Can Anyone Help Me With Gateway?? Updated 8/10..

[cohenfive]

i won't bore you with all the details but suffice it to say i'm frustrated as h*** with gateway. three months ago my pc died. since then i've spent hours on the phone running through diagnostics and have sent the pc back to gateway tech support TWICE to get it fixed. still it sits at home and will not boot properly. my wife and kids are ticked off at both gateway and me...on top of that, gateway does not seem to care about doing the right thing, which in my mind is either to send someone out to my house to fix it and/or complete replacement. astonishing lack of customer service and support. the pc has 2 years left of warranty.

i've sent a letter to as many of the senior management team of gateway as i could (had to guess at email addresses from the list of mgmt i got on the net) but am open to any and all suggestions on how to get this resolved without taking the company to small claims court.

i have lots of details--names, badge numbers, a couple of phone extensions, service request numbers, etc.....

would appreciate constructive suggestions rather than 'i can't believe you bought a gateway, etc.'....

thanks!!

 

[Ladies Man]

well whats wrong with the computer?

 

[Chunkee]

dont ever buy them again

 

[cohenfive]

pc won't boot, garbled video. at first they wanted to replace mobo/cpu. i sent it back to gateway to get that done, they did some diagnostics and said it didn't need the parts. i got the pc back from gateway in a horrible state--loose screws and assemblies, and it wouldn't boot. i sent it back to gateway again and spoke to the actual tech guy working on it who seemed to have a clue. he said the mobo/cpu wouldn't fix it, that it works in their test environment. also said he had a list of customers with similar problems--pc will not work in a real world environment. possibly some sort of short somewhere, he couldn't find it.

got the pc back from him, it booted up fine three times but on the fourth was dead again--totally garbled video, not sure if it booted itself into safe mode but there was no way to do anything with it.

oh, and in between they sent me a replacement monitor just in case--didn't do a thing. also they sent me a monitor that is 2 1/2 years old versus the 1 year old monitor i had to send back to them.

 

[cohenfive]

Originally posted by: Chunkee
dont ever buy them again

funny......

 

[jyates]

Welcome to the world of mail order computers.

I wholeheartedly discourage people who aren't able to fix
their own computers to NOT buy systems mail order.
Pay a little more and buy one from a local company
who you can actually look at eye to eye and EVERYONE
knows someone who builds them and sells them don't
they?

The mail order houses have your money upfront and
they will run you through the mill and tire you out to
the point that you will just quit bugging them (for the
rightful service you paid for) and go away.

Your best bet to get your machine fixed is to just carry
it to a local shop and let them fix it and forget Gateway
and their lousy service and advise all your friends and
family against Gateway in the future.

Gateway is exiting the home pc market more and more
every day and heading toward dealing in TV's and Cameras
and other consumer electronics.

 

[amdforever2]

computers do not have "shorts"


this isnt a blender

 

[cohenfive]

Originally posted by: amdforever2
computers do not have "shorts"


this isnt a blender

at least my blender works!! sorry for the inaccurate characterization, just can't figure out why it comes back from service, boots fine two or three times, and then is dead in the water...

 

[amdforever2]

I believe you have a dead video card.

Garbled video.....flat out refusing to boot and post.

Local computer store is probably best bet.

To have a warrantly still in effect, it's likely you have bought an extended warranty. Usually extended warranties have something like if they fix it three times in same year unsuccessfully you get a replacement.

 

[nageov3t]

it's probably a bad video card.

could also be bad ram, but that's something that I'd assume even Gateway would have checked out.

 

[BlamoHammer]

theodore.waitt@gateway.com

See if that helps you out

 

[Gurck]

Could you be a bit more descriptive with the problem? You turn it on and what exactly happens, when does it happen, what does it look like, etc. You'd be wise, imo, to peruse the forums here to gain knowlege and build your own machine next time. Price is comparable to a prebuilt but quality is much higher and headaches much lower.

 

[JoeKing]

How can the PC not boot, but you see garbled video? $10 says its either the video card or memory.

It doesn't make sense that it works in their labs and not at your house. Is your electricty iffy? Like do you experience many blackouts or power surges?

Also look at the plug that connects the monitor to the video card. Make sure all of the pins are straight. If not get a pair of needle nose pliers and carefully straigten them out.

 

[Biggerhammer]

If you weren't 3000 miles away I'd offer to look at it for you

If you have a friend or a local shop with an old vidcard you can buy cheap, try that out. Dion't go out and buy an X800 or anything because it may well be that your mobo fried the video card in the first place.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: JoeKing
How can the PC not boot, but you see garbled video? $10 says its either the video card or memory.

