Why ASUS doesn't deserve your business.

[elykrab17]

Hey, everybody -

The purpose of this thread is to shed light upon the horrible standard of customer service ASUS "provides". All of this information is a 100% true story which happened to me, personally. I will do my best to update the thread, respond to comments, and keep you all up to date on the case's happenings.

As documented in this thread (http/www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?282458-Horrid-ASUS-headache-problems) I have had a problem with my laptop for the last 8 months, involving system hanging and freezing. ASUS had me send it in three times, and every time it came back in the same, broken condition as before.
Now starts the Customer Care potion of the game. I worked with ASUS CC to send my laptop in for a fourth time for a "more thorough" repair. They kept it for longer, tested it harder, and communicated with me to determine exact triggers for the problem.

So now, here starts the newest part of the story...

This past Sunday (the 16th of September, 2012) I received my laptop back from ASUS CC. They didn't fix anything. The technician(s) claim that they could not find anything wrong with the laptop at all - that no lag was present during their testing. I find this hard to believe being that, as I'm writing this, my laptop is lagging skipping, freezing, and hanging like it's going out of style At this time I started the course of fighting for a replacement system.

After days of communicating and arguing with ASUS Customer Loyalty representative, they've given me an option: they will grab a currently broken computer, fix it up, and ship me that as a replacement. I of course refused, as I feel the repair personnel are too grossly incompetent to successfully repair a computer. As well, a replacement should not be something used, it should be something new !!

Here are some points of mine as to why I deserve a new replacement of an identical-or-better laptop, and as to why ASUS does not deserve your time and money:

1) I have invested $1500 in ASUS with this computer, and have tried to stay loyal to them during this repair nightmare. I have held on for eight months now, staying patient and trying to work through these problems.

2) This computer has been submitted for repair FOUR TIMES! At what point do we just decide to scrap the repairs and replace the unit?!

3) I have been, I feel, very patient in dealing with these problems. I should NOT have had to go through eight months of hell just to get my laptop in a working state. It's ridiculous.

4) Their "solution" to my problem is ridiculous. I paid for the computer I did. I should not have to take someone else's warranty repair/return as a replacement. Especially given that this is a customized laptop, it would make more sense for them to just replace this with a new model or refund the money I paid for, in return, the laptop. If you had a broken car and the dealership failed to fix it for months in a row, they would not just give you something used, and different. "Oh, sorry your Impala isn't working, here's a recently "fixed-up" Malibu as a replacement!". That's wrong.

5) Their treatment of my issue was reminiscent of gross negligence and incompetence. ASUS has demonstrated that they are incapable of fixing problems and repairing computers, and that they should not be trusted to do so (see my other thread!!).

6) Their idea seems to be to try and screw the customer--to just run me down until I stop caring. I will not give up this fight. It needs to be known how they handle their issues.

7) ASUS has made absolutely no effort to truly support and reach out to their customer. The little care I received during this time was for naught, as the only few people who seemed willing to help me did not have the power to do much for me at all.

8) Again, my computer should not be replaced with a USED system! That is wrong, and and unfair way to compensate me for the time I've given to this company. I am a college student--it's not like I have time I can just throw away. But here I've sat for hours on end trying to work out my problem to an acceptable solution. Let's talk about screwing the little guy...

*** Here are links to videos that demonstrate my problem ***
https/dl.dropbox.com/u/106451089/Tabbing%20and%20Scrolling.3gp
https/dl.dropbox.com/u/106451089/Youtube%20and%20Tabbing%20-%20Typing.3gp
https/dl.dropbox.com/u/106451089/Youtube%20Video%20-%20Saxophone.3gp

Those videos demonstrate my problem. They were taken on the 17th of September, 2012. I can take more if people want. And ASUS seems to not be able to find anything wrong... hmmm.

TL;DR Eight months and four RMAs later, ASUS will only give me a used computer (of which I don't believe they can fix) as a replacement for my problem. They don't care about customer loyalty or appreciation, and do not deserve your time nor money.

Thanks for everybody who read my post. I will continue to update this as much as I can, as well as respond to questions/comments/PMs about this or anything else. As well, I will (shortly) start uploading copies of all of my e-mails between myself and ASUS personnel.tech support, as well as scans of all of my "repair" slips. Again, please watch the videos above (Dropbox) as a problem demonstration.

Thanks everybody,

Kyle
elykrab17

 

[slicedtoad]

Have you tried reinstalling windows? [strike]It's likely that or a bad hdd. A new HDD is fairly cheap, you could even upgrade to a SSD in the process.[/strike] Nvm, video playback shouldn't be affected by the hdd.

edit:
also, Asus is not unique in it's crappy customer care. The only company I've dealt with that has very good customer support is EVGA.

Apple also has reportedly good customer support (they'd better for the outrageous price you pay).

Just about every other computer hardware company out there (Gigabite, MSI, Sapphire, Acer, HP, XFX, etc) is just as bad or worse than Asus.

It's usually much faster to diagnose and fix it yourself.

Edit: Also, if that came across as pro-asus, it wasn't. I'm just dissatisfied with customer support across the field.

If you really want to see bad, try RMAing a sapphire product. They make great stuff but the warranty is a joke.

 

[teh_chem]

I'll be honest, I didn't read through your post. But I can already agree, ASUS support is pretty crappy. Both customer-service and basic firmware (or for computers, BIOS) support.

Just google "ASUS TF101 sleep of death." Four attempts at pushing an ICS update and they screwed the pooch over and over.

Not to mention on their UL80J laptops, all but abandoning support despite a significant driver conflict between the Optimus graphics driver and the wifi antenna they chose to use (also give that one a google).

I'm so anti-ASUS now that I wouldn't even buy a Nexus 7 if it were fifty bucks.

 

[ish416]

FYI, when you send in your computer for an issue like this, all they do is run diagnostics and stress tests on the hardware itself. They do not and will not boot up YOUR OS or troubleshoot it. Typically they will re-image your HDD to their factory image also.

The issues honestly seems like a bad HDD. However, I have seen software cause similar types of issues as well.

Have you tried re-installing your OS or tried booting from a linux live distro to see if the problem persists?

 

[slicedtoad]

^live linux distro is a good idea since it will bypass the HDD.

 

[bryonhowley]

I have had two RMA's though Asus one was one of my 3 Asus 27" monitors and the other was a graphics card. Turnaround time for both was less than two weeks and both came back working correctly with no further problems. So for me customer service was very good.

 

[cats_Paw]

YOu see.. the thing is this is actually normal nowdays since every company in the world is behaving like this since the economical recession.

For example, i bought a laptop MSI that started BSODing after 3 months. i ended up throwing out the ram module that was faulty and i didnt even bother with the warranty nightmare. Now, if the laptop DOES break down or lags, you can bet your ass ill ask for a replacement or my money back (assuming its in the 2 year warranty period).

And no, send it and fix it, as i am by LAW allowed to tell them to do that (POLAND).

Depends on your country thou. If your country has a law segment that defines you ahve the right to ask for a replacement, by asus doing business in your country they are accepting those conditions

 

[vrumor]

Ive had to send a few ASUS products back and have had absolutely no issues with them whatsoever. So posting this thread is kinda pointless. Some people will be satisfied with the customer service they received. Some wont. And if you expect to get different treatment than other customers, thats on you. Its standard to get a refurbed item when replacing this far out from purchase. Even if you sent it back in a month after you bought it. There may some issue with you, or how you are using it that is causing it as well. Crappy power from your plugs, sitting on a bed or your lap instead of a flat surface would cause it to overheat and skip, lag, all of what you described.