Absolutely Horrible experience with Gateway. Must Read for future customers!

Hi Guys,


I bought a gateway notebook p6831fx 5-6 months ago..


Heres from the start....


Go into bestbuy, bought the computer for about $1250. Played around with it for about an hour and it just starts crashing. I returned it right before bestbuy closes, i even had to wait (while all the bestbuy shuts off almost every light and staff leaves) while Mr.GEEK SQUAD TECH GUY approves of exchanging it...he said i couldnt get a refund. I was pissed. I was like whatever...i will try it for awhile.

4 Months later i get weird errors...crashing..ect. I tryed to fix it...see if a program was causing it...or viruses.

few weeks later i get sick of it, transfer some files all over to my $300 dell computer thats stable as ****. when i was transfering my last folder it crashes. i tryed getting back on but it wouldnt even get to the login screen. I tryed about 100 times (no ****ting) because thousands of dollars in web templates and psds were in the last folder. I had no choice but to reinstall vista and lost them.



3 days after that fresh reinstall the same problem comes back (i didnt even install anything but patches. Not even firefox yet !)


wait a few more days... Call up gateway to my surpise i had a year warranty. I thought it was 3 months (90 days). However i wanted a refund because of this bs. The guy said no, however i looked at the warranty pdf and thats an option if gatway grants it.
You can tell the guy didnt care. I explain to the guy this is my second. He doesnt care. I get off the phone. Now he is sending me a box to ship it back for a fix or exchange..which i dont even want a gateway junk anymore.


Im going to be completly honest and say i feel like crying. I should have went with the apple or dell. Apple loves their customers and Dell loves their new rep. I even had better luck with my $300 dell desktop.


Anyone have any ideas ?

 

waiting......

 

with bated breath.... ...... ......

 

Ok posted. sorry guys, I posted instead of preview XD

 

What puzzles me is why you couldn't get a refund from Best Buy in the first place.

Try talking to a different Gateway Rep.

 

I agree... call again, and again and see if you can't find someone NICE working there so that you can get your money that you deserve...

 

So you bought the laptop, returned it the same day and no refund? Come on where was the manager? Also a weird question, did you have the laptop on your lap when this problem happened? I am asking because of ventilation. I own three of these laptops, no problems at all, the chances of you getting two bad laptops in a row are slim, sorry for your bad luck.

 

the gateway rep are impossible, u should try them all until you hit someone who actually understand what u saying.

trial and error, last time i had to go through 6 or so reps until i got a non idiotic answer.

never give up.

 

That is right, remember "No" just means "Not today" in salesman's speak.
As far as Gateway costumer service , build quality, tech support, they are the same as all the rest, most hardware is made in China. That being said, out of all the posters here do you see many problems? and the ones you do see are most of the time self inflected which is most IT problems in general, thats what keeps IT guys going .

 

thanks for responses..

im going to call later today, he said he was a manager (the gateway guy) but hopefully i will call with better luck.


Fly :

Yes, the manager was there and watching him and messing ('checking') my computer at the same time, so im guessing he heard him say "sorry...no refunds blah blah blah"

I do not put my laptop on my lap because 1) its a big laptop. heavy and size wize. and 2) I get dizzy with the size of the screen. Its sits on a table (air conditioned room also)

 

Yeah.........Don't let BB personel push you around. The more persistent you are the more uncomfortable they become. Usually if I have an issue at BB I allmost allways end up speaking to the manager (not due to my present laptop P6860) but, a laptop that my wife purchased a couple of years ago. If you let them push around, then the will. In the case that I am speaking of we had 4 pixels that were out on her laptop. She didn't check it when purchasiing it and I noticed immediately when she got it home and turned it on. We (of course) went right back to the store. The counter person gave me a hard time, saying we didn't have enough pixels out and I said please get the manager now. Suffice to say we left with a new laptop, after speaking to the manager for a while. My advise to you is be the ball not the pins (a bowling refference)
Seanno

 

I hope Gateway will work with you better, good luck.

 

and while you wait....check the memory out..

and if what you couldn't get it done at one best buy...might can get done at another one....

and you can't get a money back refund after 14 to 15 days, only exchange. (speculation of course)

Go into bestbuy, bought the computer for about $1250. Played around with it for about an hour and it just starts crashing. I returned it right before bestbuy closes, i even had to wait (while all the bestbuy shuts off almost every light and staff leaves) while Mr.GEEK SQUAD TECH GUY approves of exchanging it...he said i couldnt get a refund. I was pissed. I was like whatever...i will try it for awhile.<------- this means..talk to some one else or goto another store.. *LOL* unless of course you didn't have your receipt.

 

Incidentally, I don't think the P6831FX has been out 5-6 months yet. You definitely have a way to go before your warranty expires.

 

im stuck on how he couldn't get his money back the first day!
that tech guy might have been wearing the 6831 as a head band...lol

as many things as i have taken back.

i have been later than the retun period, but because i buy alot of stuff from certain stores... they over look it and let it go through.

 

I think you have 14 days to get a refund at best buy, that confuses me too.

 

thats got me too...why would they not give you a refund when you returned it the first day?

you sure your being totally truthful with us? =P

 

hey that was unnecessary,
you work for gateway ?
just help who you can, don't start flames here.

 

who is flaming?
and what does gateway have to do with best buy?

 

Are you sure your in the right tread? Where is the flame you are talking about? Johnkss is one of the most helpful people here.

 

no no lakjin ask if he is telling ask the truth....

relax guys

 

Couldn't you tell he was trying to get Lakjin to be less suspicious?

Admittedly, he wasn't flaming yet, but not exactly nice either.

