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Summary:
I purchased an Acer laptop on 09/23/2017 (Acer Spin 3 SP315-51-34CS), which I discovered was broken at home when I took it out of the box and tried to turn it on. Acer told me to send it to the Acer Repair Center in Texas – which was misinformation, as I live in Thailand and have since been told that I should’ve had it repaired at the Acer Repair Center in Asia – and it took several hours on the phone with 5 different customer service representatives to get the shipping label for repairs in Texas, and Acer is now refusing to cover shipping to Thailand. This is for the laptop that I paid $544.36 and was broken upon purchase, and I have still not been informed when I can expect to have a functioning laptop.
Detailed description:
While I was recently in New York City for work, I purchased an Acer laptop from P.C. Richard & Son (590 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY) on 09/23/2017. When I opened it at my apartment the following day (09/24/2017), I discovered that the charger didn't connect to the computer properly (it was too loose, didn't appear to be the right fit), so I called the store to try to return it. They informed me that there is a 1-year warranty for the laptop, and that upon purchase I was obligated to handle repairs directly with Acer, through the 1-year warranty. I then called the Acer Customer Service phone number provided in the box it came in. That is the first of 5 Acer Customer Service Representatives I spoke with that week.
1. This first representative tried to help me troubleshoot by resetting the power from the bottom of the laptop to turn it on, but that did not work. So it appears that there were problems with both the charger and the computer itself upon purchase. I had to go to the airport in order to fly to my home in Thailand within a few hours, so this representative asked me to leave the computer with a friend in New York who would be able to mail it to the Acer Repair Center in Texas, and she said that it would then be sent to me in Thailand. I asked for a shipping label, and she said she needed to request it from her supervisor, who was not available. We agreed that she would call me back in 2 hours in order to gather my information for the shipping label once she had confirmation from her supervisor, but she never called back.
2. At the airport when I didn’t receive the agreed upon phone call from Acer, I called the line again and spoke with Customer Service Rep 2. This person said that in order to help me, I needed to submit the Proof of Purchase via their website (csapps.acer.com/pop) and then call back once I completed this step. I said I was happy to provide that information over the phone and that this was yet another phone call I needed to make in order to have a laptop fixed that was broken upon purchase. She insisted that I complete the online submission, refused to give me a direct phone number to call back on, and hung up.
3. I completed the online submission and called back Acer Customer Service, where I had to explain the entire situation once more to Customer Service Rep 3. Her name was Ariana and she was the only kind Representative I spoke with throughout this process. However, she informed me that I had to wait 48 hours for the Proof of Purchase submission to be completed through their website, and that I would need to call back in 48 hours. She tried to expedite this, but was unable to, and said it required authorization from her supervisor, who was not available. So after speaking with 3 different representatives, I still did not have a shipping label to have the laptop that was broken upon purchase sent away for repair.
4. On 26/09/2017, after 48 hours and still without the new laptop I just paid $544.36 for that weekend, I spoke with Customer Service Representative 4. I asked to speak with his supervisor so that someone could give me the shipping label to have it sent away for repairs, but he proceeded to ask me questions about this situation for 45 minutes. He also said that the online Proof of Purchase wasn’t necessary, that it wasn’t actually processed (saying that what he needed was a registration number he never explained to me where to find), and that it wasn’t possible to mail my repaired laptop to my home in Thailand. He said he didn’t know what to advise me and that he’d need to connect me to a supervisor after all. He put me on hold for a total of 30 minutes before I could speak with a supervisor.
5. Customer Service Representative 5, the supervisor I finally spoke with, told me that the laptop could not be sent to my home in Thailand, that the first Rep I spoke with had misinformed me when she advised me to leave the laptop with my friend in New York who would mail it away for repair – that instead, I should have brought it to Thailand, where it could have been shipped away for repair in Asia. I replied that I would have brought it with me if I had not been misinformed by his Acer colleague, and so now it is only reasonable for Acer to ship it from the repair center in Texas to my address in Thailand. He then proceeded to insist very rudely that Acer is absolutely not responsible for any part of this situation (referring to both the laptop broken upon purchase and the misinformed, unhelpful customer service since), and that I would need to personally pay for the shipping from Texas or New York to Thailand. After an extremely unagreeable exchange wherein he refused to assist any part of helping me get a functioning laptop, I asked to speak with another supervisor. He said that it wasn’t possible, that he was the highest-ranking supervisor. I asked to speak with at least someone else because he didn’t seem to understand the situation or ways of solving it, at which point he agreed and said he’d need to put me on hold, and when I asked for how long, he said, “Actually I wasn’t going to connect with you someone else, I was just going to have a look online.” It was evident that he was going to place the call on hold in order to only pretend to ask for help from a colleague. It was such a rude, unhelpful, and upsetting exchange that I agreed to complete the shipping label information for New York – Texas – back to New York (not back to Thailand after all), and then I asked how to file a complaint with Acer. He told me that there is not a formal complaint process, which I have discovered is not true, as I found complaint information on the Acer website.
Today (10/01/2017), the computer is currently at the Repair Center in Texas, and I would like to speak with someone from Acer who will arrange the shipping payment for the laptop to Thailand, as soon as possible, as I still do not have the laptop I just purchased a week ago, and have had to spend 4 hours on the phone with various representatives who have not provided appropriate customer service. I would also like to file a formal complaint about my exchange with the 5th Customer Service Representative, whose name is Robert and whose employee number is #****** - based on lack of basic customer service, lying about placing me on hold, and also lying about Acer not having complaint processes (so that this incident with him would not be reported).
[edited for privacy-please do not post personal or unique information such as but not limited to full names, email addresses, phone numbers, full serial numbers, etc.]
