ASUS and my fight for them to be honorable
This blog is about my fight with ASUS computer company to get them to honor my warranty and replace my laptop. If anyone wants to share this page on the ASUS facebook page i would appreciate it. It also would be great if people could please go to this tweet and re-tweet it.
The story
In February of 2013 I purchased an ASUS brand laptop. The salesman highly recommended the brand, and it had several features i was looking for, including windows 8. $400 later, i left the store with a new laptop for school and a happy spirit. Flash forward ONE MONTH, and i started having an issue with the laptop. The sound would stop working, both on files and online. After contacting both geek squad and ASUS, they determined that i had gotten a virus in the audio software. I uninstalled the software, ran a comprehensive virus cleanup, purchased a new "better" anti-virus program the ASUS tech recommended and re-installed the audio drivers. Problem solved...or so i thought. Over the next 9 months i continued to have software and OS issues with the laptop. The audio issue happened more times than i can even remember. 2/3 times that the computer would run automatic updates, the updates would fail and the computer would spend hours trying to revert the update changes. In November 2013 for the second time the laptop completely stopped functioning and i had to contact ASUS to have them instruct me how to factory restore the laptop so that it would even work. This time, the ASUS rep agreed with me that there was something that was defective in the laptop and that i should send it to be repaired. The repairs themselves were covered by my warranty, but it cost me $48 to ship the laptop to there facility in southern california. My laptop came back about 15 days later, supposedly fixed. FOUR DAYS later the laptop was again non-functional, and again it was sent to the ASUS facility to be repaired. This time i threw a bit of a fit, and they sent me a pre-paid label so i only had to pay to package the laptop. Still another $17 i spent, on a laptop that was sent back to me not repaired. The laptop spent about 16 days with ASUS, and was returned "repaired" at the end of December 2013. Because of all the issues and hassle my one year warranty was extended for 3 months, which i thought was very nice of ASUS to do. (This would mean my warranty would extend from Feb 2014 to May 2014.) On March 29th, i contacted ASUS because of the recurring issues, and at that time i asked that my unit be replaced. Under the warranty i had the right to ask for a replacement unit. I was assured this was not necessary, and was walked through another technical fix for the issues. Three more times between March 29th and May 14th, i asked that i be connected to someone who could help me get the unit replaced. Each time i was ignored and assured there was another fix we could do instead. The final time, i was adament that the unit be replaced. I had been more than patient trying to get them to fix it, and i had come to realize they never would. The final time i asked, the tech told me i could go ahead and send the unit back in, but as my warranty was expired i would have to pay for any repairs.
This is where i began to get truly pissed off. I had been told my warranty was extended, so it should still have been covered. This tech told me there was no record of that and my warranty had expired in feb 2014. If you read through the transcript of my Better Business Bureau complaint, they state there my warranty expired in Dec 2013. I continued to contact ASUS, by phone, email and on their FB page to get them to repair or replace the unit. My emails were ignored, and in one day i was hung up on by ASUS support reps FIVE TIMES. Finally i made a complaint with the BBB, hoping this would be the kick in the pants ASUS needed to honor their warranty and do the right thing. For about a month we went back and forth, with them ignoring the issue, lying about when my warranty expired, and sending generic responses. The case was closed August 2014 with no results. ASUS continues to refuse to replace the unit, and though my complaint stays on file and anyone who checks them out through the BBB can see it, i am not satisfied with the results. I am a single mom and student stuck with a defective unit manufactured by a company who refuses to honor their warranty. The way i was treated and the lack of honesty and ethics on the part of ASUS have inspired me to make sure everyone knows what happened to me. I even inspired a facebook friend who was shopping for a new laptop to not purchase the ASUS unit he was originally looking at.
If you are in the market for a new computer or tablet anytime soon, please heed my warning and avoid ASUS. If you spend a moment on the BBB page for ASUS you will see they have no rating with the BBB because of unresolved compaints. They website also states "We have identified a pattern of complaints concerning service issues. Complaints processed by BBB claim that 1) products sent to the company for repairs are still not working properly when returned to the consumer.On June 29, 2012 ASUS responded to the issue by stating: We continuously enhance our repair service levels across the board, but in specific response to the repair quality concerns addressed in this letter we have strengthened core processes which may have been at the root of the matter and ASUS valued customers, with non-component systems products will benefit from the enhanced RMA process and instructions.BBB again reviewed this company's file for complaints. As of January 14, 2013 the issue of products sent to the company for repairs still not working properly when returned to the consumer still remains." That really says everything you need to know about ASUS.
If anyone is interested in reading the complaint i made and the responses from ASUS, the links to the print screens are below. The only changes i made to the form was to black out my name, address and email, and to color my complaints and responses in orange, and responses from ASUS in blue, simply to make the form easier to read.
