 |
 |
 |
|
 |
You are not logged in.
As a new eee 900 pc owner - in the past I have used this forums for a few noobie questions..
I was just wondering if anyone has had any positive news from Asus in the UK regarding the battery issue?
does anyone know the official UK Asus Support line on it?
I was very disappointed to find the normal 4400mah battery included with the 900 - was not enough to make me return it though - cracking machine for the price...
but after reading that HK buyers were getting their batteries swapped for the higher performance 5800 version I started to wonder if UK buyers are being overlooked on the whole battery swap "thing"- since there's been no news about it at all..?
if this is the case then I feel that we 900 owners need to stick together and make our voices heard at Asus support and get them to exchange ours as well..
after all - sending reviewers one battery [reviews that I and I'm sure many others read for advice and specs - having the smaller battery would have affected the reviews and also made me think twice] and giving retail customers a different lower capacity one is a bit "shifty" in my opinion..
this won't only help us UK owners - but also people in other countries, since they can then quote our results!
what do you guys/gals think?
------------------------edited on 05/06/08----------------------------
quick update on the situation so far...
in a galaxy far, far away......
after many weeks and quite a 'few' emails and phone calls from many people...
Asus have now offered a battery upgrade at a cost of £10+ vat - details to be announced on the 10th of June [TBC]
details here http://www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk/2008 … c-900.html
however - according to "unnamed sources" not many people complained or wanted it?
http://www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk/2008 … eacup.html
please read, digest and if you have been directly affected by the battery issue, please also vote on the poll [in the link 'storm -in-a-teacup' (above) - the poll is located top right on the mobile computer mag page]
if you complained to Asus about the Eee PC 900 battery by email before this deal was announced, also feel free to forward a copy to editor(at)mobilecomputermag.co.uk (in confidence) so he can tally the counts
we are currently playing the waiting game - to hear the full details of the "upgrade" deal from Asus
and please feel free to post your thoughts and any replies you get from Asus in this thread 
----------------------- Edited on 17 06 08 -------------------------------------
Full details of the offer have now been published..
http://www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk/2008 … unced.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If customers are interested in the paid battery upgrade service for the eeePC 900 (8.9”LCD panel), customers can call the ASUS UK service help desk at 0870 1208340
Then customers will be given a case ID number to register the RMA information in ASUS RMA website, then customers will be given an RMA number to return the original 4400mAH battery to the ASUS service centre in UK.
Customers will ship the original 4400mAH battery to ASUS service centre in UK at customers’ own costs.
After receiving the original battery pack from customer, the ASUS service centre in UK will get in contact with customer on the phone to get the credit card details.
ASUS service centre in UK will accept only credit cards for payment (therefore the cheque, bank transfer payments will not be accepted.)
Customers will pay £10 (VAT included) for this paid battery upgrade service. Then ASUS service centre will ship a new 5800mAH battery to customer at ASUS’s costs.
The turn around time is expected to be around 5 working days, excluding the transportation time from customer to ASUS service centre, and the transportation time from ASUS service centre to customer. It also depends on if ASUS service centre receives the customer’s credit card payment smoothly."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
not 'quite' the offer Asus offered - but seems to be the only option..
Last edited by shade360 (2008-06-17 7:19:01 am)
Offline
I very much doubt it - as far as I know the UK reviewers (eg The Register) were not supplied with the wrong battery by Asus. The company has promised to call me back next week with an official statement on the batteries but I'm assuming that will be "we supply 4400mAh to the UK (etc)".
As I understand it, only customers in HK who bought the machine on the first day of sale will have their batteries replaced.
Last edited by eeexpecting (2008-05-04 9:20:13 am)
Offline
thing is those UK reviews came out after I brought the eee pc 900 -
so as far as I was concerned UK spec machines where the same as ones reviewed on other major review sites...
Offline
I take your point, but I am not optimistic. I have harangued play.com about it as well as Asus themselves. Play.com refused to open any in the warehouse (this was before it was certain that UK models have the smaller battery) but said I could return mine for free if the box was unopened. I held out for a day and then opened it late last night!
At least one market (Taiwan?) is actually getting 5800 batteries as standard - grrr!
