Gateway Made Me Long For My Old 386!
Apr 07 '00
For years, I worked at the office on an old generic 386. No bells, no whistles, tiny monitor, no Windows, not even any color (unless you consider many shades of gray to be color). Needless to say, I was thrilled when my new Gateway arrived. All the bells and whistles you can imagine, and Gold service technical support. Boy, I was in hog heaven. Little did I know that my personal torture had just begun, and would last for over a week when only the most drastic of measures would restore my sanity and self-respect.
Almost immediately after setting it up, I began to experience a myriad of problems - losing sound constantly, shutting down unexpectedly, and even booting up in the middle of the night. I contacted tech support immediately (well, I called them immediately - but it took 30 minutes to get someone on the line) and was given the biggest line of bull (excuse the pun) I have ever heard - it must be the software, which they do not support.
I then contacted each and every software manufacturer, and they each told me the same thing: there is no way that software could cause the problems I was experiencing. I was also warned that Gateway has a track record for passing the blame in an attempt to get out of its warranty obligations.
I called Gateway again, and spoke with possibly the rudest operator in the universe. While I tried to be polite and professional, I was firm. I explained the problems, what had been done to try to fix them, and that I had contacted all the software manufacturers and been assured that it is definitely a hardware problem. I reminded her that I had "gold" service, which means that they will perform repairs on-site at no charge.
The next sentence out of her mouth was a shocker: "Ma'am, do you have a screwdriver?" At that point, I was fairly livid - I told her that I was not about to open the computer, thus giving them the out of saying I voided the warranty on a brand-new computer by breaking the seal. Again, I requested the on-site support that I had paid so dearly for. Now, at this point one would think that she'd apologize for the misunderstanding, and send a technician right over. Not in this lifetime. Instead, I heard a very testy "Ma'am, I can't help you if you don't open the case with a screwdriver as I have previously instructed you to do."
Now, in the interest of full disclosure I will admit that I am a redhead, and can get a fiery temper at times. I hung up on her. In fact, I not only hung up on her, I slammed the phone repeatedly just in case she was still on the other line and could hear my anger. If we had been in the same room, I have no doubt that I would have throttled her.
I called back, hoping to get another support tech, and - you guessed it - I got my ol' pal again. To my disbelief, she said, "Now, are you ready to cooperate, or are you wasting my time again?" What I said after that is unprintable, but perfectly justified I assure you. When I asked for her supervisor, I was placed on hold for TWO HOURS. That's okay, though -I have a speakerphone, so I just waited until it was time to leave for the day, then gave up.
So, what did I do with the computer, you may ask? I prepared a screen saver which stated simply "This computer is a piece of %^#* (okay, I didn't use the symbols), as well as a voice file which would run over and over again ad nauseum explaining my complaints, and returned it to the store where it was purchased, making sure to set it up before I left (ostensibly to demonstrate the problem). This, of course, I did during their busiest sales time. Oh, yes, lest I forget - I placed an obscure password on the screen saver and voice file to ensure that they had as much fun with it as I did.
I then returned to my 386, swearing that I would never use another Gateway product as long as I lived. To this day, I have kept that promise. In fact, I see no problem in ever breaking it, especially in light of the manner in which I was treated by their tech support.
You know, they say the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. In this case, I suspect it's true because the Gateway cows have been fertilizing it with their bull.
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Epinions.com ID:
The_T_Meister
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Location: Huntington, West Virginia
Reviews written: 84
Trusted by: 16 members
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Memberships: National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, The Author's Guild
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