Awful Asus support

[con]

I guess this is just a mini rant really but any way.

I had an Asus U3s for about 4 weeks when I decided to upgrade the BIOS, whats the worst that could happen eh? Well the upgrade bricked the notebook. I'm not the only one to have this happen, it seems that there is/was a problem with the BIOS upgrade.

So now I had the unfortunate experience of trying to get my notebook repaired. First off I was told on the phone that I'd have to fill in an online form (difficult to do when the Asus flash utility is after bricking my computer). So I go to another computer and filled in the RMA request form.

Two days later and I hadn't even received an e-mail from Asus so I decided to call them up again. The response I got was roughly "the on line form is new and doesn't really work". So they now send me an e-mail with a spreadsheet attached for me to fill out. I send it back and now get and RMA number.

Asus pay for the shipping so they send out a UPS voucher. Unfortunately they use the regular postal service to send it from the UK to Ireland, this takes 6 days. I now pack up the notebook and send it back to them, 9 days after Asus first bricked the notebook.

Asus received the notebook on Monday Feb 25th. It's Thursday before they even look at the thing and Friday, after numerous phone calls, before I find out that they have to order a new motherboard (how long could that take?, it is a notebook that is still being sold after all). I was told the board should arrive towards the end of the following week.

I won't bother giving you details of every telephone call that I made to Asus over the past 7 weeks and quite frankly the lies I've been given by their polite but utterly useless staff, but its now 45 days since the notebook was first bricked and 32 days since Asus first recieved it and I'm still waiting.

Ironically one of the reasons I bought the Asus was the 2 year warranty and 1 year accidental damage cover.

So the moral of the story is, don't touch Asus with a barge pole (at least in the UK anyway).

PS: Other people have had similar repair times with Asus UK.

[mips]

Buy a thinkpad or hp business edition laptop next time ;)

I feel your pain though.

[fedex1993]

well support for asus over here in the US is excelent must be lousy people working at asus uk

[con]

When I was talking to Asus on Friday I was told that the part had arrived and that I should receive the notebook either today or yesterday. I didn't really believe them at the time so I wasn't overly surprised when I inquired about the RMA and was initially told that they were waiting for the mainboard. After kicking up a fuss and being given the usual rubbish from their staff they agreed to look into it and call me back.

They actually did call me back later today and I got the most comical response from Asus so far. Apparently the mainboard "might" be in stock, they're having a look for it:confused:. So if it is they'll ship the laptop and if it isn't, who knows. Basically I was told there is a chance UPS will deliver the laptop in the next few days, although I was told after 36 days in the repair centre by case is now a priority.

Asus do seem to be in a complete mess, not even being able to keep track of their own inventory. Although I'd say its as much the staff saying whatever bull comes to mind.

[PriceChild]

Could you point me to the download page of the bios update?

[con]

This is the download page.

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

You'll have to search for U3s and navigate to BIOS updates.

Version 305 is the one I downloaded, but its been updated since.

[PriceChild]

WOW. I'm amazed that they did not put any type of warning anywhere... I don't know much, but I'm pretty sure that its extremely irresponsible to offer these downloads without any warnings...

[PartisanEntity]

That's a shame to hear. I have had an Asus A6K since about 2-3 years now. I have not had any problems with it, so I have not needed Asus tech support, although I have contacted them numerously to ask about certain technicalities, so far they always responded quickly and most of the time to my satisfaction.

[hardyn]

I had a really similar experience with asus... although they did pay for shipping both directions each of the 4 times it was returned to the service depot.

The big complaint was that it had to be returned to be serviced 4 times; all for design/manufacturing trouble. audio card, 2x battery charge problem, optical drive, one "new" replacement notebook (it was obiously used with dammage), one email to the BBB... and finally a new new replacement.

I don't think i would buy another, however... that EeePC looks uber kool.

sorry to hear about your trouble.

