Acer Violating Warranty of Merchantability

crsacer

I will preface this by saying I have been an Acer customer for the past 8 years, running through two laptops. I have not had problems with either of these laptops. On this purchase, I have ran into issues. Acer customer service has been entirely unhelpful, and is the reason this will likely be my last Acer laptop.

I purchased an Acer TravelMate at the very end of July 2017. Almost immediately, the laptop showed signs of a severe issue -- it would randomly turn off once or twice a day for no apparent reason (battery wasn't low, not overloading the computer, etc.). I contacted customer service, who told me that I should reset my laptop to see if the issue persisted. The representative began walking me through the steps to reset my laptop. I had to tell him "it would probably be a good idea for me to back up my files" before that idea even crossed his mind. If I was a customer who was not tech savvy, I would have lost all my files.

Following this reset, the problem persisted. I was told that I would have to send in my laptop for repair. That ended up costing me $40 (packaging and shipping). I sent in the computer and subsequently called customer service, furious that I was required to pay $40 extra, after having bought this laptop two months prior. I was told that my laptop had been purchased in February (again, I purchased in July) and that I wouldn't get refunded unless I could provide proof of purchase. I did, and was only refunded $20 for shipping. Apparently a refund for packaging isn't an option.

I went two weeks without a laptop, of which only three days were spent trying to repair the laptop. When it was sent back, the provided note said "Could not replicate the problem. Updated firmware. Passed all testing." To no one's surprise, updating the firmware did not solve the problem (and if the repair center thought it was a legitimate solution, why couldn't I have done it at home?), and the problem persisted. 

Now, some important context to this situation. I purchased a new laptop because I started law school in August. My previous laptop was on its last legs and I didn't want to face issues in what is arguably the most important year of law school. During the two weeks I was without a laptop, I had to write a memo (our only grade for that class) and take a midterm. Pretty difficult without a personal computer. 

Following the failed repair, I was understandably pretty frustrated. I called customer service again, asking for a replacement product. I was told that replacements couldn't be issued until the product had been sent in for repair three times. Let me say that again, three times. This means, I would have to go at least six weeks without a laptop, and have to pay anywhere between $60-120 total, depending on whether Acer was kind enough to reimburse shipping.

In the context of law school, this leaves me with two options:

1) I don't have a laptop for finals, which puts me at a severe disadvantage relative to other students, as I found out during my midterm
2) I take a chance with this laptop, at the risk that it turns off randomly during my exam, another severe disadvantage

So I spent >$700 on a laptop because I didn't want to have computer problems during law school, and instead of peace of mind, I have increasing payments, time without a laptop, and unnecessary stress.

From a legal perspective, this is impermissible. The warranty I purchased does not disclaim the warranty for merchantability (a guarantee that the product will be reasonably fit for ordinary use) for personal purchases. Acer has breached this warranty. In their Standard Warranty, Acer gives customer service the option to replace the defective product. Nowhere in the warranty does it require it to be sent in for repair three times until it can be replaced. 

My conspiracy theory (although I hesitate to call it a conspiracy theory because it seems like the most plausible explanation) is that someone did buy the laptop in Febraury, encountered this issue, sent it back to Acer, Acer could not replicate the issue, and dumped the laptop on me. It amazes me that a simple, inexpensive customer service solution exists and Acer refuses to even consider it. Send a replacement laptop, I'll send back the defective laptop, and Acer can solve the issue on its own time, not mine.

Customer service has been entirely unhelpful, I cannot send back the laptop for repair because I cannot survive another week, much less six, without a laptop in law school, a solution exists, but no one wants to consider it. The question here is what are my options? Because it doesn't seem like anyone in Acer actually wants to help their customer.

Mr_Morningstar

Wow

Does sound like there's been a definite failure realized on the end of the customer service portion of this transaction.

I'm curious if your item was purchased new or thru the recertified site? I ask primarily as I dropped just over a grand on a laptop from their recertified site, but nowhere was I able to actually enlighten myself on what the recertification process is. Only info I could find was the following: "Manufacturer refurbished items are often returned by a customer or previously opened products that have been cleaned, and restored to a like new functional condition."

They also make note that the customer may be liable for return shipping "depending on the reason", which sounds like it's wholly subjective at best.

Your situation seems quality control may be of concern with this recertification process.

meicy

This is very sad. And their Live Chat is just a joke--it made me wait for over 16 minutes for an agent while counting down the number of people before me one by one. Ok, I thought maybe they are short on staff. However, when the countdown came to 0, it showed "Status: Canceled. There are no agents available to chat with you right now. Please try again later." Their Live Chat supposed to be available 5AM-2AM CST, and this happened before 6pm CST.  

I bought my new Acer A315 in August, and it stopped working after 2+ months. Windows won't start at all. 

Mr_Morningstar

Yes, unfortunately it looks like I'm going to be having some definite trouble with them as well.
 
For starters, the packaged arrived open. Literally, the tape looks like it was either shabbily applied or someone checked what was in the box. Secondly, I ran checks on the drives installed, and both drives easily have over 1000 hrs of up time.