Last edited by eeexpecting (2008-05-04 9:34:20 am)
Offline
oh right so Taiwan [?] is getting th 5800 as standard.. so that even better to know - since that is yet another point to make to Asus Support..
since it's "not" a mistake with the reviews after all.. since it's standard issue in at least one region...
like I said - maybe if we all complain about the misleading info giving out by Asus [even though it was only via the review machines] and now with different regions getting different batterys - we might get some result..
I for one don't undersand it one bit..
uk get substandard battery - compared to at least one other region...
Offline
I've placed an order for a black 20GB Linux version from play. If I end up getting the 4400mah battery, the Asus UK office are definately going to get an ear bashing from me and maybe even a visit!
Asus UK LTD
Unit 5, Vermont Place
Michigan Drive,
Tongwell
Milton Keynes. MK15 8JA
01908 217135
Last edited by maglite (2008-05-04 8:06:05 pm)
Offline
maglite, I'm about 45 minutes away - let me know a date/time and I'll be there. I may be able to sort out some press/media coverage too.
Offline
maglite wrote:
I've placed an order for a black 20GB Linux version from play. If I end up getting the 4400mah battery, the Asus UK office are definately going to get an ear bashing from me and maybe even a visit!
Asus UK LTD
Unit 5, Vermont Place
Michigan Drive,
Tongwell
Milton Keynes. MK15 8JA
01908 217135
thanks for the address - will keep it handy - just in case...
Offline
maglite wrote:
I've placed an order for a black 20GB Linux version from play. If I end up getting the 4400mah battery, the Asus UK office are definately going to get an ear bashing from me and maybe even a visit!
Asus UK LTD
Unit 5, Vermont Place
Michigan Drive,
Tongwell
Milton Keynes. MK15 8JA
01908 217135
So you know you won't be getting the battery you want, but your still continuing with your order.
Then threatening abuse to asus staff...
Doesn't seem very clever to me. Just cancel your order and wait if it's that big a deal.
Offline
He said "If" - AFAIK, there's been no confirmation whether ASUS will or won't be replacing the batteries in the UK.
Offline
Hi all,
I have a 900 arriving tomorrow from Clove (excellent service & knowledgeable), they have confirmed a 4400 battery and directed me to ASUS UK to register my issue with the 4400 battery, having now sold my 701. ASUS said that I should contact Taiwan, but eventually I decided to mail ASUS uk and rasie the issue. The response was interesting but obvious...
Dear Customer,
eeePC is possible to get with 4400/5200/5800mAH battery sizes. So you could request the larger battery (larger battery is optional). The shop should be able to tell you with which battery size they are selling the unit.
eee PC doesn't have global warranty, so there is really nothing what the office in Taiwan could do for this.
Kind regards,
Asus Support Team
I have replied to explain that this really did not answer my questions regarding this upgraded machine with higher processor speed, bigger screen and inferior battery, stressing the inconsistent specification of unit supplied in various markets and the inconsistent pledges to supply 5800 spec replacements.
I will let you know what the outcome is.
On the point of value, much debated by the upgraders or first time adopters, I still think that this is an amazing machine for the money - I cannot recall how much the first generation ipods were not cheap, but people bought them for lots of emotional reasons as well as common sense reasons. Interestingly the Ipod touch 32gb is the same price from apple as a 900. Different yes, but I know which I think is the more attractive from an ownership/cost/capability perspective.
Offline
I was lucky enough to get a 900 Linux recently from Hong Kong, and yes it came with the 4400 battery.
I contacted Asus UK and got the following unhelpful response:-
"Dear Customer,
In UK eeePC is possible to get with 4400/5200/5800mAH battery sizes. If you have heard that in Hong Kong they are sending replacement batteries then you have to try to solve it with the Asus Hong Kong because there is nothing like this in UK.
Kind regards,
Asus Support Team
Jenni Virtanen <tsd@asus.com.tw>"
How can we put pressure on Asus to honor their promise to provide the correct battery? Does this really have to be dealt with by their Hong Kong Branch? It seems that the corporate policy/promise is very local?
Fantastic device - shame about the backup from Asus.
