No wonder their stock is tanking!
Written: Sep 06 '01
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Pros: 80gig drive, nice case with expansion room
Cons: slow delivery, compatibility issues, component failure, disgraceful
Customer service.
The Bottom Line: Don't walk away from this one - -RUN FOR THE HILLS!!
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| gholman01's Full Review: Gateway Performance 1500 xl |
I telephone ordered this system (no online support of their "preferred customer
discounts") in June with a "4-5 day delivery". Sales staff was quite nice and
accommodating -- that is until the order was confirmed. The deliver took a month
and many phone calls with hours of elevator music in my ear. The system
arrived in several boxes with an excellent speaker system (BA) which is not
compatible with anything but a Gateway (go figure). The system would not load
a print driver for a Canon bubble jet, but still great speed at a decent price.
The first time I plugged a device into a USB port (corex card scan), the system
board fried. Tech support was vapor-support. I re-installed windows (3 times)
and performed countless diagnostics and trouble-shooting routines, burning
over 70 hours of my time - while my business languished for lack of data. After
about a week of tech support calls, I am assigned a "Case Manager" (like with
an HMO, but worse) who offers to send me a mother board. I explain that I had
no desire to DIY a system board replacement, but could take it in to a nearby
Gateway store. No, she couldn't predict the service demand in the store even
though I offered to call them and put her on conference. I was offered a
third-party tech that could come install the board at a non-specified time. Not
surprisingly, I am having my doubts about this time and ask for an RMA
number to return the system. I was told that someone would call me within "half
an hour" with the RMA instructions. I hurry off to the mall to purchase a
replacement so I could re-open my business. Two days later, still no call, no
RMA#, so I call Gateway. They tell me that they have no intention of taking the
system back although they acknowledge that the system is defective, and that I
have had it scarcely 3 weeks, by now.
If you decide to purchase a Gateway, you should carefully evaluate whether the
company will be in business long enough for you to collect a judgment, as I
am having to do. S&P has downgraded their credit to "junk" status and the
stock is at all time lows. This kind of treatment of customers is not reflective of
corporate behavior that is focused on long-term relationships. On the other
hand, maybe you get lucky!
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 1500
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
gholman01
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Reviews written: 1
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