I pit Gateway and the stupid fucks in their Customer Service department

The BBQ Pit
1

I bought a computer from Gateway (to HELL!) four months ago and have had nothing but problems from them. The one thing (out of many) that I’ll focus on for the purpose of this pitting, however, is the fact that they sold me a faulty monitor, and now they will not honor their warranty and send me a new one.

Long story short, this $1600 computer I bought has a flat-screen monitor that only comes on when it wants to (i.e. after I’ve restarted the computer a couple of times). I’ve had three computer technicians look at it (at my expense, of course, bringing the total price of the computer up a few hundred bucks), and they all said, “I’ve never seen anything like this before” and “I dunno… I can’t fix that”.

So fine, fuck it, it’s under warranty; I’ll send it back and get a new one. Gateway must not want that to happen. I email them about this (because I was tired of accruing all the long-distance charges on their non toll-free tech support line because of all the other problems the piece of shit had) and they say “Well let’s try a few things first… Try this and this and blah blah blah.”

Fine. I try the steps; completely different than what the email described, but I get through it, and nada. Still doesn’t work. “Fine”, they say. “Supply us with a credit card number in case you don’t send the old one back, and we’ll send you a new monitor.”

So I try to do that. And their website isn’t taking my card… I write them again, “Hey why isn’t your site taking my card to get this thing going?” Some little fucknut writes back (of course it’s a different fucknut than before, because God forbid one person should try to take care of a problem) and says, “Wait a minute, your account is on hold. Please contact your bank.”

Um, fuck you, you shit-eating maggot. I paid you in full, bitch. I’ll fax you my statement showing where you took $1628.25 out of my account on November 3, 2004.

Of course I’m paraphrasing myself. In response, they write back, “Sorry for the inconvenience. Please be patient while we update our records”.

Damn straight. So I wait… and wait… I write back and ask how long I’m supposed to wait. By this time I’m getting pretty pissed… the monitor not working is what indirectly caused my computer to completely crash causing a complete data loss, so forgive me if I’m a little antsy to still be using it, okay?

They say, “We really can’t tell you how long it’s going to be to update our files.” Not acceptable, says I. You’re a fucking multi-million dollar company and you can’t tell me how long it takes to update my fucking file?? Well fuck you.

So they write back, “Sorry for the inconvenience. Your account is on hold for non-payment. Please consult your bank.” Mother of God. In the name of all that is sacred and holy, what does that mean?? Why would you have even sent me the goddam thing if I hadn’t paid you? I wouldn’t expect you to do that! By this time, I’m close to either tears or blind rage, I can’t tell. Why can’t somebody just give me an answer?

So this time, I let the fucking sparks fly. In my haze of anger, I write back something like, “Yeah, that’s what people keep telling me, but they can’t tell me why or for how much, which leads me to believe it’s bullshit. I suggest you tell me what I need to do to get my fucking account off hold, or I’ll be seeing your asses in court.”

And this time, I did use those words. No surprise, I get no answer. So I sigh, regroup, and write them again. Right from the get-go, I write, "Look, I’ve been trying to return a monitor to you for four months, and people tell me my account is on hold. They can’t tell me why, even though I paid in full, but it’s holding up my ability to return a defective item. Please, please, I beg of you, please tell my why my account is on hold, and what I need to do to get it off hold. Please.

You know their response? I got it today. It said, “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. You may contact your credit card company for assistance regarding the issue.”

Son of a mother-fucking ass-licking cock-sucking WHORE!! I hope every one of you bastards has to watch your mother get squelched by an 18-inch donkey dick and then has to clean it up.

2

Sounds like they’re trying to snowball you until your warranty expires.

Fuckers.

3

That, or your credit card account is on-hold and there is not a thing that Gateway can do about it.

4

Cant you contact the BBB about it (I think thats what you guys call your version of our Fair Trading)?

We had a similar problem with Compaq and a Laptop we bought, contacted Fair Trading and within 2 days it was fixed completely, and we got an apology.

5

Is there enough left on your credit line on that credit card to authorize a new monitor?

I believe that what they do is place a hold for the cost of the monitor against your card. Then, if you return the old monitor, the hold simply expires; if you don’t, they actually charge the card.

