acer laptop advice needed

spongbob

myself and my father both purchased laptops in tesco last sept & october 2008.

both were in a sale and were reduced

just over the st patricks weekend the father rings me to say the power cord adaptor that goes into the laptop was broken off. he dosnt think he put any unnessacery presure on it when all he had to do was slide it into place ect..

i told him he must have pulled it or had put presure on it as it wouldn't just break like that as i have always used many different laptops through the years these things dont just happen., we laughted about it and left it at that he went along his business and started to use the home pc as apose to the laptop.


2 months later., same thing happens to me!! the power cord adaptor came loose too., As i disconected it from the laptop so did the part of the laptop!


in a crazy annoyed mood i rang the acer customer care team got no anser except music this went on for 15-20 minits it felt like for ever so i just hung up

i decided to send them an email., email was replyed to within 24hors i explained the situation and that i felt the laptop was a poorly built laptop, they replyed back that i had to send it away at my expense for p&p and 70€ for a tech engineer to investage the damage/repair

so whats my right here, how can two laptops owned by 2 matured adults with no children or pets running around pulling at wires or what have ya, have to fork out money for estimate repairs and p&p when the laptops them self were a bad build in the 1st place.

i would like to hear your views on this thanks

the_syco

spongbob wrote: »

just over the st patricks weekend the father rings me to say the power cord adaptor that goes into the laptop was broken off. he dosnt think he put any unnessacery presure on it when all he had to do was slide it into place ect..

Sense, you don't do. You see, you usually take the power cable out of the laptop, so when you say "the power cord adaptor that goes into the laptop was broken off"... it makes no sense. Of course it came out: that what allows them to be portable

spongbob

sorry if i have confused you or anyone about cable and adaptor ect the part that is broke clean off is fom the laptop itself (it was late when i was online and well past my bed time hour)

the tech word for it is 'power jack' here is a photo of what i am talking about



thanks

Notorious

Out of curiosity what Acer laptop are you having the problem with? Myself and my gf have the Aspire One. So far its worked like a charm for me, but she has had problems. The speakers went AWOL at one stage (turned out to be a software issue which she sorted), next the Bios somehow became corrupt and the laptop wouldn't boot (common acer problem, sorted thanks to the internetz) and now the latest problem is that her power adaptor broke behind the power jack. We were both talking to customer support (had to call the UK because there was no Irish number), and the joker on the other end pretty much said it wasn't his problem. Emails were never replied to either...

spongbob

both machines are acer aspire 7004., big 17incl lcd screen 80 gig hdd windows vista ect

at least you manged to get talking to someone when you called i tried had no luck and went for the email aprouch, got replys and they basicly want me to post it to an enginner for estimits costs and requested me to send along 70 notes along with it., there having a laugh right!? i replyed back about it been still under 12 months warrenty and i never heard back from the since. double checking my emails they were definitly sent out


i know that if i take them back to tesco they will more than likely tell me its not up to them after the 28 days are up with the store return policy

whats ya reckon folks., is it time to file a complaint with the small cliams? if so who do i say i want to bring to court Acer or tesco., as far as im aware taken other eu companys to the small claims court which are nor in out state is not introduced yet in ireland.. its only somthing i have heard

O'Coonassa

They're withinn 12 months. It has happened on two bought at the exact same time. Clear as day that it's a build flaw. I wouldn't go to court just yet I'd try to get hold of a manager at acer, no use at all talking to the usual phone jockeys or email techs because in the book they go by damage like that is defo user damage and therefore chargeable. Point out to them what is obvious, that the part in question on that batch was faulty. If that doesn't work, and I don't see why it wouldn't, then I'd complain to Tesco about Acer.

spongbob

cheers., your right dragging them through the small courts will be my last course of action but first what i am going to do is take a trip to a few different tesco branches - managers - and bring with me the 2 laptops in there boxes may i add!

reminds me when they stocked the Iqon branded laptops some where compleat and utter rubbish, my sister bought one and it was no way ear the specs as printed on the outside of the box., she returned it and returned it again and again! untill she had enough of her time wasted and demanded her money back, the laptop was only days old so tesco had no choice but to refund her, soon after that carry on from Iqon they went out of business.

i didnt think acer was this bad to begin with i do think it is just a bad batch., but the customer support is no messing a serious and utter JOKE!

i hope someone here from Tesco and Acer is reading this!

Funkyspunkball

Ive heard really bad things about buying electronics in Tesco. Acer usually stand up well though.

XDA

Acers Warranty centre for ireland is in banbridge in co down. Their contact number is +448708034915 and you can log a repair on their website at http://www.acerwarranty.co.uk/

They offer collect and return warranty service, ie they will send a courier to pick it up, fix it and return it.

I have used them on several occasions and always found them very helpful to deal with

XDA

O'Coonassa

spongbob wrote: »

i didnt think acer was this bad to begin with i do think it is just a bad batch., but the customer support is no messing a serious and utter JOKE!

