozen. was unable to get anything. sent to radio shack. got back at the end of april. had to reboth system.

in may 2009 #3 & #4 something with the battier was unable to turn on, and #4 no screen and frozen. jot back in the beginning of july. #5 & #4 both in august. #4 same thing from before, #5 halfb of screem and frozen. got back 2 week later august 19 and 20, 2009,

i have called acers about all 5 laptops. they told me to deal with radio shack cause I purchased from them. again with the back and fort. with in less than a year i have taken 5 acer laptop back and fort to be fixed. all 4 work and i got stuck with a broken one. spent 3000.00 on all 5 acer laptops and have so much problems.

I demand a refund, or some type of awards. 3000 is a lot to loose. laptops 399.00 each, insurance 170.00 each, case 20.00 each, flashdrive 15.00 each plus tax. acer sold [bad] laptop and I found out that they are affiliated with gateway computer

Lisa of Lawrenceburg, KY August 25, 2009

I have purchased 2 acer laptop computers; one for myself, and then a year later, one for my spouse. With both, I purchased extended warranties- 3 yrs. Both have functioned fine, however just shy of its second year, the hinge connecting the base to the monitor broke, making it impossible to close without damage to the monitor. I called support, they informed me to close carefully as much as I could, pack well and send it back and they would repair it. I did and received my laptop minus any charges- extended warranty- within 10 days. Great!

Now my spouse has had his just shy of 2 years and the same thing happened- same hinge. This time I call, they state there will be a 199.00 charge to repair. I explained that I had an extended warranty- the same thing happened to my laptop et cetera but still was told there would be a repair charge. It did not matter that I had the same thing- same hinge problem- or even had mine repaired at no charge under my extended warranty.

They said to send it in, and if they determined it to be manufacturer defect, it would be no charge, but if they deemed it to be caused by customer, they would call to collect a fee for repair. BIG problem- if it is closed, it will break- the hinge is connected to the plastic that holds the backing(lid) to the monitor. It will seperate completely at that point , and yeah- it will appear that it is customer caused break. I explained it to the CSR and he said that although he sees the problem- that the only way to assess the problem is to send it in, but of course- he doesnt recommend closing it... Get this though, he did state that I could have it packed up by a shipping company, and if "broken", I could hold them responsible.

At that point, with their POOR customer service and highly honest and ethical CSR.., we will just keep the laptop in its open position- still functioning- and save the 199 to buy another laptop, but definitely NOT an ACER.

Julie of Adel, GA August 24, 2009

I bought an acer aspire less then 6 months ago, the battery started getting hot and i would have to shut it down so it would cool. The battery would get hot within 2 hours of turning it on, and never would show 100% charged. While using it one day I started smelling burning wire smell and immediatly shut it down, when I picked it up it shocked my left hand, thats when I noticed that the plastic cover on the battery was cracked on the left side. When I turned it on the next day my screen was a split screen, a computer tech I know told me the crack was from the battery over heating and that I had a bad battery, the split screen was also caused by the battery over heating, he said the left side is where the graphics card is located. This person is also an acer dealer, he said my warranty should cover it.

I tried to go online to acers online service, and the web site does not work, I called the service line, only to be told it was my fault the battery was bad, and I would have to pay 190.00 to fix it, the warranty does not cover damages that are my fault. This jerk told me I over charged the battery, bull crap, I never charged it for more then 8 hrs. Acer company is crooked, I guess you get what you pay for. This happened 08-24-09, the computer was purchased 03-13-2009 The warranty should be active for 1 year from date of purchase, it states 1 yearlimited parts and labor, the warranty of the battery is 1 year from date of purchase and cannot be extended thru service contracts.

Steve of Dayton, OH August 21, 2009

I was out of town on business. I'm an IT Pro and can handle any laptop problem on my own thank god. Well... not so. I was at the hotel and decided to install a BIOS update on my Acer laptop that was supposed to improve a "glitch" I've had since I purchased it. Well... upon rebooting the laptop would no longer recognize my hard disk password. I went round and round with Acers automated phone system because the serial number sticker on the bottom had partially worn off. Finally I get someone in India who gives me another number to call. (1 hr+ wasted). Then the person I get at the second number has no idea what I am talking about or how to fix the problem.

I scoured the internet and found a company that could remove the software. When I returned home, I had to remove the hard drive, hook it up to one of my desktop pc's and pay 50 bucks to use their software to remove the password. Only took me about 15 minutes to do this... but I laugh when I once again know more about their products that they do.

I so feel for the many people out there that have computer problems and depend on others for help. I have been in IT for 26 years and have built and serviced thousands of computers. Acer's support is crap. They should hire some competent people that can truly help with the big and obscure problems.

Ella of Deltona, FL August 14, 2009

I called them on 8/1/09 about the cord to my laptop is not working and its still under waranty.He said he was sending one out,I was to send the old one back.That it would take 8 days to get to me.Well its the 14th and I haven't got it so I called back and now there saying I have to send them the old one first.That would of been no problem if he would of told me this in the being instead of me waiting for it to coming.That's not right they lied to me and I've been waiting all this time for it I can't use my laptop till I get the cord.

R of Marietta, GA August 10, 2009

Purchased the laptop May 2, 2008. The laptop stopped working in March 2009. Acer replaced the motherboard, battery and supply adapter. The laptop was returned in April 2009, and it has died again shortly after the 90 days on the replacement parts. This was purchased for use in a start up business. Unable to operate without it.

