Gateway sucks.
Yeah, I know... some of you already know that Gateway bites ass, but I wasn't able to convince my boss of that two years ago when he insisted on buying new laptops.
The trump card my boss played to finalize his decision was that Gateway's headquarters were in San Diego, and service would be easy.
Well, they are no longer in San Diego, and guess what? We needed service on one of the laptops that we rent out to attorneys to use in court.
First, it was the DVD/CDRW drive. They said they'd send a technician out to replace (we had the 3-year onsite warranty). 3 days later, I called to see where the technician was: "Sorry, the order wasn't placed for the part" was the answer. Two days after that, the technician shows up with the drive, swaps it out, no problem.
Three more weeks pass. The backlight on the same laptop goes out. Gateway can't order field service, so I have to send the laptop to them, our cost. They take my credit card info and order a box with a call-tag for return shipping.... the box is supposed to arrive next day for us to pack the computer into.
4 days later: "Where's my box?" Answer: "something was wrong with the order. I promise to have it there monday."
Tuesday morning: "Where's my box?" Answer: "the order is on a tax-hold. It's california's fault." my reply: "WTF?!? You are holding up shipping us this box because of a 10-cent discrepency on how much sales tax youhave to charge between different counties?" Answer after talking to a supervisor and waiting an hour on hold: "We're sorry about that... we're reversing the charges and you'll have the box tomorrow morning."
Wednesday: a new DVD/CDRW drive arrives. [insert hilarious laughter here] An hour later, the box also arrives, I place the computer in the box, tape it shut, and hand it to the DHL guy before he has a chance to leave.
12-days later: Monday. "Where's our computer?" Answer: "Here's the tracking number. DHL tried to deliver last thursday but couldn't." DHL's answer: "We can't tell you anything, we've emailed the shipper for instructions." Gateway supervisor: "I see the problem, but I have to escalate it to a manager who I promise will take care of it tomorrow."
Tuesday: No news.
Wednesday, 1 hour ago: "We've given DHL new instructions, it should be there this morning."
Just now, as I was typing this: The laptop arrived.
(BTW, I still have that DVD/CDRW replacement drive that showed up a couple weeks ago. I wonder how long before they miss it... if ever!?)
...now to see if they actually repaired the laptop.
The trump card my boss played to finalize his decision was that Gateway's headquarters were in San Diego, and service would be easy.
Well, they are no longer in San Diego, and guess what? We needed service on one of the laptops that we rent out to attorneys to use in court.
First, it was the DVD/CDRW drive. They said they'd send a technician out to replace (we had the 3-year onsite warranty). 3 days later, I called to see where the technician was: "Sorry, the order wasn't placed for the part" was the answer. Two days after that, the technician shows up with the drive, swaps it out, no problem.
Three more weeks pass. The backlight on the same laptop goes out. Gateway can't order field service, so I have to send the laptop to them, our cost. They take my credit card info and order a box with a call-tag for return shipping.... the box is supposed to arrive next day for us to pack the computer into.
4 days later: "Where's my box?" Answer: "something was wrong with the order. I promise to have it there monday."
Tuesday morning: "Where's my box?" Answer: "the order is on a tax-hold. It's california's fault." my reply: "WTF?!? You are holding up shipping us this box because of a 10-cent discrepency on how much sales tax youhave to charge between different counties?" Answer after talking to a supervisor and waiting an hour on hold: "We're sorry about that... we're reversing the charges and you'll have the box tomorrow morning."
Wednesday: a new DVD/CDRW drive arrives. [insert hilarious laughter here] An hour later, the box also arrives, I place the computer in the box, tape it shut, and hand it to the DHL guy before he has a chance to leave.
12-days later: Monday. "Where's our computer?" Answer: "Here's the tracking number. DHL tried to deliver last thursday but couldn't." DHL's answer: "We can't tell you anything, we've emailed the shipper for instructions." Gateway supervisor: "I see the problem, but I have to escalate it to a manager who I promise will take care of it tomorrow."
Tuesday: No news.
Wednesday, 1 hour ago: "We've given DHL new instructions, it should be there this morning."
Just now, as I was typing this: The laptop arrived.
(BTW, I still have that DVD/CDRW replacement drive that showed up a couple weeks ago. I wonder how long before they miss it... if ever!?)
...now to see if they actually repaired the laptop.