Thoughts about Acer - from a now ex-Acer dealer
I am a PC retailer and manufacturer, as well as a PC service centre with field repairs, based in Northern Ireland. We specialise in custom-built computer systems for home, business and specialist users. For some business and home users, we sell pre-built systems as the basic specifications suits their requirements.
We have been selling Acer products (Laptops & Desktops) for quite a number of years, until very recently. I sold a desktop system - Acer Power M5 system, which was a great spec with good warranty (1st year onsite, 2nd & 3rd year carry in repair service). I delivered the system to the business customer's address. It was faulty out of the box (Dead On Arrival). The onboard VGA was faulty as there was no monitor signal (confirmed with 2 monitors).
I contacted the Warranty repair centre (Esplex). Got a helpful chap and logged the DOA fault in 28th November 2005. Was told to contact CityLink to arrange for a collection and to package up the base unit only. I queried the policy as it was supposed to be onsite warranty. Was told that it is a different policy for DOA faults (!?!?!). Went along with it anyway, the customer was understanding. Just like others here in the forum, had severe problems trying to get through to CityLink. Finally got through to them the next day, was picked up from the customer's business address the day after.
After waiting a week, finally got through to a lady who told me that in order for it to be processed as a DOA, they needed the accessories with the system (after being told to send back the base unit only!), so they can't until they received that (?!?!?). Asked as it was a DOA and to save inconvenience to the customer, could they not arrange for the replacement to be sent to the customer and arrange for a pickup of the accessories at the same time (makes perfect customer service sense). They should have originally picked up the faulty unit and replaced it with a brand new one originally, in my opinion, as that's what we would normally do with our own manufactured systems. No reasoning with them!
Had problems trying to contact CityLink for pickup and to save further inconvenience to the customer, I sent it back to them by Royal Mail. This was sent on a Thursday, so they would have received it the next day - confirmed with Royal Mail's tracking system. I contacted them on the Tuesday to check the progress - guess what they said they havn't received the accessories and would check with the warehouse and would get back to me (they didn't, I done all the constant chasing). They finally, after several days on constant contacting, confirmed they have received it. Gave them another few days and contacted them again. Guess what - nothing done about it - this is now nearly 3 weeks after the original fault log. The customer starting to get ratty.
The following is nothing short of abysmal - constant daily phone calls and promises from 6 different staff to contact me back had failed to materialise. Finally they said it was scheduled for a replacement and was awaiting authorisation - finally I thought, getting somewhere and how wrong I was. After 2 months, it was well beyond a joke and was told that it was not they system for a replacement (?!?!?!?). The week before Christmas, I had to purchase a brand new replacement system from my supplier to give and setup to the customer, as he was (understandably irate). I contacted them to send the brand new replacement to my shop, which they recorded.
After another few weeks, I finally wrote a letter of complaint to the managing director of Acer UK regarding the service at Esplex. He never acknowledged the letter, instead it was acknowledged from Esplex customer services! The letter promises to respond back within 14 days. Guess what - no reply after 3 weeks!! Not once within this time did I ever receive a telephone call from Acer or Esplex, I did all the (constant) calling. I finally sent them a nasty e-mail indicating that I would sue Acer UK and Esplex for the replacement system and inconvience suffered. I finally received (or rather the customer) the replacement practically 3 months after the DOA log (some 5 days stipulated for a DOA replacement). To add insult to injury, it was not a brand new sytem, as it was the original carton it was sent back (orignal shipping labels) and missing accessories.
How can I possibly recommend Acer products to my customers, after receiving such crappy service personally? I did specify that I was a dealer. As they have treated me like this as a dealer, the customer would have been treated no different. They obviously don't care about customer service and show that they are totally incapable of being a competent repair centre for a supposedly reputable brand. This whole episode has proved to me, as a dealer that Acer UK and Esplex do not care about customer service, just their profits.
As a result of this sorry episode, I have stopped selling all Acer products completely and so have several of my friends who sell Acer, as they have found the exact same problem. This is a far cry from the level of service I have received from Dell on behalf of their customers. They carry out their promises - contact me back when they say they will and always follow up with regular phone calls. Out of the 3 months - I never received one phone call or e-mail from Esplex or Acer.
I now sell Fujitsu-Siemens desktops and Asus laptops with absolutely no complaints from customers (or myself). If I treated my customers the same way as Esplex, I would be out of business. They have a lot to learn from more respectable support teams (Dell, Advent, Fujitsu-Siemens and Asus).
Sorry to be long-winded, but I have been very disappointed and dismayed by the service provided, with still no official reply from Acer or Esplex.
, Pit-worker
