In the early years of home PCs, one didn't need much technical help to keep a computer going.  Admittedly, they didn't do much, compared to what they can do today, but once we bought a computer, we rarely needed to consult the company that made the computer.  Nowadays, however, even computer-savvy PC owners depend on technical help – but what they get is an exasperating tour of computer hell.   Here's the incredible but true story of what l endured when my most recent (and last) Gateway computer crashed – a tale of errors, carelessness, and incompetence.

> On a Friday night, my less than two-year-old, $2,000+ Gateway computer died.  I left it to go automatically on standby after 15 minutes; when I returned two hours later, it would not boot up.

> I reached a technician at Gateway's 800 number, who had me call up a DOS utility that did a quick scan.  When this was okay but didn't solve the problem, we ran a full scan.  Since this took time, I was given a reference number and told to call back when the scan was complete.  The scan reported "Too many errors."  I called back and got a second technician, who seemed unable to find my reference number.  After I explained the entire situation again, this technician decided to set up a service call (my computer was still under warranty).  I was told that I should be contacted on Monday to set up the service appointment.  If I was not contacted, I was to call the 800 number again, give the same reference number, and Gateway would recontact their field service people.

> I was not contacted, so I called back on Monday.  The third technician said she had no record of my contact number.  After I described again everything that had transpired, she said that she would submit a new order for a field service person to come to install a new hard drive.  By then I had determined that the problem might not be the drive (a second hard drive installed on the same computer also refused to boot) but might be something else – a cable, a connection, even the motherboard.  "What if it's not the drive, and the field person can't repair the computer?" I asked.  I was told that I would have to call the 800 number again to set up another service call.  This prospect frightened me because I had already learned how hard it was to do this and how prone to error the people on the phones were (lost reference number, etc.).  So I demanded to talk to a supervisor.

> The supervisor got on the line after about ten minutes.  He had "found" the reference number, but I still had to repeat everything I had told the technician.  He said that my best bet was to ship the computer to Dallas, TX, for diagnostics and repairs.  Field service people only installed parts; if the problem was not the specific part, I would need to have repeated service calls until the problematic part was identified.  Gateway's outsourced field representatives are not empowered to diagnose problems (odd as that may seem).  I agreed – reluctantly because the cost of shipping the computer from my end was not covered in the warranty.  Besides, what else could I do?

> On Tuesday, I shipped the computer via FedEx.  With a declared value of $2,500, it cost me about $60 for ground shipping and packaging.  (As I write this, I assume it is still en route.)

> On Wednesday, a Gateway field representative called me, said he had my hard drive, and wanted to know when to come to install it.  He did not know that Gateway had instructed me to ship the computer to Dallas and had failed to cancel the service order.  (Apparently, Gateway had also screwed up by shipping him a hard drive and instructing him to install it.)

> On Thursday, I received in the mail a shipment from Gateway.  I thought that, based on one of my calls or one of the orders that Gateway had failed to cancel, the box would contain a hard drive for me to install.  Nope.  It contained a floppy disc drive.

> Just to set the record straight, I called Gateway again.  When I got to the end of the story about receiving a floppy drive instead of a hard drive (neither of which I now needed since my computer was on its way to Dallas), this technician thought the last error was hilarious.  She checked and discovered that the wrong part number had  been ordered.   Got it?  The wrong part number was ordered on an order that should not have been made in the first place.

> To add insult to incompetence, this last technician told me that I should return the drive that was sent by mistake.  If I did not, I was told, I would be charged for the part, and I would have a black mark against my name and would never again be entitled to Gateway support.  Of course, given my experience with Gateway support, I felt that the black mark would be assigned to the wrong party.  Incidentally, the written instructions packaged with the part told me to ship it back via UPS, whereas the prepaid label I was to use was a FedEx label.  Add another goof to the catalog.

> I also asked if any of this information would come to the attention of the supervisor who had instructed me to ship the computer.  The answer was a definite maybe.  I inquired whether I could talk with this supervisor just to get all the Gateway fiascos on the record.  No, this supervisor was in Kansas, and the technician I had on the line was in Louisiana.

> Next, I explained that I wanted to send a "real" letter to Gateway.  Could she give me a physical address to which I could send such a letter?  I did not, I insisted, want a phone number or an e-mail address that generates irrelevant automated replies.  She searched the Gateway website, but, as I could have told her, Gateway does not publish its address there.  She had to transfer me to customer service, where I finally got an address (in California).

I shall send a letter, though I know it may bounce around corporate offices to no avail and may be eventually trashed.  Meanwhile, I wait for Gateway's service affiliate in Dallas to send back my computer.  I have little confidence that it will be fixed when they do.  I have even less that, if it is fixed, it will stay fixed beyond the 30 days for which repairs are guaranteed.  If I have any further problems, I'm quite sure that contacting Gateway will result in even more errors.  After all, their batting average so far is .000.  Gateway has no obligation to compensate me for the time lost (or the inconvenience and aggravation) as a result of its own numerous errors.

Given this prospect, I am already reconciled to having to buy a new system.  It won't be Gateway.  Even if the system held up better than the last, and there's little reason to believe that it will*, I now know that having to deal with Gateway support (warranty or no warranty) means volunteering to be a victim of gross incompetence.

Even more discouraging is what I've learned as I've asked friends (among them some people with considerable PC knowledge and experience) for advice on what to buy if I must get a new system.  No matter what brand the person owns, everyone reports breakdowns and lack of support.  One individual said that he bought a Dell system in November 2004 and has had to have the hard drive replaced (and go through the long process of reformatting it) three times in the ten months that he's had the computer.  Having been burned so badly myself and having heard so many horror stories, I remain in a state of high anxiety, convinced that, no matter what PC I buy or how much I pay for it, I stand at least a 50% chance of having it break down in one or two years.  Any breakdown will condemn me to another trip into digital hell.

*In Consumer Reports (October 2005), "What breaks, what doesn't":  At the top of the list are Desktop PCs at a whopping 45%.  The only company listed among "Less-reliable brands" is Gateway  (Dell, Sony, and Apple are listed as "More-reliable brands").  Since the average for desktop PCs is 45%, we may assume that Gateway's repair rate is even higher.  My reading is that anyone who buys a Gateway computer faces a worse than 50-50 chance of needing to have it repaired, which means dealing with the bozos described above.