Customer Dis-service

FROM:
ADDRESS:
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55117

Acer America
P.O. Box 6137

Temple, TX 76503-6137

Re: Service Request: 1-3XXXXX

Service Request: 1-3XXXXX

Serial Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

August 8, 2008

To whom it may concern:

On June 11, 2008 I set up a service request for my Acer Aspire 5100, serial number noted above. There were three issues with the machine at that point, referenced in Question Reference #XXXXXX-XXXXXX:

[T]he optical drive is not functioning or recognized - OS, or BIOS.

Left click button is unhinged on left side - must click on right side of button nearest scroll pad or it doesn't work.

Newest issue: I plugged in the computer this afternoon, took out the battery as I always do, and went to work. When I put the battery back in to move the computer to a different location, the battery status light began to blink, but thinking nothing of it, I unplugged the power adapter and it went dead. Rebooted, the light was green for about 4 seconds, then it began to flash amber again.

On June 21, it was received by your location, and on June 24 it was shipped back. When I received it in my house on June 27, I immediately attempted to boot it, but was thwarted as I realized that the power issue had not been addressed. I plugged it in, called customer service, and explained what was happening. A new battery was sent out that day.

A couple of days later (June 30), I realized that the optical drive was not functioning either. I called customer service again, and spoke with an operator who was exceedingly rude. After explaining to him the issue, his response was curt and snide. I explained to him that I am an A+, Network+ and MCSA certified technician, and that I’d been through all the different areas that might give some indication what was wrong with the optical drive – BIOS, System Properties, Device Manager, etc. He responded with a question intended to make me look foolish – an entry in the Registry that doesn’t exist. I then informed him that this was my business machine, and that it had just been returned to me from being repaired. I asked him if there was a way we could expedite the return repair and his response was, “You could take it to a computer repair depot in your home town if you want, but don’t expect us to pay for the repairs.”

At this point, I requested to speak with a supervisor, and his response was along the lines of, “We don’t pass calls along to supervisors, and even if we did, I wouldn’t transfer you.”

Eventually, he authorized a return of the system – again – and I sent it out again on July 2. It arrived in your facility on July 10. On July 16, I called to get a status update on my system, only to be told that the motherboard had to be replaced but that its replacement was on indefinite backorder. I then informed the operator that as this is a unit I use for my work, this was an issue. His response was that this was standard procedure, and I’d get it back when I got it back.

I began calling every few days to see what the status was, and it was always “motherboard on indefinite backorder”. Eventually, on July 30, I received a phone call from an operator at (254)555-4000 who informed me that as it appeared the motherboard was never going to arrive, a replacement laptop had been authorized. I told him that my only issue at this point was that the replacement be comparable to the one I’d sent in. He didn’t know what any of the specifications were on the replacement machine, save the hard drive size, the memory allocation, the presence of a built-in webcam and the manufacturer of the CPU. He told me that it would be sent out “next week”. I told him that it’d be fine, and decided I’d call the next day to see if I could talk to someone who knew a little more about the system.

However, when I called again, I found that the customer service systems were down for upgrades, and that there was no record of the discussion I’d had with that operator. As a matter of fact, on a couple of occasions through the following days, there was no record that my system was even in your possession. I called again every day through Tuesday, only to find that the system was still down, and variably that you had or had not received the laptop in question.

Tuesday morning, 0010, I received an automated email informing me that the system had been sent back to me. This got my hopes up until I noticed that the SR# was from the original first round in June, and when I double checked the FedEx tracking number, I found that this was indeed from that service.

Eventually I got through on Tuesday afternoon, but the operator with whom I spoke said that it was obviously a fluke, the system of course had been sent back, and to “watch for FedEx to deliver it on Thursday or Friday.” I told her that if this was true, I wanted to know the correct tracking number so I would know the location of the shipment. Sorry, I was told, “I don’t have access to that.”

I called again Wednesday, and after explaining the received email was told I had to talk to an escalation group. I sat on hold for 45 minutes, but I couldn’t wait any longer as I had to go to work. Finally, Thursday morning, I spoke with an escalation operator who was able to tell me that the system’s specifications were indeed, comparable, but that it was unknown where it was.

Now, it’s Friday, it’s approximately 1400 Central Daylight Time, and after being on hold for 40 minutes, my system – or its replacement – is in limbo. Apparently the system which had been authorized as a replacement is not in stock, and I was told to call back “mid-next week.”