Offline
Neeeil wrote:
Hi all,
Dear Customer,
eeePC is possible to get with 4400/5200/5800mAH battery sizes. So you could request the larger battery (larger battery is optional). The shop should be able to tell you with which battery size they are selling the unit.
Kind regards,
Asus Support Team
If this statement was true wouldn't retailers be able to tell you which battery comes with your machine? Wouldn't there have to be a different part number for the machine with different batteries? It is my understanding that retailers only know which battery is shipped with the machine by opening the package.
Therefore, I think this statement by Asus Support Team is questionable.
Offline
there is always that slight discrepancy between theory and reality 
Offline
pjevans wrote:
How can we put pressure on Asus to honor their promise to provide the correct battery? Does this really have to be dealt with by their Hong Kong Branch? It seems that the corporate policy/promise is very local?
Fantastic device - shame about the backup from Asus.
Return it and for people who haven't gotten one yet, stop buying it. If you want ASUS to know you don't like the battery, don't buy it. There is no sense in buying it and then complaining about the battery capacity. ASUS has no reaon to fix the issue since they are still able to sell the laptops.
Offline
I have just called Asus UK again, and they are finally beginning to wake up to the issue. Their rep told me that they are getting a lot of complaints about it and every complaint is logged. He advised me to keep watching uk.asus.com/ about it.
I suggest that all the disappointed UK 900 owners on this thread call Asus UK on 0870 120 8340 and complain politely but firmly, pointing out that the machine has a higher power consumption and bigger charger than the 701, but a smaller battery, the company has offered to replace the batteries in Hong Kong and Singapore, and it would be the right thing to do the same here. (I know it's an 0870 number but they are prompt at replying.)
Another point to bear in mind is that the battery situation for Asus will ease in time, as production ramps up again after the factory fire. By buying time by sending out the units with the smaller battery, it should become less and less of a problem for them to replace it as time goes on.
Offline
Or drop them a note at: http://vip.asus.com/eservice/techserv.aspx
The more people that contact them about this the better.
Offline
I'm going to point out to Asus that barely a fortnight ago, and long after the battery factory fire, their own helpline was stating that UK customers would be getting the same 5200mAh battery as the 701:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=24892&p=2
An upgrade to a 5800 would be great, but they could at least stick to their own announced spec!
Last edited by RedFox (2008-05-06 7:21:35 am)
Offline
Well, I just called them on the number above and had a much more frustrating conversation.
Jenni was the name of the representative I spoke to, and she claimed that it is the fault of the resellers - they can order them with higher-power batteries fitted when they buy them in if they want to. She stuck adamantly to this line even when I pointed out that in other markets Asus is replacing the 4400mAh batteries at no charge. She wasn't overly clear, but finally admitted that the price would probably go up if a reseller ordered a higher-capacity battery for the machine. I made the points about the Hong Kong replacement offer and the bigger battery in the 701, and she stuck to the same line of blaming the resellers.
She also stated that any complaints would have to be sent in in writing. The address she gave me for that was:
AsusTech UK Ltd
Focus 31
West Wing 1st Floor
Cleveland Road
Hemel Hempstead HP2 7BW
I've got to be honest - I feel a little ill at ease with what Asus are telling their reps here. Passing the blame on their own resellers seems short-sighted at best. I will be writing to them with these comments.
David.
Offline
Thanks for that feedback, David!
BTW, you wouldn't be slumming it over here with the geeks instead of hanging out on Flickr Alphasmart, by any chance, would you 
Offline
urg ive sent them an email
please make sure you all complain
does any1 know when Clove will receive the 7800 battery?
Offline
Clearly Jenni doesn't know what she's talking about.
Asus UK are claiming to be ignorant of the issue. Let's make them aware of it.
Email/Call/Write guys. We're paying more for it, it's like spitting in our faces if they don't give us a decent battery when others, who've paid less are getting one.
Offline
Well I have just had an email back from Asus - it didn't really answer what I had asked, but basically says that:
"It is not possible to have a battery replaced in the UK. If it is faulty, you will get a new one but it will aso be the same model."
Very disappointing
Offline
Well, screw contacting them again - they are clearly in corporate weasel defensive mode.
I am emailing the issue to Engadget and JKontherun - let's see what a bit of blogger bashing does to them.
David.
Offline
