elizilla

OK, I give up.

Last November I bought a 24" flat panel monitor. I loved it. No dead pixels, good color, oodles of screen resolution, what's not to like?

A couple months age, it went on the fritz. I'd be working away and suddenly it would go all black except for a horizontal stripe where everything on my screen was scrambled and squished into about a quarter of the screen. I discovered that if I unplugged the power supply, and plugged it back in, it would work for a little while, but it always flaked out again.

It's an Acer, and I have a card saying it has a three year warranty. What I don't have, is a receipt. I don't know what I did with it. But according to this warranty card, if I don't have a receipt, the three years will be counted from the date of manufacture printed on the back. So, they should warranty it even without a receipt, right? According to the label on the back, it was manufactured in September of 2008, so it still has more than two years of warranty left.

So I opened a warranty case via Acer's website. I got back a boilerplate note saying that my part number doesn't exist, and I need to fax them my receipt. I reminded them I didn't have a receipt, and got a second copy of the boilerplate telling how to fax the receipt.

The label on the back of the monitor very clearly lists the part number and I double and triple checked it. I did give them the right part number.

I called Staples, where I bought it, and spoke to a very friendly and helpful person. I was impressed. She said "Sure! We can send you a duplicate receipt!" She asked me for the UPC code, which I had, because I still have the box the monitor came with, stored in my basement. I gave her this, and the date I bought it (which I knew because I logged it in LJ) and she was going to get me a duplicate receipt and send it. I don't have a fax, so they were going to mail it to me. It never arrived.

I'm sick of dealing with it. And my old small monitor has been driving me crazy. Being in funds right now, I'm going to buy another one.

If anyone on my friends list thinks they can fix this monitor, or has the energy to navigate the warranty maze, you're welcome to have it. Who knows, it's been a couple months, maybe Acer has put this part number into their system by now? Or maybe they can do something with the UPC label on the box, if you're lucky enough to get a rep that actually reads your messages. Or maybe a second call to the friendly people at Staples will produce the duplicate receipt they promised. Maybe someone on my FL can fix it by cleaning out the cat fur or soldering a loose wire or something. It's not hopeless. I'm just sick of dealing with it.

If no one wants it, I'll drop it off at the recycle center next time I go.

One thing is certain. I will never buy another Acer product.