Funny story - Gateway Tech Support

[ianbergman]

So I just can't resist sharing this; i'm on with Gateway right now, using their screen-sharing technology so they can poke around my computer (went to them because my new laptop is way under-performing... the 2GHZ P4 is benchmarking like a Duron 700, and some other more minor issues). Anyway, after detailing the issues, the tech immediately--

attempted to reset the paging file (XP Pro) to 65,555 MB (doesn't work, notwithstanding that the drive is only 40GB)
finally settled on around 700MB
deleted all my cookies without asking
ran disk cleanup, again without asking, and tossed everything

now, if i cared about the contents of this machine, i'd be worried, but luckily it hasn't accumulated anything too valuable. bemused, i pointed him to FreshDiagnose, and the benchmark results. At the moment, as far as I can tell, he's reading the BBC News (has an article open on Kurds in Iraq). Sigh. Eventually I should probably gently ask for a higher-level tech, but this guy _is_ providing some entertainment for me.

regards and merry post-christmas

 

[Yossarian]

come on, too many cookies makes your computer fat and slow, everyone knows that.

 

[ianbergman]

i hold that chocolate chip cookies are good for you.

I got bored and ended my session w/them, but I liked this little bit (all spelling as given by the tech)--

"as far us any benchmark software is concern they will compare with the non loaded several software and it was shown by its own operating system the cpu usage is less still"
that, my friends, is not english.

oh, and it turns out that (according to gateway) my laptop is perfectly healthy and normal and I should "contack Intel for more detailed logistic information on your CPU"

monkeyfart.

 

[Spac3d]

haha If I were you I would immediately demand higher tech support. I would think you can read the BBC news without their assistance

Spac3d

 

[BooneRebel]

Originally posted by: PipBoy
come on, too many cookies makes your computer fat and slow, everyone knows that.

Maybe I'm just in the holiday spirit, but it seems like I've been reading more and more replies today that have truly made me laugh out loud...

 

[BooneRebel]

Try Dell CS. I called last month and had to spend 20 minutes on the phone with an (Indian?) who had a really strong accent. I could barely understand what he was saying at all, kept asking him to repeat himself. I finally asked to speak with a supervisor. After a brief delay I ended up getting transferred to a baritone version of the same accent, just as difficult to understand. Aaargh! After nearly an hour I finally got the issue worked out, RMA issued. I asked for the sup's name just in case it didn't go through, he had to spell it out for me. Something like Kmruvkmorvbmkr, couldn't have been more than two vowels and 20 consonants.

I wonder if it's an intentional tactic to prevent return calls to their helpdesk. :disgust:

 

[SSP]

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
Try Dell CS. I called last month and had to spend 20 minutes on the phone with an (Indian?) who had a really strong accent. I could barely understand what he was saying at all, kept asking him to repeat himself. I finally asked to speak with a supervisor. After a brief delay I ended up getting transferred to a baritone version of the same accent, just as difficult to understand. Aaargh! After nearly an hour I finally got the issue worked out, RMA issued. I asked for the sup's name just in case it didn't go through, he had to spell it out for me. Something like Kmruvkmorvbmkr, couldn't have been more than two vowels and 20 consonants.

I wonder if it's an intentional tactic to prevent return calls to their helpdesk. :disgust:

Well, did it work?

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: ianbergman

the 2GHZ P4 is benchmarking like a Duron 700

This is normal

 

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: ianbergman
"as far us any benchmark software is concern they will compare with the non loaded several software and it was shown by its own operating system the cpu usage is less still"

That's good info for any computer user, thanks!

omg this thread is cracking me up!!!

 

[webnewland]

title reminds me of the gateway tech support prank call mp3 with arnold's voice in it.

