PLEASE HIDE MY EMAIL ADDRESS

DON'T EVER BUY A COMPUTER FROM EMACHINES! I bought an emachines computer in December 2005 from Circuit City, including a 3 year extended warranty for an extra $200, and it ran great for 8 months. Then I started having overheating issues. I ended up sending the computer in to the warranty repair center in California 4 times, they never fixed it. They replaced the hard drive twice, which is not going to fix an overheating issue. Their technical people are incompetent, and their customer service is nonexistent. Specifically:

1. The customer service phone line is not toll free, and you can spend hours on hold, if they don't cut you off, which they frequently did when I called. They try to encourage you to use the online "chat" service, but the people you end up chatting with are incredibly incompetent, they have no idea what they are talking about. The people on the phone line are a little better, not much.

2. They refused to replace the computer until after they had unsuccessfully attempted to fix it 3 times, and then I had to call and demand to speak with a manager before I could get them to agree to send me a replacement computer. I sent the computer back to them 4 times, over a period of 4 months, before they would agree to replace it on the 4th time. I have been without a working computer for over 4 months, and still don't have one.

3. They would not replace it with a new computer, only a refurbished one. When I received the replacement "refurbished" computer, it was broken. This metal box containing the hard drive (about 4" square, and 2" deep) inside the computer was not attached to anything, it was just banging around inside the computer, and had broken off several pieces of things inside. I don't see how even a marginally competent tech could refurbish a computer and not attach this big metal case on the inside, just leaving it loose. They agreed to send me another "refurbished" piece of junk, I can't wait to see what I get this time.

4. By replacing the computer, they told me their extended warranty had been fulfilled, even though I'm still in the one year original manufacturer's warranty. I get a 90 day warranty on the refurbished computer, that's it.

5. emachines' customer service is horrible.