Jeannine of Madison, TN July 29, 2009

Purchased computer on June 27th, 2008, brand new. The computer locked up after a Microsoft update on May 29th, 2009, I contacted the repair number, it said in my warranty book to call the number for the list of repair locations. When I called the first time, they would not speak to me until I had faxed them a copy of the purchase receipt and then they insisted the warrant was only 90 days, so I had to send them a copy of the warranty in the book that shows it is for one year, parts and labor.

During the 15 calls, I have been on the phone no less than 30 minutes to over 2 hours. The techs could barely speak English and would put you on hold and never come back or just hang up on you. Every time this would happen I would attempt to call back but if I did not have hours to spend on the phone with them it was useless to call, I would call and never speak to anyone because they never came back to the phone. Numerous times, I had to do the same thing over and over to my computer, even though I told them it would not work and I had done this before. Each time I did get someone, I would have to start with; your computer is out of warranty and I would have to fax the information them again.

They could never give me the same tech, the only service was to attempt to sell me more stuff, I would ask to speak to a supervisor but they could never take my call and would never let me speak with a supervisor unless I tried the same stuff over an over again. I have worked my way through Level 1 techs, Level 2 techs and even Level 3 techs. I would have to leave messages for supervisors to call me back, it never happened. I finally gave in and ordered 30.00 worth of recovery disks, this took 10 days, then I was to contact them again. When I did this, I was instructed to use the first disk and it did nothing except, and then my cd/dvd drive would not open, unless I pushed a paperclip in it. (They told me how to open it manually) FINALLY!!!! When this did not work, I was given a number to call and request an address for the computer to go to be repaired. This was a Saturday, I had been on the phone for over 2 hours, but finally, if I called back on Monday they would give me the address to send my computer.

I called Monday, and after giving the service request number and going through the whole story again, I was given a second number to call to get the address. I called to find out they had given me a number to a refurbishing business. The gentleman was very nice but advised they did repairs on ACERS but it costs 200.00, they did not do warranty work. Finally I called back and demanded to speak with someone in the customer service, this took another two hours but I finally got through to a lady that spoke English and her name was Patsy, she stated she was a supervisor in the customer service division, I went through the whole story again! She says she looked up my record and said my laptop was out of warranty, an at this point I told her I had been calling and faxing since May, for over a 6 weeks, She still could not get that when I started calling, when the computer locked up and I called the first time it was IN-warranty but I had been put off and stalled until it was out of warranty.

She stated my account showed several calls but I only requested service two times and that was after the warranty ran out? I could not get her to understand, if I did not want service, why would I call, I did not call to check on the Techs to find out what they were having for dinner, I did not call just to say HI, and at no time was I told I had to say the words, I demand “service” before it would be logged as a service request! She started to tell me the until purchased was a refurbished computer and I told her, I was there when the guy took it out of the box, unwrapped it and registered it! In all the time I had been calling no one had ever stated it was a refurbished computer until, I got the CD's and they did more damage. I requested a letter from her company stating the computer I paid full price for was refurbished but she stated they could not do provide any paperwork of the original sale. I asked just for a letter stating it was refurbished but she refused that also. They wanted to say it was refurbished but would not provide any proof. I finally got sick of her run around and requested her boss. She said I could not speak with her boss; she even refused to give me her last name or her bosses’ name. How can this be a real company and I call the customer service center to be told they will not give me their names to file a complaint on them. I finally asked to be transferred to the legal division, She refused, she even refused to give me the number, and she said to look it up on line!!!! I reminded her I was calling because the piece of crap computer they made did not work!

Sadly enough when the computer locked up, I thought it was probably just a glitch with Microsoft but the company would never listen to trying to fix the computer, it spent all it’s time trying to prove the computer was out of warranty even though they had a copy of the warrant from their own manual. What a horrible company, products are poor, tech support is pathetic and the customer service does not exist. I am spreading the word, every chance I get, and I am stuck with a 600.00 paperweight!

Denise of Fergus Falls, MN July 26, 2009

I bought an Acer Aspire 4530 laptop from this store back Oct. 2008. First my crystal eye webcam went out and I used it only once, now the keyboard is shot and the mouse pad doesn't even work. Some how the speakers got disolved on my computer because it says that there is no audio device. Now it says that there is also no battery detected. I am taking it back into the store tomorrow and see if I can get it either replaced or fixed. I'd rather have it replaced because I am a college student and need my computer. The man at the store told me that these were top of the line computers and should have no problem with it. At least I still have my warranty I just hope I don't have any problems here on out. I know now to do my research before actually buying a computer and never listen to a salesperson.

Neal of Atlanta, GA July 25, 2009

I bought my daughter for college a top of the line Acer Aspire laptop. The first year, everything was good. Starting year two, things started to malfunction. First the camera (trip one), then the heat sink/fan (trip two). Since my extended warranty was about to run out, I wanted to have the left side USB ports replaced (not working) and DVD drive replaced. Trip three yielded a non working USB ports upon return.

Another round trip to install current drivers for the USB ports at ACER.They must thing I am stupid. Another boot up, STILL yielded no USB. I suggested back on trip three that the motherboard needed replacement. Back to Texas again. New motherboard this time and new battery. Thought I was done. Five days later-dead-nothing-nada. Back to Texas again. ANOTHER motherboard with new keyboard and battery. I have to be done now, right? 10 weeks with out my laptop so far, and thousands of FEDEX miles traveled . I gave my delivery guy a big smile yesterday with my laptop in hand. NOW the battery will not charge. ACER tells me that the battery is NOT the problem. I will TELL you the problem.

ACER techs are sending out faulty machines without repairing them professionally. I had my lawyer draft a letter demanding a current top of the line new replacement laptop with the same features I had before. Let's see if ACER live up to their name and takes care of me and stand behind their products.

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