Review of Acer's Service

Glad to hear you had good service!

To bad i can't say the same. I bought my laptop in sig, it died 6 days later. They refused to replace it. I had to send it in, they held onto it for 16 days before i got it back. When i got it back i didn't get the original packaging i sent it in, and there were 3 scratches on the top lid. Overall very very poor service. So for me, i would say do not go Acer based on their service.

Acer Services hmmmmmmmmm

Well l can say they where very quick in fixing the slot cover fault with my laptop only took 7ish days (however replaced the dvd burner with a Matshita UJ-845D eek eek slow)

My only grumble with them is:

I recieved every man/woman and their dog's service emails about when there desktop/laptop had been recieved/fixed/dispatched......l though nothing off this untill someone elses laptop turned up for me to collect, then was quickly followed by a desktop comp, after a quick call to acer all seemed well lol

Then for several weeks, after being told it would not happen again, more acer products turned up lol.

Quite a few infact, l found it funny only because l was out of the country for several months, however my better half was less than impressed.

All said an done, apart from that hicc up, acer services are quite cool imo

Service? What service?

I think Acer's service is the worst I've ever had from a computer company.

My Ferrari 4003 lasted 8 days originally until the sound stopped working. I called up support and it was collected the next day for warranty repair.

After 3 days I got it back but not in the original Acer box which I had sent it in, instead it was wrapped in some black plastic. They had fitted a new logic board, and it worked for another 6 days until the graphics chip broke and the screen was constantly corrupted and it wouldn't work in Windows for more than 5 minutes without blue-screen'ing.

I called up support again and they arranged for a courier to collect it the next day, promising a fast turnaround because it was a re-repair.

The courier never arrived but left a phone message saying the van had broke down (City Link have only one van?) and they would collect the next morning. The next morning still no show, but they eventually turned up late afternoon.

Now, the guy had promised a 'faster turnaround than the previous repair' since this was a re-repair, so I was expecting it back in a couple of days.

A week went by and no news, so I called up and after a 15-minute wait someone told me that they had been waiting for parts but it had now been assigned to a technician for repair. Another 6 days later I called up and they said the same thing (the parts had now arrived and the technician would be looking at it in the next day or so). Yet another 9 days afterwards, I called up again, and the woman said they had had to re-order the parts but they had arrived now and the laptop would be repaired and sent back within a few days.

After another four days I called up again to be told the exact same thing (parts have arrived, but they had a backlog, and yes my machine was a priority since it was a re-repair). I was quite annoyed by now and the lady on the phone went to find a manager, putting me on hold. After ten minutes of waiting on hold, hearing people laughing in the background, I was cut off. I called back and another woman told me that the laptop would be repaired the next day (Tuesday).

So, the laptop finally arrived back here today (Friday) after 4 weeks sitting in Acer's repair shop not even being looked at, and as soon as I took it out of the box the PCMCIA slot cover fell out. I put it back in, and it fell out again. It appears that whoever fixed the laptop didn't replace the little retaining clips for the PCMCIA cover so there's nothng holding it in place. I try to call up again to get them to pick it up for repair for the third time but everyone has gone home (they must finish early on a Friday, since according to the support website they're supposed to open until 6PM but it's 5.50PM and I get no reply).

Also the screen is covered in some sort of greasy gunk which takes ages to get off. What was a brand new laptop now looks like a 3-year old laptop that someone has been eating their lunch off of.

OK the PCMCIA slot cover is a minor thing but it's a bad sign when after 4 weeks of being 'under repair' with Acer bits start falling off as soon as I take it out the box. Anyway I will call back on Monday and get them to pick it up for the third repair.

I'm not asking for a lot, I just wanted a working laptop, but this seems to be something Acer are incapable of delivering.

Which country do you live?

I am from UK.

I've been trying to call Acer for the last hour or so but I just hear a recorded message saying they're too busy to take my call then it hangs up. I'll try again tomorrow.

I post in the interest of finding out how common service problems are. Your stories are so familiar to me.

Well, bought my 8204 on Feb 25th after reading lots of favourable reviews (especially here - thanks for the review, czm2000). I love the machine but after two weeks the computer began starting up to Scan Disk and re-starting from time-to-time.

To make a long story short, I have since had 5 new hard drives, a new mother board and new RAM put in this machine. Each of those "new" things required a 10 day trip to Acer's repair shop so you can do the math to figure how long I've actually had this "new" machine in my posession over that time. Add to that calculation the time it takes to back up data before it's sent out and to re-install everything when I get it back.

Had I known that I'd lose the "eRecovery" system when they changed the HD, I'd have done a more thorough backup after the initial one.

Anyway, they sent me a "replacement" computer last week (it's re-conditioned not new) which had more problems than my first machine as soon as I started it so I sent it back.

The microscopic extent to which they have screwed up all these repairs over the past 4 months is what would make this story way too long for this forum. The computer is extremely nice to use when it's working but I can't believe the detail of the screw-ups they have managed to accomplish.

This is a complaint about Acer service. When (if) they find a problem I'll know better but the machine is otherwise nice to use.