Print screen #1- print 1
print screen #2- print 2
print screen #3- print 3
The story
In February of 2013 I purchased an ASUS brand laptop. The salesman highly recommended the brand, and it had several features i was looking for, including windows 8. $400 later, i left the store with a new laptop for school and a happy spirit. Flash forward ONE MONTH, and i started having an issue with the laptop. The sound would stop working, both on files and online. After contacting both geek squad and ASUS, they determined that i had gotten a virus in the audio software. I uninstalled the software, ran a comprehensive virus cleanup, purchased a new "better" anti-virus program the ASUS tech recommended and re-installed the audio drivers. Problem solved...or so i thought. Over the next 9 months i continued to have software and OS issues with the laptop. The audio issue happened more times than i can even remember. 2/3 times that the computer would run automatic updates, the updates would fail and the computer would spend hours trying to revert the update changes. In November 2013 for the second time the laptop completely stopped functioning and i had to contact ASUS to have them instruct me how to factory restore the laptop so that it would even work. This time, the ASUS rep agreed with me that there was something that was defective in the laptop and that i should send it to be repaired. The repairs themselves were covered by my warranty, but it cost me $48 to ship the laptop to there facility in southern california. My laptop came back about 15 days later, supposedly fixed. FOUR DAYS later the laptop was again non-functional, and again it was sent to the ASUS facility to be repaired. This time i threw a bit of a fit, and they sent me a pre-paid label so i only had to pay to package the laptop. Still another $17 i spent, on a laptop that was sent back to me not repaired. The laptop spent about 16 days with ASUS, and was returned "repaired" at the end of December 2013. Because of all the issues and hassle my one year warranty was extended for 3 months, which i thought was very nice of ASUS to do. (This would mean my warranty would extend from Feb 2014 to May 2014.) On March 29th, i contacted ASUS because of the recurring issues, and at that time i asked that my unit be replaced. Under the warranty i had the right to ask for a replacement unit. I was assured this was not necessary, and was walked through another technical fix for the issues. Three more times between March 29th and May 14th, i asked that i be connected to someone who could help me get the unit replaced. Each time i was ignored and assured there was another fix we could do instead. The final time, i was adament that the unit be replaced. I had been more than patient trying to get them to fix it, and i had come to realize they never would. The final time i asked, the tech told me i could go ahead and send the unit back in, but as my warranty was expired i would have to pay for any repairs.
This is where i began to get truly pissed off. I had been told my warranty was extended, so it should still have been covered. This tech told me there was no record of that and my warranty had expired in feb 2014. If you read through the transcript of my Better Business Bureau complaint, they state there my warranty expired in Dec 2013. I continued to contact ASUS, by phone, email and on their FB page to get them to repair or replace the unit. My emails were ignored, and in one day i was hung up on by ASUS support reps FIVE TIMES. Finally i made a complaint with the BBB, hoping this would be the kick in the pants ASUS needed to honor their warranty and do the right thing. For about a month we went back and forth, with them ignoring the issue, lying about when my warranty expired, and sending generic responses. The case was closed August 2014 with no results. ASUS continues to refuse to replace the unit, and though my complaint stays on file and anyone who checks them out through the BBB can see it, i am not satisfied with the results. I am a single mom and student stuck with a defective unit manufactured by a company who refuses to honor their warranty. The way i was treated and the lack of honesty and ethics on the part of ASUS have inspired me to make sure everyone knows what happened to me. I even inspired a facebook friend who was shopping for a new laptop to not purchase the ASUS unit he was originally looking at.
If you are in the market for a new computer or tablet anytime soon, please heed my warning and avoid ASUS. If you spend a moment on the BBB page for ASUS you will see they have no rating with the BBB because of unresolved compaints. They website also states "We have identified a pattern of complaints concerning service issues. Complaints processed by BBB claim that 1) products sent to the company for repairs are still not working properly when returned to the consumer.On June 29, 2012 ASUS responded to the issue by stating: We continuously enhance our repair service levels across the board, but in specific response to the repair quality concerns addressed in this letter we have strengthened core processes which may have been at the root of the matter and ASUS valued customers, with non-component systems products will benefit from the enhanced RMA process and instructions.BBB again reviewed this company's file for complaints. As of January 14, 2013 the issue of products sent to the company for repairs still not working properly when returned to the consumer still remains." That really says everything you need to know about ASUS.
If anyone is interested in reading the complaint i made and the responses from ASUS, the links to the print screens are below. The only changes i made to the form was to black out my name, address and email, and to color my complaints and responses in orange, and responses from ASUS in blue, simply to make the form easier to read.
Print screen #1- print 1
print screen #2- print 2
print screen #3- print 3
Comments
My fiance is in the IT field, so luckily, I only buy what he recommends (which is usually a $600 laptop). I have a best buy credit card that allows for no interest for two years so I can do that. It's a shame that some companies take such advantage of people. It's also a shame that the BBB didn't motivate them to resolve this the way it seems to for most companies. I'll be sure to share your horror and blast this story wherever I can!
Everytime we had any updates that would occur, it would completely shut down and would never reboot. I had to call the tech support and they would help me get it to open and then the same thing would start.
The actual tech at Asus told me to take it back asap and use my warranty from the store. The tech said there were major issues with it, and it would never work right.
After looking at my receipt, I realized my warranty from the store was for only 60 days, so I had 2 days to return it. Thankfully, I got my money back.