From: ejhupper@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu (Eric Huppertz)
Subject: DON'T USE GATEWAY'S E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR TECH SUPPORT
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 07:44:31 GMT
Organization: Illinois State University


Just thought I'd post a warning to the net.users who have Gateway's e-mail
addresses and actually thought they could get some tech support help
through the net.  DON'T!  We recently purchased two 486 systems, standard
configuration, from them... one of them doesn't work until you switch it
off and back on for 15 or 20 minutes!  So I think, OK, problems happen in
the computer industry, I'll just get it to their attention and see what
happens.  So I post to their e-mail addresses a note describing the problem
and a description of the system.  I also began calling their tech support
line (like oh sure, I'm going to get through...!)  This was one week ago.

What I got by phone was this:  NOTHING.  Not ONE call back, even though I
must have called them six or seven times (and counting).

What I got by e-mail, after 2 days, was this:

---------------------------------------------- 
From: gateway@aol.com
X-Mailer: America Online Mailer
To: ejhupper@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu
Subject: Re: TO Tech support

Eric ...
  I will give your email to our network techs and engineers and see if we can
figure out what the problems are.  It may take me a day or two to get back
with you.                                         ^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Cynthia Lloyd
Online & Onsite Services
Gateway 2000
---------------------------------------------- 

A day or two?  That would have been fine.  It wasn't till a week later
that I received: 

---------------------------------------------- 
From: gateway@aol.com
X-Mailer: America Online Mailer
To: ejhupper@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu
Subject: Re: HELP!

Eric ...
  I handed your first letter over to our tech support folks and our
engineers.  There recommendation is that you call tech support as working
this through by mail would be much to complicated.

Cynthia Lloyd
Online & Onsite Services
Gateway 2000
----------------------------------------------- 

Well, fine, but GOD DAMMIT!  Why did it take them so long to get back to
me with THIS SIMPLE MESSAGE?  Why did I have to mail them so many times
before I got the above blow-off?  And how the HELL am I supposed to "call
tech support" when they WON'T RETURN A WEEK'S WORTH OF PHONE CALLS?!?

I'd heard that Gateway's tech support was bad, but I didn't think it would
be THAT bad.  I could handle waiting a day or two for a solution...but to
get blown off for an entire week?  Unacceptable at best.

I am now going to try them by FAX.  Hell, I'll try anything just to talk
to someone other than an operator!

-Eric

PS.  The above, BTW, is NOT "Gateway-bashing."  It is a legitimate complaint
about some *seriously* messed-up priorities in a very big company (IMHO). 
-- 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 
+ Eric J. Huppertz   | Disclaimers: | Signature virus mutation: I will copy +
+ ejhupper@ilstu.edu |  the usual   | MYSELF into your .sig!!  Mwa ha ha... +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: darrylo@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Darryl Okahata)
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 21:19:44 GMT
Subject: Re: PC Connection, was: Re: Mail Order Hate Letter
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Rosa, CA