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HELP! Six Trips for Repair, PC still not Fixed.
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08-22-2010 08:43 PM
First post, so if this is in the wrong spot sorry.
Cliff notes:
*PC worked well for 1 year
*we experience problems and go to Future Shop for repairs using our PSP
*6 months and 6 trips later our PC is still in a non-functioning state and I’m starting to doubt that Future Shop will fix what’s wrong if I take it in for repair #7.
On the 17th of January 2009 my family purchased an Acer Aspire AM5201-E5621A, with a product service plan good for a number of years. The Acer worked fine for about a year when it started displaying error messages indicating hard drive problems. The problems quickly escalated until the PC was in a non-functioning state, unable to start up, screen remaining black the entire time. Near the end of January 2010 we took the computer into Future Shop for help and after dropping it off for repair, the PC was restored to “factory condition” but the operating system they installed was NOT the original.
A few days later the computer began to show symptoms of more problems. While doing very simple tasks the computer would freeze and then 5-10 minutes later display blue screen. This was the start of a circular cycle, trying to restart the PC, follow and complete the recovery manager prompts, wait and wait, then a short while later be facing the same blue screen. On occasion “disk read error occurred Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart” was displayed, but by following the restart directions you were just returned to the same message, over and over. The only thing which made a difference was to turn off the PC and leave it overnight, which would usually prevent the disk read error message from appearing, allowing for a normal start-up the next day. I also noticed that certain stock programs would crash the PC causing a different blue screen every time they were opened (I’ll post a screen shot if needed).
So we went back to future shop for help, and surprisingly we were able to pick it up the very same day. They “ran winstress for 7.5 hrs-NFF”, but unfortunately the disk read error message didn’t get display, they experienced a normal boot and the freezing that lead to frequent blue screens wasn‘t happening for the technicians. Our problems were unresolved.
Over the next month we did not use the PC because the previously described problems were so severe that normal usage was not possible without long periods of freezing (5-10 minutes while waiting for a folder on the desktop to open once double clicked, blue screen when certain programs were accessed) and by early April 2010 we were ready to take it to future shop for repairs.
This time they found that the software that previous technicians had installed was the WRONG operating system and they again restored the same non-original operating software(They installed the wrong OS again). Not fixing it.
We took it home and soon experience the same problems + some new ones (hard drive related), we call the 1800 phone number on the product service plan brochures, the guy on phone approved some repairs because reinstalling the operating system wasn’t fixing the problems. On April 23 2010 we return it to future shop for repair and this time the technicians find hard drive problems -> major repair. Replaced the mother board and the 640 GB hard drive.
Within a month the PC is again malfunctioning, frequent hard drive errors and start up errors prevent any work from being completed because files are disappearing and its unstable. Back to FS and a new non-stock HD (I don’t know why stock HD was not used) and the same wrong OS was installed.
August 2010, Computer is constantly freezing up at random, as well as blue screens on demand by using some stock programs. We take it into FS they find software problems because they keep reinstall the wrong OS and we take it home only to find that it still freezes, blue screens, and experiences hard drive problems at random.
We have never had the Original operating installed system since the first repair was done. Today Aug-22-2010 we still have a non-functioning PC with multiple problems. What do you suggest we do?
I would really appreciate help with this because we seem to be stuck. If anything needs clarification ask and I’ll try to help.
Thank-you
Re: HELP! Six Trips for Repair, PC still not Fixed.
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08-22-2010 11:54 PM
First of all, I have to say: you have the patience of a saint. If I had to go through that, I'd likely be tearing my hair out and screaming at this point. ![]()
Having said that, though, there's little recourse we can provide on the forums here. There are a few things I can suggest:
- Try calling the PSP hotline again, found in the Product Service Plan brochure. If they helped before, it's likely they'll be able to help again.
- Try calling Future Shop Customer Service: 1-800-663-2275 -- let them know all the trouble you've been through; it's possible they can accommodate something.
- Is there another Future Shop store nearby? You might benefit from having another team of technicians having a look over your computer, who might be able to find something the first team keeps missing.
Senior ConnectPro Computer Technician @ #615: Orangeville, Ontario
Re: HELP! Six Trips for Repair, PC still not Fixed.
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08-23-2010 12:42 AM
Thank-you Tanarus
I will give the PSP hotline a call tomorrow and see what they can do.
Re: HELP! Six Trips for Repair, PC still not Fixed.
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08-24-2010 06:46 AM
I completely agree with Tanarus on this. You have tremendous patience.
From a technical point of view, my first thought strayed from the incorrect OS and towards more faulty hardware. Blue screens can be caused from a lot of software things however in your case I think it's a hardware issue. If I were back in the store working on your unit I would be running full hardware testing, including a 'burn in' test. Where as the same part is tested several times in a row to try and show failure.
Let us know if you have any more questions and how it works out for you.
Re: HELP! Six Trips for Repair, PC still not Fixed.
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08-25-2010 06:01 AM
I'd just be asking for a full refund because CLEARLY this repair process is going absolutely no where.
Not only is the problem not getting fixed, but you likely also have a lemon? That's already 2 reasons for a refund or replacement.