[con]

I called them again today. They didn't find a mainboard yesterday so after 25 mins on the phone all I could get out of Asus was that they'd try to have it repaired some time next week and if it isn't then they'll "consider" taking some other action. They couldn't give any explanation as to why its taking so long to get a replacement board for a current laptop, all they said was wait another week. The trend for the past month has been to say that it should be fixed next week.

[whitefang5412]

Next time they pull this bull, tell them to trash the other laptop, and send you a new one or you will threaten to sue, then once you own ASUS, you have to send me an EEEpc for recommending this to you.:)

Hope everything turns out alright.

[HermanAB]

I believe UPS also repairs laptops. They established a repair centre to service their own kit and also take outside work.

[billgoldberg]

My hp laptop has been in hp's possession for over 2 months, and it will be another week before I get it.

What was wrong? The laptop overheats so quickly that it shuts down after 2 minutes. It overheated because they screwed up when they repaired it the first time, wich took 4 weeks. So I haven't been able to use it for around 3 months.

It's the main reason I'll never buy a laptop again, desktops you can fix yourself in an hour or so.

[hardyn]

FYI laptops are a whole lot more repairable and upgradeable that the manufactures want us to believe. The only problem is that most of us don't own one long enough to escape the warranty period. If you are technically minded and know which way to hold a screwdriver and have some patients... they are actually just really small desktops.

Me on the other hand will probably be free of desktops in the future... as the cost and computing power of new notebooks is now very favorable.

[whitefang5412]

My hp laptop has been in hp's possession for over 2 months, and it will be another week before I get it.

What was wrong? The laptop overheats so quickly that it shuts down after 2 minutes. It overheated because they screwed up when they repaired it the first time, wich took 4 weeks. So I haven't been able to use it for around 3 months.

It's the main reason I'll never buy a laptop again, desktops you can fix yourself in an hour or so.

I've had my HP laptop for about 2 years. Ran windows on it for a little over a year, but it's been running linux ever since. No over heating problems, nice, fast, beautiful.

[smoker]

i would'nt have taken this kind of sloppiness and ineptitude from any manufacturer. i would have demanded a replacement right away, and if the tele-support person can't comply, then ask to speak directly to someone who can.

best of luck

[con]

Well Asus are really out doing themselves now. After 25 mins on the phone on Wednesday I must have encouraged them to get the thumb out, the laptop was shipped the next day. Big problem though, the bluetooth doesn't work and the BIOS gives the error: Media test failure, exiting PXE ROM. I can run kubuntu alright, just no bluetooth.

When Vista boots normally a screen with ERROR in red appears and when I reboot into Vista recovery mode I can get into the OS. Every time I boot into vista normally I get the error. A couple of hours later the VGA switch, to change between Intel and nvidia graphics (stamina - speed), stopped working (mechanical failure).

The girl on the tech support said I'd have to return the laptop and that it was a memory fault. When I said if its a memory problem why don't I run memtest to cofirm, she said it could be a hard disk fault. This of course could be confirmed with a manufacturers diagnostics utility. So she then more or less admitted she didn't know what was wrong, just that it had to be returned.

I reckon Anova, they do the repairs for Asus, must have put a faulty mainboard they pulled from another laptop into mine.

As you can I was more than slightly miffed so I called Asus UK's HQ to see if I could encounter something other than a brick wall. A sales and marketing person put me through to someone I can only guess does support for business costumers or people more important than us wee mortals at least. He seemed familiar with the problem and said it was a software fault between Vista and the BIOS, for someone reason it has to be recitified at a repair centre, I can't simply upgrade the BIOS. He's the first person I've encountered that was genuinely helpful and knoweldgeable and he even said he'd be able to get me a free battery for receiving the faulty laptop. Much better than the wait, wait, wait... you get from the tech support line. Still nothing to get excited about though.

The regular tech support told me that you're only entitled to a replacement if you've had to return the notebook for repair a total of four times. I'm now waiting for a shipping docket from Asus so I can send the notebook back for repair. Its now 8 weeks since the fault and 6 full weeks since the repair centre first received the notebook.

[gn2]

Why were you doing the BIOS upgrade?

Eire or the North?