 

[Ryan]

IF your laptop is still under warranty - just bring it to your local gateway country store. You get treated much better when you're there in person (I should know - I work there)

 

[BooneRebel]

Originally posted by: SSP

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
Try Dell CS. I called last month and had to spend 20 minutes on the phone with an (Indian?) who had a really strong accent. I could barely understand what he was saying at all, kept asking him to repeat himself. I finally asked to speak with a supervisor. After a brief delay I ended up getting transferred to a baritone version of the same accent, just as difficult to understand. Aaargh! After nearly an hour I finally got the issue worked out, RMA issued. I asked for the sup's name just in case it didn't go through, he had to spell it out for me. Something like Kmruvkmorvbmkr, couldn't have been more than two vowels and 20 consonants.

I wonder if it's an intentional tactic to prevent return calls to their helpdesk. :disgust:

Well, did it work?

No, I persisted. It was for a failed WD1200JB, took me three separate calls but they finally shipped me a replacement. But the "as far us any benchmark software is concern they will compare with the non loaded several software and it was shown by its own operating system the cpu usage is less still" ranks up there with the kind of responses I was getting. Ergh.

 

[ianbergman]

Originally posted by: rbloedow
IF your laptop is still under warranty - just bring it to your local gateway country store. You get treated much better when you're there in person (I should know - I work there)

It is - 70 days old. They owe me a $100 rebate too; think the store can help me with that?

 

[earthman]

At least he didn't type out "All your bases are belong to us".

 

[ianbergman]

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
Try Dell CS. I called last month and had to spend 20 minutes on the phone with an (Indian?) who had a really strong accent. I could barely understand what he was saying at all, kept asking him to repeat himself. I finally asked to speak with a supervisor. After a brief delay I ended up getting transferred to a baritone version of the same accent, just as difficult to understand. Aaargh! After nearly an hour I finally got the issue worked out, RMA issued. I asked for the sup's name just in case it didn't go through, he had to spell it out for me. Something like Kmruvkmorvbmkr, couldn't have been more than two vowels and 20 consonants. I wonder if it's an intentional tactic to prevent return calls to their helpdesk. :disgust:

you probably really were talking with an Indian -- i think they moved all their call-center support to India.I was just in the country, and they're often quite good at what they do, but it doesn't help us poor Americans if we can't communicate with them.

 

[SherEPunjab]

anytime the Indian dell guys piss you off too much:


tell 'em:


Mera lundh chota hai. pronounced: MARE (Like 'hair') A (like ahhhh i'm falling) LUND (like 'lung', but with a d instead of g) CHO (like the chinese last name) TA (like 'pa' (dad)) HE (like 'hehehe', only once though)


so, MAR - A - LUND - CHO - TA - HE

Write it down and tell them this next time.

In Hindi it means:

You don't know sh*t!

That will really surprise the guys!

 

[chemos]

lol i remember the arnold call to gateway support.. what a riot! oh yeah, guess there were two of them..

ian>
just a quick note.. laptops don't run at full CPU power when running on the battery. not sure if you worked that into the equation or not. i'm surprised the tech didn't try and restore your machine. i've never heard of a tech from a major brand using remote desktop to troubleshoot. most either have you restore or dispatch the call (or in some cases both).

 

[Kaervak]

Originally posted by: chemos
lol i remember the arnold call to gateway support.. what a riot! oh yeah, guess there were two of them..

When I was doing an online radio show, people would request them constantly. I've probably heard them about ninety times and they're still funny.

 

[Chadder007]

What benchmark are you running and what kind of scores are you getting? Remember that laptops aren't as fast as their desktop counterparts and also they have good ole power saver crap on them too that makes them run slower too.
Let us see how its doing.....post some scores...

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: SherEPunjab
anytime the Indian dell guys piss you off too much:


tell 'em:


Mera lundh chota hai. pronounced: MARE (Like 'hair') A (like ahhhh i'm falling) LUND (like 'lung', but with a d instead of g) CHO (like the chinese last name) TA (like 'pa' (dad)) HE (like 'hehehe', only once though)


so, MAR - A - LUND - CHO - TA - HE

Write it down and tell them this next time.

In Hindi it means:

You don't know sh*t!