I suspect what has happened here is that they are unable to place a hold on your credit card to cover the cost of the new monitor.

6

And due to company policy, they are also unable to tell you that.

In that aspect alone I fully concur with the opinion that they are fucknuts.

7

What everyone else said. They want to use your credit card details as some sort of guarantee on the exchange, but your credit card company is telling them no go.

I’d check with your credit card company. Has the card you originally paid with expired? Even if you have had a new card issued to you on the same account, Gateway may be trying to use your old card’s details.

Been there. Seen it. Fortunately after talking to my bank they suggested exactly what the problem was straightaway.

8

My experience with Gateway (about 6 years go):

I order Computer A, a customized, build-your-own model.

They bill me for and ship me computer B

I tell them I don’t want computer B, I want computer A. Please send me computer A.

They say “We have a right to change our packages, and computer B is what you get now”

I say “computer A wasn’t a package, it was a customization”

They say “Whatever, you keep computer B and you’ll like it”

I complain to BBB.

Gateway offers me a resolution: Keep computer B or send it back for a full refund.

I sent it back.

I bought local.

Fuck Gateway.

9

First off, I’ll bet your e-mails are being replied to automatically. They’re programmed to look for key words.

Call again and ask to speak to a supervisor. Outline everything you’ve said here. I found a list of phone numbers that are not toll numbers. Don’t call the Gateway retail service and support. You need someone in the corporate office.

You may also find that real-time chat is more useful.

10

First off, I’ll bet your e-mails are being replied to automatically. They’re programmed to look for key words.

Call again and ask to speak to a supervisor. Outline everything you’ve said here. I found a list of phone numbers that are not toll numbers. Don’t call the Gateway retail service and support. You need someone in the corporate office.

You may also find that real-time chage is more useful.

11

I’ve suffered the joys of tech support at the hands of many vendors, including Gateway, so I empathize completely. However, one bit of your rant doesn’t parse:

I’ve called both Gateway tech and customer support many times, and it has never been a toll call. From the website:

12

Many moons ago, I bought a Gateway (and am using it now). I got it when CD burners were pretty new. To make a long story short, they sold me hardware (the burner) and software to do the burns. The software features didn’t work with the hardware! I could burn a CD, but only by going through a convoluted process of using my harddrive to store the CD first.

I called because the software wasn’t working and they told me they knew it didn’t work the way I wanted it to. I asked them if that means they deliberately sold me software that didn’t work with my hardware (and they were part of a package) and got, basically, a “yes! Deal with it!”

No more Gateway for me, either!

13

I would call and request a supervisor.

If you don’t get anywhere, try to escalate it above supervisor – ask for someone at the corporate office, or a manager-level person (someone who oversees supervisors). Be calm, explain what has happened, and explain clearly what you want (all I want is for you to honor your warranty).

If that fails, I’d file a complaint with the BBB and Planet Feedback and see what happens. Again, be calm and clear that you just want what the company agreed to.

14

It’s amazing the therapeutic effect ranting on the Straight Dope can have. I felt so much better after writing that, and reading these other posts only enforces the fact that I am not in the wrong here.

Here’s what I failed to mention though: I didn’t use a “credit card”. I used a check card. That’s the thing that looks like a credit card, and can be used anywhere a cc can be used, but in actuality the money comes right out of your checking account, no muss no fuss. So it has nothing to do with that, and like I said, they were paid in full for the computer, and I can prove that from my bank statement. The thing you fill out to supply a “credit card” just wasn’t working the day I tried it… they said, “We are currently working on the problem.” Whatever.

JohnM, on the side of my computer, it gives a toll-call number for Customer Support. And in my instruction booklet, it says “See your CPU unit for your Customer Support number.” So I dunno, but that’s the only number I ever saw. I’ll use the number you supplied in the future, however.

In any event, there is an update: I received an email from Gateway today that said, “We have looked at your account and we can find no hold on it. Please contact Tech Support for instructions on how to return merchandise.” So, I’m not getting my hopes up, but that’s the first good news I’ve heard in the past four months… the hold that shouldn’t have been there in the first place is gone!

And of course, the last couple of days my monitor has been working perfectly. :smack: