Archos = terrible customer service

dulpit · 08-11-2007 7:51pm #1

Hey, so at start of October i fell off my bike, landed on my bag with my Archos 404 player in it and screen broke (cracked and stuff)

Anyways, rang up archos, they said stick it into the post, it probably isn't covered by warranty (it isn't) but that they would get an estimate on how much repair would cost, they'd let me know and i could decide whether or not to get it fixed, if i chose not to they'd just post it back.

I said fine, stuck it into the post and waited. They have a repair site (http://www.repair.archos.com) and you can check the status on that. So i would check it the odd time.

According to the site, they received the player on the 19th october and they sent a quote out on the 22nd. However I have never received this, so i rang archos just to ask them what the quote was. The first time i rang i was told that archos repair dept. is separate from their tech support, and to email them and i should have a reply in a day or 2. So i did. With no reply.

I rang a second guy, I explained the problem, he said he'd escalate the problem then hung up. Before asking for my details. I tried ringing back but it was gone 4:30 (or whatever time they close at) so no luck. Rang them back following day (last thursday), guy took all details, told me he'd escalate it himself, and that i should hear back by monday and if i did not to ring back. I received a phone call on friday from them, some other guy told me that i have to email archos again (this was my 3rd email) and i should hear back wednesday afternoon...

So now it's thursday evening, still no mp3 player

At this stage i am fed up with shocking customer service, if i hear it's too expensive to repair i will replace it with a non-Archos player, even though i love the machine... It is ridiculous for me to be bounced around so much, they really don't care... Also, what sort of repair department does not have a phone line? The only way (besides going through tech support, which hasn't proven very successful) to get onto their repair dept. is to email them. Which they don't reply to. :mad:

What am i to do? The player was covered by our house insurance, but as it's been so long since i fell from bike (over a month now) i might not be able to claim, all because archos can't get the finger out...

Do i have any comeback at all? Has anyone else experience anything like this with archos?? What should i do? (besides waiting)

kaisersose77 · 08-11-2007 10:01pm

Yep they seem to have terrible customer service judging by posts I've seen here:

http://forum.archosfans.com/index.php

maybe try posting on that forum and someone might give u advice

Hopefully my archos 605 doesnt break anytime soon!

pleasant Co. · 09-11-2007 5:50pm

Yep, archos have the worst customer support and will not help you if there is anyway at all they can justify not needing to help you, this is what I have observed from many many many posts regarding their CS and my little brothers own bad experience with them.

I actually won't recommend Archos to anyone without first informing them of what their CS is like.

dulpit · 10-11-2007 7:15pm

So never heard from them friday, gonna ring on monday and see what they say... I think i'm gonna start saying i want a free repair due to them having apparently sent me out a quote 3 weeks ago...

Not that i'm hopeful...

Nephew · 11-11-2007 1:52pm

I had a gmini 400 when they first came out, the hdd died less than a week outside of the one year warranty. But they refused to cover it under warranty, most companies would out of decency considering it was just days out. What really pissed me off was a few months after I bought the gmini 400 they increased the warranty to two years, but they wouldn't cover mine because I bought it a few months previous to the warranty extension. The quote they gave me to fix it was something like e230 when a new gmini 400 could be bought for just over e330, and the harddrive itself could be picked up for e90 delivered from the states. That incident really put me off their products.

Recently, my sister sat on her creative zen and completely f*cked up the screen. Within a matter of days they emailed me to say they would send out a new replacement, despite it clearly being her fault. I found Creatives customer service to be excellent, any time I emailed them I always got a reply within 20 minutes, whereas Archos it would be days and then days for a follow up.

dulpit · 12-11-2007 6:37pm

Update: I rang archos today, i was told they'd "escalate the call" and i should hear back within a few days, if i don't i'm to ring back... I told the guy on phone that this is the 3rd time i've been "escalated" and wanted something better than that... He said there was nothing to be done because they're a different dept. than the repair dept. (i rang technical support, the repair department do not have a phone line apparently..) I asked him what will i do if i don't hear from the repairs dept. by thursday or friday, he said to ring back... I then asked him why couldn't he do whatever he's going to do on friday today, and he mumbled something about his supervisor, so i hung up...

useless useless useless... it's been 3 weeks since my alleged quote was sent, still don't have it... And from what i've heard from other people, this is not the norm for other companies (well creative at least, one of the lads was without his player for only a week or so, total, and they fixed it for nothing even though the problem was it had been dropped...)

