I’ve been checking Acer’s website often, looking for any update on my laptop repair. It just constantly says “Under Repair”.

Well, after waiting weeks and hearing nothing back from Acer, I called them…

Oh, apparently they faxed me a quote the day after they got the laptop :-(

I don’t remember any fax…

I checked my faxserver logs:

etc. I got them to re-send, and the same thing… You’d think they could check their fax system some time (I know that I have no problems on my end) or maybe make their status website say something useful like “awaiting go-ahead from client” instead of “Under Repair”…

And how about phoning me and saying, “did you receive our fax?”. They had a very good system for SMSing me when they got my laptop, so surely they can keep up the good work on contact?

So I called back again, and after having my brain curdled by some incredibly bad hold-music, I tried to get my past contact, Dave Malherbe. He is away in the Dubai (good for him)… I spoke to his manager, Deon, and he said that I have to wait until he can get Dave to approve the quote. Lovely!

Well, I got home this morning to find a courier waiting outside my door to collect my laptop.

So, it’s all packed off to Acer. Lets hope I see it again, preferably in working condition :-)

There seems to be a shortage of single core AMD Athlon 64 processors at the moment. All the suppliers blame it on AMD-ATI merger….

I finally found one at Sahara, and so signed up with them. (Yes, I know they have a bad reputation with returns, but all the suppliers have those). The message from my sales consultant contained 11 disclaimers. You’d think one would suffice, or maybe even zero (my personal favourite), but no, 11… I really enjoy the variations in formatting :-)

Enjoy your day.

Any enquiries contact me

XXX YYYY

Sales Consultant

XXXX@cpt.sahara.co.za

021 551 5595 /Ext. XXX

Fax: 0866077368

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This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Sahara Distribution (Pty) Ltd. Finally, while Sahara Distribution attempts to ensure that all email is virus-free, Sahara Distribution accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.

Sahara Distribution (PTY) Ltd Private Bag X180, Halfway House, 1685, South Africa

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PLEASE NOTE

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Sahara Distribution (Pty) Ltd. Finally, while Sahara Distribution attempts to ensure that all email is virus-free, Sahara Distribution accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.

Sahara Distribution (PTY) Ltd Private Bag X180, Halfway House, 1685, South Africa

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PLEASE NOTE

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Sahara Distribution (Pty) Ltd. Finally, while Sahara Distribution attempts to ensure that all email is virus-free, Sahara Distribution accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.

Sahara Distribution (PTY) Ltd Private Bag X180, Halfway House, 1685, South Africa

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PLEASE NOTE

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Sahara Distribution (Pty) Ltd. Finally, while Sahara Distribution attempts to ensure that all email is virus-free, Sahara Distribution accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.

Sahara Distribution (PTY) Ltd Private Bag X180, Halfway House, 1685, South Africa

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PLEASE NOTE

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Sahara Distribution (Pty) Ltd. Finally, while Sahara Distribution attempts to ensure that all email is virus-free, Sahara Distribution accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.

Sahara Distribution (PTY) Ltd Private Bag X180, Halfway House, 1685, South Africa

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PLEASE NOTE

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Sahara Distribution (Pty) Ltd. Finally, while Sahara Distribution attempts to ensure that all email is virus-free, Sahara Distribution accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.

Sahara Distribution (PTY) Ltd Private Bag X180, Halfway House, 1685, South Africa

Scanned and protected by MailScanner @ mail.cpt.sahara.co.za

PLEASE NOTE

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Sahara Distribution (Pty) Ltd. Finally, while Sahara Distribution attempts to ensure that all email is virus-free, Sahara Distribution accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.

Sahara Distribution (PTY) Ltd Private Bag X180, Halfway House, 1685, South Africa

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PLEASE NOTE

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Sahara Distribution (Pty) Ltd. Finally, while Sahara Distribution attempts to ensure that all email is virus-free, Sahara Distribution accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.

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Gianfranco Lanci
Acer Europe SA

RE: Extended Warranty not valid outside country of purchase.
Pages: 1 (including this)

Dear Sir,

I faxed your office on the 13th of November, concerning my Acer Ferrari 4005WMLi laptop (with an Acer Advantage Extended Warranty), that my UK employer bought me, out of my salary while I was working there. The laptop’s motherboard has failed, about 14 months after it was purchased. When I tried to get it repaired by Acer South Africa, they said that my extended warranty isn’t valid outside UK. I bought the warranty because I was explicitly told it would be valid Internationally (by the sales staff at Easy Computers).

You can read the rest of my previous fax here

I’ve since heard from Dave Malherbe of Acer South Africa, who told me that your office had authorised reducing the cost of repairs from R6 099 to R4 400. That’s hardly much of a discount, and I could still buy an entire new laptop for less than that. After a few phone-calls back and forth, he even agreed to drop it to R2 250, on condition that Acer SA kept my damaged motherboard. While I appreciate this discount, it’s not what I was looking for. I want the repair done entirely at Acer’s cost, as I purchased an Extended Warranty that (I believed) entitles me to this.

I’ve seen that other people are having major hassles with Acer support, so I weighed in as well, and made my impressions of Acer public, on my blog. It’s not my intention to rage about how terrible Acer’s support is, but rather to warn others away from the nightmares I’ve had to deal with. I’ve highly recommended the Acer Ferrari 4000 to everyone who asked me about it (or high end laptops in general), and I hope that none of them ever have to deal with these kind of support issues.

Please can you organise for my laptop to be repaired at Acer’s expense, under warranty, in South Africa. I’d really like this to end amicably. I’m not enjoying life on my old substitute HP laptop very much, at all, and I’d love to have my Ferrari back in working condition.

Sincerely,

Stefano Rivera

I got a reply!

Dave Malherbe from Acer South Africa called me, and after a chain of “returning your call” voicemails, we spoke yesterday. He told me that my request has gone up the chain of command at Acer HQ in Europe, all they way to the President (or at least his PA), and he’d been authorised to give me a discount on my repair.

He could drop the cost from over R6 000 down to around R4 400 (+VAT). Not much of a discount. For something that escalated so high, I wasn’t very impressed. I said that I’d rather get it repaired in UK (if you factor in courier costs, it’s still cheaper to send it there).

We then discussed my extended warranty, and he said I’d need to pry it out of Easy Computers (my supplier in UK who’d sent me the wrong laptop). So I fired off an e-mail to them. It’s gone backwards and forwards a few times, and they told me to contact Acer again. So I sent a very strong e-mail back to them:

We are sorry you are experiencing technical difficulties with your goods. All manufacturers have dedicated support lines staffed by trained personnel. We strongly recommend that you contact the appropriate manufacturer of your product:

I did that. Over a year ago, in fact. And they did nothing. Eventually, this week, they told me to contact you guys, as you didn’t supply me with the extended warranty pack that I paid you for.

If this is going to be a problem, please speak to my Acer contact who I’ve been dealing with: David Malherbe +27 11 233 XXXX. He knows all about my case, and if you mention my name, he should know who I am. He says that you guys need to supply me, you say they need to supply me, please can your sort it out between yourselves.

SR

We’ll see…

I spoke to Dave again, this morning, and he offered me an even bigger discount. If I didn’t want my motherboard back, he could discount it to R1 999 + labour (R250) and VAT. That’s starting to sound reasonable. I still think I should get it for free, but I’m almost prepared to pay that kind of price, just to save myself further hassle…