[con]

I was getting some random reboots when running the Nvidia graphics and the BIOS upgrade makes the laptop run a bit cooler, I thought it might help.

[con]

Well another week down and still no laptop. Asus received the laptop a week ago yesterday but they only logged it in on Monday. Since then the status checker has given the status as "repairing". I called them today and was told the replacement parts, a mainboard and hard disk for some reason, were in stock and the laptop would be repaired at some stage. They wouldn't give me any clear idea when it would be repaired or why it hasn't being repaired already, it is supposed to be a "priority" case afterall. After 20 mins on the phone the tech support agreed to contact the repair centre and enquire about the status, she was then supposed to contact me but hasn't so far. I'm really surprised at just how indifferent Asus are, theres no attempt on there part to speed things along or to explain anything. They just say over and over again wait another week. Its been almost 10 weeks since I first requested the RMA and 8 weeks since the repair centre first had the notebook,they shipped it faulty a couple of weeks ago and I had to send it back.

[stein1]

Sorry to hear all this. I have been using Asus components for several years and they all outlived basically everything else. But, it's only my luck that nothing went wrong (although I was always sceptical about BIOS upgrades) and if it did, I could only throw it away, just as I had to throw away everything else that eventually failed. There are still parts of the world where you can buy hardware, legal software, pay for it, take it home and put the warranty paper where the sun never shines... I have an Acer laptop and just a couple days ago sold my previous Asus MB with Barton2500 and replaced it with Athlon LE1600 on Foxconn MB. Silence is what I really can appreciate these days after work.
I guess I would be as frustrated as you are, but it helps when you know from the very start that there is no support. What they did to you does not fit the description in dictionary where the word "support is"...

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/support and quote both noun and verb: "3. # (transitive) To answer questions and resolve problems regarding something sold. Sure they sell the product, but do they support it?"

I rest my case and also going to rest my body and brains...

[con]

Well its 71 days since I first requested an RMA and 58 days since the UK repair centre first received the notebook. Tomorrow it'll be three weeks since the first time I received the notebook back from "repair" and today I received it for the second time.

So the problems this time, first off I was supposed to get a free battery as some sort of good will gesture - no sign of it. Secondly a plastic flap was bent up over the battery pin connectors, it pushed back underneath the pins quite easily but is clearly damaged. Thirdly two covers on the base of the laptop are loose and appear to be slightly bent out of shape. Not too confidence inspiring eh.

The last and biggest problem is the wireless/bluetooth isn't working properly. Bluetooth not working was part of the last RMA but this time its slightly different, Bluetooth doesn't work at all and I can't turn off the Wi-Fi "Actually a little worse I guess). I almost forgot the VGA switch, which was broke last time, is stiff and feels like it won't last very long, it doesn't snap to position in both directions.

I called the US support hotline and they reckon that the repair centre didn't connect up the laptop properly. Unfortunately I can't deal with them as they don't ship outside the US.

So will I'll be calling Asus UK tomorrow looking for my 3rd consecutive RMA. In case your wondering Anova is the name of the company that do the repairs for Asus Uk.

I've been told that Asus will supply a replacement at the 4th RMA, so here's hoping (that way I'll be able to sell the damn thing). In the USA they'll consider replacing it after the 3rd.

[con]

I've been told that the case has been passed on to the replacement department and that I'll be recieving a new notebook. Thats good because I want to sell the notebook now, I don't ever want to have to deal with Asus in Europe again. If someone else isn't put off by Asus and would like to buy the replacement let me know lol.

[mips]

This is a happy outcome.

When you sell the laptop get a Thinkpad with the money.

[Tom Mann]

...the BIOS gives the error: Media test failure, exiting PXE ROM. ...

You have network boot options switched on in your BIOS?
Disable the network boot rom and this will go away. Not sure about the bluetooth though - worth a look in the BIOS too?

