Acer "Authorised" service center screwed my Helios 300 PH315-51. Please Help.

Krut03
Krut03 Member Posts: 39 Troubleshooter
edited November 2023 in 2018 Archives
I purchased Helios 300 PH315-51 last month. It has a stuck pixel on the screen. So i created case id and went to service center. I had to give them my laptop to work on it. After few days i got call that laptop is ready to take. I went there and picked my laptop. The worst thing (due to acer's policy) laptop screen wasn't replaced.
Now here comes the real worst part, service center did format my ssd including windows. they installed new copy of windows. which doesn't resemble the original windows that came with laptop. They also partitioned my HDD and added some movies and songs in that drive. They also installed quick heal antivirus in it cause they have some tie up with that company.
Does acer authorise this?
if anyone from service center is reading please help. Here in india no-one really cares from acer's side.
Now that they have installed all the softwares from acer site the windows looks kind of as the old one which came with laptop. But as of they are not replacing the screen i was planning to return the laptop from where i purchased it. But thanks to so called "Authorised" Service Center i can't return it. why you ask, good question.
here we go, if i restore the windows, it will be like OEM barebone windows, it won't be having all the predator softwares or themes or lets say touch the original preinstalled windows had.

From the first day of purchasing "my first laptop" i'm frustrated and thanks to indian parents i'm so depressed that i threw my parent's money on this not so good service providing company.

if someone from acer is reading or anyone please help me.

Best Answers

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,330 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓
    If the LCD screen only had few pixels that were either stuck on or off, then I doubt the screen would be replaced. However, if it was a large number of failed pixels confined to a noticeable area on the screen, then it probably means the screen was somehow subjected to a mechanical blow that resulted in physical damage to the pixel in this area.  Unfortunately physical screen damage isn't covered by warranty. It's possible the stuck pixels were not due to physical damage or failure but due to updates that can be reversed by an ALT+F10 cold boot reset. This depends on whether or not the hidden ACER partition was wiped. Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • xapim
    xapim ACE Posts: 7,257 Pathfinder
    Answer ✓
    After i read all this from the beginning it's very clear that the supposed acer authorized service center are just a bunch of incompetents who do not have an idea of what they are doing at all i would had been fuming also as i have seen so many incompetents working in IT repair shops i could have done the job better myself but the issue here is the warranty and any personal data lost due to the drive format when it was a screen issue at least try to get some compensation out of it try to take it as high as you can do not give up as acer main office should have knowledge about this in my opinion this is a really serious issue and acer should take it serious and run background checks when it comes to assign repair companies authorization for repairing their devices really this situation is really a joke to me i would sue that company if i could



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«13

Answers

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,330 Trailblazer
    >>>if i restore the windows, it will be like OEM barebone windows, it won't be having all the predator softwares or themes or lets say touch the original preinstalled windows had.>>>

    No. If the service center did not delete the hidden recovery partition, you should be able to re-set the machine to a factory-fresh Win10 state with all the original ACER drivers and predator apps using the ALT+F10 cold boot recovery method outside of the Windows environment. Follow the video below. Jack E/NJ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpzLJRAZldA

    Jack E/NJ

  • Krut03
    Krut03 Member Posts: 39 Troubleshooter
    I don't have my laptop right now. Cause service center kept it saying we will install additional required software.
    I don't really think that the engineer at service center is well trained, cause when i showed them issue they created where i was unable to scroll with two fingers(windows gestures are so long way to touch) that guy tried to install two Trackpad drivers at the same time on the same machine (elan and synaptics). I was like whaaaaaaaat?
    These service center guys (cough), "AUTHORISED" service center guys don't really know what they are working with or they don't have the list of which drivers to install on which laptop. Or even more than that they don't really seem to know what to do when a particular thing needs to be resolved. These guys have installed realtek audio drivers and theres no dolby atmos/digital.
    and one thing i dont get that, what was the need to format the ssd assd and install new copy of windows when issue was in hardware. If you knew that due to acer's policy you won't be able to replace my screen what was the need to format my ssd. Like WTF!
    They were able to do it even without formatting and installing new copy of windows. I don't really get the point.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,330 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓
    If the LCD screen only had few pixels that were either stuck on or off, then I doubt the screen would be replaced. However, if it was a large number of failed pixels confined to a noticeable area on the screen, then it probably means the screen was somehow subjected to a mechanical blow that resulted in physical damage to the pixel in this area.  Unfortunately physical screen damage isn't covered by warranty. It's possible the stuck pixels were not due to physical damage or failure but due to updates that can be reversed by an ALT+F10 cold boot reset. This depends on whether or not the hidden ACER partition was wiped. Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • Krut03
    Krut03 Member Posts: 39 Troubleshooter
    JackE said:
    If the LCD screen only had few pixels that were either stuck on or off, then I doubt the screen would be replaced. However, if it was a large number of failed pixels confined to a noticeable area on the screen, then it probably means the screen was somehow subjected to a mechanical blow that resulted in physical damage to the pixel in this area.  Unfortunately physical screen damage isn't covered by warranty. It's possible the stuck pixels were not due to physical damage or failure but due to updates that can be reversed by an ALT+F10 cold boot reset. This depends on whether or not the hidden ACER partition was wiped. Jack E/NJ
    There seems to be only one stuck pixel of green color and acer policy says there must be 4 or more of such in order to replace the screen. Screen isn't the point here. Actually i want to know why my drive got formatted by these authorised service center.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,330 Trailblazer
    >>>i want to know why my drive got formatted by these authorised service center.>>>

