Complaint Review: MicroMedics - Vernon Hills Illinois

I had gotten an Acer Aspire laptop off of NewEgg in the summer of 2009.  I bought an extended warranty in order to cover myself in case anything came up.  The computer began to get a little wonky not long afterward (by that fall/winter).  The wifi would spontaneously turn on and off.  The volume would go up and down on its own.  It was as if a poltergeist was inside the computer. 

I had a techy friend take a look at the computer around new year's of 2010, and he couldn't figure out what was going on.  I knew I had the warranty to fall back on, but I was teaching and didn't want to be without my laptop until the school year was over. 

I contacted ServiceNet (the company for the warranty) in June 2010.  They "assigned" me a company for the repair which was MicroMedics.  I got a box from them to send the computer to them with a mailing label, put my laptop in, and sent it off.  (Well, actually I asked my boyfriend to take it to UPS because I was leaving town and didn't have a chance to do it.  He was pokey and didn't take for a few weeks.)  It all seemed to work in a easy, straightforward manner. 

Then, MicroMedics contacted me in July to say that I had a cracked screen and that would cost $180 to repair in addition to the other problems which were covered by the warranty.  I said that a cracked screen was NOT a problem when I packed it and mailed it to them.  I tried to have them contact the shipper, but they said the box did not look damaged and so they had to believe it was a problem prior to being sent to them.  I asked them if they had thought this was a problem, did they wonder why I hadn't mentioned it??  I felt like the shipping box they had sent me to use was very flimsy and if things were damaged it was because of the box.  I had (and still have) the original box the computer was sent to me in w/ all the packing material and I told them I would have happily sent them the computer using this.  However, I assumed they had tested their boxes for shipping and things didn't get damaged, otherwise they wouldn't use them.

In the end I paid and got my computer back in September 2010.  Most things seemed to work.  However, I had one white pixel (a dead pixel) on my screen prior to it being sent and that same pixel was still there.  It made me wonder if I had really had a cracked screen to fix or if this was just a scam to make money?

Then, I have had other problems.  The battery looks fully charged, but if the computer is unplugged it will shutdown in about 7 minutes with warnings of no power.  The wifi connection is very fragile and it usually never picks up unsecured wifi networks in public spots like the library, when I am sitting next to others who are connected.  The internal microphone doesn't work. 

I have been dragging my feet about doing another repair because I don't want to be without my computer for three months again!  And have to pay for something that wasn't originally a problem!  I just called ServiceNet to start a new claim and they said that MicroMedics will most likely be assigned the repair.  I did a search online and found this site with all these terrible comments on the company.  I am terrified to send the computer off again.  It may come back even worse than it is now.  HELP!!