Gateway Customer Support

On December 14, 2006, I purchased a Gateway notebook computer for my wife. It was her anniversary-Christmas present. It arrived on December 18 and was left at our door with no signature. Everything seemed to be in working order at that time. I shut it off and plugged it in to charge the battery. After about an hour, the computer was completely dead. It would not start with the battery nor the power cord.

I called Gateway customer support. After being on hold for 20 minutes, a "customer service" representative tried to diagnose the problem over the phone. I was asked to remove the battery and hold the power button for 10-15 seconds. That did nothing. I was asked to plug the unit into the wall without the battery and hold the power button for 10-15 seconds. This also did nothing. The customer support technician told me to send the unit back to Gateway for repair. They sent a DSL box and instructions and I reluctantly sent it back to the company that afternoon, 12/21.

I was reluctant because I did not feel that I should have a repaired product after one hour of ownership. The computer was BRAND NEW.

On 12/23, I called Gateway and they had no record of receiving my computer. I was told to contact DHL. After being on the phone with Gateway and DHL for over 2 hours, my package was located in Tennessee at the Gateway facility. Apparently, Gateway had the wrong tracking number. I was then advised to call back the following week. I called Gateway on 12/27 and they had no status whatsoever to report. They told me that they have 10 business days to even look at the computer.

I have called every day since then. It is now January 4. They still haven't even looked at my computer! If I had bought a computer at a big store, I would have already had a replacement.

I can't believe that I was not put on some sort of priority list. My computer was literally dead on arrival. I have put this in dispute with my credit card company. I feel more confident that I will get some attention now that I have a large company backing me.

It has been almost a month since I bought this computer. I supposedly have one a year warranty. Now my warranty is 11 months, if I am lucky enough to get my computer back next week.

I hope that I never have to deal with Gateway again. I pray that my repaired computer does not have problems in the future. I will never buy a Gateway again. And, I will tell anyone who is buying a computer to stay away from Gateway.