I got a nice new Gateway monitor for Christmas '05. A 21" multiple input monitor from gateway (http://www.gateway.com/programs/widescreen/21_overview.php) was my gift, and this would accommodate the HD output of my new Xbox that I purchased a month or so before.
September the following year I got accepted to a University, and obviously being the geeky type I am I had to take my monitor to the residence. After I got it unpacked and my parents (who helped me move in) and I checked to make sure everything was working on my PC and we noticed a small green line down the left hand side of the monitor.
After talking around I found it needed to be replaced and so I called Gateway to see if they could begin working on how to fix the issue, either with a replacement monitor or without. This was about 9 months into the 1 year warranty, so they were happy to try and help. After the first few email conversations trying basic diagnostics, they asked for my credit card information so they could send a replacement monitor. They explained the credit card would be billed if I didn't return the original within 7 days of receiving the new monitor. All fine and dandy I gave them my credit card information.
About two weeks later I still hadn't received the monitor and nothing had been billed, so I sent them another email. They said they'd look into it. During the next months, now the monitor being out of warranty, I had continued sending them emails and continued getting "we will look into it". I sent them another follow up email at the end of March '07, asking if they'd completed what they need to do, and I got this reply on April 17th.
> Hello,
>
> Thank you for your e-mail. I understand that you have sent your
> monitor in for repairs and would like to know as to the status of the
> system. However, I may not be able to provide you the information
with
> the status of your monitor. I recommend you to contact our Retail
> Service Dispatch Department for further assistance.
Wait, what? I sent it in for repairs? Well obviously there was a mix-up, so I replied saying that I still had my monitor and I was waiting for THEM to send me a monitor. To which they replied,
Hello Dave,There was obviously a large mix-up, since I hadn't sent mine in nor received a replacement monitor. And since my credit card STILL hadn't been billed, they either didn't send it or don't bill the credit cards.
Thank you for your e-mail. I checked our database and according to our
record, a monitor replacement was already placed last 10/9/2006 with
order number EV100609N0031. Since you still does not received it, we
will pursue this issue through our escalation process and will then
provide you with a follow up email. Our response will be delayed so we
can research more to find the necessary information. We try to answer
all of our customers in a timely fashion, but in this case we would ask
you allow us to research and then get back to you with either an update
or a resolution.
After that last conversation, I sent about 5-7 emails asking for the situation on my monitor ticket, with an average of about 1.5 months in waiting time.. None of them got a reply, they were completely ignored. I finally had enough and decided to call customer support since they were obviously ignoring my emails up to this point. I called their Canada Retail support center as my parents had bought the monitor from Futureshop in Canada and that line told me to call 1-800-GATEWAY. People who talked to me on that line were very rude regarding why I called them and not the correct call center at retail Canada, after fighting with them on the phone I reluctantly called retail Canada again. Only this time.. I got the exact same message as last time. I called the GATEWAY phone number again, and this time I spoke to someone a little more friendly and he said I should call the US Retail call center, I took his advice and called the US Center. They couldn't get the necessary details on the matter either, so they told me to call their corporate office, which is where I spoke to Christopher.
Christopher seemed like he knew what he was talking about, at least moreso than the first rep at 1-800-Gateway. So I let him know my problem by giving him the ticket and he went through the email logs.
After a few minutes talking about the situation, he let me know that the monitor is now out of warranty and can not be replaced. Well, that came as a shock, so I asked him "When was the ticket first opened", to which he replied "September 4th, '06". I then asked if the ticket was STILL open, to which he said it was. "So you're telling me that the ticket which was opened while the monitor was under warranty, and is still unresolved and open." and he replied that I was correct. So i asked him if the ticket was still open shouldn't it be resolved with the date on the first ticket, and he didn't answer.. but instead went on to say that I should have called the number in an email a few months back and he garanteed it could have been resolved then. The number he's talking about is in regard to the "We recommend you to contact our Retail service Dispatch Department for further assistance" line I got way back near the beginning of this issue. Also, might I add, after the warranty had expired on the monitor. He had said that although the ticket was opened, I waited too long to call them, even though their email tech support said I should sit tight and wait for a response from them on the issue.. Somehow I was supposed to see through that text into the underlying meaning which apparently was: "Don't wait, you should call us to resolve this issue because we can resolve it now via phone, but can't do it via email for some unexplainable reason".
Anyway, the phone call ended up going round in circles, him saying he couldn't replace the monitor because it was now out of warranty, even though the ticket was opened well within the warranty period.
Apparently I have a lot to learn about decyphering tech support emails, if anyone can provide me with a cypher to link the following: "we will pursue this issue through our escalation process and will then provide you with a follow up email." and "Don't wait, you should call us to resolve this issue because we can resolve it now via phone, but can't do it via email for some unexplainable reason" I would appreciate it.
