Gateway Extended Warranty Experience

My wife bought a Gateway M320S notebook last August. Because we got such a
good deal and the replacement cost is much higher, I opted for the $169.00
3-year extended warranty before the 90 day warranty ran out. Last week, I
was called twice by a company in India representing Gateway (in fact, GW's
1-800-846-200 showed up on my caller ID). They said I could extend the
90-day warranty for 3 years for $169. The second call offered a $289
warranty extension. When I suggested I would go to Gateway's website to check
my warranty options, they informed me that this special offer is not available
on the GW website. I checked, and my GW warranty is good through Aug 1, 2008.

I called GW and complained that their third-party agents in India are trying to
sell extended warranties at inflated prices to people who already have an
extended warranty. I suggested this is consumer fraud. The GW rep was very nice,
but had no answers and did not suggest that I deserved a followup explanation.
Today, an opinion company did a follow-up survey on my recent call to Gateway. I
rated the Gateway rep adequate, but the "resolution to my problem" as unfavorable.
They promised someone from Gateway would get back to me. We'll see.

You'd think Gateway would be concerned about what their reps in India are saying
on the company's behalf, since it affects their reputation. It's also ironic that
the survey company in Nebraska seemed more concerned about solving my problem than
the Gateway rep that I called.

It used to be when I had a problem, either via tech support or customer support,
I would get kicked upstairs until the problem got resolved. Not any more. They
seem more concerned about conducting surveys than solving problems first-hand.

I can remember several years ago emailing Ted Waitt directly about a customer service
problem, and getting a personal email reply from him the next morning. Ahhh, those
were the days....great memories.

Scott

Scott wrote:

My wife bought a Gateway M320S notebook last August. Because we got such a
good deal and the replacement cost is much higher, I opted for the $169.00
3-year extended warranty before the 90 day warranty ran out. Last week, I
was called twice by a company in India representing Gateway (in fact, GW's
1-800-846-200 showed up on my caller ID). They said I could extend the
90-day warranty for 3 years for $169. The second call offered a $289
warranty extension. When I suggested I would go to Gateway's website to check
my warranty options, they informed me that this special offer is not available
on the GW website. I checked, and my GW warranty is good through Aug 1, 2008.

I called GW and complained that their third-party agents in India are trying to
sell extended warranties at inflated prices to people who already have an
extended warranty. I suggested this is consumer fraud. The GW rep was very nice,
but had no answers and did not suggest that I deserved a followup explanation.
Today, an opinion company did a follow-up survey on my recent call to Gateway. I
rated the Gateway rep adequate, but the "resolution to my problem" as unfavorable.
They promised someone from Gateway would get back to me. We'll see.

You'd think Gateway would be concerned about what their reps in India are saying
on the company's behalf, since it affects their reputation. It's also ironic that
the survey company in Nebraska seemed more concerned about solving my problem than
the Gateway rep that I called.

It used to be when I had a problem, either via tech support or customer support,
I would get kicked upstairs until the problem got resolved. Not any more. They
seem more concerned about conducting surveys than solving problems first-hand.

I can remember several years ago emailing Ted Waitt directly about a customer service
problem, and getting a personal email reply from him the next morning. Ahhh, those
were the days....great memories.

Scott

Oops, their caller ID was: 1-800-846-2000.

Scott

We just bought two Gateway Desktops that each have two-year warranties. Is
this something new? These are our first Gateway computers.
"Scott" wrote in message
...
My wife bought a Gateway M320S notebook last August. Because we got such a
good deal and the replacement cost is much higher, I opted for the $169.00
3-year extended warranty before the 90 day warranty ran out. Last week, I
was called twice by a company in India representing Gateway (in fact, GW's
1-800-846-200 showed up on my caller ID). They said I could extend the
90-day warranty for 3 years for $169. The second call offered a $289
warranty extension. When I suggested I would go to Gateway's website to
check
my warranty options, they informed me that this special offer is not
available
on the GW website. I checked, and my GW warranty is good through Aug 1,
2008.

I called GW and complained that their third-party agents in India are
trying to
sell extended warranties at inflated prices to people who already have an
extended warranty. I suggested this is consumer fraud. The GW rep was
very nice,
but had no answers and did not suggest that I deserved a followup
explanation.
Today, an opinion company did a follow-up survey on my recent call to
Gateway. I
rated the Gateway rep adequate, but the "resolution to my problem" as
unfavorable.
They promised someone from Gateway would get back to me. We'll see.

You'd think Gateway would be concerned about what their reps in India are
saying
on the company's behalf, since it affects their reputation. It's also
ironic that
the survey company in Nebraska seemed more concerned about solving my
problem than
the Gateway rep that I called.

It used to be when I had a problem, either via tech support or customer
support,
I would get kicked upstairs until the problem got resolved. Not any more.
They
seem more concerned about conducting surveys than solving problems
first-hand.

I can remember several years ago emailing Ted Waitt directly about a
customer service
problem, and getting a personal email reply from him the next morning.
Ahhh, those
were the days....great memories.

Scott