Poor Acer support

dvt802

Bought a V5-571-6726 in September, it did not have a "clearance" or "as-is" tag on it.  It appeared to be a fine enough machine.  Loaded Windows 8 in December.  Does Acer support machines that are 3-6 months old?  I bought a machine with Touchpad adjustments, now there are none.  I bought a machine with bluetooth, but mouse unpairs itself continually and earpiece usually doesn't pair and the machine can't tell me what's going on.  I have tried to ask their support staff and all they do is tell me to load the exact same driver over and over again, taking hours each time, and not fixing it.  Lousy Lousy pathetically poor service.  Sad Sad Sad. 

 

[edited to comply with guidelines]

Tommy-Acer

Try reloading the factory operating system and ensure that all of those components work.

 

dvt802

Which means Acer inc does not support this 5 month old machine if I load windows 8. I just wish there had been more clear warnings from Costco or Acer or Microsoft that doing such a pathetically stupid thing like following their recommendations would void all warranties and lead me to be treated like dog dirt. I did get out my original recovery disks that I burned the day I bought the thing and they won't run. Probably because I changed the OS at Microsoft and Costco's recommendation and without objection by Acer.

dolivares44

I completely agree with the poor support! I just purchased my laptop a month and a half ago through newegg. It came with GeForece GT 640M so i figured it would be great for gaming. Turns out I get a directx error that tells me i need to have directx 8 or greater. I explained to the customer service guy that i checked the version and the laptop comes with directx 11. He immediatly said issues with 3rd party applications are not covered under the warranty. Are you kidding me? I cant play ANY games and its not covered. I dont believe ACER makes any software so ANY issues identified through ANY software application would not be covered by the warranty.

 

[word filter avoidance]

Tommy-Acer

I'm offering some suggestions to eliminate software issues, to ensure that the hardware operates correctly, as the unit shipped.

 

There has been no mention of warranty, there has been no name calling from Acer, no intent to deceive or misrepresent.

 

I'm glad that you were able to make recovery media, and I'm sorry you're having issues making use of them.  Let me link our recovery process guide pages, as there are more than one way to run recovery.

http://community.acer.com/t5/Community-KB/Reloading-your-Acer-computer/ta-p/45793

dvt802

There certainly has been misrepresentation by acer. I bought a machine with features and now those features don't work. Unlike you I can't spend all day reloading the same drivers again and again. There has beeb deceit telling me that reloading the same darn driver will fix my problem. Acer even had a windows 8 upgrade offer for my model and stated that it was ok to load from Microsoft so do not do not do not even try to tell me that I inappropriately or maliciously altered the system. Telling me that I erred in loading windows 8 is just plain wrong. You know that. To say otherwise is deceit.

Tommy-Acer

I keep seeing words in your posts that are not in mine.  I'm also seeing references to things that I am unable to find on any community posts for your account.

 

It is obvious that you do not want to reload the system back to it's shipping operating system to ensure that the hardware is working properly.  Unfortunately, that is the quickest and easiest way to ensure that you do not have any hardware issues.

 

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dvt802 wrote:
I bought a machine with Touchpad adjustments, now there are none.  I bought a machine with bluetooth, but mouse unpairs itself continually and earpiece usually doesn't pair and the machine can't tell me what's going on.

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What specific "Touchpad adjustments" are you looking for that you are no longer able to find?

What mouse are you attempting to connect via Bluetooth that you are having difficulty keeping paired?

What earpiece are you having difficulty getting paired?

What are you expecting "the machine" to be able to tell you?  Have you run any of the built in troubleshooters?

 

dvt802

In addition to this forum, I have made a number of calls to telephone support and I am simply tired very tired of going over this again and again and again.  Here it goes again. 

 

Acer had an upgrade to Win8 offer for this at-the-time one month old model.  Acer said I could use the Microsoft site.  I have that documented.  Costco sent me a postcard to push the Windows 8 deal.  I upgraded to Win8 as recommended by Acer, Costco, and Microsoft, and I want to keep Win8.

 

I do not recall every touchpad control option that I had in Win 7, but after upgrade I had none, other than the standard double click speed and travel speed controls that every mouse has had since Win3.1.  On the Elan tab in Device Manager/Mice etc., the options box was grayed out.  Numerous phone calls and searching the web and Costco's "concierge" service and nobody knew how to un-gray that box or otherwise restore any options except to tell me to reload a driver that I had loaded a dozen times. Isn't the touchpad one of the reasons I bought this machine????

