An Aversion to Supporting Vista

The introduction of Windows Vista has been plagued by many dysfunctional aspects, from licensing screw-ups and delayed OEM upgrades to hardware and software compatibility issues. But nothing better epitomizes these problems — and indeed the inherent shortcomings of the way Microsoft distributes and supports Windows — than the expereince of one reader with getting to Vista to work on his Averatec notebook computer.

Just getting Vista on his computer was something of a struggle, as the reader was one of the many thousands who had an interminable wait for the Vista Express Upgrade media he was promised when he bought the computer last fall. “I finally got my Vista Express Upgrade — Moduslink mailed it exactly six months to the day after receiving my eligibility documentation and only three and a half month after Vista’s retail release,” the reader wrote. “But now it gets even more ridiculous. Although Averatec proudly announced their participation in the Vista upgrade program last fall as an inducement to purchase this PC, they now claim they have no responsibility for supporting it because I’ve voided the warranty by changing the software that originally came with the system.”

When the reader installed Vista he encountered a problem with – surprise, surprise – a bad driver for his network adapter. Contacting Averatec as per the instructions that came the Vista Upgrade, the reader quickly heard back from the Averatec helpdesk that:

“This is an issue that falls outside of our scope of support as we only offer technical assistance for the original operating system that the system shipped with. To reset the system back to original factory defaults simply run the recovery CD’s that came with the system.”

The reader wrote back, pointing out among other things that the Vista Upgrade DVD had Averatec’s logo on the label and stated specifically that “Support for these products provided by Averatec, Inc.” Repeated attempts to get the Averatec techs to check this policy with their superiors and even the reader’s warning that he would complain the California Attorney General’s office yielded little change in the responses from Averatec:

“As been stated in emails all along this issue we only support original configuration not upgraded. We only provided a link on our site for the Microsoft Up Grade you are inquiring with. There is no promise of any kind as this would be against the Warranty. We will how ever give you the Toll Support Line to Averatec that will be happy to assist you with any out of warranty issues you are experiencing.”

In the meantime the reader has figured out a workaround for the driver but it is not entirely stable. “Periodically the Ethernet driver won’t load, and can’t be convinced to load for love nor money,” the reader wrote. “The only solution to plug the notebook into a different DHCP-based port, so at least the IP address changes, and then reboot. Unfortunately finding another wired network connection isn’t always so easy.

I also can’t quite figure the exact circumstances that cause the problem to occur in the first place. There is also at least one BIOS issue that Averatec has to fix, so it sure would be nice if I could get the warranty support I was promised when I bought the system.”

Not being one to make idle threats, the reader did follow through on filing a complaint with the California Attorney General’s office as he’d told Averatec he would. A few weeks later, staff at the AG’s office forwarded the reader a communiqué they had received from Averatec. Sean Wiedeman, who identified himself as ACC Manager for Averatec, regarding Complaint ID Number 173793 – the reader’s complaint – told the AG’s staff that:

“The agent who handled the correspondence with (the reader) was mistaken in denying support. Averatec call center agents have been reminded that even though the system did not originally ship with Vista OS, support is to be provided to the customer. If the customer wishes, I can have him contacted directly by one of our support agents to go over any issue he might be having with his Windows Vista operating system.”

Naturally, the reader assumed that Wiedeman’s statement would settle things, but that did not prove to be the case. When he contacted Averatec tech support, they immediately resumed the no-warranty-for-Vista-upgrade responses. Forwarding them Wiedeman’s letter and requesting that they confirm the policy with Averatec headquarters did no good.

After more than a week of trying to get Averatec tech support to honor his warranty and its word to a state attorney general, he renewed his complaint with the California Attorney General’s office. “I expect there will be a few ruffled feathers in the AG’s office, as I am sure they don’t appreciate what now appears to be the lie Averatec told them. If so, I may or may not benefit as the AG represents the state, not individual claimants. But it appears there are other Averatec owners who are also being denied warranty support after using the Vista Express Upgrade, so hopefully will eventually get some kind of compensation. It’s too bad — I like my Averatec notebook, but I’ve lost all respect for the company.”

Averatec has certainly given the reader a hard time trying to get the support to which he’s entitled. But you have to wonder if Averatec will even be capable of helping if it ever decides it should. In the end, after all, isn’t getting support for Windows from the computer manufacturer always a bit problematic? Averatec is hardly the only PC maker that’s quick to latch on to any excuse to say that supporting Microsoft’s operating system really isn’t something they should be doing.

Is a vendor not honoring your warranty? Post your comments about your experiences on my website or write me at Foster@gripe2ed.com.

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