It doesn't make sense that it works in their labs and not at your house. Is your electricty iffy? Like do you experience many blackouts or power surges?

Also look at the plug that connects the monitor to the video card. Make sure all of the pins are straight. If not get a pair of needle nose pliers and carefully straigten them out.

He said he tried a different monitor so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[cohenfive]

thanks for all the comments gang, appreciate it.

first, i agree that i will probably build my own next time. while i'm not an expert by any means, over the years i've replaced just about everything inside the case by now and it would be a fun project for me.

second, i've never seen something like this, where the pc seems fine in the tech's controlled environment but in a real world environment the pc boots twice and is then dead...first time it was totally dead, just a series of beeps and then nothing. second time i get totally garbled video and it has not booted into windows--possibly safe mode. we've checked and rechecked all connections and to make sure all parts are seated properly and have made sure all static electricity has been discharged.

thanks for the email address of the chairman--great minds think alike. two days ago i sent a note to the entire gateway senior management team detailing the chronology of events with all the people's names and badge numbers/extensions. i didn't scream or name call but expressed my disappointment in the quality of service. yesterday i got a call back from someone at hq who was very apologetic. gateway has agreed to replace the entire pc, which seems to be the right thing to do. machine has equivalent components except for a poorer video card which i'll substitute.

so i feel better about gateway and my daughter will have a new pc next week. it's funny--for some reason i have really bad luck with pc's. i had a compaq that had to be replaced last year (again under warranty) and now this...

thanks again!!

 

[MisterJackson]

Sell the Gateway and get a PC from a local shop like others have said. I help run a local shop here in SC and we see so much of this it isn't even funny.

 

[Gurck]

first, i agree that i will probably build my own next time. while i'm not an expert by any means, over the years i've replaced just about everything inside the case by now and it would be a fun project for me.

Good choice, it's actually far simpler than many people would think, in large part due to the prebuilt companies pushing that image.

i have really bad luck with pc's. i had a compaq that had to be replaced last year

Not surprising, it's more the norm than bad luck.

 

[cohenfive]

it's not the installation of the components themselves that worries me in building my own pc, but compatibility and driver issues....but i think i'll give it a shot. my son's pc is next to be replaced--his is an old athlon 850mhz..and he plays games all the time so is constrained..

 

[JoeKing]

Originally posted by: cohenfive
it's not the installation of the components themselves that worries me in building my own pc, but compatibility and driver issues....but i think i'll give it a shot. my son's pc is next to be replaced--his is an old athlon 850mhz..and he plays games all the time so is constrained..

No need to worry about driver issues anymore, as long as you're runnning a Windows machine

Just buy components from well known manufacturers and you'll be gravy. For gaming definatly go with ATI or Nividia. Mobo you can kill a few birds with one stone there and get integrated sound(Though I would get an Audigy card personally), raid, lan. Spend some time researching this, personally I'm an Asus fanboi when it comes to motherboards. Case go with antec.... Antec rules j00!!

 

[Kadarin]

Another vote here for building your own computer next time. Having the knowledge to be able to pick and choose the best components in your price range to put together a high quality machine is priceless in terms of the headaches you will save down the road.

 

[Kishan]

building is great, but my first project was iffy-i was a n00b to building-sata drivers. But good job on getting gateway to gove you what they deserve. My bro stupidly plunked down $1700 for a 2ghz lappy and its mobo fried-AND THEY DIDN"T SAVE HIS DATA!! I love my A64 home built!!

 

[dman]

Gateway is going down the tubes fast. Too bad you are caught up in it.

Find a local tech geek in your area to help you out.

 

[Chebago]

Originally posted by: jyates
...
Gateway is exiting the home pc market more and more
every day and heading toward dealing in TV's and Cameras
and other consumer electronics.

Didn't Gateway just buy Emachines?

Oh, and congrats on getting heard cohenfive...and there really is nothing difficult about building your own computer, just remember that you absolutely must have a heatsink and fan for that processor...because your processor will blow in less than a second without it...not that I would know from experience

 

[KarenMarie]

Open the computer...

take all the add on cards, upgrades, off the puter, including the video card.
Boot and see if it posts.
If it Posts ok, then try adding the video card, and boot again.
Do this will all the add ons and cards, until it doesnt post.

It is will not post with nothing attached, tell gateway to come and get the machine. Tell them to bring a replacement or you will see them in court. Tell them that you will tell everyone on the planet, thru email, webiste, forums, and in person (at work and socially) about your experience. I think it will be worth it for them to just give you what you want to keep you quiet!


P.S. Building your own system is definately the best bet. Read my sig... main squeeze.. for me recent build.