Gateway doing everything to keep me from canceling my order

I placed my order for a P-171XL FX on Feb 1st. Like most of you, I was offered a really great discount. The salesperson, Will Riggs, said that delivery was most likely going to be before my official ship date of Feb 6th (delivery on the 10th).

Well, yesterday morning, on my delivery date, I received the infamous delayed-delivery - March 28th mail.

Given the fact that the XL includes a useless HD-DVD drive (now just an overpriced and less elegant version of the slot loaded DVD-R), an older over-priced non-penryn CPU, and the fact that I won't receive it for an additional 3 weeks, I decided to just cancel my order.

So I responded to the email shipment delay email only to get some of the slimiest customer support I have ever received from a company.

The first response pretty much ignored the fact that I asked for the order to be canceled. Instead, the sales rep said that he would prioritize my order, certain that I would be happy once I received it.

I responded back saying that my order should have been prioritized the moment it was delayed, that they would have to do something more significant if they wanted to keep my business. I reiterated that I wanted to cancel my order.

The second response, from the same sales rep, stated that he was sorry that I wanted to cancel my order but he would forward the request on to the right department - BUT - its likely that they cannot cancel the order because it's in process (it's been in process since the day I ordered it), and I would just have to deny delivery - at which point my credit card would be refunded 10-15 days after the item is received back.

That just screamed to me "listen, we don't want to cancel the order - we're going to play the odds that you will be too tempted to keep it once you get your grubby hands on it".

Prior to all of this, I was considering just downgrading my order to the next model down... now I am thinking I should never bother with this company ever again.

 

I understand where you are coming from but read my quote from another tread

 

I guess that's why gateway went bankrupt in the UK..... Good computers but yes, far from brilliant customer service. My dad's still got his gateway back from '98

I suppose 2 months is a bit late for a delivery but if it's there I agree with flynnaz.

I think your right to moan - just not sure what we can do about it

 

it looks that you are angry...

 

Also if sirnh ordered he on Feb 1st, they where still preorder then, your ship date should have beed March 6th, and 10th, so your only 2 to 3 weeks late like the rest of us. They have been preorder for weeks. Preorder means, you can order it now, and recieve it when they get released, just like all the awsome pc games that always get delayed.

 

Guys, I see you are all anxious to receive your notebooks. I bet you all went with the P-171X, which is what I should have done. I went with the 171XL, instead, which really is not the deal it once was, now that HD-DVD is dead and Penryn Extreme processors are available.

Sure it was a pre-order - a pre-order that was supposed to take a little over a month, and is now approaching 2 months, officially. I work as a software engineer, I understand how this all works. I am certain there is something going on that Gateway is not telling us - either manufacturing, import or some other internal business issue. Regardless, Gateway has not been proactive with their sales support.

I believe the P-171X is still a worthwhile system - a value even at its list price. The P-171XL configuration, on the other-hand, has significantly lost its value since the day I ordered it, and I don't appreciate Gateway is handling their customer support.

I am curious, who else out there has ordered a XL edition and feels that the system is a lot less attractive since the day they ordered it?

 

I think I'd call their bluff on this one. If you have documentation (order confirmation) with the agreed upon pricing, it should be binding. It is obvious this was not a pricing error you took advantage of which they clearly reserve the right to correct, but a quoted, agreed upon price. I would look at contacting your states AG and the BBB if they do not honor your quoted price.

If this is a behavior they want to prohibit (unacceptable discounted pricing given by "rogue" representatives), they should have controls implemented on their end that prohibit the representatives from discounting below a certain price without a "higher management level" price override, just like at a local retail store.

I'd fight them all the way on this, no question about it (of course, that's just me, I love a good fight).

 

If you search the Gateway site, I am almost positive you will find that it says unless your order is actually on its way to your home, you have every right to cancel the order. Check the site and call them on it. Better yet, just call your credit card company and tell them NOT to accept a charge from Gateway. They wont. Case closed.

 

With respect to the price change issue, check the terms off of the gateway site: http://www.gateway.com/about/legal/warranties/8510858.pdf It states that they can change price at their discretion at any time "before" Gateway enters your order. That means that if they entered the order at an agreed price, they are bound by their own terms to honor that price.

Hope that helps...always a good idea to read the terms before agreeing on anything.