Complaint Review: Gateway 2000 - North Sioux City South Dakota

In April I had sent in my Gateway laptop for warranty work and was surprised when the fixed it and returned it all within a week.

My 19 year old son with cerebal palsy also had a laptop he had bought from Gateway when he turned 18 that had had problems from the first time he had bought it. Unlike me who had just paid the $1400+ up front for my laptop he had purchased his through a Gateway affiliate program for young people with little to no credit so his laptop was not as good as mine but he figured it would get his credit started and get him a laptop. After the great experience with my warranty work through Gateway I encouraged him to send his in for a broken external port that had been broken since he had received it. He had a "limited warranty" as did I so I had no way of knowing the HEll I was encouraging him to enter.

After sending his laptop to Gateway in early April in the box they had sent him and checking a piece of paper they included saying "No" to doing anything not covered by the warranty he waited. We moved from Wisconsin in May and all during April he called checking on it with them saying they were still checking on it then they said they were waiting on the part. After we moved in May he kept calling as he still has to pay payments monthly (he has already paid over $2000 with another $2000 still owed). Each time he called he told the person (it was always a different person) that he had now moved and was still waiting on his laptop. In June we finally were told that his limited warranty did not cover the cosmetic damage to the port and for us to have it returned we needed to pay over $150 to have the laptop returned to us unrepaired. I filed a BBB complaint stating all of this and used our Norman Oklahoma address and phone as the number on the BBB complaint. Belm Jimnez,the Executive Response Specialist at Gateway refused to change and the BBB complaint was closed with us still having to pay Gateway the $150+ for his laptop to be returned.

3 weeks later when he had the money he called Belem Jimenz at her office (and she had called him at our Okahoma home during the BBB complaint) and was told by her that she had released his laptop and they had sent it 4 days earlier to our old address in Wisconsin to a vacant house. We called the local police to have them look and see if the laptop was on the porch as stated in DHL's tracking number but there was no laptop.

We again called Belem Jimenez at Gateway and she said it was a mishipment and they would replace it then she said a few days later that the house was still listed in David's father name as per the white pages so it was still his legal address (even though he had a house and utility's in his name in Norman Oklahoma and had told MANY Gateway employees his new address over the 3 prior months).

We called DHL to file insurance and that can only be done by the shipper (GAteway) and we called Gateway who refused.

My son still has to continue to pay payment on a laptop Gateway held for hostage 3 months then sent to the wrong address. God only knows where the laptop is and Gateway does not care. BEWARE OF GATEWAY!!!

Tina

Norman, Oklahoma
U.S.A.