Friends don't let friends buy Gateways

Computers. Love them or hate them, once you get used the convenience of having one, there's no turning back. There's so many to choose from. Does it matter what brand you get? In the past I didn't think so. After all they're all IBM clones anyway so one is just as good as the other, right?

Nothing could be further than the truth. Let me tell you my story.....


About 5 years ago, my sister told me about this new program that let's you watch and record TV on your computer (Windows Media Center). I thought wow, that's better than Tivo since I also get to burn whatever I record to DVD. My husband then buys a Gateway computer from Tiger Direct (we have a retail store in our area) for me and a laptop for himself. Initially I had some problems with the hard drive but I took it back to Tiger Direct and got a new one. No problem. I had that computer for about 5 years. In fact, I still have it and use it regularly. I'm using the laptop now that my husband got to write this blog. The CD drive no longer works. I guess I could take it and have it fixed some place but for heaven's sake...it's 5 years old!!

About a year ago, my husband bought a HP computer. It was really nice. He got it from HSN or QVC and it came with a 3yr in-home warranty. He has had no problem with that laptop. Of course, the time when I needed to get a newer computer. A faster processor, larger hard drive, and more memory. A girlfriend of mine bought a Gateway from QVC and it was horrible. There was one problem after another. She wasn't very computer savvy and bought it because I told her that it was a good system. (After all, I'm still using mine.) She told me Gateway wouldn't take it back and she had only had it for about 3-4 weeks. She's also really good at negotiating with people but, Gateway wouldn't budge. Fortunately, QVC was willing to take the computer back and refund her money. (Yea QVC!) I think she went on to buy a Mac!

Well when I decided to buy my computer I went to Best Buy. I'm not sure why. They didn't have a great reputation as far as I was concerned. I mean charging someone for bringing something back? Really? Anyway, I went there to buy my Gateway. I realized sometimes you might get a dud, but I wasn't really expecting any problems. That's where I made my first mistake. I did have a problem, but still I wasn't thrown off by it because at least I was still under warranty. It had only been 2 weeks. I decided, instead of messing with it, I'd take it back to Best Buy and exchange it. Besides it was less than 30 days so they shouldn't have a problem with it. That was the second mistake.

You should always read the back of your receipt. Really, I mean you really should. The truth is I only had 15 days to return a computer. However, Best Buy was gracious enough to allow me to bring it back and exchange it (It had been 16 days.)and I did. I got it home and again started having problems within days. This time I called Gateway Tech support (sorry excuse for a 'support' department)and the technician was on the phone with me for hours. After about 4 hours, he said I need to reset my computer to factory settings, of course, the thing didn't come with disks to I had to have it sent to me. In the mean time I needed to call back and another tech said that wasn't my problem at all and gave me something else to do which didn't work. It took about a week to 9 days to get it the disks and after resetting my computer it still didn't work. I'd had enough. I called them back and stated I wanted my money back. I told them I had gone through 2 computers and weeks without being able to use it. They sent me to a 2nd level technician who then said it was, in fact, a power supply issue and if I would send it to their repair center in TX they would fix it. Of course, I asked them to send me a return authorization which he was willing to give me. However, he said I would have to pay for shipping. That was outrageous to me. You want me to pay to have a 3-4 week old computer fixed that's under warranty? I don't think so. I told them that would not be agreeable. As I told him, as a courtesy, they should pay for shipping since this the second machine I had and I've not been able to use it for 3-4 weeks because their tech support misdiagnosed the problem. He said he would talk to his supervisor and call me the next day to give me an answer.

He called the next day and told me they would not pay for the shipping and that if I took it anywhere else to have it fix, it would void my warranty. I asked to speak to his supervisor and he refused to give me a name, number or address. (Never accept a 'no' answer from a person who doesn't have the power to answer 'yes'! and never give your money to a company that doesn't value your business.) Needless to say the conversation went downhill from there. I was beyond disappointed. Here I was, stuck with a machine that I can't use and can't afford to have fixed! (Not for long, of course.) I called Best Buy and asked them what they could do to help me. Do you know what they said? They told me to come in that afternoon when a regional manager was there so that I could talk to him about it, which you know I did. (Well actually my husband did, he's got the gift of gab! I did go with him though!) We told them that we lost confidence in Gateway and asked if they would be gracious enough to let us get another brand that was comparable to the one we had and he said YES!!! I ended up getting a Dell!

The good thing about a Dell is that while the warranty is still only a year, you can take it to some place like Geek Squad instead of shipping it to the other side of the country and they would honor the warranty. While I had a problem initially with it, I found tech support to be efficient, and knowledgeable and so far I'm not having anymore problems.

The lesson learned is this: A product is only as good as the company that backs it up. In this case Best Buy went above and beyond to satisfy the customer. Did I tell you they never once charged me for bringing anything back?! Gateway did nothing to satisfy the customer even when they clearly made the error. Check the warranty on high ticket items, if the price is low but the warranty sucks, there is no value in the item. It's better to pay a little more and get a better warranty. Trust me, paying for peace of mind is a good thing and being a good consumer...it's all in a days work!

Until next time,
It's just me!