Is ASUS Tech Support Always This Bad

[ignatu]

3 weeks ago the third Nexus 7 tablet I've had stopped working in exactly the same way. The screen became unresponsive. It was never dropped. There was no physical damage.

It took a week to get an RMA from ASUS. I had to send in the receipt. ASUS provided the serial number, because I couldn't get to it in software - unresponsive screen. The S/N on the box was not valid. ASUS finally verified the tablet as under warranty and issued an RMA.

According to Fedex, ASUS received the tablet on 9/8. ASUS sent an email saying they had received it on 9/8. As of 9/14 they claimed they hadn't yet received it. On 9/16 they claimed the s/n I had provided was wrong - they provided the s/n, remember. But they now had the valid s/n and they would begin the process of assigning the tablet for repair. (It was now two weeks since I first called for an RMA)

On the 15th a supervisor promised to put a rush order on the service. She claimed she would be personally involved and would call me back Monday. As of 4PM, there was no call back. So I called

The rep informed me the tablet was no longer under warranty, so they were sending an invoice for the cost of the repair.. I told her ASUS had verified warranty status, and I purchased the tablet less than a year ago, new. I asked for a supervisor.

The supervisor said the tablet was under warranty, but I had to contact the "CID Department". She provided me a number, then transferred my call.

After 15 minutes the supervisor returned. She said nobody was answering. But she would be personally responsible for the service, and she would have a manager call me "later this evening".

At 9:30PM I called to ask why no manager had contacted me. I spoke to a supervisor who asked if I had shipped the tablet and asked if Fedex showed the tablet had arrived at ASUS' facility. I provided the FEDEX tracking info and the email from ASUS, from Sept. 7, stating they had received the tablet.

This supervisor told me I have to speak to the RMA department to verify the RMA status of the tablet before they can issue an RMA number. I reminded the supervisor I have an RMA number, ASUS verified they had received the tablet. The supervisor said they can't give me information about the tablet, I have to contact the RMA department.

That's where I started 2 1/2 weeks ago.

This is nothing but a run around. They have my tablet, but now claim they don't have it. Every step of the way, something is wrong that delays service. They keep telling me 24 to 48 hours before I will receive info and 5 to 7 days for the service to complete.

What is with this company? To top it off, the hold message keeps repeating that ASUS has "best in class" warranty service. If this is the best, I'd hate to live through the worst.

 

[amtseung]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one receiving horrible customer service with Asus. I spent two weeks trying to get them to acknowledge the dead Asus motherboard I have was in fact dead, even with video evidence. It was a $40 motherboard and have been running my new MSI motherboard just fine for the same two weeks, so I gave up and recycled that pile of garbage like a responsible human being.

I feel like Asus customer support is one of the worst in the industry. Gigabyte, MSI, Corsair, Toshiba, to name a few companies I've dealt with off the top of my head, all have far better customer support. I think Asus just sits on their high horse, disillusioning (is that even a word?) themselves by calling themselves "best in class", just to offset how bad they actually are at dealing with things. Let alone how bad their QC is. Strix 980ti with a cracked fan blade...

 

[azaran]

Asus is pretty well known for their absolute garbage customer service. I haven't had many problems with their gear, but when I do it's almost always a nightmare.

 

[ignatu]

Today I called this RMA department. That's the number the supervisor gave me. It's also the number I called first, 3 weeks ago.

The manager (who had the efficiency of a snail) said they had no case notes, they had just received the unit today, it is out of warranty, they are repairing it under warranty, and it will be 24-48 hours before we know status and 3-5 business days for the repair.

When I told her I had heard that before, she said she would put a note to expedite on the repair. I told her I had heard that at least 3 previous times. She said she would schedule a call back. I told her that promised call backs didn't happen at least 3 previous times, she put me on endless hold.

I ran out of time to deal with it, so I will have to call back Wednesday.

I'm going to try the corporate number: 510-739-3777

 

[ignatu]

I did manage to speak to someone in LVL 3 tech support on Tuesday. Dawn told me she was taking personal responsibility. She would call me back Wednesday morning. She said her group is small, call any time, ask for her by name, and she will speak with me.

There was no call back Wednesday morning. When I called and asked for Dawn, the rep told me Dawn was on vacation. After a 10 minute argument the rep transferred my to a supervisor who transferred my to LVL 3.

I spoke to Betty, who asked "Dawn who?"

When I explained, Betty said Dawn is not on vacation, and Betty said she heard Dawn tell me to ask for Dawn by name.

Me "Then why did you ask Dawn who?"

