I'll preface the rest of this post by saying sorry in advance: It's going to be long. So I'll do what I wish so many more people would do and put the TL:DR; at the top of the post:
TL:DR; If you're shopping around for a tablet (or really, any expensive device that might need repairs), be sure to consider a company's reputation for Customer Service while making your decision. Also, if you're considering an ASUS tablet, you'd better know how to (and be willing to) repair tablets on your own.
So last year, I decided I wanted a tablet. I'd put off getting one since I primarily use my desktop, but having one for basic internet-related stuff while lying on the couch seemed convenient, and phone screens are small.
The problem was, I'm extremely picky about buying expensive electronics. I never impulse buy. I always have to do a ton of research on a product, its competitors, what features are available, what would best suit my needs, how the product looks and feels, etc.
One of the things I saw some tablets offered that I absolutely loved was a plug-in keyboard attachment. This was great for me because it meant I could work on my coding side-projects with the tablet.
ASUS seemed to have the best offering of Android-based tablets with keyboards (I had no interest in Windows tablets), which they offered through their Transformer series. The model that ended up catching my eye was the ASUS Transformer TF701T. After some initial hesitation due to some reports that the dock connection with this particular model was having issues, I ordered the tablet and dock once the seller on amazon guaranteed they were aware of the issue and were only selling docks that'd been manufacturered after the date ASUS said they resolved the problem.
So I get the tablet in March. Instantly I fall in love with it. I might do a full review of the tablet later, but for now let me just say: I fucking love this tablet. It runs great. The keyboard dock is easy to use, and provides additional battery life, SD card storage, and USB slots which help make the tablet feel even more impressive. The tablet has an aluminum back which makes the device feel sturdy and high quality. The screen has a great resolution and images are crisp.
So everything is going great until July 23rd. I open the "lid" of the tablet/keyboard, and find the screen has a large crack across the top right corner. I to this day have no idea how that crack got there. I never dropped the device. I never dropped anything on it. I never even lazily toss the device onto the table or couch or anything. I take great care of my electronics. The device still worked, but the touch screen wasn't responding in the broken corner.
Confused and super annoyed, I start researching the glass on this model to see if there are any known issues with the glass giving out. I found that with other transformer lines (TF200, 300, etc), there were issues where the keyboard dock would put undue strain on the front of the devices, so opening the device while attached to the dock could over time cause cracks to appear.
This seemed to be consistent with the location of the crack on my device, so I called ASUS to see if they had any reports of this happening with this model.
The rep I spoke to was nice enough. He said they didn't have a record of it, but that I could send the device in for repair and they would analyze the damage and call me to let me know whether they'd cover the repair under warranty or if I'd have to pay the replacement cost, which he quoted me as costing $180.
I was a bit blown away by the quote, but I figured it couldn't hurt to send it in and see if they'd cover the repair.
So I ship the device to them (at my cost, which was understandable). The tracking number said the tablet arrived at their repair center in Texas on July 28th. I expected (since I was told) to hear back in 5-10 business days.
Fast forward 3 and a half weeks, and I still haven't heard anything. I tried giving them the benefit of the doubt, but I was annoyed so I called them. Their RMA website hadn't even been updated beyond "Repair is incomplete".
This was where my first problem started. I didn't remember which number I had looked up or which prompts I used, so I called the first number I found on Google.
This wasn't the right number. The person said they didn't have access to the system where my RMA was stored since I was talking to PC repair, not tablet repair (seems odd that these two very similar tasks are so completely decoupled, but whatever). They gave me a number to call to get to tablet repair. I asked to be transferred, but they said "I don't have a transfer button on this phone." Oooooookay? So I call the number they gave me.
This was ALSO not the correct number. However, the person I spoke with this time was really unhappy that I wasted his precious time providing customer service to a customer that didn't fit in his system. He was downright rude at times, saying things like "Why didn't you call the eee PC line for tablet repairs? This isn't the right line. You should've called that one." I told him I'm just calling the number and prompt the OTHER incompetent ASUS rep gave me.
