Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

To start, I believe this may be the first review I have ever left. My experience has been so negative that I feel compelled to share. In the beginning, the laptop seemed and worked great. We have a newborn in the house, though, so I was barely able to use it. When I did, I was impressed with its light weight, its overall design, and the processing speed. All were a great improvement over my older HP laptop. However, one day about 3 weeks after buying the laptop, the screen behaved oddly. It pixelated and froze. Once restarted, it operated properly, but obviously this was still an alarming development in a weeks old computer. I should have immediately sent in a return request to Amazon, but because of my odd Covid-related work schedule and our newborn, I just didn't react quickly enough. My BIG mistake. The next time I had a chance to use the laptop again, the screen conked out. To my dismay (and anger at myself), this was 2 days after the return window had closed. Now I was stuck. I tried restarting it, but each time the screen would start off fine, but then get 'flashy' (I'm not technically astute enough to describe its behavior any better), then it would go completely pixelated. Finally, it went irrecoverably black. Here's where it gets ugly. The ASUS online support is totally unavailable and misleading, referencing the coronavirus as a cause. There is no way to create an online RMA, as the website claims. Nor is their online tech and troubleshooting assistance available through chat, which again, the website claims. The clicks just circle you back around to homepage. The only way to get assistance is through a phone call. I called twice, and was on hold for 12 minutes before quitting, then 20 minutes before quitting. A curiosity- the voice over that is playing while you are on hold brags about how many awards they won in 2014. 2014 was 6 years ago! That is not a good sign. But I digress, I started to wonder if maybe they simply NEVER answered. "Let's just ship out some bad PCs with no recourse for the customers"-- sure, not a long-term solution, but they could do well for the quarter. I committed to waiting them out, and on the third try I was able to get hold of a customer service rep after 50 minutes on hold. He was fairly helpful, though I did not like how forcefully he tried to get me to troubleshoot the problem myself. The problem was so obviously a manufacturer's flaw and not something user related that I feel like a standup company should have just apologized and offered to next-day a replacement to someone in my situation. That was far from the case. I was given and RMA and label to ship it back. That was ~October 23rd. They estimate the computer will be fixed within 10 days of receiving it, 10 days! Thankfully, I am not in a desperate situation. I have access to my old computer and my work computer. Imagine someone who needed a computer for their livelihood or school. 10 days is an eternity! Especially when you add in the transit times. That's 2 plus weeks. Except it's even worse. I tracked the shipment, and it arrived at the repair site on the 28th of October. However, when you use the ASUS RMA status checker, they don't acknowledge receiving it until November 3rd. So if they're measuring their turnaround time on repairs, but doing so with manipulated receipt date, the already terrible 10 days is meaningless. Anyway, they set an estimated completion date. That date came, and the FIELD disappeared from the ASUS RMA status checker. The field was gone, not just the date. Now, it has reappeared, of course with the date pushed out. For an expensive purchase, this seems like it should be illegal. They have lemon laws for car; I wish there were similar for computers. Again, I am in no hardship. I have access to computers if needed. I feel for anyone who buys an ASUS and needs it, and has something go wrong. What happens if I get it back and the same issue recurs, or another pops up? Another hour plus with customer service, and another month turnaround to get it fixed? Maybe it is a great computer, and I just got the one in the bunch that was botched. I can't say. I have had one ASUS computer, and that one ASUS computer was trash. So they are batting .000 for me. Maybe Amazon can pressure companies that sell big ticket items to have some basic standards of customer service? ASUS has none. Their customer service is appalling. My wife bought an HP a week before I bought my ASUS. She was jealous of the ASUS, preferring its appearance and ergonomics. That jealousy disappeared pretty quickly, though. She had a minor problem with her laptop, and a rep talked her through it in minutes. And here I am, typing this review on my old computer.