Betty "I want to focus on resolving your issue, not on what other people might have said."

Me "It gets different when I pay attention and call you on what you say, doesn't it?"

So now Betty made the same promise - she will take personal responsibility, she will be on some call at 6PM to bring up my case, she will call me back this evening, before 7PM.

Meanwhile, I'm calling corporate. It will probably route me back to the worthless customer support.

 

[ignatu]

Even worse, corporate number routes to a voice mail box no matter which options, other than press 2 for support, I choose. Now I'm trying random extension numbers.

 

[ignatu]

I found the extension scheme from the voicemail message on the operator line (that extension is 65000). The first number I called was someone from the RMA department. She was very meek. She put me on hold to try to find someone who could help.

Someone else, Gary, came on the phone. He said he will look into the situation, and if the parts for repair have not yet arrived, he will arrange a refurbished tablet to be sent to me.

Nobody can say "I am now placing a tablet in a box. You'll have it tomorrow." That's what I would do.

 

[ignatu]

Betty from LVL3 called back. She said the part is not in stock (main board). They have ordered it. It will take 7-10 days for the part to arrive, then 7-10 days for the repair once the part arrives.

At first, she claimed the tablet was no longer under warranty. Therefore no replacement can be sent to me. I reminded her ASUS verified warranty status. Then she "did some more checking" to find it is under warranty. Betty said if this goes on past Oct 16, then they can send me a replacement. Betty said she is doing all she can. I let her know she's doing all she's willing to do. I told her if it was me working there I'd send a tablet out today, for overnight delivery, even if I had to buy the tablet from a retail store. Betty "We're all in different places. I'm in Canada, the warehouse is in TX."

Me: "Then why don't you have a cell number direct to someone at the warehouse, so you could get things like this handled? You're doing what you're willing to do, not all you can do." I then told her about the day I walked 10 miles round trip in a flood and over a closed bridge to get to a client's house, because I had promised to be there. That's "all I can do" - fulfilling a promise no matter what.

In the meantime, Gary from home office sent an email letting me know the part is not in stock. He said he is working on getting a replacement for me.

The nightmare continues.

 

[amtseung]

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, or so they say.

I personally didn't have the willpower or determination to push this far. The second I realised I was speaking to idiots, I decided to cut my losses because it wasn't worth the time.

 

[Karadjgne]

I've been dealing with Asus Support since the early 90's, also MSI, Evga, Gigabyte etc (only major pc company I haven't dealt with is Seasonic). This was my last issue, couple years ago.
P8z77-V LE mobo up and quit. Got online, did the whole RMA thing, got a number, got the FedEx label (prepaid). Boxed the board in a plain box, wrapped in antistatic bag and bubble wrap. ½ a roll of packing tape (couldn't resit). Mailed it. 6 days later, (from the way it was shrink wrapped) received new board. Wife's been plugging away on it ever since. Primary issue was a leaking cap.

Dunno what to say, I know Asus isn't the best, that title belongs to Evga, but so far, for me anyways, Asus has been a good sight better than MSI used to be, back when it was 2 guys in a shed with a case of beer.

I believe their tablets are outsourced, not an in-house product, so that might be most of the issue you are having. Asus might be dealing, literally, with those same 2 guys in that same old shed, just a new case of beer.

 

[amtseung]

Dunno what to say, I know Asus isn't the best, that title belongs to Evga, but so far, for me anyways, Asus has been a good sight better than MSI used to be, back when it was 2 guys in a shed with a case of beer.

I believe their tablets are outsourced, not an in-house product, so that might be most of the issue you are having. Asus might be dealing, literally, with those same 2 guys in that same old shed, just a new case of beer.

Maybe we should have RMA'ed our products by sending in our stuff with an extra 6pack of beer.

 

[Karadjgne]

Rofl! Coupons. That'd be best. I know a few ppl who would rather drink nothing, than drink anything but Busch, so chances are good you'd get a geezer stuck on Ol' Milwaukee, but you sent Coors Light...

 

[ignatu]

Gary from corporate sent an email. He said he's got a replacement tablet to ship out on Friday, and he requested overnight shipping.

So far random extensions at the US HQ is looking better than tech support.

 

[Karadjgne]

Totally get middle man syndrome. When I have the crew, I'm the boss, so the buck stops with me. However, when my boss decides to join in the fray, I get to be the middle man, and shove everything his way. Looks kinda like that's what happened to you, no one had a coherent answer, so the buck got passed around so many times, nobody had a clue where to start except with scripted bs.