Complaint Review: Gateway

I write this with sadness because I have been rooting for Gateway for a long time.

All of my prior customer service with Gateway has been so smooth and I have sung the praises of Gateway to my friends and coworkers. I sent my laptop in for service and UPS tracking indicates that it was received over 5 weeks ago. They have lost it and have no idea where it is. Various customer service reps have filed my computer as "lost in service" 4 or 5 times and it's been over 5 weeks without any report back at all from anybody. They even promised that an "escalation team" would investigate my problem. I have sent over 25 emails and tried to be cordial and respectful in each of them, knowing that technical support and customer service isn't easy.

I just want Gateway to make things right and prove to me that they still have great customer service. Helen (GWPC066) has been my contact, but lately she has not been responding to my queries. I must have given all of my information (serial #, service request #, tracking #, client ID #, etc.) dozens of times. They just don't pass on information in a helpful way. Each time I contact a rep, they are ignorant of anything the other reps did and just ask me to be patient.

I need a computer for work and I need to know what Gateway will do to compensate me for the loss of almost 200 work hours (I work with graphics and presentations and my computer is vital to my profession).

At this point, I have offered Gateway a solution: because of my experience over these 5 weeks, I am positive that my computer is lost and a 5th or 6th filing of lost in service won't change that. I would like for Gateway to take the value of my computer (~$1100 for this exact model online) and give me credit towards a new system.

I don't want a piece of junk refurb. Plus, to compensate me for the hours of productivity this has cost me due to Gateway's severe mishandling, Gateway should credit me with an amount appropriate to the number of work hours I have lost. I make $18/hour and have been deprived of my computer for over 200 work hours. I know that Gateway doesn't compensate for time, but is it possible to get Gateway to take real responsibility for the extreme difficulty that its bungling has caused one of its faithful customers? I think that $1800 of credit is a fair compensation for Gateway's negligence and inactivity. $1100 + $1800 = $2900 of credit that I'm demanding. Is this utterly unrealistic?

So, they've lost my computer and shuffled and ignored dozens of emails and attempts to contact them for over 5 weeks. What are my best options? Would you recommend that I send this complaint to Gateway's Executive Response team at P.O. Box No 2000. Sioux City, SD 57049? Or perhaps to the South Dakota consumer affairs dept att: Ms. Jill Dean, Consumer Affairs Office of the Attorney General 500 E. Capitol State Capitol Building Pierre, SD 57501-5070? How do I best get some results?

I think that a real answer to these customer support nightmares is for Gateway to more actively pursue accountability with their reps. If a rep promises something, they should be held to it. If he promises a call, he is monitored and reprimanded if he doesn't call. If she says an order has been placed, the order must go out or she sees consequences. I'm sure there are lots of difficulties with this, but something must be done.

As I said, I'm for Gateway and I hope that they will work hard to give me some real customer service. I hope to praise Gateway again. Thanks for any advice and I will report back here if and when something final develops.

Jon
Ft. Worth, Texas
U.S.A.

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