Most of the tech companies these days, not just Acer, use people who are barely technical reading from scripts that have been prepared by proper techs. It's maybe all well and good in most cases but when you have a situation like yours they're worse than useless. Normally damage like that which has happened, unless it's a known issue with that model, will be flagged as user damage. You'd need to explain the situation to a team leader or a manager to be in with a chance of getting it sorted.

spongbob

Hi XDA what have you used acer support in the past was it the same problem i am having?

your right they did offer a collect and return service and a request of £51.99! to cover the engineer and couriers fees.

they said in there first and only email to me that this my problem is a chargable repair But I feel I should not have to pay this fee for couriers fees and engineer report just to get an estimate repair cost... the problem is with the laptops built with cheap compoinents!

i replyed back to them with all this information and they have never replyed to me since.

XDA

No, not that exact problem i am afraid, but i can't see how they can insist that this is a chargeable repair before they even examine it. If you stand over your claim that the damage occurred through normal use and escalate up the chain i imagine you'll get it sorted. Failing that small claims court is the way to go.

XDA

ttm

I always do a search on eBay for parts when I have a hardware issue like power socket comming off a motherboard, if there are a few sellers selling the item theres a good chance your not the ony one with the problem - ebay 346 items found for "acer power socket"

The whole laptop power connection design is rubish and what you have experienced is quite common. Often the laptop gets pushed up against a wall when you make room on a desk and that stresses the power socket and jack plug or someone puts something on your desk and it presses on the power plug going into the jack leavering it off the motherboard. Another problem is the central pin gets damaged and falls out of the socket. Some laptops have this problem worse than others, if the socket is only secured to the motherboard itself then its an accident waiting to happen a better design is to have the socket supported and attached to the case as well as the mobo. Right angled power plugs also reduce the problem as its more difficult for them to act as levers on the socket.
I had someone ask me to fix a similar problem on a out of warantee Acer laptop last week, to be honest I couldn't be bothered, spare part on eBay was £2.99 +P&P but I really didn't want to spend at least an hour taking the thing apart and putting it back together. Acers aren't always the easiest laptops to take apart and you have to strip out the motherboard completley so you can get to both sides of it. Then same week I saw another Acer where the owner had fallen asleep with it on his lap.... you can guess the rest.

Even if it was a bad soldering job there are just so many ways that that you can damage that socket that support is unlikely to believe its not your fault. To make a small claims court claim I think you'd need to pay a technical expert to prove that the problem was due to bad workmanship otherwise what proof have you got? I'd try Tesco first with BOTH laptops so you have evidence from two machines but I'm not sure they will do anything. If that fails I would call the support number and see if you can negotiate a price for both laptops to be picked up and fixed at the same time.

spongbob

thanks ttm

that is very clear advice and i will do just that

i plan to go to my localk stores tomorrow when i meet up with my father, he still has the 1st laptop at his home.

in future i will stick with good brands i have used in the past I never had these problems with the like of dell and fujitsu siemens I will think long and hard next time i see a laptop sale in tesco again!

the_syco

spongbob wrote: »

i know that if i take them back to tesco they will more than likely tell me its not up to them after the 28 days are up with the store return policy

Who gives a flying f**k?

YOU BOUGHT IT OFF TESCOs, NOT ACER.

Said in a "This Is SPARTAAAAA!!!!!" tone of voice

This means the contract was between you and Acer. My advice: get a woman at "that time of the month" to sniff an onion and then bring them into Tescos for "a chat".

If they try to fob you off to Acer, tell them that you can't take time off work to arrange the pickup, but, as you bought it off them, you're going to let them send it back to the manufacture.

The harddrive will most likely be wiped (no warranty says they'll keep the data, and the people in the store will promise you it just to get you to f**k off), so back it up if you can before bring it to Tesco's.

=-=

Anyhoo's, you're still not explaining it properly: when you say it snapped off, you mean the wire, or what? You see, if it's only the power cable that has gone, you'll only need to send that back. If the pin inside the laptop is broken, you'll end up paying for it, as "these pins don't bend themselves", so you'll be charged. I'm saying this from a I-used-to-support-laptops-in-a-big-laptop-selling-company point of view.

Sending it back through Tescos is still cheaper. Oh, and I've heard of Tescos giving people a full refund/replacement laptop just to get rid of them, when you find out 2 weeks later that it's still sitting on their storage room.

=-=

Finally, act like a complete useless tool, and pretend not to know much about computers if they get technical, and just repeat that you bought it off them, so they must get it fixed.

craichoe

http://www.asklaptopfreak.com/laptop-notebook-help/2007/11/27/acer-aspire-power-plug-problem/

Looks like your not the only one.

spongbob

cheers 'the_syco' il aim my guns at tesco and not budge till i give them a good public audience untill i geyt what i want done.. might take a few difefrent stores but il get there in the end

i have no idea what so ever when in the names of computer parts, however after doing a little searching on google the tech name for the part thats fuked is the Power Jack., thing is ratteling around in the laptop somewhere on my laptop and the fathers aswell

il keep ya's all updated how i get on with tescos.. any1 know any sound hardware managers anywhere?? thats would see this in my favour and have no problem in returning it back to acer of refunding me the 400 each machine lol :rolleyes: