Brand new Acer Aspire doesn't turn on! Bad service at Interdiscount, Basel, Switzerland.

I hope someone from Acer support reads this! I live in Switzerland and friend of mine not that familiar with computers asked me to assist her in selecting a new notebook. We looked through some reviews online and decided to purchase Acer Aspire V3-572 from one of the biggest electronics stores in Switzerland - Interdiscount. She bought the notebook on Wednesday, March 18th but it simply won't turn on. After plugging the power cable there is still the blue light but it simply wont start. I tried to unplug, remove the battery, hold the power button, reinsert battery.. still nothing. I went with her to the store in Basel today, Friday 20th, and I was shocked by the bad support we had there! We found the person who sold her the notebook.. Of course he tried it and didn't turn on. We asked for a replacement one and he refused because the original box was ripped open and not preserved somehow!!! Then he said that as per Acer policy the only thing he can do is to send it for REPAIR! Yes, a brand new laptop that was NEVER ON has to be sent to be repaired and NOTE, wait for 4 weeks! I tried to reach to someone in Acer in Switzerland but nothing.. At the end we left the NEW notebook in the store to be send for repair.we simply wanted a replacement one as this one was never ON and it has been just two days!!! The person in the store tried to explain that all that is per Acer policies and agreement with their store. I really don't know what to do and what to advice my friend. An obvious DEFECTIVE NEW NOTEBOOK was sold to her and we went to talk with to them on the second day!!! What kind of Acer policy and practice is this to send for repair a NEW NEVER SWITCHED ON NOTEBOOK? Any assistance is appreciated!

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padgett

Do not know about Swizerland but I would be working my way up the store's management chain and also finding the complaint department (if there is one). IMNSHO the store should replace it.

Am always very careful about opening boxes though, just to be safe.

ps it is easy for a saleman to blame someone else. Here I would just return it.

BARDAROV

Thanks for your reply.

We went to the store again to see if the new laptop with obvious manufacturing defect could be replaced with new one and the answer was NO. They explained they have to follow the policies by manufacturer (in this case Acer) regarding the warranty, returns etc..

They invited us to see on their computer the guidelines and actions their employees have to take when a customer comes to return an item and those policies defer by brand. So, there is a list of brands (HP, Asus, Acer.. etc) and he clicks on Acer. There were several time periods during the warranty period (item returned up to 7 days, item returned up to 6 months.. etc) and what action has to be taken in regards to the warranty policy. For my surprise for Acer it was all the same without any matter when you return your item - Send for repair! Even if you had returned your item up to 7 days after the purchase! We bought the notebook on Wed, it didnt turn on and we went to the store on Fri morning, and in this case according to the Acer policy the notebook has to be send for repair! Even if we returned it few hours later the answer would have been the same if you don't have the original box untouched (our had couple rips on top)! SHOCKING! The Notebook is defect and won't switch ON and Acer wants to repair it! On top of that we were told the 'repairing' will take min 4 weeks. DISGUSTING!

Cory-Acer

Hi Bardavrov,

I'm sorry that in the process of trying to do the right thing and helping a friend, you've had to deal with so much frustration. I'm not fully aware of how all things work in Sweden, but in the US our retailers ultimately control their refund/exchange policies. Our service teams do want a chance to correct problems that can be resolved without having to replace/exchange a device at any leve, whether thats a retailer or through our repair centers. I would suspect most OEMs have simliar policies of wanting a chance to correct an issue and the store is using this to say their hands are tied.

If you'd like, please send me a private message with name and phone number and I'll be glad to forward this information to the appropriate service team.