Acer service is the worst. My TM4150 died after 3 months and I have to wait 3 months too before i got it back.
i have yell at them like hundred times
urgh....damn acer

A computer company that makes bulk notes either dell, acer, who ever, is going to have some system that are just DOA/ Bad parts, it's part of electronics, welcome to life lol.. As far as international units, do you really think ACER AMERICA keeps parts for those units?? you may want to read your warrenty. As far as wait times, no customer is better than the other. Do the tech's make mistake's? Well duh sometimes, there only human. Any doubts about your system breaking down before warrenty is up? buy an extended warrety before the 1 yr is up, hell its posted on the internet all ya need is your S/N and a CC for 2 extra years acer runs a good price.

I spent a couple of days phoning Acer UK (about 10 calls) and failed to even get through. I phoned first thing this morning and finally managed to talk to somebody who offered the replacement power supply I needed, but said it would take 10-15 days to send out. They have thousands in stock in a local warehouse (he told me as much, and it's an incredibly common part), but said, in a dreary tone, 'it's just logistics, these things take time, everyone wants things done quickly nowadays'. Who's saying that Acer systems should be faultless? Of course every company is going to churn out some lemons, but some more than others due to poor manufacturing processes and poor post-build testing. It doesn't mean nobody should comment or complain. Ditto with regard to techs' mistakes. If people don't share their experiences we never get to know which companies to avoid. And if that's in reply to Sucrilos' post, has it occurred to you that 'ACER AMERICA' has sod all to do with anything, and that he was most likely dealing with Acer UK? Regardless, Acer whoever should stock common parts for all of their popular models. Country of origin really has very little to do with the parts bar a few obvious exceptions. 'No customer is better than the other' - perhaps not, but some should be dealt with more quickly than others as an apology for being persistently let down. Particularly when it's their written policy to do just that, and they're told their's is a priority case. 'Buy an extended warranty' - What a cracking piece of advice, hold the presses. I'd never have thought of that one. I presume an extended warranty means you get priority phone lines and a different set of competent technical support staff, ones who don't eat off your laptop?

Agreed. Not questioning that. We all make mistakes in our work but most of us take responsibility for them and take corrective action.


I've done that but that's hardly the point. A warranty is only as good as the service you actually receive. My machine has been back several times and the problems persist. Many times the computer has come back with completely inappropriate repairs for the reported problem.

I guess I'm not sure what your point is.

Did you have to pay for shipping to Acer? My Acer died about two weeks after I bought it, and I had to send it in. It cost me $23 shipping to send it UPS ground with professional packaging. I have owned both Toshiba and Sony laptops. When I had to send them in for warranty repairs, Toshiba and Sony paid for the shipping and packaging to and from them. I think it is very poor service for Acer to make you pay for shipping for warranty repairs. They are definitely not competing with other laptop manufacturers in this area.

Acer paid for my shipping.

The last time mine went back for repairs the Purolator depot was broken into and my machine was stolen and recovered trashed and wrecked. So I finally got a new machine! I also got a new batch of problems. I don't bother having it fixed any more. I just live with the problems and consider my extended warrantee a waste of money.

Ah Acer. A mixed bag for me. I have an Acer Aspire 3003. I payed 700 USD. And that's where the good things end. I bought the Aspire to replace an ancient Inspiron 8100 that I loved. It lasted three years with the only repair needed being a hard disk after the second year, and a new keyboard after I dropped a biology book on the first one. Twoards the end the screws were starting to fall out the bottom, and because of that the 5 and 6 keys had stopped working. But it wasn't bad for a three year old laptop!

Then I got my Acer. After two months there was a crack running down the center of the screen, on the outside, and there were large pieces of plastic falling away from the hinges on the screen. I could see the wiring for the monitor. Then the disk drive fails. I send it back to Acer, telling them to leave the two partitions on the Hard Disk because I dual-boot XP and Back|Track (A network security Linux distro). I get the computer back a week later. And what do I find? One partition. The screen looked like someone had wiped down the keyboard with french fries and then closed the lid, leaving nice grease marks in the shape of the keys.

Now, since then, the keyboard and touchpad have completely stopped working, the front Wireless LAN light has stopped working, rendering the wireless unusable. The paint has worn off of all of the keyboard surfaces, the headphone jack is loose so that I have to hold in the headphone plug otherwise I only get 1 channel on my headphones. Oh ya, and I have to push in the empty jack if I want to get music out of the (crappy) speakers. Taking the laptop apart is difficult, if not impossible because some of the screws are underneath the display for the laptop. After one and a half years of sparing use, I'm missing half of the case screws from underneath the laptop. The plastic pannels that cover up the WLAN card and fan are cracked in multiple places, the laptop overheats very easily (I had one day where the system would die after 5 minutes if I had an external cooling pad connection. Apparently the temperature sensor is located in the solid heat sink, not near the processor), and the screen still looks like it had french fries wiped over it.


I will never buy an Acer again, nor will I recommend it to anyone. I'd rather be using my 1 Ghz Dell Inspiron 8100 (aka, 'the brick') than buy another Acer.

my service w/ acer have been excellent every time. No problems with them whatsoever.

Yup, same here. I've had several critical problems over the past 4 years of owning Acer notebooks, and every time I called up the techs, they either expressed me a replacement part or set up a pickup the very next day.

The 3 times that I sent my laptop in for depot repair, I got it back within a week of the pickup. Everything came back in pristine condition, working perfectly and on time.

Can't complain much about them, but I guess you guys just had bad luck.