My letter to Gateway in 3/00:
I am completely and utterly disappointed with the quality
and service from your company.
I purchased a top of the line 1Ghz Athlon PC from you several months
back only to have it locked up and unable to change video resolutions
right out of the box. I call your tech support only to have them tell
me its an operating system issue and they won't help me. After several
days of trying different things I finally get the resolution to change. Then
a few days later the PC refuses to turn on at all. I call tech support
and they tell me its a burned out power supply which I would have to
replace. Then after installing my SCSI-based CD-R from my previous
computer, I find that the PC will not operate correctly. I call up tech
support regarding the issue and they tell me they have a similar
problem with Promise-based SCSI cards but because mine was a third party device
they couldn't help me.
I do not consider myself a PC novice. I do not call up tech support to
ask why the cup holder in the PC does not work. But there are some
issues I cannot resolve myself without a little direction.
Your company provided me with absolutely no value add. The manual that
came with my PC told me absolutely nothing about solving the SCSI-card
problem. If there is a known problem with SCSI cards and your
motherboards it should be your responsibility and duty to help your
customers resolve this problem.
Since I could not resolve the SCSI problem I ended up having to buy a
new motherboard. But because your company insists on using custom parts
and because tech support again wouldn't help me with pin configurations
on the power supply and buttons, I had to buy a new PC case. Then I had
to buy Windows 98 because your stupid CD wouldn't work on my new
motherboard.
In the end, I ended up with something not even closely resembling what
I purchased from you.
Needless to say, I will NEVER, EVER buy anything from your company ever
again. And I will never recommend anyone to buy your PCs. I have
purchased from all the major direct manufacturers of PCs and have
absolutely no problems with their tech support. In fact, I was
especially satisfied with Micron PC who continued to answer some
questions regarding their PCs 2 years after I made the purchase. The
only reason I did not purchase my PC from them was because they didn't
offer the 1Ghz Athlon. I should have listened to my friends after
having been told how bad your brand has become. Next time I'll do my homework
for my PC purchase.
Gateway PC Hater
Gateway Response:
Thank you for your e-mail.
So I am left wondering what it is you are trying to accomplish.
I cannot say for sure that the known issue you are referring to really
applied or what else the issue could've been. We sell and support the
systems as they arrive to your house. We do not support even known
issues with any hardware that did not come from Gateway. Unless our
engineering labs discover the problem and decide that it affects enough
of our clients to post it, we rarely ever touch anything that is not
from us.
You do not seem interested in trying to fix your computer. If you
would like to discuss how you can get your computer back up and running the
way that it came from Gateway I will be more than happy to do so. I
cannot viably discuss what has transpired between yourself and Gateway
because I don't have first hand knowledge of the situation. I will do
whatever I can within my guidelines to make you feel better about your
purchase.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Kyle
Online Client Support Team
Gateway
My response:
Again, apologies are too late and too meaningless.
If there is a known issue with SCSI cards and YOUR
motherboards, it should be your responisiblity to
assist your customers with the issue not the card
manufacturer. My SCSI card was working just fine in my
2 year old pc. The issue here isn't just about who is responsible for
what, it is about your policy towards handling
technical support issues. Everytime I called, I was
made to feel like I was asking a favor and taking
precious time from your personnel. I was given ZERO
support for your top of the line PC. Right now,
because I could get no help regarding motherboard IRQ
solutions from your people, your PC is sitting on my
floor in parts. That is what happened to a $3,000 PC
which I expected to be happy with for the next 2
years. My drastic solution to my problems was solely
due to lack of help from your technical support
people. It was frustrating enough to have to figure
out what was wrong with my PC right out of the box
because your technical personnel would not help me
since they said it was an operating system issue but
when they would not help me with a hardware issue, to
me its just you guys passing the buck. When was the
last time Microsoft ever helped a retail consumer not
enterprise over an operating system issue? Your people
wouldn't even offer to point me in any direction. Your
similarity with other direct PC manufacturers
warranties and support has absolutely nothing to do
with one another's implementation of their warranties
and support. Your company's implementation is
absolutely horrendous. You guys may talk the talk but
you don't walk the walk. No wonder you guys are the
number one consumer PC manufacturer but were an
abysmal failure in the business market, business users
are a more technology savvy whereas consumers are more
naive to external influences. I was very stupid in
buying from you. I was interested in getting top of
the line PC which you purportedly offered with the
Athlon. Next time I'll pass and recommend others to
pass as well.
Sorry about my rant. I bought this PC last year when the 1Ghz Athlons first came out.
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