Shady Shady Gateway..

So my hinge on my laptop started cracking so I contacted Gateway and here was my conversation..

"Dana_EMC030 says: I understand you are having an issue with your system having cracked hinge.

Dana_EMC030 says: Did you drop it accidentally, or please tell me what you know why it cracked.

Howard says: nope I just noticed it today, and according to notebookreview.com this is a common issue with a bunch of the gateway/emachine laptops

Dana_EMC030 says: Yes, we are aware that some notebooks are now beginning to crack along the hinges. Further investigation has revealed that a change in the manufacturing process of the TFT bezel piece is responsible for this issue, and a correction has already been made to the way these notebooks will be manufactured in the future.

Dana_EMC030 says: With this regard, I would like to arrange a repair for your system free of charge."



So basically they tried to fault me, but in the long run knew about this issue, and only admitted it once I called them on it.

 

Well, it isn't unreasonable to ask whether you did anything to cause it. If more companies offered to fix problems so quickly, the world would be a better place.

 

Huh? I don't really see the problem here.

 

Well she sorta tried to accuse me of dropping it and causing the issue myself and as soon as I stated I'm read about it she popped out this whole thing about a defect. She literally must have cut and pasted it cause you can tell when someone is typing in the gateway tech chat room and it popped up almost instantly. If I didn't mention I saw about the issue online I'm sure they probably woulda said its my fault or something.

 

I can understand what you are saying but it is hard to get that off of what you originally posted.

 

She had no reason to assume the crack was or was not your fault. The first question that comes to mind is simply, "How did it happen," which will be important in determining how to fix it.

Yeah, she probably did cut-and-paste, but it's quite possible that they would have come by it honestly. The more I think about it, the more I realize there are probably a number of readers who would actually envy your experience; while you can't be sure they would have fixed it had you not mentioned reading about it, the fact is that, with very little prying, you actually got a manufacturer's customer service representative to take care of your problem. We can't always say that.

 

How can you be sure? Just cause there's an issue with hinges cracking doesn't mean you couldn't have dropped it and caused the problem. It doesn't occur with every gateway model, only some of them. So some models, people might complain about a problem with the hinges, they might receive it, and see evidence that the unit was dropped. Makes sense to ask beforehand. That way if someone was gonna try and screw them into a warranty claim(that wasn't valid), it might steer them away from trying and wasting Gateway's time.

She asked the question, you answered and she moved on. How is this ever perceived as shady?

If you spend your life always assuming that "they're out to get you", it must be a lonely existence. Try giving people/companies a chance first.

 

Example: You have a cell phone. You have insurance on it for a minimal monthly charge from the provider. You pull the antenna out one day and it snaps off. It is fixed by the store, and tell you its a common problem with that model. -------------------Ok so your little brother is using your phone. He returns it to you and tells you the antenna broke off. You know of the problem, but you ask him how it happened anyway because you know your brother can be negligent sometimes. The point is that regardless of whether or not it is a known problem, there are many ways that an antenna can break, or hinges can crack. The associate was just asking all the questions. I would have done the same, and then, like her, been glad to have them fixed. Seems like she was helpful. They repair very quickly too.