 

On 3/23/13 I did find a Synaptics brand driver that corresponds with the Device Manager "detail hardware ID: ACPI\SYN1B5E" which is for a Synaptics touchpad, not an Elan.  I loaded that driver (Synaptics 16.0.2.0  3/23/12) and now have some functions such as pinch and zoom and two finger scrolling.  Far far far from perfect.  It responds like it's drunk AND cranky. But it is far better than what I had.  It is NOT the SMART PAD features that Acer displays on YouTube without qualification.  It is not the Acer or Elan Win7 touchpad features which I found in 41 little videos that I can send you if you really want them, and it is not the driver that you people keep telling me to use, but it serves me better. It is deplorable that I had to go find it myself and now you will tell me I have even altered my machine more.  I have spent many many hours on this and why?  Because the touchpad is so bad that it interferes with other work.  If I could adjust the sensitivity and other features, maybe it would not interfere with everything I try to do.  I wanted this machine to make life easier, it has made life harder.  I would still like to have all the touchpad features that I should have, but nobody can tell me what that is. I know that now even if I turn off the touchpad with Fn F7, that some functions still work, so I guess I lost there too.

 

As to Bluetooth function, I use with my iPhone a Plantronics Voyager earpiece. Not a cheap generic device.  I was hoping I could use it with this laptop but there is no pairing information provided by your Bluetooth driver.  There is a "Launch Manager" box where I can turn on and off the Bluetooth but nowhere can I see what it is paired to.  Nobody can tell me if I can connect that and a Bluetooth mouse at the same time.  I have been able to connect the Plantronics once or twice but I don't know how I did it.  All I can do is turn on and off and turn on this and turn off that and then turn off that and turn on this and turn on and off and turn on this and turn off that and then turn off that and turn on this and if you think this sentence is annoying try living it! 

 

The Bluetooth mouse is quite generic, did not come with any software or a USB plug.  Why do I need one of those models with a USB transmitter plug if I have Bluetooth built in?  Isn't that one of the reasons I bought this machine?  Anyway, the HYPE brand mouse does connect usually after the 2nd or 3rd round of ons and offs, but if I type a few paragraphs or watch a ten minute video or whatever and go back to it, often it has unpaired itself and I have to go thru the on/off ritual again.  Websites told me this is an energy saver control but I have looked everywhere and that too simply does not exist with this driver, with this machine.  I have used Acer updates more than any customer you have.  Please don't tell me to upload a driver I already have.  Lately it has actually been working better, I wonder if that same Synaptics driver affected it? 

 

If you need more documentation of my time spent with Acer, fine, pay me $30 an hour and I will provide it, but I won't do your work for free.  Oops, mouse just unpaired or otherwise doesn't work, while I was typing this paragraph.  I didn't set it aside more than a few minutes, but it may have been a little longer time than usual, and not one inch farther.

 

I don't have a test program or an army of experts who can drive this thing and tell me what is wrong or right.  Maybe an Acer tech could connect to it?  Is there a tech in Indianapolis that does Acer warranty work to see what's wrong, if anything?  I am close to demanding Costco take it back, but their policy is 90 days, I don't know if they will. Guess I'm just screwed.  Acer, Costco, and Windows need my $600 so badly that they will lie, cheat and steal to get it.  Sad.  My daughter just bought an Apple, no problems like this at all, not even close.

　

dolivares44

Unfortunately I think we're screwed here. Just found this link to others complaining about Acers VERY poor customer service. I'm going through the same thing you are by the way but with a different issue. The call center reps have a very limited and basic script and their supervisors sound just like the representives. They are absolutely no help but they'll gladly give me a number to tech support where they can help me with my problems for a fee. I bought an Acer laptop with a gaming GeForce video card and I cant play games. Awesome. 

 

http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Acer+Computers

 

johnwadeovc

I have owned, and like, my Aspire S7 ten days ago. However, the bluetooth mouse has unlinked itself three times in that space of time.

 

Not sure what the problem is. If power, then I've had replacement batteries in twice; if drivers, then I had presumed that a machine which is less than a couple of months old would have been okay, and have up to date drivers.

 

Can someone advise me of my options, please.

dvt802

And now that I wrote everything clearly I get no response at all.  The trackpad driver is just plain goofy but is better than nothing.  Bluetooth is still a mystery.  Profoundly disappointing service.  I buy an Acer from Costco, to be advised to update to Win8 by both, only to lose critical features and then be told I have to go back to Win7.  Then hours and hours of disappointing customer service on phone and online, then even more poor service on THEIR forum page, right here.  Oh, if I use a dirty word on this forum, no matter how immoral their action is, or suggest a class action suit by lawyers, no matter how predatory their conduct, they will respond in MINUTES.   But for solving the underlying issues that THEY caused, I get nothing, silence, ignorance, rude, crude, just plain poor response.