those who know me know that i'm not much for complaining.
okay, yes i am.
backstory: two weeks ago my laptop wouldn't boot up fast enough after a restart. a restart which was caused by microsoft vista (surprise surprise) unable to download and install updated drivers correctly. it for some reason could not download and install any ati drivers worth a damn. why is this important? when the ati device program fails after waking up from sleep or hibernation, wireless internet fails with it. one way to fix that- restart the computer. so i restart the computer. before now, booting had been pretty much instant. now it was suddenly taking 5 minutes. so like a dumbass, i turn off the laptop by holding power, and turn it back on. now vista won't start it has a startup recovery program which has worked before. now? butkiss. startup recovery doesn't work. so you're thinking "why not install the os?". the answer is, i would have, but the disk that came with my laptop doesn't look like an install cd. instead it looks like a can-your-computer-run-vista cd.
so deciding to err on the side of caution, i take it to the local compusa where i had a 2 year warranty. i explain my problem. they take it in. i expect to get it back by tuesday (i had taken it in on sunday morning, there was a line of machines ahead of mine, the earliest they could get to it was monday). so no big deal. i don't have a laptop for a few days, all is well.
i really should stop assuming things.
i take it in on 7-22. i get a call reguarding my computer nearly a WEEK later on saturday. this call isn't about "your computer is ready". no, no. this is a call stating that acer has approved all changes, it has been sent to the repair center. by the way, they tell me this after i drive to the place with my laptop bag expecting it to be there.
huh? did i miss something here? all this is is a just-reinstall-the-os problem. i know that, and i'm not that technically inclined. ok fine, wait some more.
today, i get another call. the woman on the other end is garbled as hell on the answering machine so i call up there and i say point blank is my computer up there right now. she tells me that it is at the repair center. so i drive up there again, thinking that i finally get my computer back after two weeks when all it needed was an os reinstall. again, i take my laptop bag up there. guess what. again i'm told that it isn't here, it has been sent to the repair center. but isn't this the repair center? no it isn't.
something else you should know about me, i am about as emotional as star trek's vulcans- outwardly stoic, interally a raging inferno. i am not happy. so i ask when should i get my computer back. i'm told a week to 10 days. and i'm pretty upset with the on-site repair center. one, they call with updates on my computer when all i want is it back. i don't care where it is, just as long as its in the store when you call me. this endless game of phone tag does me no good whatsoever. two, obviously there is a more serious problem for them to have to send it off to an off-site repair center and for acer to approve any changes. a problem that i have not been made aware of. three, (acer is getting hit with this) acer tech support is CLOSED on the weekends, and CLOSED during non-business hours central time. plus their tech support phone number is found nowhere on their website. i had to search other sites just to get told i was unable to get tech support until monday on a saturday night. plus e-mailing my problem did me no good, because i got a response back on tuesday.
so you see, as a consumer, i am about fed up with the entire process. i want my computer back and if i can't get it back i want to know why. compusa could have saved this post and my bagging on them heavily if they said well beforehand what was really wrong and when i should get it back, information i just partially found out today.
bottom line- compusa is good for purchasing hardware for your computer and installing it quickly. but in terms of actually _fixing_ the damn thing, much has left to be desired. as soon as the warranty is up on the laptop at that place, i'm not going there for any sort of repairwork on either my desktop or laptop ever again.
edit: this is the problem verbatim from the guy who initially took my laptop. tell me this doesn't sound like a quick fix:
Unit comes in under warranty/TAP. The unit is Stuck in a boot cycle. unit blue-screens and restarts. Unit comes with battery and no AC adapter. No other accessories.
