ACER computers are *****

Lenny

Thinking buying an ACER computer?    DON’T!

 

If you are going to throw money away, throw it my way. I made the mistake of buying an ACER Aspire 722 Netbook and within 3-4 months, the case split and a piece fell out. Not only that but the keys stick, it’s slow even with 2 gb RAM and the touch pad has a mind of it’s own. Some programs I get a flickering line that doesn’t go away.

 

ACER will not back their warranty. When I called customer service, I got some east Indain guy that does his best to void your warranty starting with the case is not covered under warranty. Then he wants you to mail in your computer (at your expense) while they evaluate it for CID (customer induced damage) to void your warranty, but the excuses are endless.

 

I took it to a local repair shop and they said they would have to remove the screen and take the case apart which would void my warranty and recommended I contact ACER, which I did. I ended up contacting a corporate office in Texas and was given an email address of *** where I addressed my issues with ACER.

 

Not only did I get no response, when I emailed again, my mail was returned. They will make it impossible for you to have them honor their warranty. They will make you jump thru every hoop imaginable to not honor their product. My computer guys also said that ACER was their #1 for repairs.

 

Another friend of mine had endless problems with her ACER also.

 

Searching for ACER complaints, at this site 94% rated it horrible out of 418 reviews. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/acer.html

 

This site has 3 page of complaints and about 60 reviews, all bad. http://www.complaintsboard.com/bycompany/acer-a27149.html

 

At this site there 27 more complaints cost the consumers over $5200 http://acer.pissedconsumer.com/

 

At this site there are 462 bad reviews out of 501 reviews or 92% bad reviews. http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Acer+Computers

 

At this site there are 10 terrible reviews http://www.screwedbyforums.com/acer-product-reviews-consumer-complaints-reports/

 

This site has 71 complaints and most are about quality, repair and customer service http://www.my3cents.com/reviews/acer

 

This site has a long list of complaints http://www.akosha.com/Acer-complaints-77.html

 

This blog had 34 bad reviews http://betanews.com/2006/10/30/what-s-behind-acer-s-vista-complaints/

 

This complaint, ACER refused delivery for service http://www.ripoffreport.com/computer-service-repair/acer-aspire-one/acer-aspire-one-computer-died-8e4d2.htm

 

This Better Business Bureau in Temple Texas had  963 complaints of which 136 were complaints of warranty and 80 about ser vice. And this only one of thousands of BBB’s. http://www.bbb.org/central-texas/business-reviews/computers-dealers/acer-america-corporation-in-temple-tx-47518

 

This site is a PERFECT example of the BS you will get trying to get your ACER warranty/service http://www.notgoodenough.org/viewtopic.php?p=329829

 

This website’s survey rated ACER as the WORST http://ctwatchdog.com/finance/2012-computer-reliability-report-lenovo-most-reliable-acer-least-reliable-apple-declined

 

So my friends, if you are going to throw your money away, don’t throw it at ACER. Now t’s time to post this letter at each of those websites (including ACERS)and I will do this every year.

 

Karl

 

[edited to comply with guidelines]

kingjah

I will never ever purchase another ACER product.

 

Waitin

 please repeat your searches using the term "Dell" instead of "Acer".

Uh-huh.

Now again using the term "HP".

Just to prove it  use "Lenovo".

For the record, netbooks were never meant to be fast. They were meant to be small. Since uninformed consumers like you only buy products with the most recently spammed OS, I´m guessing windows 7 in your case, they bundled it with every budget machine too. Windows 7 on 2gbs RAM? Good luck with that.

(Well, admittedly I´m also on 2gb RAM with windows 7. However, I have a 5GB page file on an SSD, whooosh!)

Vince53

Lenny, I want to commend you on your honesty in telling us that the case split.  We sometimes spend several posts helping someone before he admits that he had done something  that caused the problem. When the Acer representative told you that customer- inflicted damage is not covered by the warranty, the representative was simply telling you the truth. If you pay to ship it to Acer, they will fix what's wrong, BUT the Acer warranty REQUIRES them to fix EVERYTHING that's wrong, and it is likely that they will find other problems caused by the laptop being dropped. In my opinion, you should check the prices of new laptops, and then take it to a reputable computer shop for an estimate.

 

 

finlux

You will find complaints about ALL makes of computers.

I've been recommending Acer to family, friends and colleagues for years with NO major problems at all (TBH most problems are caused by user error anyway).

Although I have never had the need to contact Acer support (other than a query about a keyboard, in which the help was acceptable), I can't believe a company of their size is anywhere near as bad as people make out. After all the way the industry is, companies need loyal customers, and the customer service should be excellent.

finlux

I can only speak from experience, just like the anti-Acer brigade!

Perhaps, Acer DO need to improve their customer services - as I have said, I've never really had to deal with them as much as others have.

You will get fanboys and anti fanboys (for want of a better word) for all makes of computers.

Vince53

My friend Finlux does bring up an important point. Unless the computer simply wears out over time, there are only four causes for problems:

 

1) the manufacturer

2) Microsoft

3) the user

4) external devices, including WiFi broadcasters

 

When Microsoft can't correct a problem, they refer you to the manufacturer, even if they know that it is a software problem. We often get complaints from users who don't mention that they changed the operating system, replaced hardware, changed the BIOS, etc.

JMG-51

I bought an Acer V5 for my son last month, and yesterday his machine  had the "Operating System Not Found" message. Tried contacting Acer but they have no customer service.