Why can't Archos be like that? Useless ****ers..

the_syco · 12-11-2007 6:50pm

OP: next time you ring up, ask how much would you have to pay to get it fixed. This tends to hurry the process up sometimes.

dulpit · 13-11-2007 12:28am

the_syco wrote: »

OP: next time you ring up, ask how much would you have to pay to get it fixed. This tends to hurry the process up sometimes.

The point of the story is i will have to pay (warranty does not cover accidental damage) and i have no idea how much it's gonna cost, that's what i want to find out (and what they can't seem to tell me...)

Morbid.Angel · 13-11-2007 3:52am

This post has been deleted.

dulpit · 15-11-2007 11:31am

So I finally got the quote for repair yesterday, it's gonna cost me €90.90 to fix...

I suppose that's ok, right?

Morbid.Angel · 16-11-2007 12:34am

This post has been deleted.

dulpit · 16-11-2007 1:28am

My 404 is 30gb...

I am able to claim insurance, however the excess is like €125 or something, so if i get it repaired, i can't claim, but if i don't i could claim for the €100 (apparently)

So I could always buy online, but i wouldn't be too happy buying from ebay from america...

I reckon i'll just have to front up and pay...

Out of curiosity, where would you sell a player for parts? And how much would you be looking at getting?

the_syco · 16-11-2007 4:04pm

Paying €90 for a cracked screen sounds pretty good. Saying that, if you could get a new one for €150 or €200, I may go for that. Oh, and the one from ebay may not be new, or even working.

dulpit · 17-11-2007 2:40am

What I could always do is get it returned to me, and claim for it off insurance (minus the excess of €125 or something) then get something else, like the new version of it (archos 405) which is v.cheap, with only 2gb size but with an SD card slot. I know some people say the new 605 is v.v.good, i really like the size of my 404... Sound like an idea?

Although i still probably will just get it fixed... (i have the dvr station, don't want to waste it...)

the_syco · 18-11-2007 2:33am

dulpit wrote: »

What I could always do is get it returned to me, and claim for it off insurance (minus the excess of €125 or something) then get something else, like the new version of it (archos 405) which is v.cheap, with only 2gb size but with an SD card slot. I know some people say the new 605 is v.v.good, i really like the size of my 404... Sound like an idea?

Although i still probably will just get it fixed... (i have the dvr station, don't want to waste it...)

Erm... 2GB:eek: and you want to put a 8GB SD card into it... which costs €82... or fix your Archos for €90... btw: how many GB's has your current one have? 30GBs?

So... a Archos 405 for €160 + the €82 for the 8GB card, for a total of €242 for 10GB, or €90 for your 30GB Archos to be fixed.

Are you serious?

dulpit · 19-11-2007 1:36am

the_syco wrote: »

Erm... 2GB:eek: and you want to put a 8GB SD card into it... which costs €82... or fix your Archos for €90... btw: how many GB's has your current one have? 30GBs?

So... a Archos 405 for €160 + the €82 for the 8GB card, for a total of €242 for 10GB, or €90 for your 30GB Archos to be fixed.

Are you serious?

Hey, I'm just musing out loud, still don't know what i'm gonna do..

suemhutch · 24-11-2009 6:33pm

Like you I have had no satisfaction from Archos. My Archos 5 would not stay connected to my computer so no charging or loading music etc. was possible. The bottom seam looked as though it had split open. I sent it back, fortunately still under warranty, at the end of September. It was returned mid October in the same state, no different. I phoned the repairs dept. and they sent a courier to pick it up as I was not prepared to pay to send it off again and have the inconvenience of going to the Post Office. It came back last Wednesday and it is still exactly the same! I can't believe they cannot find the fault.
Phoned Lucy Gould at the repairs dept. on Friday (I was fed up of exchanging emails) and she assured me that this would be sorted when they looked at the repair reports. Today I was told to send it back again and if they found the fault they would replace the unit. Bizarrely I was told that if they couldn't find the fault I would have to pay for the repair!
I really liked the Archos 5 but there is no way I would recommend it to anyone after being messed around like this.
Any company worth it's salt would have replaced it by now.
My commiserations to all fellow sufferers out there.

tallus · 24-11-2009 9:06pm

My Archos 5 is costing just over 112E to have the screen replaced.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Archos OP, I heard the CC was crap myself.