That will really surprise the guys!

LOL!

 

[ianbergman]

Originally posted by: Chadder007
What benchmark are you running and what kind of scores are you getting? Remember that laptops aren't as fast as their desktop counterparts and also they have good ole power saver crap on them too that makes them run slower too. Let us see how its doing.....post some scores...

Used a variety of benchmarks; the one I keep coming back to is FreshDiagnose 5.20; the processor benchmark module. Numbers, as of right now (very little fluctuation from the past month or so)... WhetStone FPU: 577 MWIPS (as compared to 1059 for baseline P4 1.6); DhryStone ALU: 2623 MDIPS (3083 for baseline P4 1.6). Most telling for me, though, is the fact that processing a SETI@HOME module takes 2x as long as with my Athlon 1.33 desktop machine. They're not really comparable because a lot of the desktop's components are superior, but any disparity should not be nearly that large.

this is getting more into the technical than the humorous, but the reason i'm convinced there's a problem is that a) it's a desktop P4 2.0GHz chip in there (probably not the smartest money-saving move i ever made), and the chip/bios has no way to control the speed or voltage of the processor, according to the sales guy and what i can see in the computer. Benchmark results don't vary at all based on power source, temperature in the computer, etc. I think the damn thing just overheated at some point and damaged the processor and maybe some other components. The machine's got lots of other issues (like corrupting any data passing thru the USB ports, say to a removable HD), so I think a trip to Gateway Country is indeed due.

And if it doesn't work... well, I now have an excellent Hindi phrase. ::

>chemos< -- if that tech had tried to get me to restore, i would have gone from passive amusement to borderline rage in a very short amount of time. would have spiced up my day, that's for sure.

 

[NuclearFusi0n]

Originally posted by: SherEPunjab
anytime the Indian dell guys piss you off too much:


tell 'em:


Mera lundh chota hai. pronounced: MARE (Like 'hair') A (like ahhhh i'm falling) LUND (like 'lung', but with a d instead of g) CHO (like the chinese last name) TA (like 'pa' (dad)) HE (like 'hehehe', only once though)


so, MAR - A - LUND - CHO - TA - HE

Write it down and tell them this next time.

In Hindi it means:

You don't know sh*t!

That will really surprise the guys!

ahaha i know all the words except lund

mera = my
lund = ?
chota hai = is small...\


my guess: my dick is tiny.

 

[LordMaul]

monkeyfart?

 

[gentobu]

Originally posted by: NuclearFusi0n

Originally posted by: SherEPunjab
anytime the Indian dell guys piss you off too much:


tell 'em:


Mera lundh chota hai. pronounced: MARE (Like 'hair') A (like ahhhh i'm falling) LUND (like 'lung', but with a d instead of g) CHO (like the chinese last name) TA (like 'pa' (dad)) HE (like 'hehehe', only once though)


so, MAR - A - LUND - CHO - TA - HE

Write it down and tell them this next time.

In Hindi it means:

You don't know sh*t!

That will really surprise the guys!

ahaha i know all the words except lund

mera = my
lund = ?
chota hai = is small...\


my guess: my dick is tiny.

I guess you're right

link

BTW I dont know Hindi, I just did a google search...

 

[Lithium381]

Originally posted by: NuclearFusi0n

Originally posted by: SherEPunjab
anytime the Indian dell guys piss you off too much:


tell 'em:


Mera lundh chota hai. pronounced: MARE (Like 'hair') A (like ahhhh i'm falling) LUND (like 'lung', but with a d instead of g) CHO (like the chinese last name) TA (like 'pa' (dad)) HE (like 'hehehe', only once though)


so, MAR - A - LUND - CHO - TA - HE

Write it down and tell them this next time.

In Hindi it means:

You don't know sh*t!

That will really surprise the guys!

ahaha i know all the words except lund

mera = my
lund = ?
chota hai = is small...\


my guess: my dick is tiny.

that'd suprise me!