 

ok...im lost...lol


royk50, we we're all wondering about not being able to return a product the same day and not get your money back. so we are speculating as to why the store would not give him his money back, while we wait on the real answer. no one wants to buy a product and NOT beable to take it back the same day, only to find that you cant get your money back.

we are on the first part of what he was talking about.....

 

I might ad this thread kinda started as a flame, am I wrong?

 

i understand fully.

no harm i hope anywhere.

just saying, we try help each other here, so even if someone has something to hide (i don't think so) just point it is strange, no need push anyone, how can that help ?

even if it has started harshly, look everyone try to help and the tone is already different.


may all beings be well and happy.

 

Yes he really said no to a refund.


Iv never bought a computer from a retailer. I thought it was like a video game, You opened it so no refund only exchange. I would have stood there into the mourning hours if i knew at the time.

 

I don't get why people are always complaining about best buy, the best buy I go to is near the border since I live in mexico, and they have to deal with a ton of mexicans (including me) which in my opinion must get annoying, however, Ive never had a single problem with them regarding warrantys or exchanges... I just exchanged my 6860fx for a new one the other day, they even accepted a video as proof it was failing since I couldn't replicate the problem there.

I think there are things customers do not post when they talk about their problem, this can include things like rudeness or threatening the employees that might make things worse.

 

I guess its a lesson learned, always read the return policy especially on expensive electronics. It would have been nice for you to though that in the managers face.

 

Do you goto Tucson? I goto the North side store, they have always been great.

 

all is good roy! we all come from different walks of life and sometimes things get percieved in the wrong maner is all.

yes, indeed.

and what i said above still stands.... that best buy tech would have been wearing a shinny new laptop as a head ornimate if i couldn't get my money back! (im flaming) *LOL*

 

You fail at spelling "ornament".

Now this, is flaming.

@ OP: Anyhow, I must say the BB staff who served you were quite unprofessional. Call up Gateway immediately, and speak to reps until you find one willing to help you. Like with Dell or HP or any other relatively large company offering support, you have both good and bad tech support representatives. Trust me, you are by no means guaranteed good tech support from any of these companies.

Also lol @ andrewe1's comment about Mexicans.

 

sry if i offended anyway, i was only half joking.

 

danm, spell check is suppose to catch that!

edit: ok..so a xmas ornimate then
lmao

edit: You fail at spelling "ornament". <---------fail=failed
now that would be flaming back

rotflmao

 

You phail at the internets!

Hmm.. wonder if people go, "EPIC FAILED"

 

man, you got jokes dtwn83!

 

Well, you went into BEST BUY right before everyone wanted to get home so that probably ****** them off. You should have gone in again and demanded a supervisor to exchange the laptop. Get the head honcho and make sure that you are nice to him.
I never had an issue with exchanging at BB (I returned a couple of big screen TVs once).
That why I spend all my money there...LOL

 

I called gateway again, i asked for the highest guy there. The only thing different he said "Only in rare occasions we allow refunds, sorry." i said Hey, I doubt this is rare since its a piece of junk and you must get hammered with calls all day, Buddy, this is my second computer <insent more rant here> and then he cut me off saying "We cant issue you a refund, sorry."


I guess im screwed. Just pray i get a new one and sell it on ebay. I never want to deal with gateway again.




Also is the P6831FX Discontinued ? I was just browsing the bestbuy website out of boredom..then i looked on the gateway and cant find it. If so why ?

 

They switched to the newer model, P6860 FX.

Well, why not send it in for a repair?

I'm sorry you're having such a bad experience, but it's true though, most companies would rather attempt to fix it than to offer a refund. I bet I could find you some Dell horror stories with a similar tale.

Would you, as a company, wish to give a refund for a user for an item that he has used for a number of months? You might want to check how long the refund period is.
Dell's refund policy is 15-30 days, depending on which country you're from.

Edit: just for you.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=211135

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=168633

 

ok... let me ask you this.....

are you trying to get a refund after owing the computer for longer than 14 days? because if so..they are not going to refund it. about 99 percent of the compaines are not giving a refund after this point.

you can only send it in for repair or exchange if they cant fix it, then your subject to getting a new or refurbished one.

it sounds like we are talking about two different things. that's like me buying that gateway from you...then 6 months later i want my money back. what do you think your answer is going to be? hell to the no!...lol

4 Months later i get weird errors...crashing..ect. I tryed to fix it...see if a program was causing it...or viruses<----- this line here already tells you that your not getting your money back. you would have had a better shot at getting your money back 5 months ago than now.

 

That is probably it in a nutshell. In that case I probably would have said bye see you and your manager tomorrow. Not a good overall experience for you, but remember stick up for yourself if someone at BB or anywhere for that matter tells you something you know is not true. Don't take it. At the BB I go to the return pollicy is right over the tech desk and its also written on the recipt (if you have a magnifying glass). Hope you have better luck in the future.
Seanno

 

Also, I wouldn't insult a company you are talking too, when your trying to get them to bend the rules for you. Based of this site, I doubt they get many calls.

 

Let Gateway fix it, when it comes back, either
a. keep it and wait till it becomes obsolete
b. sell it on e-bay if you are still not satisfied

you should be able to get back at least a few hundred bucks for it because its not a bad laptop

 

look this is really a bad story,
but if you would have listened to half of what people around here was telling you, you're last phone call would have end differently.

but you let your emotions get the better of you, insulted a person who was willing to help (the door was already open), and now what did you gain from that ?

even if they would have not returned your money, they would have agree to compensate you in one way or another, that is if you could have talked them into it, politely.

well at this point, what el168 said.
nothing more.