It took almost two weeks from the date of posting for me to get a quote, I posted the cheque off today.... Now I wait...

sfag · 25-11-2009 2:52pm

90 is too much - you can get a reconditioned one on ebay from time to time - with a guarentee - for less than that. Even consider a second hand one and keep your old one fo spares.

bada_bing · 25-11-2009 2:56pm

archos are legendary for dreadful, woeful customer support. they also have a habit of releasing products on the market with beta firmware, even their latest product has been on the market for 3 months and it crashes on an average of 3 or 4 times a day for those who have it. they also have a tendency to halt all updates on existing models when a new product is launched.

suemhutch · 07-12-2009 4:55pm

Just thought I'd tell you I have received a brand new Archos! Must have done something right.

tallus wrote: »

My Archos 5 is costing just over 112E to have the screen replaced.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Archos OP, I heard the CC was crap myself.

It took almost two weeks from the date of posting for me to get a quote, I posted the cheque off today.... Now I wait...

tallus · 08-12-2009 7:47pm

suemhutch wrote: »

Just thought I'd tell you I have received a brand new Archos! Must have done something right.

Lucky you!

I keep seeing the same message when I go to check for updates on the Archos site. It's supposed to be in English but some of the words are french ?

I emailed them last week asking what the delay was and got an email back the next day telling me they were waiting to get the new screen.

Pi$$ poor tbh...

Voodu Child · 09-12-2009 12:16am

tallus wrote: »

I emailed them last week asking what the delay was and got an email back the next day telling me they were waiting to get the new screen.

I wonder if they're going to send it back with a glossy or matte screen.

The Archos 5 launched with a high-quality glossy screen, but midway through its life they swapped the screen on some models with an inferior matte one on the sly. I don't mean inferior because it was matte, thats more of a preference, but the screen itself was a low quality TN panel with poor viewing angles and lower image quality.

Hopefully they don't try to pull a fast one on you.

tallus · 09-12-2009 12:37am

Voodu Child wrote: »

I wonder if they're going to send it back with a glossy or matte screen.

The Archos 5 launched with a high-quality glossy screen, but midway through its life they swapped the screen on some models with an inferior matte one on the sly. I don't mean inferior because it was matte, thats more of a preference, but the screen itself was a low quality TN panel with poor viewing angles and lower image quality.

Hopefully they don't try to pull a fast one on you.

Jesus I hope they don't but cheers for the heads up Voodu.

I really miss it at the moment as my house was broken into and my tv stolen so I'm using the tv I had in the bedroom in the living room.
The way I could use the Archos to view network video files was very handy. I was looking for a similar proggie for my Touch HD but couldn't find anything.

tallus · 09-12-2009 10:46pm

Just checked on the Archos site and it has been repaired and is en route!

Happy days

tallus · 10-12-2009 7:36pm

Voodu Child wrote: »

I wonder if they're going to send it back with a glossy or matte screen.

The Archos 5 launched with a high-quality glossy screen, but midway through its life they swapped the screen on some models with an inferior matte one on the sly. I don't mean inferior because it was matte, thats more of a preference, but the screen itself was a low quality TN panel with poor viewing angles and lower image quality.

Hopefully they don't try to pull a fast one on you.

Archos arrived today, screen is pristine!

Man I love having it back!

Damn!

Voodu Child · 11-12-2009 12:16am

Congrats. Good to hear they didn't try and sneak in one of those cheaper display panels. Sounded like soemthing Archos would do :pac:

tallus · 11-12-2009 9:07am

Voodu Child wrote: »

Congrats. Good to hear they didn't try and sneak in one of those cheaper display panels. Sounded like soemthing Archos would do :pac:

They put a new front on it too, the facia that surrounds the screen, so it looks brand new

Archos = terrible customer service

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