BB Accidental Damage

alright here is the situation. about 2 years ago i bought my gateway notebook from best buy and purchased the accidental damage coverage. i have had to take it there twice due to overheating and water damage.. They fixed both with no problem..

Now I have another situation. Out of nowhere i got a notification on my comp that says i need to buy a product key. I tried restarting and now I can only use the internet on my computer unless i enter a product key. I tried the one supplied but it did not work. I googled my problem and found i had to dl vista service pack. Tried it and it didnt work.. i called microsoft for help and they told me to take it up with gateway since gateway is responsible for the licensing of the OS. Gateway tells me I need to buy a new product key. After a long process with being transferred up the latter, they told me that there is nothing they can do since they do not have product keys to give out..

I tried calling best buy but my warranty doesnt cover software issues.

I am furious with gateway and microsoft for this issue and i do not feel like i have to spend money to buy another product key... I didnt want the situation to come down to this because i feel wrong doing it but I feel like the only justice i can get it just totaling the computer.. I understand its not best buys responsibility to fix this issue and they are not the ones screwing me but my hands are tied.

Does anyone have any advice on this matter?

any insight on the steps bb takes with giving replacement computers?

I realize they will give you a replacement based on specs and not what you paid for but can you pay the difference for a more expensive computer?

Does anyone have a solution for the problem i am having with the product key? that would solve my problem with the less amount of stress.

 

Intentional damage is not covered under the warranty.

The easiest thing to do would be to reinstall the operating system, either using recovery disks or the recovery partition. If you have neither, then you need to ask Gateway for a set of recovery disks.

 

i forgot to mention that i tried to use the recovery cds. it fixed it for about a week but then the notification came back up..

 

Then you need to call Microsoft. They probably flagged your key as "bad".

 

i did and they told me to take it up with gateway since gateway is responsible for giving out the product keys for their computers

 

Gateway is responsible for distributing OEM licenses, not for ensuring their validity. Microsoft is the company you want to harrass.

 

If it was after BB replaced parts for your, I would take it up with Best Buy to fix your problem. First be polite and courteous about the issue, and if that doesn't work, then wait until there is a line at customer service desk and start putting up a fit. I mean seriously, if BB caused the software flag to come up when replacing parts, they should provide a new key or make sure the old key is still usable.

Good luck with your fit

 

Haha, for a second I thought this thread was about accidental damage from pellet guns.

 

Is that what made you look at it in the first place?

 

Just call Microsoft and they'll activate it for you. Very simple.