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mikeytj
Member
Joined: 13 Sep 2006
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 6:34 pm Post subject: Gateway tech support - what is going on |
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I just purchased a new Gatway desktop. There seemed to be a lot of very postive things on the net about the HW and the company. I had occasion to use the tech support the first week. I was informed that I would have to pay for any installation support as that was not covered in the warranty support. I did manage to spend some time with them on a couple of issues. These are the truth no matter how they sound.
1. I was told that because my processor Pent 4 805 dual core 266 GHz was a larger sized processor it would run slower than my AMD Sempron 133 GHz.
2. I bought a 19" wide LCD monitor and was told that if I used the cable supplied with it the resolution would be less than 800 X 600 and that I would have to buy a DVI cable even though there is no DVI output on the system.
3. In discussing the memory I was told that windows now used most of 1 gig of memory and that my programs would not run properly unless I bought new memory.
4. I had 3 different replies as to what the memory is on my PC --- all wrong. One said that I had memory that is only used in a laptop.
5. One fellow told on issues of system performance to defrag the hard disk only as an absolute very last resort as this could cause irreparable damage to the PC not covered by warranty.
The list goes on and continues to amaze. Thanks to various third party vendors help the PC is now doing great and as anticipated. I have been told that I am not allowed to contact thier Corp HQ for any reason and this must be right as there are no listed numbers for their Irving, CA home.
Just some comments of amazment. Thought I would see if anyone else is running into the same kind of thing.
Mike |
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Ben Myers
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2006 8:37 am Post subject: Re: Gateway tech support - what is going on |
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Responses to each of the enumerated items are below. Sadly, you are likely to
get the same amount of bullshit if you were to speak with customer support at
most any name brand computer company. What they don't know, they fabricate.
And they don't know very much.
On Thu, 14 Sep 2006 02:09:56 -0000, no@spam.invalid (mikeytj) wrote:
| Quote: | I just purchased a new Gatway desktop. There seemed to be a lot of
very postive things on the net about the HW and the company. I had
occasion to use the tech support the first week. I was informed that
I would have to pay for any installation support as that was not
covered in the warranty support.
|
Did the tech support person make any distinction between "installation support"
and "warranty support".
| Quote: | I did manage to spend some time
with them on a couple of issues. These are the truth no matter how
they sound.
1. I was told that because my processor Pent 4 805 dual core 266 GHz
was a larger sized processor it would run slower than my AMD Sempron
133 GHz.
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Fairly lame, and incorrect. The Gateway tech support person must own AMD stock
or maybe is in love with AMD processors.
| Quote: |
2. I bought a 19" wide LCD monitor and was told that if I used
the cable supplied with it the resolution would be less than 800 X
600 and that I would have to buy a DVI cable even though there is no
DVI output on the system.
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No, no, no and no. DVI is the preferred connection for an LCD monitor, because
the resulting on-screen display is clearer than with analog. But an analog
cable supports whatever resolution is used by the monitor. What bothers me
even more is why you did not get a graphics card with a DVI connector on your
Gateway. Did you buy the monitor from Gateway at the same time? If so, they
scr**ed up. If not, you probably needed to do some research before buying. But
the LCD monitor still works OK with an analog SVGA cable, provided that IT has
an SVGA connector. And if it does not, there are SVGA/DVI converters
available, too.
| Quote: |
3. In discussing the memory I was told that windows now used most of
1 gig of memory and that my programs would not run properly unless I
bought new memory.
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Also pure bullshit, unless we're talking about that mythical beast Vista, which
does not deserve to be talked about yet, despite intensive hype. For a long
time, when memory was expensive, Dell, HP, Gateway and others shipped systems
with a measly stinking 128MB, but the systems still ran, albeit slowly.
| Quote: |
4. I had 3 different replies as to what the memory is on my PC ---
all wrong. One said that I had memory that is only used in a
laptop.
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Your Gateway sales receipt should state clearly what type of memory the system
has, probably DDR2 at some speed.
| Quote: |
5. One fellow told on issues of system performance to defrag the hard
disk only as an absolute very last resort as this could cause
irreparable damage to the PC not covered by warranty.
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Wow! Pure fantasy.
| Quote: |
The list goes on and continues to amaze. Thanks to various third
party vendors help the PC is now doing great and as anticipated. I
have been told that I am not allowed to contact thier Corp HQ for any
reason and this must be right as there are no listed numbers for their
Irving, CA home.
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Did Gateway get an injunction to stop you from contacting them? Most large
corporations these days make it extremely hard to contact corporate HQ by phone.
After all, the corporate executives have far more important things to do than to
listen to their customers. Like conning the corporate board into paying them
too much money, stock options, and lots of severance pay.
| Quote: |
Just some comments of amazment. Thought I would see if anyone else is
running into the same kind of thing.
Mike
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Now you know. If you can access the Gateway web site (or Dell's or IBM's but
not HP's web sites), you will probably find higher quality information there
than by calling tech support. Except for ordering parts under warranty, I find
it to be a waste of time to contact tech support on the phone. And getting the
spare parts under warranty often wastes a lot of time. Recently, I replaced a
failed 2.8-year old 30GB hard drive on a Dell with extended warranty. It was
simply not worth my time to request a replacement part for a 30GB drive still
under warranty. Hey, a 30GB drive has a wholesale value of maybe $20, or $25 at
most... Ben Myers |
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Tom from WI
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2006 9:36 am Post subject: Re: Gateway tech support - what is going on |
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I have had two instances of using Gateways on-line support and have mixed
reviews. The first contact was about adding memory and the person seemed
very knowledgeable. She didn't offer their "value" memory however, until
after I said the memory she suggested was available elsewhere for less. The
second contact was about my new laptop. When I type on the keyboard, the pc
spins the CD drive. I avoid it by leaving the CD door open. The person I
dealt with only offered the advice of reloading the system. When I told him
the PC was only 2 weeks old and reloading the OS didn't seem like a likely
solution, he said I should return it to where I purchased it. I probably
should have done that, but I didn't want to start over again, so I just
leave the CD drive door open.
Tom
"mikeytj" <no@spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:12ghefkp8kacf09@news.supernews.com...
| Quote: | I just purchased a new Gatway desktop. There seemed to be a lot of
very postive things on the net about the HW and the company. I had
occasion to use the tech support the first week. I was informed that
I would have to pay for any installation support as that was not
covered in the warranty support. I did manage to spend some time
with them on a couple of issues. These are the truth no matter how
they sound.
1. I was told that because my processor Pent 4 805 dual core 266 GHz
was a larger sized processor it would run slower than my AMD Sempron
133 GHz.
2. I bought a 19" wide LCD monitor and was told that if I used
the cable supplied with it the resolution would be less than 800 X
600 and that I would have to buy a DVI cable even though there is no
DVI output on the system.
3. In discussing the memory I was told that windows now used most of
1 gig of memory and that my programs would not run properly unless I
bought new memory.
4. I had 3 different replies as to what the memory is on my PC ---
all wrong. One said that I had memory that is only used in a
laptop.
5. One fellow told on issues of system performance to defrag the hard
disk only as an absolute very last resort as this could cause
irreparable damage to the PC not covered by warranty.
The list goes on and continues to amaze. Thanks to various third
party vendors help the PC is now doing great and as anticipated. I
have been told that I am not allowed to contact thier Corp HQ for any
reason and this must be right as there are no listed numbers for their
Irving, CA home.
Just some comments of amazment. Thought I would see if anyone else is
running into the same kind of thing.
Mike
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