[ubuntu-uk] Packard Bell, what wonderful support!

[pete smout]

On 09/05/13 18:46, Gareth France wrote:
> On 09/05/13 18:38, William Anderson wrote:
>> On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 11:53 AM, Gareth France
>> <gareth.france at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I thought I would just bring the experiences I'm having with Packard
>>> Bell /
>>> Acer to everyone's attention. I've been unhappy with my laptop since
>>> the day
>>> I got it and it seems to be falling apart very rapidly. I have been
>>> trying
>>> to get it looked at but it's like pulling teeth!
>>>
>>> Oddly enough linux hasn't been the biggest stumbling block. Anyway, if
>>> anyone fancies a giggle the entire conversation with them is logged
>>> on my
>>> blog page:
>>>
>>> http://cliftonts.co.uk/cubuntu/?p=209
>> After reading this, it looks like you've had a fairly typical
>> experience: you've engaged outsourced frontline support for a low-tier
>> electronics manufacturer, and you've wandered outside the bounds of
>> their scripts.  When dealing with a box shifter like Packard Bell, the
>> easiest way to get a result is conform as much as possible to their
>> requests and get the machine shipped off as soon as possible
>> (preferably covered by a home and contents or business asset policy).
>> If you can send it back with a relatively stock OS install, even
>> better.
>>
>> And I'm afraid I agree with Liam here.  If the data on the laptop (one
>> which you readily admit is "junk") is of any material importance to
>> you or your business, get it backed up by whatever means necessary.  I
>> personally use a mixture of rsnapshot (for my Ubuntu servers) and Time
>> Machine (for my Mac desktops/laptops) to give me a comprehensive layer
>> of recoverable backup data.  If you're unable to invest in a hard disc
>> to drop data onto, have you considered a bunch of DVD-Rs?  Or perhaps
>> you'd be able to temporarily borrow a USB HDD, or USB-SATA adapter and
>> a regular 2.5"/3.5" drive, from a fellow IT type?  Perhaps someone on
>> list has some spare kit they could punt your way?
>>
>> Also, you're concerned about retaining your data to run your business
>> - how will you access the data if the laptop is gone?  If you're
>> planning to use the Dell you mentioned, do you literally have 500GiB
>> used on your Packard Bell?  If it's all in $HOME, do a du -sch ~ - if
>> the answer is < free capacity of Dell computer, sorted!  If not, see
>> borrowing tips above!
>>
>> Re: the phone number, just search for Acer on saynoto0870.com - there
>> are several hits which match or closely match the number you mentioned
>> in your blog post.
>>
>> I think you're unnecessarily making a rod for your own back here when
>> some creative thinking could help you.  Rather than asking us to
>> giggle at a bunch of hapless support monkeys being forced outside of
>> the scope of their limited frontline support capabilities, ask the
>> community to help you out! :)
>>
>> -n
>>
> I'll be using a desktop for the duration the machine is away. I have
> been looking at incremental backup solutions. What I'd like to do is
> setup a system where it connects to an FTP server and only backs up the
> data that has changed since last backup. Something I would trigger
> rather than scheduled as I'm on mobile broadband and would need to do
> backups whenever I was near a proper broadband connection. I've found
> quite a few solutions which 'sort of' do this as I'd like but most don't
> cut it and some simply refused to connect to my server. Do you have any
> suggestions which may help?

Script it (simple google search will help if you dont know how!) ignore 
the bit about cron- that will automate, just click the file to execute 
when connected by b/b

> Bad customer service is something which really winds me up and you have
> hit the nail on the head there. This is the customer service equivalent
> of painting by numbers. The collection has been arranged now and fingers
> crossed they will fix it. I know that my laptops always take quite a
> pounding but I can only think of one other which faired this badly, made
> by a company called Hi-Grade. I really don't expect a machine to be
> virging on unusable after only 8 months, regardless of how cheap it is.
>

I know what you mean but as with most things these days it's all run at 
the 'lowest common denominator' which does mean some compromise on your 
part :)

Pete