My Gateway Laptop Support Experience
A couple of months ago, I purchased a Gateway Laptop model # MX6437 for my business. The laptop came with a Turion 64 bit mobile processor, 512 meg of ram, XP Home Edition, DVD Writer, Built in wireless and a nice 15.4″ widescreen display. This was actually the first laptop that I have ever purchased and also the first computer that I have not built myself in over 8 years.
Recently I needed to purchase an international travel converter for some traveling that I have coming up. You would think that this should be a simple process? But what I experienced was nothing like that. I first called Gateway up via their 800 number. I gave the rep the model number and was told that Gateway did not carry it. After telling him it was purchased through bestbuy, he immediately tried to tell me that I needed to contact BestBuy for any addon parts. I explained to him that I simply wanted a power converter and did not want to call anywhere else, so I was transferred over to tech support. Anyway after speaking with Tech support that assured me that they had the part so I ordered it. A Couple of days later the item came to me and it was not what I needed. It was only the adapter plugs. I took a deep breath and called them back again, this time inquiring if the laptop was dual voltage (thinking then I could just use the plugs). I went throught the process about buying it from Best Buy and this time I was told that I needed to call a different Gateway number. I asked why and was told that because it was not purchased through Gateway, they had a different support number. I was shocked when I found out the number was not an 800#. I was told their was no 800# for this support.
Once again, I just took a deep breath and went off to contact the gateway support for my laptop. After waiting about 15 minutes (which was definately longer than it took to reach the “normal” Gateway support, my support call was answered by a girl who was just simply lacking in support knowledge. After about 20 minutes on the phone with her I gave up and just decided to go an purchase a travel converter somewhere else.
My experience was an eye opener for me about Gateway and the way that they support their products. I really don’t understand why they have different numbers for their support. Let’s face it, the logo on my computer is Gateway and I should be able to call 1 phone number and then be directed to the proper support area. If they want to handle it internally through separate support channels, just don’t tell me. Also, the knowledge of the support techs should be the same. In addition it left a very bad feeling in my mouth after receiving the wrong item even after asking the tech support rep to verify that I was getting the right part.
If you are considering purchasing a Gateway computer, make sure the deal is good enough to justify that you don’t purchase it directly from Gateway.