I own a Computer repair shop. We've been around since 1999. I have liked Acer products as an inexpensive, decent laptop solution for a lot of my customers. That ends today, and I would like to take a minute to tell you why.
We have a customer with an Iconia PAU30 laptop with a virtual keyboard. The customer decided to reinstall Windows 7 Professional and when they did, they lost their Virtual keyboard. Of course I thought it would be a simple matter of getting the driver from the Acer website. Not so much. It's not there. (Note: the issue is a driver, the keyboard is there until Windows 7 loads)....... So I try to contact Acer to ask them for help..... Note, there was a time you could to this and speak to an actual person. Not any more. As soon as you put in the SNID, it doesn't give you an opportunity to explain your issue, it says "you're out of warranty, we're transferring you to our paid support". And no matter what you say, all they tell you is, you have to pay. Yes, it may be a driver, no we won't just give it to you, or tell you where to find it. He also told me "once it's out of warranty YOU CAN NOT do it yourself"...... I then asked exactly what they were going to do, he said check for file corruption etc. and If...... IF it's a driver (it is a driver) they will install it. I asked why I couldn't just get the driver myself...... No answer...... I said, all other computer manufacturers may have similar policies, but you can actually talk to them and get help if you have an uncommon situation (ironically, Acer USED to be one of those manufacturers.... I then asked if they guarantee their work. Nope, you could actually pay what they describe as a "nominal fee" and not have your problem solved. There is more, but I've wasted enough time on Acer today, it's more of the same nonsense, runaround, and no help. At the end of the day, after repairing thousands of computers, there is no way we or our customer should be in this situation. Service is a big part of what we do here (we offer a complete money back guarantee here) and if I can't have confidence in a manufacturer to do right by my customers, I cannot continue selling their products to my custoomers.