I am very disappointed in this level of customer service. I understand that the system I sent in is not one of Acer’s flagship systems, I understand that at $500 this is not exactly a high end system, but I also understand, first as a consumer that this is no drop in the bucket for me, and second as a person who works in customer service that every customer deserves to be treated politely, and in my industry, every request is VIP. If I told my superiors that something was on indefinite back order, I would be expected to find another way to fix the issue. If I told my supervisors that I couldn’t find a customer’s product, it would be a priority one issue to find it.

As I have expressed to your customer service operators, I will not be doing business with Acer again.

Sincerely,

NAME

Car Sales

What an aggravation.

We were considering a new car. Not that we needed one, we just have a two wheel drive sedan and nobody in our little family is what you would call ... versed ... in driving in the snow. So we saw a possible replacement in the paper and called.

"Hello, Ripoff Car Sales, how can I help you?"

"Hi, we were looking through the paper and saw that you have this car available right now. We have been thinking about upgrading to a 4x4 and this looks like a good unit."

"Oh, definitely, Sir, a great vehicle. Why don't you come down and we'll take a look at your car and tell you what we can get you for the trade in."

"Well, actually," I said, "we've got a small child, and from experience, she doesn't do the waiting around bit too well, so why don't we just run the financing from here, and we'll see if you can get it to a monthly we can work with."

"Fair enough sir, give me the information about your car, and the payoff you've got for it."

So, information exchanged, we hanged up.

First thing next morning, I get a phone call from the dealership.

"Sir, we have run the numbers, and we think we can get this done for you."

"Excellent," I say, thinking it's in the bag, "but I want you to know, before I come down, if you're not in the ballpark we discussed, this is not going to go down."

"Oh, Sir," he slimes, "we're definitely in the ball park. Come on down, and we'll work the numbers and look at your car."

"Tell me specifics. I need to know before I make the trip, bundle baby in..."

"Oh, I don't have the numbers here in front of me, but they're doable."

Alright. Fine, I should have said no and waited for him to get the numbers. But I'm a trusting fool, and I figured, what ever, it'll work.

So I put my baby in her car seat, move it from the usual car into the car we'll trade in, and strap it in... after about 20 minutes of aggravating stuff, we're on our way. Singing, trying to keep the baby happy...

So we roll into the parking lot about 30 minutes later. I walk through the door with 'monster' on my hip and to the desk, and I ask for the salesman.

"Sure, hold on, he'll be right out."

To his credit, he's there in mere moments. Shake hands, pinch cheeks, (baby's, not his) and we go back to his office where he promises he'll be right back with the info.

5 minutes later, "Okay, so here's what we've got," he says as he lays out a stack of papers. "Trade in, we've agreed is this much, the new SUV is this much, and with the interest rate we got for you, this will be the monthly payment."

"..." I say, trying to get my breath. He's $200 over what I said was the maximum. "This is no where near what we talked about. This isn't a ballpark!" I say.

"Well, this is what we can do. So, you ready to sign?"

I swear, he was surprised when I got up and walked out.

Door to Door

I'm taking a nap 'cause I've got to work 16 hours straight tonight. The doorbell rings. You guessed it, door to door sales.

So I go to the door, hoping against hope that it's something better than sales. Maybe, just maybe, the cable company has come to fix the cable that they didn't attach correctly to the back of the house that's now hanging less than three feet from the ground.

It's the cable company alright, but it ain't to fix anything.

I open the door, and I see the guy's clipboard. On the top it says in huge, bold type, the cable company Direct Marketing. So I say, "Can I help you?"

"Are you familiar with the cable company?"

"Are you here to sell something or to fix the issue I called about two months ago?"

"What makes you think I'm here to sell?" he asks me.

"Doesn't matter," I say. "Unless you're here to fix the problem, let's not waste your time. I'm not interested in switching."

"Well, are you a current the cable company customer?"

"No, and until you carry the channel for my 1 year old, I won't be switching. Good bye."

"But we've got some great opt-"

Is the last thing I hear as I firmly but politely close the door. He stands outside the door, looking incredulously through the glass as though amazed that I would not be interested in his sales spiel. Then I go out to check the mail, and there in the door is the flier he was going to use to sell to me.

I guess at the very least, you have to admire the tenacity.