On Friday 13th May Danita’s computer was sent off for repairs.
After a significant amount of toing and froing (ie the computer going to and from the service centre multiple times) Acer decided to test the computer, since it was still under warranty.
After carrying out their tests they announced it was fine and the problem was software, even though the hard-drive and motherboard had been replaced as part of the process.
Attempting to return the computer they managed to lose it and so offered a replacement.
The story continues…
The replacement machine they sent wasn’t the same model as the original and so had to be returned.
Eventually the service centre received the new machine and went to work loading the software.
When we sent the machin in for repairs our stipulation was that it should come back with the same software as when we sent it in.
That meant Windows 10 and Office 2013 Pro. There were some other bits but we could load that ourselves.
This proved more complicated than expected and we eventually received word that the technician had been unable to load Windows 10 and had been informed by an Acer technician that the machine wasn’t compatible with that version of Windows.
Given that the machine is less than a couple of years old (it was still under warranty remember) and we’d been getting nagged by the operating system to upgrade until we finally succumbed, this seemed very odd.
However, by this time we were thoroughly frustrated and just wanted to get the machine back so Danita could get back to working at an effective rate.
So, we agreed to accepting it with Windows 7 loaded instead of 10.
After spending a few days on it the local tecchie (not an Acer person) said it had been thoroughly tested and was working properly so Danita could finally come and collect it.
A big sigh and cheer went up in the Needleman/Harrould household with some reservations.
We figured that until we’d seen it working we weren’t quite ready to break out the champagne.
Today was the big test (we finally had some time to get it up and running) and, as you can probably sense, the train-wreck continues.
Danita’s been using an extra monitor – pretty much essential for working productively these days.
All her previous computers have automatically detected the extra monitor and enabled us to set it up so she has two screens to work with – the large monitor and the laptop screen.
Not in this case.
All we could get was a duplicate of the laptop screen which makes for a font size so big it’s unworkable.
As a test I installed a docking station to see if it would all work properly if the monitor was plugged into the docking station.
It got worse – the monitor didn’t display at all.
That, together with a few other relatively minor issues (but frustrating all the same) has driven us to the point where we are both wanting to throw this machine out the window.
We are both at the point of tearing our hair out, and I don’t have a lot to tear out.
Indeed, it may well be that my lack of hair is the result of years doing computer support – now you can see why.
So, Danita has just written ANOTHER email to the service company saying it’s still not working properly and can they please send someone to come and have a look at it in situ.
Clearly, their idea of the machine working and ours are very different.
At this rate (we’re now on Episode 2) this is turning into a VERY LONG saga.
On top of all this we have received invoices and payments have been deducted from our credit card – so much for warranty.
And Acer are still being as unhelpful as they could possibly be.
Stay tuned…