Acer is infamous for its inferior or nearly non-existent customer service. Long are the annals of history filled with the tales of those who have thrown themselves against Acer’s ramparts and disintegrated on impact. But reader PW shares how he was able to get his 6 months out of warranty Acer laptop replaced after it died. The secret is to look for the email address with .tw after them. That’s right, email addresses leading back to the mothership in Taiwan.

PW writes:

It always warms my heart to read Consumerist success stories and I have one more to throw on the pile today.

So my very pampered, very lightly used acer laptop recently passed it’s year and a half birthday. Everything was great and I’ve been very happy… then IT happened. Out of nowhere while starting the computer, blackness. complete and total, without warning, OFF. It would seem as if my battery was dead… but the ac adapter is still plugged in??? after testing the battery and ac adapter on a friends identical acer things got desperate. I checked the power strip and all was well. My laptop was DEAD.

I frantically started researching online and low and behold signs start to point to a small, probably insignificant, and easily swapped out part of the computer’s hardware. I think it’s called the motherboard? That’s right. I was screwed. 1 year manufacturer’s warranty said I had no hope, but 1 and a half years is NOT an acceptable lifespan for a modern computer under most circumstances. Specifically, my laptop has a 17″ screen and hasn’t left the desk in my room since her first boot.

I tried the regular channels, to absolutely no avail. Acer DOES NOT have terrible customer service, they just hide the good customer service terribly well.

After a brief trip to India over the phone, three different reps were able to tell me that they would be happy to let me pay $200 dollars plus shipping (another $50 dollars) for an out of warranty repair. Each and every time they also were very ready to assure me, “I’m sorry sir, I am the highest level of tech support we have” Wouldn’t you know it though? Thanks to my good friends at the CONSUMERIST I was not out of luck!!!

An initial search granted me a phone number to a new support level, “I’m gonna really help you out today sir, how about just for you, $150 for the repair, but that’s the best I can do. I’m the highest level of support we have.”

Things seemed bad, but the old fashioned “EECB” and a few well placed guesses on the .TW for the ends of emails, meant I would reach the Taiwan corporate office as well.

Wouldn’t you know the next day, a person called “on behalf of the C.E.O. in regards to the email I sent” and this is the best part, are you ready?

I didn’t have to explain myself further!!!
I didn’t have to beg!
I didn’t have to negotiate!
I didn’t have to scream and cry and laugh out of frustration!

Someone actually read my email and now my laptop is on its way to a repair facility FREE OF CHARGE (minus shipping)

Now I wait and hope, fingers crossed…
Please go well repairs,
Please go well…

-PW

Goin’ on a warranty hunt.
Goin to catch a big one.
I’m not afraid.
Look, what’s up ahead?

Outsourced customer service line!
Can’t go over it.
Can’t go under it.
Can’t go around it.
Gotta go through it.

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