Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
Hate to have my first post be a negative one, but hey I bought a Gateway.
After performing an exhaustive web search for the best sub $1000 laptop that lasted a few days, on 12/29/04 and in a blurry tired state, I ordered a Gateway m320 Plus Special with the following specs: Pentium M 1.5, 512 ram, 60 gig hd, dvd read/cdrw and 15 in xga . Price was a mere $899. The $899 was because it was a "plus Special" meaning pre-built clearence model, no options possible. Called and ordered, chipper Skipper the sales lady (real name withheld) happily told me "its in stock in a Tennessee wharehouse and will get there on the 5th, probly sooner though". Naively I believed her. Come Jan 4th I check online and it says parts are out of stock. So I call and go on hold, finally i am told yes its out of stock, and wont arrive till the Jan 18th. I was going to cancel the order then and there after they refused to offer a subsitute, but against my better judgement I did not ( Ireally didnt need it till about the 20th). Low and Behold the computer came almost a full week early, direct from China to my doorstep. I was happy, and it even had slightly better specs then what i ordered (1 x512 instead of 2x256, and 1.6 instead of 1.5 Pentium. So I opened it up and was impressed with my small computer, until of course I noticed the dead pixel on the screen (just one, blue, North East of center screen, annoying as hell.....like a magnet to the eye). I call after hours customer service, and a nice tech says we normally don't replace for one dead pixel but since you just got it we will send you a new one. I was happy with the fast help. Then at the end of the call he tells me I need to call back the next day with a case number to "make sure it went through" with the daytime help. Deflated, smelling the trouble ahead, I flaccidly agreed to call back. Next morning I call at 9 am sharp to get this sorted out. Tech says "request denied". I patiently explain the problem and he sends me to someone else. After a head spinning 2+ hours on the phone I talked to no less than 12 people, was harassed to buy accidental protection (line of reasoning was that if more pixels go dead after 15 days they can do nothing...as if they were doing somthing now!!!), promised a new notebook only to have the next tech rescind the offer repeatedly (appearently Gateway considers dead pixel to not be a defect, tech said they need many dead pixels). Final resolution is they will "send me return labels for my Laptop, and placed an order for the exact same laptop", scheduled to arrive the 31st. At this point even if i fall in love with the New Model ( I like the laptop so far, minus the shoddy lcd )they send I will never even consider buying another product from them. Take the advice I read in an earlier post but ignored, DON'T BUY GATEWAY, your tired phone and head will thank you. Hold times were very short, but the SERVICE was garbage, its as if they just did not care about my order or problem. By the way, i am the nice patient type though i plainly stated i would cancel the order if this is not addressed, would behaving in a more upset manner gotten some action? Any suggestions of a company to get same specs without the gateway BS??? I am a student on a budget, I need light, fast, and cheap ;-) and would love to send them back BOTH laptops if i can find a suitable replacement from company that actually values their customers.
Gateway to service hell..........m320x
Discussion in 'Gateway and eMachines' started by thepastramiswami, Jan 20, 2005.