Apparently, he must've somehow taken this as an insult, like no ASUS employee could ever make a mistake, so he hangs up on me.
I'm so unbelievably pissed at this point that I couldn't help but laugh. It'd been 30+ minutes of being on hold and talking with people who couldn't help me, only to have a rep from the company literally give up in the rudest way possible.
I finally find the correct number online and get to someone who can actually look up my RMA. He tells me he's amazed that my tablet hasn't been sent back yet, saying this was way past their SLA for repairs and he was really sorry. He promised to escalate my ticket to his supervisor and that I'd hear from the repair facility the next day.
I finally get an e-mail (was told I'd get a call) from the repair facility. They said since it was being repaired for broken glass, that was a physical repair and thus not covered under warranty, and would cost $285 to repair.
So not only did they not look at my ticket at all (I even included a note in the package to please read the phone call from the first rep about analyzing the possible warranty coverage), they took almost a month to do it and then come back and quote me $100 MORE than the initial estimate? At the time of the quote, the tablet was selling for $350 on amazon. There's no way it would've been worth it to cover that cost.
I write back and (politely) express my extreme dissatisfaction with the service so far. I talked about the known issue with the keyboard, the horrible turn-around time and lack of feedback, the incompetent and straight up rude CS reps I had to deal with, and how this absurd quote was way above my orginal estimate.
They reply very quickly (the only fast response in this entire ordeal) saying they reevaluated the tablet and since there was no obvious sign of a drop or fall on the tablet, they'd repair the glass for free as a one-time courtesy.
"It's about damn time!" I thought. I had even been ready to work with them on a more reasonable price, but after waiting this long and having such a poor experience, I wasn't about to pay that much, so I was very happy to hear they'd cover the cost.
It still took them over one and a half weeks to get the device shipped back to me. I couldn't even track the device as it was shipped back to me. Their RMA site listed a tracking number, but when I looked it up, it was the tracking number from when I shipped the tablet to THEM. We're now talking early SEPTEMBER, I finally get my device back for a SCREEN REPLACEMENT that I sent in back in JULY.
I excitedly unbox the package, plug in the device and let it charge for a bit. Later, I go to turn it on.
Nothing.
The device doesn't boot. At all. I can see the LED indicator showing it's charging, but it won't turn on. I try holding all various combinations of buttons, but no go.
Somehow, in the course of swapping out my LCD screen, they found a way to completely brick my previously working device.
I'm without words at this point. Over a month with poor feedback for what should be a simple, 10 minute repair, only to have them further break the device?!??
I call the CS line and let them know what happened. I get the usual scripted "oh i'm sorry this is happening to you, let me do what I can to assist" schpeal, and get a new RMA number. I flat out demand that ASUS cover the shipping charges this time, because it's their fault I have to send the device back in. I also ask, repeatedly, that this ticket and RMA be flagged for escalation and that it be expedited, as I had to wait over a month only to get a non-working device back. The rep initially fights me on the shipping label, saying they don't have a process to send us labels and that they're the customers responsibility, but after "checking with his supervisor", suddenly a process exists and I'm e-mailed a FedEx label. He assures me the ticket and case have been escalated and the repair will be done much faster this time.
Funny side story: When I took the package to FedEx to mail out, the woman behind the counter actually commented "oh, another ASUS one, eh? We get these ALL the time!" Greaaaaaaaaaat.......
This was September 1st. The tracking number shows that ASUS received and signed for the device on Sept. 3rd. I was actually impressed that they paid for 2 day shipping. But the RMA website wasn't updated to show the package had arrived yet. I kept an eye on it for a couple days, but it never updated.
FINALLY, on September 8th, 5 days after FedEx said it got there, the RMA site shows a status of "package received". I don't know if they use the worlds slowest batch process to update this system, or if they really just didn't open the box for 5 days, but regardless, I'm more than a little annoyed.
Being almost scared at this point to have to deal with another phone rep, I e-mail the "Contact Us" e-mail to ask for a status update. I was told I would receive an update in 24-48 hours. That update never came. Ever.
