🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <2781@cruzio.santa-cruz.ca.us> mscott@cruzio.santa-cruz.ca.us 
(Michael Scott) writes:
*>
*> I am considering buying a new Gateway 2000 486/33.  Before I go that final
*> step, I am curious as to whether anyone has heard of any problems with
*> Gateway.  

I would avoid Gateway at all costs.  I purchased a 386/20 system from them 
in October, 89.  When I bought the system, it was supposed to have came
with an 80M hard drive (all formated, with software preloaded).  It actaully
contained only a 40M hard drive (I wonder how many people don't realize
this until it is too late?)  The replacement drive that they sent was
defective (either that, or their technical support staff was so
unknowledgable that they couldn't figure out how to format an 80Meg
hard drive either), so another one was sent.  This too was defective.
The third drive finally worded (and I might add, without the assistance
of their tech support personnel).  Time lost due to this, about 4 weeks
(plus I had to pay return shipping on all those hard drives).

A little later, I realized that my 1.44 Meg floppy (what I had purchased)
coul only handle 720K disks (at el).  Another call (and I might add that 
any time you call Gateway Tech support, expect to be put on hold for at
least an hour) and I was informed that I had the wrong floppy drive.
So, they send a new one out, that didn't fix the problem.  Another call
to tech support, and they told me that my motherboard was too old
to support 1.44 floppies.  Now wait a second, you guys sold me a system
that you *KNEW* would not support that kind of hardware?

Finally I was send another motherboard, of the 4 Meg RAM on board, some of
it was defective, so yet *another* board was send out, this had a
defective chip on it, so I took the memory from the second one and 
placed it on the first one that they had sent.  That worked.  However in 
the process of doing all of this floppy.board swapping (blech!) My
hard disk had failed, so I called them yet again, and finally convinced
them that since this had rooted from their faux pas, that they should replace
the hard drive - they did.  Total down time: 10 weeks.

I will say that they were good about getting replacement parts out to me,
but I have just too many complaints that don't come close to outweighing
the bad side:  Unknowledgable tech support people, knowingly bad
hardware sent out to me, unwillingness to use the "on site repair
service (something they proudly used to proclaim in their ads and
on the phone)"  No thanks.

I would avoid Gateway at all costs.

bt garner
bt@cpac.washington.edu

NOTE: this is not to start a flame war, I know others who have had very
little problems with Gateway, this is just what happend to me.