[encompass]

I am currently waiting on an asus repair.
This one is nasty too.
First the powersupply started to wear out fast. So I had to send it in and get another one back. Down for 2 weeks.
Then I had the computer just start to shutoff randomly. I figured out it was the motherboard and probably something that happened with all the sparking from the powersupply that I reported. :D
So I sent it in and the replaced the mother board. 3 weeks. And yeah, the paperwork is a pain!
And it get's worse...
I get the system back, and I turn it on. The instant I do that... I notice the screen is blinking at a very steady rate. Ends up they never checked that... even in the bios boot it does the blinking. So we have an issue there now... I so sent it in again and I am waiting on them now. Let's hope they fix my unit fast, cause I am heading to the states soon for my internship at miro and MUST have my computer.
So 3 breaks in 4 months. Not bad huh?
This is from Finland with the holland rma center.

[con]

You have network boot options switched on in your BIOS?
Disable the network boot rom and this will go away. Not sure about the bluetooth though - worth a look in the BIOS too?

Your right about that, the US tech support guy was able to tell me that. One other thing I hadn't noticed when I wrote the last post was that the keyboard was also damaged by Anova, the right arrow key is broken. I can't say I'm overly happy, with a little luck I won't lose too much money on a notebook I owned for 4 months, 3 of which was spent gone for repair.

[con]

I am heading to the states soon

You probably have "notebook global service", in which case you could have brought it to the US and had it repaired there, or shipped it to the US repair centre and had them deliver it to your employer in the US.

Probably a bit late but I only mention it as Asus support in the US seems very good and I've seen lots of horror stories in Europe.

[con]

I'm having the same kind of experience in getting the replacement from Asus, as in last Friday I was told it would be shipped this week and today I'm told to wait some more. And as usual to get me off the phone they say they'll look into it and promise to phone back with more details, but of course they don't bother.

Funnily enough when I said that their support was in a complete mess she actually agreed with me:lolflag:.

[init1]

My hp laptop has been in hp's possession for over 2 months, and it will be another week before I get it.

What was wrong? The laptop overheats so quickly that it shuts down after 2 minutes. It overheated because they screwed up when they repaired it the first time, wich took 4 weeks. So I haven't been able to use it for around 3 months.

It's the main reason I'll never buy a laptop again, desktops you can fix yourself in an hour or so.
I had a very different experience with my Compaq. The NIC stopped working, so it was sent to HP to get fixed. It got back quicker than was expected, but the new NIC doesn't work with Slackware distros. Works fine with Debian distros, so I'm happy with it.

[encompass]

It still hasn't been fixed since my privious post. So I decided to email them about my RMA status and tell them that I really need my computer back soon because I was going to the states.
I wrote a very formal letter discribing the issue and it took about 45 minutes to make it just perfect.
As soon as I sent it I got an email that told me that the email I just used in no longer being used and that I needed to cantact them with this webform at such and such link. First the webform sucked, but the best part was that the form has not direct link on the asus website. They just tell you the email. That means that the rma email is probably there to slow us down and make us think twice about what we say.
Asus, your a sly bugger.

[con]

I received the "replacement" today, typically enough it isn't straight forward. The good things first, I received an extra 9 Cell battery and a DVD burner which I didn't have with the original. The problem is the laptop I got back is not a new one, its my own, I can tell because of the damage that was done to the case under the battery and the two poorly fitting covers on the base. The serial number has been changed and its been repackaged to look like a new one. All the stickers and pieces of plastic have been put back on and I reckon the keyboard and trackpad was replaced, the keyboard was damaged previously. Some of the accessories have been reused as they've been put in random bags and some tied with elastic bands. I don't really know what to say, just that Asus really are a dishonest bunch.

By the way it's been 15 weeks and 1 day since I requested the RMA (Getting old I know :)).

[encompass]

Well, they tell me it's fixed. They have replaced the Motherboard, keyboard, and screen. I was suprised they did all that. They are shipping it back to me and if there were ANY delay, it mey be too late and I end up flying to the states without my computer which is required for my internship. I will have to mail it. :/ grr...
None the less, they called me. That's cool. And I had the same guy to work with the whole time. That too was cool.
Now let's see if the hardware can hold up to what it should.