We, as a family, have 4 Toshiba laptops that have given us no problems (have bought a total of 9 Toshiba laptops over the years.....why I bought this Acer for my son is beyond me. It is a piece of *****. I will NEVER, EVER buy anything with the Acer name on it again.

 

 

finlux

I can understand your frustration, but this can happen to any machine.

 

The parts inside are not made by Acer themselves - they are same or similar parts that are used in all makes - including Toshiba.

 

We do tend to read on here a lot of complaints about Customer Service, but as others have stated, people only post when things go wrong - not when things go right. Perhaps we should start a "Acer Customer Services Have Been Great" forum!!

 

I'd try again with customer service. What was the exact problem you were having?

JMG-51

@ finlux "...this can happen to any machine".

 

Sure, I guess its possible. I can only speak from personal experience, like I said in the post above I have bought 9 Toshiba laptops (currently have 4) and ALL of them have lasted at least 2 years (some longer) before the need for any sort of service. The Acer is one month old and already does not recognize the "operating system". It isn't just my son's machine that happened to be a "lemom"...going by this site (and others) Acer apparently is in the habit of making many "lemons".

It is surprising that one Acer machine (new) would encounter an "operating system Not Found" error, it is appalling that many other Acer users have the same problem, clearly indicative of it not being the case of one, single bad "lemon" machine.

 

I'm not here to debate the pros and cons of Acer PCs with you....you think they are good/ no better/worse than any other machine....by all means, go ahead and buy one, I know I never will again.

 

 

@ finlux  "What was the exact problem you were having?"

 

Customer Service (to me) means speaking to a live person. I have 3 or 4 different phone numbers for Acer, not that they did me any good....kept getting recordings, being switched from one recorded voice to another...kept being asked to repeat info into the phone, which the "voice" did not understand or misinterpreted....this went on for what seemed 15 minutes. All I wanted was to ask someone the address of where I could take my PC in for service....

Any time I have had to contact Toshiba regarding one of their machines, a live operator answers the phone who than transfers me to a live tech who gives me info on how to fix a problem....with Toshiba I have the option of taking the machine in to their head office in Scarborough, or to dozens of different authorized service depots throughout the metro area where I live.

With Acer I can't even get ahold of anyone to ask....I tried googling "Acer authorized service depots" for my city and got nada.

 

I will take the PC back to Staples (where I bought it) and let them ship it to wherever .....which, no doubt will take forever.

finlux

I respect your opinion - rightly or wrongly.

 

You've had one bad Acer, I understand that can put you off them. I'm sure there are many people who wouldn't touch Toshiba too - but each to their own!

 

Parts used in an Acer are almost certainly the same parts used in other makes - including Toshiba.

 

Perhaps Acer DO need to improve their Customer Services - but as I have already said, people only comment on things that go wrong & almost never when things go right.

 

Lets not turn this into a slanging match - I'm truly sorry to hear of the problems you've had with your machine, and hope they're sorted ASAP.

 

Have a good Christmas anyway 

Cory-Acer

@JMG-51, I'm sorry you're having issues, our phone system does require the serial number of your product to validate the warranty at this time, but I understand your concern. In order to get the correct phone number for warranty support, you can check your warranty paperwork that came with your PC or visit the local website on how to contact us. http://www.acer.ca/ac/en/CA/content/service-contact 

 

I'd be glad to have one of our Level 2 technicians give you a call, if you'd private message me with the following info, I'll ask them to give you a call.

 

Name:

Phone:

Email:

Serial Number:

 

I appreciate the debate, and we want to encourage discussion, I hope we can get this fixed and change your perception of Acer. We know that it is important for us to understand and hear the frustration of customers who do need help and aren't able to get it, that's what we are here for as a service team and why we've launched these community forums. With that said, this is an eight month old topic that has been rekindled, I'm going to leave it open for a couple days to support JMG, but I will lock it on Monday. If conversation needs to continue, I would suggest it go in a more appropriate topic. Thanks for understanding.

JMG-51

@ Acer-Cory, Thank you for your reply, but at this point I don't see what good talking to a tech would do...it's not like he can "walk" me through step-by-step.....The Acer won't work. It powers on but doesn't load the system, so I can't download any drivers or updates or whatever....the message " operating system not found" is self explanatory.

I tried to reformat the machine thinking that it might solve the problem but even that does not work....I have never encounterd a PC that powers on but will not reformat the hard drive.

 

 

.....life is too short........

 

for the record, my machine's ser # is

 

Aspire V5-571P-6631

P/N NX.M49AA.035

RMN removed

S/N removed

EAN removed

OS Windows 8 64-bit

year 2013

system bios BD/BIOS 4C/V2.17

Made in China

Bought last month at Staples in Mississauga

Cory-Acer

For your privacy I removed some information (SORRY MOD TEAM!)

 

The reason I'd like to have a tech work with you is that even if there isn't step bys step instruction, they are the ones that create the repair orders and get you the information needed so we can get your computer back up and working. You'd be suprised at how many simple fixes we have that don't require you sending the unit in for service, but it is always an option.

I'll send you a private message with some further instruction.

 

Cory

JMG-51

Update :

 

Just got back from Staples....they replaced the PC without any bother or fuss....will definitely shop there again....keeping my fingers crossed that the replacement Acer won't also stop working.

 

Thanks again Acer-Cory for your offer to help.