I'm not the best at math, but 1000 hrs doesn't really count as recertified to me. In any event, the HDD installed was significantly higher than expected for the reallocated sectors, potentially meaning the drive has a history of trouble. Even better, what was supposed to be a M.2 NVME 2280 drive is actually an M.2 Serial ATA, in other words, significantly slower that what was advertised.

4th, though it's not incredibly important but says a lot still, there is no Realsense 3D camera. I wasn't planning on using it, but again it was advertised, so wtf. To round things out, I ended up with a black edition, which again, is not what was shown on the product information page. I'm not necessarily upset about this, but I knew immediately upon seeing the "black edition" script this is not configured as I requested.

Called customer service, surprise surprise, no answer, and was told to leave a message because no one is available. Debatable if they even have actual phone reps.

I'm seriously not impressed with the first hrs with this thing, and it would suck to need to send this back and be inconvenienced without a pc again, but at the same time I can't see the point in letting this company ***** me around for something I paid legitimate money for.

We'll see, won't we.

Mr_Morningstar

Decided to update on this for transparency sake.

Surprisingly enough, I actually did get a call from them earlier today, an agent named Sharon. Unfortunately I didn't answer, as they called from a restricted number, and I typically do not answer those. She did leave a message though, so I will give credit when it is due, and eat my words here.

I can't say this now means their customer service dept is the best amongst computer manufacturers, but they at least called back within 24 hrs.

As for the unit itself, I have since inspected the internals, and the board is in like new condition. The peripherals, connectors and overall condition seems very good. There were faults though, as one of the WiFi antennas had a small fray, which I decided to repair, as well as a broken screw boot for the screen on the right hand side, which doesn't impair the hinge functionality at all. I declined to touch it though, as plastic is finicky to work with at times.

The M.2 slot is also a bit convoluted. Though the unit shipped with a normal Sata III Samsung, upon checking the PCIE bus information the slot is most certainly 4 lane capable, so even though it wasn't included, the unit will support it.

The only real failure is the camera, as it's most definitely the basic 720p model, but realistically as the only thing I would be using it for is to put a stripe of paper and tape over, it's more of a gimmick, and I'm fine doing without it.

The main deal breaker would have been the non NVME capable M.2 slot, but as that's been rectified, along with the storage drive being upgraded already at this point, I honestly can't report any serious unsettled qualms I have.

I'll have to monitor how this progresses, but my situation is an acceptable mixed bag at this point.

Teetertotter

crsacer said:

I will preface this by saying I have been an Acer customer for the past 8 years, running through two laptops. I have not had problems with either of these laptops. On this purchase, I have ran into issues. Acer customer service has been entirely unhelpful, and is the reason this will likely be my last Acer laptop.

I purchased an Acer TravelMate at the very end of July 2017. Almost immediately, the laptop showed signs of a severe issue -- 



Customer service has been entirely unhelpful, I cannot send back the laptop for repair because I cannot survive another week, much less six, without a laptop in law school, a solution exists, but no one wants to consider it. The question here is what are my options? Because it doesn't seem like anyone in Acer actually wants to help their customer.

On reconditioned items, Acer has 90 day warranty, from reading on Walmarts website.  Did you request to speak with someone in the US?  Talk to supervisor? Did you register it after you received your original purchase?  

Mr_Morningstar

Reporting in on this for the final time.

Since purchase, and the slightly botched shipment packaging, I've had zero complaints. I think my main takeaway here was understanding that even though this is a "recertified" unit, at the end of the day it's still used, so expect signs of this. I will admit I did have expectations of receiving a "like new" device, and to that point I can say in my personal case the unit was in pretty great aesthetic condition, even if the drives were not new at all (see pictures). After swapping them though, I've had no hiccups whatsoever. Also included a couple pics of the back of the board for those interested in the infamous NVME M.2 slot, which indeed this unit does support.

I very briefly spoke with customer service about my slight concerns, but I was fine without the 3D camera (the current camera is currently disabled and blocked), as the other things I wanted were indeed included. She was otherwise very helpful and courteous. Just reporting the truth there.

I can't report any of the overheating issues either, but I also don't push the unit nearly as much as some others. I primarily do video editing and spreadsheets, which run quickly and efficiently with the CPU/GPU combo. 

I will report the 4K screen is terrible for the battery, period. Nothing to interpret there, it's not good, and a slightly intensive application will kill the battery within 1.5 hrs, and if it's anything more intense, expect under an hr, but the main observation is it still seems to be in excellent functional condition, and still holds a decent charge.

I think for any and every situation, there's going to be exceptions and special circumstances, and this is no different. It's unfortunate the members here have had difficulty and encountered failure when attempting to deal with different issues, but I can't say that it's the entire company or a general expectation; it's just one off circumstances like anything else in life.

Wasn't trying to hi-jack this gents thread, but considering where I started and where I'm at now, I felt it appropriate to share my findings.

Best of luck all.