Tag Archives: acer

Acer cashback offer is really not worth it

Computer Aid Posted on by

About 6 years ago, I took advantage of a laptop cashback offer.

After about 1 month, I got a cheque in the mail, and I was happy camper.

About 3 months ago, I had the need to make use of an Acer cashback offer for a laptop.

I assumed that it would be a similar process… but no, it was worse.

Obviously, the 3 month delay is the first problem… Particularly when these offers seem to have restrictions like “offer must be completed by “this” date, and offer must be complete “X” days after purchase…

Then, instead of getting a cheque, I get an EFTPOS card

So, looking at the info I was sent, I can see further restrictions:

  • Card is valid for 12 months from the activation date
  • Card cannot be used at ATMs to withdraw cash (presumably, I can buy something from a supermarket and get cash-out… but I’m not sure
  • Card cannot be topped-up, or merged with another card

So now I’m looking at finding a way to spend all the money on the card, and not leave a few dollars.

I can try the cashout option (but it might not work)

Or the only other alternative is to buy over $49 at the supermarket (The card value is $49), and pay the first $49 from the card, and the remainder in cash.

And the sad thing is this: Acer do not operate the cashback system themselves… the use GiftCardPlanet… who charge Acer: $5.95 postage, $4.95 production fee per card, and a 2% credit card surcharge on the value of the card…

That could mean that my $49 gift card actually costs Acer $60.88

So, let me get this straight: Rather than hire a real person to administer the cashback program, an use cheques, such that a $49 might end up costing acer, say, $55 per $49 cashback, they choose to spend over $60 per $49 cashback offer.. with the extra money going to a “card” company, rather than put that extra money into the “my” pocket. And then make it more difficult for me to actually get the full cashback.

I must say: I really cant be bothered with all this crap… From now on, when I see a cashback offer, I’ll look for the actual cost, and compare actual costs, and just pretend the cashback offer doesn’t exist.

on hold to acer for 125 minutes

Computer Aid Posted on by

I needed to get a replacement hinge for an acer 3634lmi laptop.

so I call 1300 366 567, and speak to someone who puts me through to the parts department.

And I get 125 minutes of muzak, with the occasional voice saying either: “all of our customer service representatives are currently on the phone, please hold and you’ll be answered shortly”, or: “thank you for holding. Our next available representative will attend to your call”.

Ok, it is a Monday, so they might be a bit busy… but this rivals dodos service.

I dread having to try again… but I’ll have to eventually.

Why does Acer insist on using FAT32 instead of NTFS?

Computer Aid Posted on by

I’ve recently seen a few customers with fairly new Acer computers (both laptops and desktop computers). The odd thing is that they all seem to use the FAT32 filesystem.

With one particular customer, when I started the laptop, it proceeded to perform a filesystem check (which I didn’t interrupt, as it usually takes around 5 minutes)… Well after 20 minutes, the FS check finally completed, and I was able to “start work”.

Its very frustrating, when I know that if the HDD had been using NTFS, there would probably not have been a filesystem check (or at least a much quicker one).

A quick search on the internet shows that some people believe that FAT32 is faster than NTFS… that might be so, but with the speed of todays systems, I doubt that anyone can notice the difference.

Given the reliability of NTFS and how quick it is to convert (just type convert c: /fs:ntfs)… usually around 10 minutes. I just cannot understand why FAT32 is used anymore (especially by a large company like Acer!).