    I'm gonna guess the work order was for another machine with a drive problem that got mixed up with your work order with the screen problem. If the center still has your machine, I would call them ASAP to try the ALT+F10 coldboot recovery as shown in the video link below. If they deleted hidden recovery partition and it can't be done, then its up to the service center to arrange to order the ACER eRecovery media (either as a USB stick or DVD) tied to your particular machine's serial number id (SNID) to bring the system back to a factory fresh state. If they're ACER authorised service reps, they can get this installation media. Jack E/NJ

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpzLJRAZldA

    Jack E/NJ

  • Krut03
    Krut03 Member Posts: 39 Troubleshooter
    actually I talked to them, they told me they ordered this recovery file but what they have given me in laptop doesn't resemble what i had in factory version.
    Like i said, there is no dolby atmos/digital installed or sticked to taskbar. There is only Realtek audio drivers. This is very minute detail. I remember machine doesn't have dolby.
    Even in personalisation> Themes there is no predator theme instead theres the theme of aspire series with some volcanic or sunrise mountain background.

    It is defintley not the factory version.
    I think as you mentioned of missed workflow, i don't think that was the issue, cause service center lady accepted that they did it knowingly and they do it with every laptop that comes at service center they even accepted that they partition the drive and put songs and movies in it.

    as far the screen is concerned, the screen seems to has only one stuck pixel of green color
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,330 Trailblazer
    >>> service center lady accepted that they did it knowingly and they do it with every laptop that comes at service center they even accepted that they partition the drive and put songs and movies in it.>>>

    I never heard of an authorized service center doing this. Where is this center located?  Also what magnification are you using on the above pictures or the approximate dimensions of the area in which this pixel is shown? Jack E/NJ


    Jack E/NJ

  • Krut03
    Krut03 Member Posts: 39 Troubleshooter
    edited November 2018
    Details of the product I've purchased:-
    Model- Acer Predator Helios 300
    Serial Number- ***********************
    SNID- ************
    Details of Case:-
    Case creation date- 20/10/18
    Case ID- ************
    ASP Name- Laptop India Corporation-Mumbai AIL TPM IN
    ASP Contact Number- ************

    The owner of the center is so rude when i asked him how many "pixels" are stuck, he replied theres only small "dot". When i questioned him again he replied, if you think you know more then do it yourself.

    I don't really know about how much magnification is veing used, i just grabbed my phone and zoomed it to the max (phone doesn't show how much magnification in number) and took the photo. btw it has 24mm lens and max zoomed photos show 108mm so maybe 4.5X zoom is there. maybe.


    [Post edited to remove inappropriate or personal content -Acer-Harvey]


  • Krut03
    Krut03 Member Posts: 39 Troubleshooter
    this might help a bit.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,330 Trailblazer
    OK. I think they were justified in not replacing the screen for the stuck pixel.

    But I also think they were UNJUSTIFIED in touching your drive unless you somehow either explicitly or implied that you agreed allow them to re-partition and put songs on the drive in order to fix the screen.

    If you haven't done so already, I would either call or emai a description of this apparently unjustified drive alteration at this link   
    https://www.acer.com/ac/en/IN/content/service-contact  Either they should reset the system to a factory fresh state using the ALT+F10 cold boot method OR using the official ACER-SPECIFIC PH315-51 recovery USB stick if they also erased the drive's hidden ACER recovery partition.

