Divisions and Precisions

Gateway Rant

Gateway can bite me. So much for their friendly customer service. The power cord on my laptop died. Unfortunately, it did so while I had the computer on, and I didn't notice until the battery died. So I have a computer with a dead battery, and no way to power it. So I used Gateway's chat system. The first person referred me to their 24 hour phone line. Apparently their 24 hour phone line is all automated, because after telling me they were transferring me to a live person, I got back to the beginning of the automated troubleshooter.

Undaunted, I tried chat again, and got Alvin. Alvin, I am convinced, is a middle school drop out who has programmed answers in front of him. If something comes up that doesn't fit the program, he gets confused. Here is an unexpurgated transcript of our chat session--thoughtfully emailed to me by Gateway--which took about 20 minutes, since apparently Alvin doesn't type too fast either.

Topic: My laptop will not power up when connected to an outlet, and the battery is dead.

Alvin: Hello Lisa, welcome to the Gateway Chat Support Service. I am Alvin here to help you with your issue.

Alvin: Please wait a moment while I search for your customer information.

Lisa Nichols: Hi. I chatted with someone earlier, and they referred me to the phone line, but there was no answer outside the automated system, which didn't help.

Alvin: Thank you for waiting.

Lisa Nichols: No problem. :)

Alvin: Can you please tell me the exact problem which you are facing with calling our phone tech support?

Lisa Nichols: The first time I went through the automated system, was told I was being transferred to a representative, asked my SN, then nothing happened. The second time, I was told I was being transfered, and i wound up in the automated system again.

Lisa Nichols: I'm fairly certain all I need is a replacement power cord at this point.

Alvin: Lisa, I understand the problem which you are facing right now.

Alvin: For your convenience I am submitting your issue to our Second Level of Technical Experts Department and they will respond you within 2 hours via e-mail.

Alvin: I am sure they will definately help you to get the issue resolved.

Lisa Nichols: Okay, why? My power cord is not working, that's all. It's under warranty. What other troubleshooting do I need?

Alvin: Kindly try to use another Power Cord.

Lisa Nichols: If I had another one, I would. Unfortunately, you only ship them with one power pack. :)

Alvin: Lisa, kindly wait for another 2 hours our tech experts will definately provide you power cord.

Alvin: Thank you for using the Gateway Chat Center. Our chat session will now be closed.

Thankfully, Gateway has you fill out a survey after each online chat session. I let them know exactly what I thought. I should've saved it. It was lovely. It was forceful and polite but angry. We'll see if I hear from these 'experts' soon or not.

Posted by Lisa at July 28, 2002 01:16 AM