NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/comp/sys/ibm/pc/misc/17142

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-28 | 3.5 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Joseph T. Malloy)
Subject: Re: Gateway service problem (was Re: Nightmare experience with "Programmer's Paradise")
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Hamilton College - Clinton, NY
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 19:20:05 GMT
Lines: 51

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Paul Botts) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Lamont Downs) writes:
>>>I have been a fan of Gateway 2000, but my fandom is waning.  The
>>>shipped some software to me that, apparently, UPS lost.  My beef is
>>>not with them using a second-rate shipping service (this is not
>>>the first time I've had problems with UPS), but rather with the
>>>fact that I can NEVER get through to their customer service
>>>personnel.
>>
>>You might try their customer support on GEnie. Seems a shame to have to
>>subscribe to a commercial BB$ just to get tech support but I have seen a
>>number of situations in which a customer tried repeatedly to get through to
>>someone at GW2000 without success (in one case, all he wanted was a simple
>>jumper for one of his boards & was told tech support had to verify that he
>>was really missing the jumper first!), and after posting a message got
>>_immediate_ results from the GW sysop.
>>
>>Sigh. Probably the wave of the future.
>>
>
>I have had endless problems with their tech support, both in getting
>through and in getting a correct answer (!). I have tried posting on
>their own bbs, but apparently nobody at the company actually reads
>anything on there - my onlyresponses were from other customers.

Well, here's another, if contrary, data point: I've purchased two
machines from Gateway and had few troubles with them (and I've never had
any problems with UPS, for that matter!).  The few times I've wanted to
get through to tech support at Gateway have invariably been successful,
even though I've learned to call early in the morning for a prompt
response.  I just recently added a second IDE hard drive (it arrived
last week).  Everything about the order was fast: I got through to
customer add-on's quickly, then said to expect the drive in seven to ten
working days (it arrived in six real days) and the only thing 'wrong'
was that I wasn't sure about jumpering the two drives (their generalized
'how to replace your part' manual didn't mention that directly).  So I
called tech support at about 2:30 EST and got through in under ten
minutes with the answer I needed.  When I upgraded a systemboard, I
foolishly forget to write down the hard drive parameters for the CMOS
setup (and didn't think to look for them on the drive, where they were
printed!).  On a New Year's eve (1990) I called tech support and got
through -- it took a few tries, but I got the info.

It seems to me that one can't expect as much hand holding from a mail
order firm which competes on price than one might expect from a local
dealer.  All in all, I can't complain...

My two cents...

[e-mail]