    Jack E/NJ     


    Jack E/NJ

  • Krut03
    Krut03 Member Posts: 39 Troubleshooter
    No one really seems to care. I did send  email to the acer office here in mumbai. acer customer service agent provided me the emails of staff. I was getting same reply on the first day and even on the 7th day, "we will look into this matter".

    Then somehow after arguing with acer customer service agent I got the Acer india's office number, I called then explained the issue and guess what, "we will look into this matter". btw it was the same person whom i sent email.

    Then after getting emails and name of person who are senior to the prior person (obv got it from customer service agent) I kept contacting them and finally one person got eveything what i said. Especially difference between 'formatting drive>installing new barebone windows and reseting the system'. He agreed if the problem was in screen they didn't have to touch any drive. I have recordings of convo. More importantly he also agreed to giving additional warranty. He told me that he will be sending that recovery image to the service center and your laptop will be ready till tomorrow. I agreed and kept waiting and this service center took  4 days. Yesterday I went there when they called me and took a look at the laptop, I didn't found acer predator theme or dolby atmos in it. even the bluetooth option is not inside the wifi option. So i'm guessing they have flashed the wrong recovery image.
    Please assist me. It's been 20+ days now.
  • XdxD
    XdxD Member Posts: 1,581 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    JackE said:
    >>>if i restore the windows, it will be like OEM barebone windows, it won't be having all the predator softwares or themes or lets say touch the original preinstalled windows had.>>>

    No. If the service center did not delete the hidden recovery partition, you should be able to re-set the machine to a factory-fresh Win10 state with all the original ACER drivers and predator apps using the ALT+F10 cold boot recovery method outside of the Windows environment. Follow the video below. Jack E/NJ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpzLJRAZldA

    Will it restore all drivers and Acer's software?
    Trying to do my best here - Your happy Predator owner =)!
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,330 Trailblazer
    @XdxD >>>Will it restore all drivers and Acer's software?>>>

    Yes. Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,330 Trailblazer
    @Krut03 >>> So i'm guessing they have flashed the wrong recovery image. Please assist me. It's been 20+ days now. >>>

    Do you have the machine in your possession now? Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • Krut03
    Krut03 Member Posts: 39 Troubleshooter
    no. i don't have. I'll be having it tomorrow morning.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,330 Trailblazer
    When you get it back, run winver.exe and tell me the Windows version & build numbers. Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • Krut03
    Krut03 Member Posts: 39 Troubleshooter
    ok. thanks.
  • Krut03
    Krut03 Member Posts: 39 Troubleshooter
    here's a snap of the build numbers.
  • xapim
    xapim ACE Posts: 7,257 Pathfinder
    Answer ✓
    After i read all this from the beginning it's very clear that the supposed acer authorized service center are just a bunch of incompetents who do not have an idea of what they are doing at all i would had been fuming also as i have seen so many incompetents working in IT repair shops i could have done the job better myself but the issue here is the warranty and any personal data lost due to the drive format when it was a screen issue at least try to get some compensation out of it try to take it as high as you can do not give up as acer main office should have knowledge about this in my opinion this is a really serious issue and acer should take it serious and run background checks when it comes to assign repair companies authorization for repairing their devices really this situation is really a joke to me i would sue that company if i could



    https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/11532543

    UserBenchmarks: Game 43%, Desk 61%, Work 40%
    CPU: Intel Core i5-7300HQ - 63.5%
    GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050-Ti (Mobile) - 41.9%
    SSD: WDC WDS200T2B0B-00YS70 2TB - 71.4%
    HDD: WD WD10SPZX-00HKTT0 1TB - 93.7%
    RAM: Kingston HyperX DDR4 2666 C15 2x16GB - 76.8%
    MBD: Acer Predator G3-572

    I'm not an Acer employee. (just here to help in the best way i can)
    If my answer fixed you issue please accept it for any other users who search for it would find it quickly thanks :)
    If you want to learn more about undervolting/optimizing windows join the Predator fb group and youtube channel:

    Owner/Admin (HOTEL HERO/Red-Sand/Opoka Opoka)
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/PredatorHelios300
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJwGUHxSJ8FKqAhnOqQuAw
    Acer support:
    https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/service-contact
    http://www.acer.com/worldwide/support/  


  • Krut03
    Krut03 Member Posts: 39 Troubleshooter
    edited November 2018
    As I'm taking a look at my laptop I've found new issue. Speakers are not working. ***. No sound through speakers and audio jack. They have installed realtek audio drivers tho.

    Cold boot isn't working.


    and heres the screenshot of apps they have installed which were not the part of the system.


    [Edited post to remove content against the ACUA terms – Acer-Tim]