I had a really busy September, so at first I didn't really have a chance to call and check on the status. Then I just flat out didn't want to. They'd proven already that calling was near useless and that it'd get done when it got done.
On September 28th, the RMA site finally showed a status of Completed - Shipped. On October 2nd, more than two months after my initial repair start date, I got the tablet back for a second time.
I plugged the device in and let it charge for an hour. Then, the moment of truth. I held the power button down, and to my sheer amazement, the device actually booted up! Who'dve thought, right?!
So the OS boots up, and I'm greeted with the Android Welcome screen and workflow for setting up your new device.
Wait a minute...all I needed was the screen replaced...They couldn't have....no way....there's no way they.....
Yep. They factory reset my hard-drive.
For a screen repair.
It's a good thing I'm a firm believer in regular back-ups, or I'd have been even more upset. At this point though, I was just happy to have a working device.
I did notice that the device seemed to be awfully low on battery, but I chalked that up to the time it spent with FedEx. I let it charge overnight and went to bed happy that the ordeal was finally over.
Or so I thought.
I woke up the next morning to find that the tablet was STILL at 0% charge. Unplugging the device meant it immediately shut off. Remember, when I originally sent the device in, everything about it was fine except a crack in the glass. This was ANOTHER new issue.
I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. It was STILL broken!
I called ASUS AGAIN. I told the rep at this point I was through with their process and demanded that I be sent a new tablet to replace this obvious lemon they had created. The rep told me they had no process for sending replacements out before a repair was sent in, and that I would have to RMA the device again to get it repaired. I laughed and asked to speak to a supervisor, stating that there was no way I was going to wait ANOTHER month to get this issue resolved.
The supervisor told me the exact same thing. He sympathized with all the bullshit I'd gone through, but their hands were tied by their systems and they had no way to do what I asked. I told him I work in the tech industry, and used to work at a computer repair facility, and would have no issue replacing the dead battery if they would just send me one, but they wouldn't send me a part, either. Understandable, that's not the standard protocol, but they were unwavering in their ability to accomodate me. I asked to speak to his manager.
So now I'm talking to the call center rep's bosses boss, and he tells me the same thing. He looks closely over my case history, and is shocked at the ridiculous turn-around times. Apparantly, they replaced several different parts during the second RMA. They must've been clueless as to what the first RMA broke so they just kept swapping parts til something worked.
The manager speculated that since this particular model isn't very popular (it's a 2nd-gen souped-up version of their very popular TF700 model), they likely didn't stock many parts for it. Still, 1 month turn-around on an RMA is unacceptable.
He said he wanted to help work out something to resolve the issue without having to have me RMA the device again, but he had to e-mail HIS boss at their US Corporate office to figure out what they could do. This was last friday, October 3rd. I was told they'd have an answe for me on Monday (October 6th). It's now October 8th and I've heard nothing.
I decided the other day that waiting for them at this point was useless. I thought I'd take a quick peak inside the tablet and see if there was some obvious issue. A long shot, but as long as I never broke any of the warranty stickers, there was no harm in checking.
Good thing I did.
I open the device up and what do I find? The battery was unplugged.
That's the crack level of QC testing the ASUS repairmen do while shipping out their units.
I'm looking forward to the e-mail I'm sure I'll get from them next month, saying sorry, all they can do is have me RMA the device. Maybe I'll wait another month to reply, just to show them how it feels.
Overall, I'm just glad to finally have a working tablet back (well, after a weekend of frustration trying and failing to update to the latest android version. Following ASUS's step-by-step instructions for doing a manual update resulted in a bricked tablet. It was only after happening across a trick on some random Forum that I was able to get the recovery partition to properly flash back to 4.2.2).
So yeah, ASUS, if you're reading this, address your god-damn Customer Service practices. They're complete bullshit. The amount of incompetence, rudeness, and lack of flexibility resulted in me vowing to never buy another ASUS product again, despite how much I love the product itself. But I can't in good faith support a company that appears to care so little about their customers.
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