Re: HELP! Six Trips for Repair, PC still not Fixed.
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08-25-2010 12:22 PM
As the unit is passed the 14 day return policy it will not quality for a 'refund' as quickinferno has mentioned.
Under your product service plan, a lemon is defined as a unit that has had 3 major hardware repairs and requires a 4th.
Did you contact the customer service line? Are they currently working on a solution with you?
Re: HELP! Six Trips for Repair, PC still not Fixed.
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08-25-2010 12:30 PM
cpoulton wrote:
As the unit is passed the 14 day return policy it will not quality for a 'refund' as quickinferno has mentioned.
Under your product service plan, a lemon is defined as a unit that has had 3 major hardware repairs and requires a 4th.
Did you contact the customer service line? Are they currently working on a solution with you?
I'm not talking about a return refund lol. It would be an escalated solution to the exceptional situation.
Re: HELP! Six Trips for Repair, PC still not Fixed.
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08-26-2010 12:09 AM
"Did you contact the customer service line? Are they currently working on a solution with you”
Yes, the customer service technician suggested we take it in for diagnostic work(same Future Shop), and mentioned that the RAM and internal power supply be checked. The computer will be in for repair tomorrow and I will post once I know the results.
Thanks
Re: HELP! Six Trips for Repair, PC still not Fixed.
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08-29-2010 01:23 PM
So we took it in and described everything about previous repairs to the technician. During this the PC was hooked up to a monitor and I was able to show the technician that a stock program (empowering technology) was able to trigger blue screening every time it was opened. He asked if it was ok to remove the empowering technology program because it could be responsible, we agreed/said “OK“. He also explained why it could be the source, mentioning the BIOS settings, a boot options tab within empowering technology and other things I don’t feel qualified to try and accurately reiterate. So it seemed as though the problem was thoroughly understood, and the repair steps to address this were straight forward. The next day FS called saying that a update (operating system related, “One we would not be able to get on our own“) was needed to stop the blue screening, and again we OK what the technicians suggest. Once repair was completed and the computer is all set up back at home, I decide that the first thing I should check is that empowering technology tab which had been discussed so much, and it still blue screens. I obviously regret not having this checked at least once by the store, but anyways realizing that the update had not fixed the single problem it was intended to address surprised even me (even with the current track record)! I recollect the technician at the store speak in such a way that demonstrated extensive ability, to diagnose and fix such issues, but in reality the repairs were unsuccessful. I'm not sure what to do about this, but since it still functions I will use it as is.
Other than that the computer starts up and seems to work fine, I haven’t used it since I brought it home from repair 7, so we‘ll have to wait and see. Also I made a little video (2 minutes), which shows the strange stuff, I encountered right before the last repair (it shows the empowering technology tab issue).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHpM7eFSk5s
Thanks I really appreciate it ![]()
Re: HELP! Six Trips for Repair, PC still not Fixed.
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09-01-2010 05:02 PM
September 1st Update.
Along with being the family computer this PC was purchased with specific purpose in mind. It was to be the place to compile, edit, and produce all of the media that goes through our household, along with watching DVDs etc. This never used to be a problem for it, until it started to fail in January 2010. So after it was returned from FS trip #7, I basically gave it a test drive using the same (compatible/hassle free) software that we have successfully used since the computer was purchased up until the point of its breakdown(Jan. 2010).
While capturing video via DV(firewire) the first few minutes were captured flawlessly, then for no apparent reason the computer began to function suboptimal. Then every video clip I attempted to capture had many frames dropped = unusable video file. I stop capturing footage and I then start making backups of the newly captured video on an external HD when similar lagging occurred. This made me wonder if the lagging would effect the data, but after it completed I checked the external HD files on a different PC and the files were free of errors. Note: 24 hrs later I started the Acer up to capture the footage that was missed, and it was working perfectly again (no frames were dropped),when I had not changed anything.
The way I see it is the computer works, but at times so poorly that tasks which require the PC to function in smooth/ lag free way cannot be completed. Ex. Capturing footage when dropping frames, watching videos/DVDs with choppy play back.
However even when its lagging/ functioning poorly, its able to complete tasks which do not require a smooth completion. Ex. Transferring files to a external HD, even when it briefly freezes up it gets the task done error free.
How should this scenario be interpreted? Is it in need of repair?
I think this is possibly overlooked when in for repairs because, it still completes tasks like file transfers free of error, but during video playback it can make things unwatchable. I don’t want or expect the technicians to sit and wait for things like this when they have software to test it, because this would be a huge waste of their time. But since they are testing my PCs hardware by using software on the PC being tested, I imagine that it’s possible for the periods of freezing to go with out the software’s notice.
Hypothetically if the freezing that took place during the external HD transfer happened while FS software was checking for problems, I would expect the software to show that the task completed 100% successfully. However any human observing would notice that it was frozen and not functioning correctly multiple times during that task, likely concluding that there are problems.
This could easily be completely wrong its just my guess to why the FS technicians are not able to diagnose fix and repair this.
Computer video #2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeuHcb1fGrA
Thank-you



